Natal Spa (Kwazulu Natal, Republic of South Africa)

Although you will find plenty of spots to relax, the Natal Spa really caters for the entire family - the focus being on recreation for the entire family. You will have to spend more than just a weekend there to take advantage of them all. For the active, there is squash, tennis, hiking, birding trails and fishing. Indoors, relax with some snooker, table tennis or darts. The main attraction is of course the mineral water pools - however once you have relaxed sore muscles there, cool off in the 'normal' swimming pools. You will find a total of nine hot and cold mineral water pools. The hot springs have the benefit of being 'Triple Waters' which means that they contain carbonates, chlorides and sulphates and have a temperature at the source of 40 degrees C. The enormous granite boulders in the gardens make for unusual features. As you walk around the grounds, don't be alarmed by some scuttling little creatures - they are the dassies -rock rabbits- which of course find the rocks ideal places foe sunning themselves. Four hiking trails are demarcated and Bushmen paintings can be viewed near to the hotel. Recommended is the birding walk, led by SASOL qualified guide, Simon Zwane, who is indeed an authority on the bird life. On my visit, a walk of only one hour's duration revealed some 20 different bird species in the grounds alone, however in excess of 197 bird species have been identified in the surroundings and the Natal Spa is proudly home to a pair of breeding Crowned Eagles. The birding walks are on request. En route you will enjoy a scenic route, passing the Big Rock near the hot sulphur pools and the river. And for the kiddies a great 110m long SUPERTUBE is available alongside the hot pools, so parents can keep an eye on the young ones enjoying themselves.