South Africa really is a magnificent place to play golf! Think about it. Where else can you play a superb golf course in the morning and, in some parts of the country, be out on safari that afternoon? And the golf is only part of the story. Wonderful restaurants, exceptional wines, beautiful beaches, mountains, vineyards and some of the most remarkable scenery you could wish for. Then there are the people, the great South African hospitality and that glorious climate. It's an extraordinary combination, and one I think international golfers should be paying far more attention to. The only problem? Finding enough time to enjoy everything between rounds! That's the story ADORE Africa is once again taking to Cannes this week for the International Golf Travel Market. And what a wonderful story South Africa has to tell! I hope more international golfers take notice and come and experience this remarkable country for themselves. Let Me Show You The South Africa I Love johnrobbie.africa [email protected] @IGTMarket @adore_africa

So sad to see the top cricket test match in the world at the moment played in an almost empty stadium in Durban! I’m sure the recent violent protests in Durban have something to do with it but still sad! On a brighter note, it’s great to see the Aussie tourists there as part of a number of organised tours. As well as the cricket they will visit game parks, seaside resorts, golf courses, restaurants and wine farms and spend money! I bet every one of them becomes an unofficial ambassador for this incredible country. We need more tourists, especially wealthy ones, as that is the quickest way to get people into jobs! Of course there are many problems in SA but an emphasis on tourism will help to address them. Enquire here: [email protected] johnrobbie.africa @adore_africa

South Africa was producing wine more than a century before America declared independence. The Cape's first recorded wine was made on 2 February 1659. French Huguenots began settling at the Cape in 1688, bringing winemaking knowledge that would help establish Franschhoek, the French Corner, as one of South Africa's great wine regions. Among them was Pierre Jourdan, who was granted land in the valley in 1694. More than three centuries later, his name remains part of the story of Haute Cabrière. When Achim von Arnim acquired the farm in 1982, he named his Cap Classique wines Pierre Jourdan in honour of its first owner. Today, Achim's son Takuan continues the family tradition, with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir at the centre of the estate's winemaking. Franschhoek lies within the Cape Floral Kingdom, the smallest of the world's six floral kingdoms, yet home to more than 9,000 plant species, most found nowhere else on Earth. A visit to the Cape Winelands is a wonderful way to end a safari. After early mornings, dusty tracks and the excitement of searching for wildlife, there is time for slower mornings, long lunches and stories shared around the table. I like the thought of reliving those moments over a glass of Cap Classique from an estate with more than three centuries of history behind it. Let Me Show You The South Africa I Love Start Planning johnrobbie.africa [email protected] @HauteCabriere @Franschhoek_SA @adore_africa

It is easy to look at the lions roaming Shamwari and assume this wilderness has always been here. Yet much of this Eastern Cape landscape was once farmland. In 1990, an ambitious effort began to restore the land and reintroduce the wildlife that had disappeared. Today, Shamwari protects 25,000 hectares and is home to the Big Five. An extraordinary achievement in conservation. For golfers, the Eastern Cape offers another compelling reason to visit. Humewood and St Francis Links are two of South Africa's finest courses, with Shamwari providing a remarkable contrast to a few days beside the Indian Ocean. What makes this journey special is not simply the golf or the wildlife, but the chance to experience a place where nature has been given a second chance. Let Me Show You The South Africa I Love. Start Planning johnrobbie.africa [email protected] @ShamwariReserve @adore_africa

A number of people have recently asked me about the late Jeffrey Archer. He was, by a mile, the rudest and most obnoxious person I have ever met. Ever! And I have met a few! Having been given formal permission for my wife and late father in law to attend the interview at his luxurious penthouse, I was shocked at the tantrum he threw about their presence. He went on and on about it! I cancelled the interview immediately, commiserated with his staff, told him what I thought of his behaviour and we left. In shock! In hindsight, and being as charitable as I can, perhaps he had just heard the news that he would do jail time for perjury. The news only officially broke months later. On the same day we had interviewed legendary rugby commentator Bill McLaren. After an incredibly generous and insightful interview for which he insisted on coming to our hotel, he told us his daughter had just been diagnosed with terminal cancer! Not for a minute did he consider breaking his agreement to chat on air. The best and the worst on the same day. RIP to them both.

Sun City has always been larger than life. The Palace, the Gary Player Country Club, the Nedbank Golf Challenge and the Lost City course, where the 13th has a water hazard with live Nile crocodiles. Then there is Pilanesberg, virtually on the doorstep. A malaria free Big Five reserve set within an ancient volcanic landscape. You can finish a round of golf and be watching elephant, lion and rhino later that afternoon. Continue to Madikwe and the whole experience shifts again. Red earth, Kalahari influence, enormous skies and extraordinary wildlife, with Jamala Madikwe, Mateya Safari Lodge, Morukuru Family Madikwe and Madikwe Safari Lodge among the places to stay. Elephant in remarkable numbers. Lion, rhino, leopard, cheetah and African wild dog. For me, this is one of the great pleasures of travelling through South Africa. Championship golf, the grandeur of The Palace, Pilanesberg next door and Madikwe beyond. Very different experiences, remarkably close together. Let Me Show You The South Africa I Love. johnrobbie.africa [email protected] @adore_africa @SunCityResortSA

Waking up on Zinkwazi Beach in Kwazulu Natal. Paradise is not a powerful enough word. Lagoon and ocean spotless. It’s just waiting for you. Let Me Show You The South Africa I Love. Enquire here: [email protected] johnrobbie.africa @adore_africa

The Garden Route is one of South Africa’s great golf destinations. Start in George, where some of the country’s finest courses sit between the Outeniqua Mountains and the Indian Ocean. Fancourt brings The Links, Montagu and Outeniqua, with George Golf Club, Kingswood and Oubaai nearby. Pinnacle Point follows the coastline towards Mossel Bay, while Simola and Pezula rise above Knysna, with Plettenberg Bay Country Club and Goose Valley further east. It is an extraordinary concentration of golf, with courses shaped by some of the great names of the game, Gary Player, Ernie Els, Jack Nicklaus, Peter Matkovich and Darren Clarke. Take your time through Wilderness and Sedgefield. Eat oysters beside the Knysna Lagoon and look out through the Heads. Stay in the indigenous forest at Tsala. Dine at Serendipity or Zinzi. Spend a few days in Plettenberg Bay for Robberg, beautiful beaches, wine estates and The Plettenberg overlooking the ocean. Cross the Outeniqua Mountains and you enter another world in Oudtshoorn and the Klein Karoo, with its ostrich farms, country roads and warm hospitality. Near Mossel Bay, Gondwana adds a Big Five safari without ever leaving the wider Garden Route journey. The golf becomes the golden thread of a much bigger journey of mountains, ocean, forests, small towns, wonderful people, food, wine, safari and adventure. Let Me Show You The South Africa I Love. @adore_africa

What a weekend, despite the Boks losing! The Lions beat Leinster and, as the only player to captain both sides, I was delighted to watch the narrow Lion’s win at Ellis Park. The Leinster officials told me they love coming to SA and cannot believe the tourism opportunities available here. 'Please tell the world!' I told them. Then to watch Ricardo Malajika become wbc super flyweight champ in Japan was fantastic! What a performance and what wonderful, classy speech afterwards! Once again, a South African team working together delivering world class results. If only all our politicians could do the same we would lead the world!

Today, fires are being lit all over South Africa. 🇿🇦 In back gardens and restaurants. Among the vineyards of the Cape and under a million stars in the African bush. Lamb chops sizzling over the coals. Boerewors on the grid. Sosaties, pap and chakalaka. A braaibroodjie — that wonderful South African invention of toasted bread, cheese, tomato and onion cooked over the fire. Potato salad on the table, a good South African wine being poured, and perhaps a koeksister or milk tart dusted with cinnamon to finish. But as good as the food may be, a braai has never only been about what’s on the fire. It is standing around the fire with friends and family. The stories. The laughter. The warmth. The way there always seems to be room for one more. We are a rainbow nation of many languages, many cultures, many histories and many tables. Today, across the country, we gather around them. Perhaps that is Ubuntu in its simplest form — I am because we are. I came to South Africa more than 40 years ago. Days like today remind me why I chose to stay. Happy Heritage Day, South Africa. 🇿🇦

KRUGER & SURROUNDS — GOLF IN THE WILD Coffee warming your hands before sunrise. Cool bush air on your face. The smell of earth and wild grass. Birds beginning to stir and, somewhere in the distance, a lion calling. Your guide and tracker are already reading the night’s story in the sand. Elephant. Leopard. Wild dog. Buffalo. Rhino. Incredible birdlife. A herd appearing quietly through the trees. That moment when the vehicle stops, the engine is switched off and everyone simply listens. This is Kruger. And then, almost unbelievably, you can go and play golf. At Leopard Creek, the Kruger lies across the Crocodile River. Stand on the famous 13th, high above the water, and there may be elephant or buffalo on the opposite bank, hippo and crocodile below. And you are supposed to concentrate on a putt. Then there is Skukuza. Here you are actually playing inside Kruger, on an unfenced course where the wildlife has right of way. Only in Africa. The golf is extraordinary. But the safari is a world of its own. Across Kruger and the surrounding private reserves are some of Africa’s most remarkable places to stay — Londolozi, Singita Lebombo, Sabi Sabi Earth Lodge, Royal Malewane, Dulini and Lion Sands Ivory Lodge — or perhaps a night aboard Kruger Shalati, the Train on the Bridge. And this is where the senses take over again. Lantern-lit paths. Cool linen after a hot day. Wonderful food. Great South African wine. Warm people who make you feel completely at home. Then dinner beneath a million African stars around a roaring fire. Laughter. Stories. Song. And later, when the fire settles, the bush takes over. Frogs. Cicadas. A hyena somewhere in the darkness. Perhaps a lion calling again. The smell of woodsmoke. The silence. That enormous night sky. And this is the part I love most. By being here, you are helping to enhance lives, protect wildlife and wild spaces and restore the land — while rewilding your own soul. You come for the wildlife. Perhaps for the golf. You leave with something much harder to describe. After more than 40 years in South Africa, I still find myself thinking: Where else can you do this? Let Me Show You The South Africa I Love. Enquire now: [email protected] johnrobbie.africa @LeopardCreekCC @adore_africa

TSWALU KALAHARI — A STORY OF RENEWAL The Kalahari has a way of surprising you. At Tswalu, almost 1,200 square kilometres of southern Kalahari have been given the chance to recover — and today it is one of the most remarkable wilderness experiences in South Africa. You explore with your own vehicle, guide and tracker. Meerkats at sunrise. The possibility of seeing pangolin or aardvark. Black-maned lions, cheetah, wild dog and black rhino. And enough space to stop, wait and see what happens. Then there is the luxury. Motse, Loapi and Tarkuni offer three very different ways to stay, while Boscia, under the creative direction of Luke Dale Roberts, brings serious food to the middle of the desert. But the part I admire most is what sits behind it all. For more than 25 years, Tswalu has been restoring land, rebuilding biodiversity and supporting scientific research. Tourism helps fund that work. Tswalu means “a new beginning.” Here, the name tells the story. And because South Africa likes to surprise golfers too, nearby Sishen Golf Club winds through a 500-hectare camelthorn forest on the edge of the Kalahari. Safari, remarkable food, conservation — and very good golf in the desert. Now that is a South African story worth travelling for. Let Me Show You The South Africa I Love. Enquire here: [email protected] johnrobbie.africa @Tswalu @adore_africa

People still ask me: “John, if I come once, where should I go?” My answer? Don’t come thinking once will be enough. South Africa is never one story. It is many stories, woven together into one magnificent journey at a time. You might start with Big Five safari and end in the Cape Winelands. Come for the golf and discover Johannesburg, our great inland courses and the small towns in between. Drive the Garden Route. Walk in the Drakensberg. Explore KwaZulu-Natal. Come back in another season and you’ll discover something different again. But wherever you go, you’ll meet the people. South Africans are passionate about their country. They want you to love it too. The ranger determined to find your first leopard. The caddie who knows every break on the green. The winemaker opening the bottle they are proudest of. The chef insisting you try one more dish. The person in a small town who sends you twenty kilometres down the road because, “You can’t come all this way and not see that.” After more than forty years here, I have yet to meet anyone who leaves South Africa feeling they have had enough. They leave with places they want to see again, people they want to see again — and a piece of their heart still here. Let Me Show You The South Africa I Love. Trusted by John. Delivered by ADORE Africa Enquire now: [email protected] johnrobbie.africa @adore_africa @TBCZA @Trevornoah

Fabilous reaction to the posts encouraging tourists to come to SA. Please spread the details to any contacts you have overseas or abroad in Africa. Some people suggesting that service delivery, crime and corruption should somehow take precedence over my message. They are totally missing the point! Economic growth is the overarching solution to poverty and crime. Jobs defeat guns! The fastest way to create jobs instantly is tourism! Our magnificent, unique country is our greatest asset. Let’s use it!

KwaZulu-Natal Is One of South Africa’s Most Exciting Golf Destinations From Durban Country Club and Zimbali to Prince’s Grant, Cotswold Downs, Champagne Sports Resort, Mount Edgecombe and Southbroom, KZN has serious golfing depth. But KZN is about much more than tee times. Think warm Indian Ocean beaches, The Oyster Box, Durban’s food and hospitality, the Midlands Meander and the Drakensberg, historic Battlefields, and Phinda’s exceptional wildlife, lodges and conservation story. It is exactly the combination golfers come to South Africa for — great courses, great weather, wildlife, culture, food and plenty to enjoy between rounds. Let Me Show You The South Africa I Love. johnrobbie.africa [email protected] @adore_africa @dbntourism

Johannesburg was built on gold, but its real wealth has always been its people. I’ve known this city for more than forty years. Mandela’s story is woven through Soweto, Constitution Hill and Houghton; its food reflects the many cultures that have shaped it; and today Johannesburg has exceptional hotels, a superb restaurant scene, excellent art galleries and a cultural life all its own. For golfers, the depth is formidable: Royal Johannesburg, River Club, Glendower, Houghton, Wanderers, Steyn City and Blair Atholl, to name but a few. From Johannesburg, the Kruger and some of Southern Africa’s finest safari destinations are within easy reach. Let Me Show You The South Africa I Love. Travel with confidence. ADORE Africa. johnrobbie.africa [email protected] @adore_africa

Gary Player designed it. The best in the world have played it. Sun City has hosted the Nedbank Golf Challenge since 1981. Four hotels, including The Palace. Two Gary Player-designed courses. The Valley of Waves, excellent restaurants, spas and plenty to do beyond the golf. And when the golf is done, Madikwe is within easy reach — magnificent Big Five safari and superb lodges. That’s what I love about golf in South Africa. The golf is only part of the journey. Let me show you the South Africa I love. johnrobbie.africa @garyplayer @SunCityResortSA @DPWorldTour @PGATOUR @adore_africa

Always special to play at my home club, The Wanderers — even more so with Gary Player. A great club, a superb golf course, and another reminder that some of South Africa’s finest golf is found inland.