The Magic Of Sun City

Our very good friends Daniella and Chris won a 2 night week day stay at the Cabanas in Sun City. Being the absolutely amazing humans that they are, they decided to give Travis and I their prize so that we could get out of Joburg for a bit. What a magical time we had!


Sun City has recently been upgraded so we were eager to see what exactly had changed. Travis and I have both been to Sun City before. I went with family when I was little and I have such fun memories of the place. Travis has been numerous times but he had never been to the palace so I insisted that we visit as I remember how magnificent it was.

The upgrades were nothing to write home about. The casino, food court and mall were all upgraded and are very clean, modern and have everything you need. I just feel that if you go to Sun City and rave about the mall then you are doing it wrong. So, while I'm sure it needed an upgrade, it hasn't changed the Sun City experience at all - which is not a bad thing. Oh and there was one new ride at the valley of the waves which looked pretty epic but unfortunately it wasn't open.

We stayed at the Cabanas which was nice and clean and had everything we wanted. We had a bnb package so we could enjoy a really impressive breakfast buffet in the mornings.

We left Joburg on Monday morning around 9 and got to Sun City around 11.30. Once we had checked in we decided to go explore and get our bearings. There are shuttles every 15mins that take you from the Cabanas, to the casino, to the Cascades, to the Valley of the Waves and the palace. It's very easy and quick to get from one spot to another which is great!

We started by visiting the beautiful gardens at the Cascades. It was so quiet so we had the 'forest' all to ourselves which was incredible. We went down every path and discovered waterfalls, caves, bird gardens, bridges and more. I'm a sucker for nature so I really enjoyed myself!

After that we decided to hit the palace. We were told that to go explore the palace we needed a high tea or dinner reservation as the palace isn't open to the public. We booked for high tea (Only R240 each) and off we went! I knew that the palace was beautiful as I had been there when I was young but you can't truly appreciate the sheer scale and detail of the building at a young age. It really is a palace, tucked away in an incredible jungle that really gives the illusion that it is an ancient lost world. The architecture and furnishings are unbelievable!

After walking through the gardens, pool area and wandering around the breath taking lounges of the palace we finally settled done for some high tea at 3. Travis has never had high tea so he was very excited to indulge in a selection of mouth watering savory and sweet treats, as well as exotic teas and pretty much anything you can think of. It was such a lovely experience!

With full tummies, we moved on to our next activity - the casino! We asked the cashier to load R50 each for us and she informed us that the minimum was R300. We're obviously not seasoned gamblers, made more evident by the fact that the lady at the cashier next to us asked for R10 000. Anyway, we got our R300 and hit the slot machines! We won, we lost, we got over it and checked out after losing about R10 each. Gambling isn't for us! We went back to the mall and decided to spend R50 each at the magic company - a much more enjoyable experience. We played all sorts of games and after a considerable amount of time, we walked out with big smiles and some sweeties we had traded in our 400 tickets for.

Day one was eventful and so much fun but I couldn't wait for day two, a whole day at the valley of the waves on Valentine's Day!

We didn't take our phones so I missed out on some really great pics but it was nice to be disconnected for a whole day. We had the whole 'beach' to ourselves which made the day that much more wonderful. I don't think going on the weekend with 10 000 other people would have been as much fun! There were NO queues for the rides, no fighting for space to set up our spot on the beach, no kids swimming into you while you enjoyed the water - it was fantastic!

What I love about the valley of the waves is that, the water is crystal clear and clean, you can see to the bottom and not have to fear creepy crawlies touching you. The waves are controlled so it's safe and you know that you can 'ride a wave' on queue. Oh and the super warm weather means that you can walk around wet without worrying about getting cold. It really was my kind of holiday, as unadventurous as it all sounds. Travis said "I've never seen you have so much fun in water" which proves my point.

We stopped our water activities for a quick lunch at the new craft brewery, the Brew Monkey. It was pretty average but the view over the valley of the waves was lovely. We also went up to the royal baths which had an even more beautiful view! The baths is an adult only swimming pool area for residents at Sun City, a nice way to get some peace and quiet if the valley of the waves is busy.

After the valley of the waves we went back to the Cabanas for a quick game of miniature golf before heading to the mall for a movie. 50 shades darker was the obvious choice for Valentine's Day.

And that concluded our amazing Sun City trip.

Thank-you again to Daniella and Chris for giving us an experience we will never forget xx