Karkloof - A Destination Spa Holiday for all Reasons

Just so we get off on the right foot, I have to admit I am no spa expert.  Though I may be more fluent than most men, (and maybe a lot of ladies), about what goes on in these bastions of wellness and tranquillity. Luckily my colleagues are experts, so the pressure is off and I can look at things from a slightly different angle. So while I may not be able to give you a full list of the benefits of a lymphatic drainage massage or a Chi Nei Tsang, I do know what I like.

I visited Karkloof Spa in March this year. The concept itself was pretty intriguing. Luxury lodges with game drives and options for a massage or two are nothing unique in South Africa. But Karkloof, sitting on 3500 hectares, (about 14 square miles) of private land in the Kwa Zulu Natal region hasn’t followed the standard formula. The owners built Karkloof with the spa leading from the front. The place is infused with the personality of the owners.  They are successful business people, who took a passion for the finer things in life, the importance of health, a balanced life-style and the experience of years of global travel and translated this into their vision of a destination spa.

Getting there is actually pretty painless. There are direct flights from Heathrow to Johannesburg with decent connections for a short flight to Durban. The long-haul flight is a reasonable 10 hours, but the time difference is only 2 hours later than the UK so I wasn’t dealing with jet lag factor or wasting a day ‘recovering’.  A uniformed driver from Karkloof was waiting for me when  I arrived. We hopped into a nice new Range Rover for the drive. So far, so good.  A quick 80 minutes later and I was there. We passed through the city of Pietermaritzburg  just 20 minutes before arriving, but once I got there it was a completely different world.

In my mind one of the main reasons to travel to a destination spa, regardless of the programme you book, goals you set, results you expect, is the chance to take a breath. I did it every day, even with having to stay connected to home and business. Reality sucks, most of us have to do this. The idea is that the time you spend at Karkloof is your time. You can fill up your day, do nothing at all or make it up as you go along. If you are one of those that like to plan and schedule your day, fine. You can do that too. I spent my days walking, hiking, mountain biking, jumping in the river near the falls on property and just being outdoors in the sun on a gorgeous piece of land. Going out for a bike ride with small herds of zebra, antelope, giraffe and other game in the grass and fields off the trail is pretty surreal. Don’t worry about the rhinos, wildebeest and some bigger guys on the land, they’re roaming on the other side of the mountain ridge.

I was getting some pretty decent work-outs in the morning, so I started checking with the spa before I headed out, just to get a little advice. The spa managers were great in talking to me about what I was doing and suggesting a treatment in the evening that would fit in with what I was doing that day. I was only there for 5 days but started getting into this nice routine of getting up early, having a nice breakfast out on the restaurant terrace and heading out on the property for a ride, hike or maybe a game drive with my guide. Once I got back I could have a light lunch and just kick back in my villa or around the pool and read.

The villas are fantastic... large, comfortable, great furniture and excellent wi-fi connections.  In the late afternoon I’d walk up to the spa. The owners wanted to combine some of the qualities of the best Asian spas they visited with the natural beauty they have at the property. The result is fantastic, everything blends together and the spa facilities are tops. I would take a sauna or steam and then wait indoor by the pools for my therapist. The therapists have all been personally recruited by the owners from some of the best spas in Thailand. Remember I said I was no expert, but I had a series of Thai massages, all a bit different that focused on different areas depending on what I’d been doing and I loved it.  When I go back the one thing I’ll do is spend more time at the spa. Some weight loss and de-stress programmes are being put together by the spa management, so for those people who prefer a complete structured programme, you can do it. I’d leave the spa with this great feeling, really relaxed but with a nice amount of energy left over,the feeling you get when you know you’ve done something good for yourself.

I would head over to the lodge for dinner in the evenings. I can tell you, seriously, I had some of the best meals I have ever had in my life. They have a fantastic menu every night with great choices including a complete raw food menu if you prefer. I mixed it up, sometimes trying the raw starters, then having a main course of something regional (organic impala..fantastic!), then back to raw for the dessert. The chef would come out each evening and go through all the choices which was great. But I think the best thing about the lodge and dinners was the atmosphere. They had a different person from staff act as host each night.  It could be the spa manager one night, someone from housekeeping the next night and so on. It sort of changed the feeling each night which was great. Everyone there was so genuinely proud to be associated with this place, and people that are making it happen, that it just came through and the guests could feel it. It was really nice to come to the lodge a little early and sit at the bar or library and talk with the staff and other guests. I visited their wine cellar each evening. I couldn’t resist. They have this great selection of wines in a beautiful walk-in storage unit in the library. Chris at the bar would take me over and let me choose what I wanted for the evening, or do a little tasting before making a choice. The quality of service, the food, everything I found so good I was laughing on the way back to the villa. And it wasn’t only because of the wine.

For me, Karkloof has got it right. The owners have the passion to make this place special and for me, it already is. It’s been open less than a year so it may not be on a lot of people’s radar yet, but it will be.  They’ve picked up two awards recently, namely the Tatler Spa award for “The Most Exciting Discovery for 2009” and now the South African Tourism Welcome Award for “Best Overall Accommodation” provider announced at the Indaba Trade Show. Karkloof Spa was also featured on the Conde Nast USA hot list amongst the World’s Top 50 Spas. Karkloof won’t be a secret for much longer.