Drakensberg Sun Resort

The advantage of having my son at his present school is that their term and holiday dates do not coincide with many of the other schools, so during the winter vacation period, he had an extra week as compared to other schools. The upside is that we can schedule getaways at a time when the rush is over.

Winter in Kwazulu Natal, or should I correct myself and say Durban, is unlike the rest of South Africa. Where the rest of the country is experiencing a significant drop in temperatures, Durban still maintains its warmer climate. So to experience a little nip in the temperature, Durbanites often venture towards the mountains of Drakensburg. I am no different to the rest, taking my son at least once a year on the pilgrimage.

This winter vacation was no different, and although spoilt for choice, we settled on Drakensburg Sun Resort. The last time I visited this resort was eight years ago and reminiscing on those fond memories, my belief was that it was the perfect spot to shiver and shake for the next four days.

The drive from Durban was  two and a half hours, but the scenery was worth every minute. The only problem with driving in that direction is the trucks not keeping to their designated lanes and road works. We hit slow traffic a few times but we were too excited to notice.

We finally reached our destination and it was just as I remembered it. Clean, neat with well mannered staff. We checked in and then headed off to grab some lunch.

At this point I asked the waiter to recommend his best white wine and his response was simple, he could not recommend a wine because he did not drink wine. I giggled at his response and brushed it off to a lack of training. My son ordered a burger which arrived burnt, but that was not going to deter us from having a good time.

The next few days was spent bonding with Alex. The temperature was not as low as anticipated, with the days been a cool warm and the evening getting a bit colder. The resort is fully equipped for family fun. A game room with table tennis, a pool table, fuze ball machine and play station, if you are more of an outdoors person, they have great guided hiking trails which I would have loved to have done but having an eight year old does not allow for such strenuous activities. We did however sneak in some action putt putt and a few hours on the jungle gym. You also have the option of going horse riding which is not something I enjoy so that was struck off the bucket list. We definitely enjoyed the 20 minute boat ride around the little dam where if you wanted to, you could buy a fishing licence and fish for trout.

The resort itself is tranquil and I can imagine great parties happening around the pool area during the hot days of summer.

The downside side of the resort was that you had a limit on your internet access per day, so for someone like me who spends most of her days on the net, been rationed was torture. The resort also does not have a gym, which I found to be very weird. The food that I experienced during my stay was mediocre, however not so bad that you will lose weight. The resort has many monkeys who have a tendency to steal your food, so this is something you need to watch out for.

The one lesson I did learn was never to charge to your room and if you do, make sure that when you are paying you pay close attention to what you have been billed for. My account was incorrect, however after bringing it to the managers attention, he quickly sorted out the extra charges. However, how often do we pay and never really look at the bill in detail. So my advice for you is that make sure you know what you are paying for.

The manager and staff were all very accommodating and at the end I do recommend a visit to Drakensburg Sun Resort. It is a great little family break away and I am sure a little couple alone time at the resort could do no harm.