ITå‘S GREAT BEING BACK IN AFRICA. These are the words of Rene Breuer, Rani Africaå‘s new Sales and Marketing Director, who recently returned home after serving the hotel industry in Australia for several years. å“We have everything to offer the discerning international and Southern African traveller wanting gracious service, fine international cuisine, luxury accommodation and fabulous island and bush destinations with a myriad activities to ensure they are constantly stimulated.å”
The South African Landscaping Institute & Green Industry held their annual awards early in January, when Indigo Bay Island Resort Hotel and Pemba Beach Hotel both received gold awards. The Stanley & Livingstone was still being refurbished during that time.
The Stanley and Livingstone (S&L) at Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, the small luxury all-suite hotel, is ready for business again, after being enhanced and enlarged, and is welcoming guests once again with its well-known courteous service and superior accommodation
This gracefulÊ hotel now offering sixteen suites has undergone major upgrading of its gardens, swimming pool and pool bar. The interior decorating was performed by the same decorator, Linda Richardson of Liaison Décor, who decorated the hotel originally in 1999.
Activities include bush drives or jump on to an elephant back safari at the watering hole beyond the beautifully landscaped gardens of the estate. Private hotel transfers are offered to view the magnificence ofÊ The Victoria Falls, cruise on the Zambezi River at sunset or take in the adrenalin rush of white water rafting and bungi jumping, all within 15 minutes drive from the hotel.
The secluded location of this small luxury hotel, just off the beaten track, the exquisite and elegant décor of the spacious bedrooms with sumptuous en suite living rooms and Victorian bathrooms, secluded patios overlooking shimmering ponds and calming lush tropical gardens in contrast to the surrounding African bush alive with sounds of the wild, make for a memorable visit to a stately establishment.
The all-embracing hospitality, international cuisine,Ê traditional colonial decor andÊ objects d’art offer elegance of the highest order, where the individual as well as corporate traveller will not be disappointed. In fact, the classically designed boardroom offers excellent facilities and total privacy for up to twelve executives.
The wine cellar is a connoisseur’s delight, with South African, Spanish, French as well as fragrant locally produced sauvignon blanc.
Rates from US$294 for B&B to US$420 (approximately R3360) fully inclusive of all meals, local beverages, airport transfers, daily town transfer and estate activities per person sharing per night. Children by prior arrangement only. View atÊ www.stanley-livingstone-hotel.com , contact your travel agent or Rani Africa Central Reservations on +27 11 467 1277.
Indigo Bay Island Resort is the only luxury hotel in the Bazaruto Archipelago National Park in Mozambique and offers superior accommodation, service and hospitality, with white beaches, soaring sand dunes, freshwater lakes, exuberant bird life and those softly fringed thatched roofs and luxurious architecture that island dreams are made of! Conde Nast Traveler chose it as one of the 80 best new hotels in the world Hot List, May 2003!
The tranquillity and harmony, beauty, friendly service, scrumptious cuisine and a myriad activities, including five-star stables for horse riding, scuba diving, deep-sea and bill fishing, and nature drives, including crocodile viewing in the freshwater lakes, make for a getaway of a lifetime! But, for those who wish to simply relax, swim in the warm Indian Ocean, walk on the white beach, float on the infinitive salt-water swimming pool overlooking the beach, laze in a hammock and simply nod for service from the enthusiastic staff - or order tall cool island drinks from your seat in the pool at the bar - this is the answer to serious de-stressing from city havoc!
Choices of air conditioned accommodation include privately situated Chalets on the beach and Bay View rooms on a ridge overlooking the resort and azure sea. The two newly completed Suites with private pools and feng shui views and a special secluded Chalet, steps away from the gently lapping Indian Ocean, are ideal for honeymooners! A package offering special recognition designed to enhance the making of memories is offered to honeymooners at no additional cost.
The new Maguluti Activities Centre on the beach, the scuba training pool, informal lunch and evening entertainment are part of the many activities on offer at Indigo Bay Island Resort.
The sunset activities are the stuff romance thrives on, including a cruise in the Bay with sundowners, diving over the edge into the safe warm waters, with the enormous variety of fish dancing below. The Indigo Bay horses do not require a formal invitation to swim while you are riding them bareback on the beach. The horses will not be available during August and September due to vaccination. Go on an island drive up the dunes for sundowners, with the moon rising in the east as the sun sets in the west, or simply enjoy the privacy of your veranda, with an icy drink from your mini-bar, savouring the breathtaking sunsets over the Bay. Dine in the main Golfinho Restaurant for a la carte dinner choices, on the Beach Deck for scrumptious seafood barbeques on the edge of the ocean, or savour a delicious picnic lunch for a day out cruising the islands.  As part of its eco-friendly vision, Indigo Bay Island Resort Hotel strongly supports the fishing practice of ‘Catch & Release’ and all guests who release a billfish will receive an official ORI and an Indigo Bay release certificate. Getting to Bazaruto is simple, from anywhere in the world, via Johannesburg to Vilanculos, Mozambique, as well as from Durban to Vilanculos (newly launched flights on Swazi Express Airways, via Matshapha) from where transfers are smoothly handled by Indigo Bay’s Airvan, a sturdy eight-seat Australian aircraft that has you landing in paradise in 15 minutes after the incredible views of the clear, turquoise waters and sand banks at the depths of this heavenly island destination from the aircraft.
Situated in far northern Mozambique, close to the Tanzanian border, this is the only luxury hotel in Pemba and offers a secure beach with aesthetically unique five-star Arabian-influenced architecture. The rooms, including the two suites, restaurant, bar and infinitive pool, face the ocean. The ideal, spacious conference venues, seafood at it’s best, especially the Mozambican prawns at the Quirimba restaurant, and service with a smile make this a sought-after fishing, diving and conference destination.This long forgotten sleepy town, formerly known as Porto Amelia, is steeped in colonial and trader history, with the nearby Ibo island and Mozambique island, a World Heritage site, in the Quirimbas Archipelago. Situated on one third of the world’s largest natural deepwater harbours in the far northern Mozambique province of Cabo Delgado, only 240km from the border of Tanzania, Pemba is an ideal exploration destination, with prime fishing waters, including the St Lazarus Banks. Activities by arrangement include sunset cruises, a city tour, visiting the Lurio waterfalls and the forest across the bay, where elephants have roamed for generations. New leisure water sport facilities are under development and will be launched in September 2003.  Rates at Pemba, including bed and breakfast, are from US$ 100 per person sharing per night (approximately R800) to Suite double US$ 240. Call Rani Africa or contact your travel agent and view at www.pembabeach.com. Families welcome.
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