Sun City is THE most amazing place I have ever been to -- the hotels are magnificent, the views are fantastic, and the weather was beautiful. What more could you want? Sun City is heaven.I would suggest staying at Sun City for at least…Read More

Sun City is THE most amazing place I have ever been to -- the hotels are magnificent, the views are fantastic, and the weather was beautiful. What more could you want? Sun City is heaven.

I would suggest staying at Sun City for at least three nights, as there is so much to see from casinos, restaurants, water sports, an excellent water park with slides, and nighttime cabarets. You can choose to stay in one of Sun City’s four hotels, which range from the luxuriously expensive to the comfortable cabanas. The Palace of the Lost City is the most extravagant hotel, but we chose to stay at the Cascades Hotel, an equally stunning hotel at half the price. Our room faced the pool and every morning we took the glass lift down to the outside restaurant to eat our breakfast amongst the waterfalls and gardens.

My favourite part of Sun City was the Valley of the Waves, a huge water park; if you stay overnight, it is free to enter. We were too scared to go on the Temple of Courage (the name says it all), but we did float around the pools and gardens on our inflatable ring and just relaxed as the current pushed us along the ‘Lazy River’.

At the entrance to Sun City is the alligator park, which can be very scary and if you have children, I would make sure you hold on to them at all times as it can be quite frightening to be so close to the gators. We spent about half a day at the gator park and watched the displays that are held hourly to teach you more about the wilds of Africa and the alligator’s environment.

In the evening, Sun City really comes alive and you can just walk around the different hotels and casinos spending your money on the slot machines, or if you’re feeling flush, go to the tables. You can get lessons on how to play the tables, but I found it more interesting to watch others and just putting my rands in the coin machines. There are also so many restaurants to choose from and I would suggest having a braaii (barbecue) lunch at the Palace and sip cocktails there in the evening.

During the day, if you’re feeling adventurous, there are many water sports available to try at additional costs -- we chose the parasailing and were so glad we did. The views from up high are amazing and you really get to see the whole of Sun City – you can even plan where to go next. If you’re a keen golfer, there are two golf courses that were designed by Gary Player -- I am not a good golf player, so I waited for my family in the spa.

All in all, Sun City is a place not to be missed -- I defy anyone to not enjoy it.

Close

Sun City reminds me of some of the all-inclusive Caribbean resorts at which I've stayed - minus the ocean. But make no mistake; Sun City is not an all-inclusive resort. I had to carry my wallet to pay for the activities, meals, and a show.There…Read More

Sun City reminds me of some of the all-inclusive Caribbean resorts at which I've stayed - minus the ocean. But make no mistake; Sun City is not an all-inclusive resort. I had to carry my wallet to pay for the activities, meals, and a show.

There are four hotels at Sun City; each offering entertainment such as casinos, game rooms, dance clubs, restaurants, shopping, and theaters. We had a great time wandering in and out of these places.

The Palace of the Lost City Hotel is the most luxurious of the four Sun City hotels. Rooms here start at $700 per night and go as high as $5,000 per night. My wife and I wanted to take a look inside this ornate establishment but when the man at the door looked at our cards and saw we were staying at the Sun City Cabanas, we were denied entry. He told us we could sign up for a tour which costs approximately $8 per person or we could pay him half price under the table to get in. We declined and headed off to explore the beautiful pathways and fountains outside the hotel - at least those were free. One thing that surprised me during our walk was the rooms I saw on the ground floor that had their curtains open looked pretty much the same as our room at The Cabanas. Anyway, we continued to walk the paths and through open corridors. Eventually, we somehow ended up inside The Palace. The attention to detail of the decor, furniture, artwork, and sculptures was incredible. We continued to marvel at the structures inside this place until we arrived at the lobby. We didn't want to push our luck too much in case the man at the door happened to turn around and recognize us.

We left The Palace and headed over to the Valley of Waves. This major Sun City attraction consists of a man-made beach, a powerful wave machine, a gigantic water slide, several pools, an inner tube river, in addition to fun hiking trails. We had a great time here but did not linger. We had bought tickets to a matinee show in the Sun City Hotel.

The show we saw was called Afro-Dizzia!. The performance consisted of songs and dances from a variety of genres. It reminded me of the type of entertainment I've seen on cruise ships; the difference being, some of the numbers in Afro-Dizzia! contained nudity and very suggestive dancing. There were topless women in thongs and men in G-strings in some scenes. The show also had plenty of smoke, flashing lights, and fancy costumes. It was entertaining and lasted about an hour and a half.

We finished off our day at dinner at Calabash, one of the many Sun City restaurants. We spent two days at Sun City and probably could have used one more. Regardless, Sun City was a nice way to end our tour of South Africa.Close

This place has it all: a huge casino, restaurants, nightlife, beautiful resorts, a huge water park complete with a wave pool and slides, and a lake for water skiing, wakeboarding, and even parasailing!! It’s next to an animal reserve, so you can book game drives.…Read More

This place has it all: a huge casino, restaurants, nightlife, beautiful resorts, a huge water park complete with a wave pool and slides, and a lake for water skiing, wakeboarding, and even parasailing!! It’s next to an animal reserve, so you can book game drives. And there’s also a nearby crocodile reserve.

I only stayed for a weekend, and believe me, that is not enough.

Sun City it’s not actually a city, which is what threw me off at the beginning. It’s set up as a resort community if you don’t mind calling it that. First of all, to get in to the city, you need to have a reservation at any of the resorts there. Once you’re in, the sky is the limit: you can gamble, swim, ski, or simply relax.

If you drive there, once you’re in Sun City, you don’t need a car to move around; they have their own transportation for FREE!! With timetables at every bus stop, you can be sure they will be there on time.

The Game Drive is a must. Make sure you reserve in advance, as the trip usually books up really fast.

The Lost City is the water park, and like the name says, it has the theme of a lost city. They have a wave pool with an artificial beach (Valley of the Waves); lazy river; waterslides; and my personal favorite, The Temple of Courage, on which you drop 17m down a 70-meter slide, hurtle under a bridge, and plunge into the sparkling pool below.

Close

Friday 2 Oct 2003: Six of us left directly from the office to drive to Sun City for the weekend. As we drove along the highway, we saw shantytowns, villages, and street vendors selling fruit, nuts, and sodas on the parched roadside. After…Read More

Friday 2 Oct 2003: Six of us left directly from the office to drive to Sun City for the weekend. As we drove along the highway, we saw shantytowns, villages, and street vendors selling fruit, nuts, and sodas on the parched roadside. After 2.5 hours, we entered the gates of Sun City. There was lush vegetation and colorful blooming flowers and trees everywhere. As we started driving up the hill, I could see a beautiful building that had 10 very elaborate towers. I was told that this was the lavish Palace of the Lost City Hotel and that it is rated in the top 100 best hotels worldwide.

Saturday morning, we left our villas early to explore. Sun City has a casino with upscale shops and restaurants in every price range. In many ways, it is like Disney World and Las Vegas combined. Just outside the casino, we entered the Lost City gardens and jungle, which has live bamboo and all kinds of tropical plants and flowers. We walked across the swinging spider web bridge to the tropical bird sanctuary. There is also a Birds of Prey Rehabilitation Centre. From there, we walked toward the beautifully landscaped golf course designed by Gary Player. There were baboons walking along the 18th hole, a whole community of them!

The temperature and humidity are higher in Sun City than Jo’burg, by midday it was very hot (35 degrees Celsius, 95 degrees Fahrenheit). We decided to go across the Bridge of Time to the Valley of the Waves. Ten huge elephant statues flank the Bridge of Time. The bridge rumbles, vibrates and blows steam like a volcano. The Valley of the Waves is a manmade water park. It has a white sand beach with palm trees, cabanas and an aqua blue wave pool that simulates the ocean. It really feels like the beach. People actually board surf on the waves. We decided to float down the Lazy River on innertubes to cool off before going into the wave pool.

Later that evening, we had a braai and relaxed back at the Sun City Vacation Club, which is a timeshare resort. The units were three bedrooms with two baths. It was clean and spacious and classified as a "Gold Crown". However, there was air conditioning in the bedrooms only and a ceiling fan in the living room. The windows and doors had to be open if you where downstairs or in the bathrooms in order to tolerate the heat. There are no screens; therefore bugs have access to the units also.

Sunday 4 Oct 2004: We were up at 5am to go on a morning game drive in Pilanesberg National Park, which is adjacent to Sun City. The game drive was 3 hours long and features the big five (lions, elephants, rhino, leopards, and buffalo). Our guide, Sully, explained how to track animals by looking for their footprints and dung. He got out of the Land Rover to show us fresh hyena and lion footprints. He also explained that in very hot temperatures animals tend to stay in the shade and not come out in the open. We were hoping that it was still cool enough for the animals to feed. We drove at least 30 to 45 minutes without seeing anything. Finally in the distance on a hill, I saw a zebra behind some trees! I was awarded the navigator’s seat beside the guide for spotting the first animal! There was a family of elephants with 2 babies very close to the road. The elephants were eating leaves from trees; some of the trees were actually being uprooted because the elephants were looking for water, it had not rained for 6 months. We saw a baby warthog scratching its side on a rough rock. A herd of zebras crossed right in front of the Land Rover! We saw springboks and kudus on the side of the road. We saw a white rhino and later buffalo at a water hole. It had been an eventful morning, but still no lions or leopards. < P> That afternoon we began our way back to Jo’burg. As we approached the gates to leave Sun City a fire truck zoomed ahead of us. The grass was on fire on the other side of the fence. Brush fires had sprang up everywhere along the roadside because of the heat and dryness. It does not rain in this area at all in the winter. The rains usually began in September.

We stopped at a marketplace, near Hartbeespoort, in the village of Kosmos. The vendors sell all kinds of carved wooden and stone items. Most of the vendors were very aggressive. I decided to buy items from a woman who did not give me "the hard sell". I negotiated for a large wooden salad bowl and spoons that have zebra carvings on the handles.

Close