{"id":11847,"date":"2016-09-22T15:16:36","date_gmt":"2016-09-22T14:16:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ethosmarketing.co.uk.dedi391.nur4.host-h.net\/blog\/?p=11847"},"modified":"2020-11-17T15:44:00","modified_gmt":"2020-11-17T15:44:00","slug":"the-england-family-kzn-holiday-highlights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ethosmarketing.co.uk\/blog\/2016\/09\/22\/the-england-family-kzn-holiday-highlights\/","title":{"rendered":"The England Family KZN Holiday Highlights"},"content":{"rendered":"

Booking a family holiday is always fraught with challenges.\u00a0 We want to create great memories and have some amazing experiences but equally some chill out time.\u00a0 We want good weather, but for it not to be so hot that the children will be complaining about the heat every time we get set to go out.\u00a0 There is nothing worse than thinking \u2013 \u201cWe would have been better off with 2 weeks by the pool\u201d \u2013 once you have made the decision for soft family adventure!<\/p>\n

So \u2013 once I had sold my husband into the budget, Daisy (aged 11 yrs) into zip lining and a spa experience and Hayden (aged 7 yrs) into anything and everything with the word \u201cadventure\u201d in it \u2013 the decision was made.\u00a0 The England Family were off on their first family adventure to South Africa, and more specifically KwaZulu-Natal.<\/p>\n

The excitement was building.\u00a0 Bags were packed.\u00a0 We were bound for Heathrow and our Turkish Airlines flight via Istanbul to Durban.\u00a0 Another great flight with Turkish.\u00a0 Only 1 and a half hours stopover in Istanbul and then onwards for our non-stop flight to Durban.\u00a0\u00a0 Very easy and very do-able with children.\u00a0 Back to back films on a fab entertainment system kept them amused and as parents, we were very relaxed.<\/p>\n

Arriving into Durban\u2019s winter sunshine, we picked up our car and headed off for our first destination, Fordoun Hotel & Spa in The Midlands.\u00a0 Now, as the heading advises, this blog is purely the highlights.\u00a0 Over the coming editions of Snippets I will tell you more about each of our adventures!<\/p>\n

\"KZN<\/a><\/p>\n

Fordoun gave us the chance to settle into South Africa gently.\u00a0 From here we went mountain biking around the farm grounds, swam in the indoor pool, experienced their inaugural family tractor ride and wandered through the Midlands arts and crafts shops.\u00a0 The highlight however was The Karkloof zip-lining and our visit to the Mandela Capture Site \u2013 a mind blowing day!<\/p>\n

Onwards and literally upwards as our next stop took us to Cathedral Peak Hotel, right in the Drakensberg Mountains.\u00a0 Here we spotted our first bit of wildlife \u2013 baboons and bushbuck \u2013 the excitement was contagious!\u00a0 Everything had to be tried, whether it was the trampoline, climbing wall, lawn bowls, or mini golf \u2013 you name it \u2013 we tried it!\u00a0 We did leave a little time to chill by the pool, but only in preparation for the highlight of our stay – our short mountain walk to Belinda Falls.\u00a0 Well, maybe I should say short walk to, over and through the falls.\u00a0 Try stopping Hayden from climbing if there is the opportunity!<\/p>\n

Waving good-bye to Cathedral Peak and we were set for our longest journey of the holiday \u2013 5 hours to Pakamisa.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Now here we would be jam packed with activities and in hindsight should have stayed at least a day longer.\u00a0 We tried our hand at archery and rifle shooting, which to our surprise we were all rather good at!\u00a0 We went on a game drive to spot plains game and of course Daisy and I spent some time relaxing by the pool!\u00a0 The highlights here were without a doubt the bush walk to track giraffe (and we found them) and the horseback safari.\u00a0 It is an incredible feeling to be part of the wildlife, getting up close to warthog, zebra and giraffe.<\/p>\n

\"KZN<\/a><\/p>\n

With the temperatures rising we leave Pakamisa and start to head across the province and closer to the East coast.\u00a0 We have based ourselves for a few days at Ghost Mountain Inn to enable us to enjoy both the hotel grounds and the wealth of activities.\u00a0 Once again it was key to explore the property taking in the pontoon at the end of the lake walkway, the Zulu Huts, playpark, very climbable trees and the pool.\u00a0 Relaxing this time came in the form of a sun-lounger or a hanging chair.\u00a0\u00a0 Every day we would head out for a different activity \u2013 a cultural tour to a homestead, a boat cruise on Lake Jozini, a game drive in Mkuze, or the highlight of our stay here \u2013 a game drive in Hluhluwe to see numerous rhino.<\/p>\n

We are nearing the end of our adventure in KwaZulu-Natal.\u00a0 Leaving Ghost Mountain Inn bright and early we head for Richard\u2019s Bay for the most incredible Whale Watching boat trip.\u00a0 This really had to be the collective number one experience.\u00a0 Back on shore and we carry further on down the coast to Salt Rock.\u00a0 Here we spend our final 3 nights at Canelands, where we chill by the pool, swim in the rock pools, walk along the beach, head out to uShaka and of course \u2013 take in a little bit of retail therapy in Gateway Shopping Centre.<\/p>\n

So, with our memories, photos, and shopping, we head for the airport.\u00a0 This time we are heading back on Emirates via Dubai to Gatwick airport.\u00a0 Again, another easy and enjoyable journey.<\/p>\n

And so concludes the England\u2019s first family adventure to Africa and I can confidently say not their last.\u00a0 A family holiday should be just that – time spent as a family \u2013 and this was the ultimate highlight of this holiday \u2013 time spent together.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Booking a family holiday is always fraught with challenges.\u00a0 We want to create great memories and have some amazing experiences but equally some chill out…<\/p>\n

Continue readingThe England Family KZN Holiday Highlights<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[247,246,16,135],"class_list":["post-11847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ghost-mountain-inn","tag-adventure-holiday","tag-family-holiday","tag-kwazulu-natal","tag-south-africa","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ethosmarketing.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ethosmarketing.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ethosmarketing.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ethosmarketing.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ethosmarketing.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11847"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ethosmarketing.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11847\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ethosmarketing.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ethosmarketing.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ethosmarketing.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}