With just a few days to go until the New Year, we would like to wish you and your families a safe and happy festive season ahead and peaceful and prosperous 2010.

The Kuoni Private Safaris Team

The Radisson Blu Hotel situated adjacent to the V&A Waterfront, recently completed a refurbishement of 57 Business Class rooms and 11 sea-facing suites, all designed to minimise the clients’ carbon footprint.

The environmentally friendly rooms have been fitted with water-efficient baths and showerheads, energy-saving light bulbs and power-cutting access key cards keeping electricity and water usage to a minimum.

Balcony door sensors ensure that the air-conditioning unit is deactivated when they are open. Other deveopments at the hotel include movies on demand which can be viewed on new LCD screens fitted in each lounge area, as well as smaller LCD screens in each bedroom.

African Pride Hotels’ latest 5-star deluxe offering - Crystal Towers Hotel & Spa - has just opened. Situated just 12 km from the city centre in the heart of Century City's urban hub, it has been designed with an ethos that embodies a personal, unique experience for each guest, whether travelling for business or leisure.

Cascading curtains of fibre optic light and a welcoming red carret embedded with star lights beckon. This positive energy and feeling of wellness extends itself through to the mood-enhancing lighting in 180 beautifully decorated luxury bedrooms

The numerous facilities include a fine dining restaurant, health spa, gym, pool and state-of-the-art conference centre. Experienced personnel are on hand to assure guests of a relaxing, fun-filled and productive stay

15 on Orange Hotel is African Pride's newest city icon of style. Set at the foot of Table Mountain in the up market suburb of Gardens, its distinctive architecture, décor and guest service experience extraordinaire sets this city 5-star hotel apart from any hotel of its kind.

Each of the 130 spacious suites contains a host of first-class leisure and entertainment amenities and designer furniture complimented by cool dappled wall tones, warm plush carpets and mood lighting to ensure optimum comfort and luxury.

Superior conference facilities, a flagship spar; exceptional dining and entertaining amenities cater for all tastes. A selection of exclusive retail outlets, bistros and a chic nightlife venue blend together to create an elite social hub at your doorstep!

Nduna Lodge, situated just one hour from Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape in the malaria free bushveld, has been architecturally designed to blend in with the landscape.

All 15 luxurious air-conditioned suites are the epitome of elegant comfort and ooze African Chic. Guests can enjoy breathtaking views from private patios where they can unwind and get closer to nature.

This child friendly lodge has a restaurant boasting South African cuisine with a modern flair, a swimming pool and outdoor boma. They also cater for functions such as weddings, conferences and team building. Activities here include game drives in open vehicles as well as on quad bikes. Tennis, a trampoline, jungle gym and a kids playing room complete the picture.

With the new year comes a change at the helm of our MICE department as we welcome Liezel Viviers as the new Divisional Manager. She replaces Robin Mcleod who will be leaving us at the end of December. We wish both all of the best!

Introducing Classic Africa Safaris - an exclusive safari camp located in Mana Pools National Park which provides tented safaris on the banks of the Zambezi River.

Offering personalized hospitality, the camps are set up for just two people or a group of eight travelling together.

Situated under the shade of Mahogany and Albida trees with superb river views, each site is not used for more than three weeks after which it is moved, thus maintaining the pristine nature of Mana Pools

To add to this environmentally sound practice, the trips are not run in the rainy season and are only offered from April to November each year.

A typical day at Mana Pools includes game drives in open vehicles, walking experiences with wildlife and canoeing on the Zambezi.

With the region's abundant wildlife both on land and in the river as well as the location of the camps, guests are bound to have some incredible sightings and experiences

Just eight kilometres from the town of Grootfontein is the newly opened BushBaby Safaris lodge & Campsite - an ideal place to stop on the way from Etosha to Northern Namibia, Caprivi and Bushmanland.

Situated in the heart of the bush savannah with lots of game, mountains and sensational views over the wide African landscape, BushBaby is heaven for game lovers.

A floodlit waterhole attracts a varitey of wildlife ranging from eland, wildebeest, zebra, blesbok, impala, Damara dik-dik, waterbuck and springbok.

Smaller animals, such as squirrels, vervet monkeys and bushbabies frequent the trees around the lodge

The lodge has five double rooms, a bar and an open-air dining area with an incredible view of a wide plain.

Evenings can be spent sitting outside at the big fireplace in the garden while you admire the clear starlit skies.

All eyes were on Cape Town early December as the city hosted the official draw for the 2010 Fifa World Cup at Cape Town's International Convention Centre.

At the same time, approximately 15’000 revellers watched the draw live from a giant television screen set against the backdrop of Table Mountain and enjoyed a massive street party afterward. The draw was also broadcast to millions of fans in more than 200 countries and was truly an exhilarating occasion

The undoubted centre piece came when the eight groups were revealed:

• Group A: South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France
• Group B: Argentina, Nigeria, Korea Republic, Greece
• Group C: England, USA, Algeria, Slovenia
• Group D: Germany, Australia, Serbia, Ghana
• Group E: Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, Cameroon
• Group F: Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand, Slovakia
• Group G: Brazil, Korea DPR, Côte d'Ivoire, Portugal
• Group H: Spain, Switzerland, Honduras, Chile

With the final draw now behind us, we look forward to an exciting period ahead as the world gears up for the BEAUTIFUL GAME - the Soccer Word Cup 2010. Please do not hesitate to contact us for any of your requirements over this period. Article courtesy South Africa.info