Greening the Rainbow Nation
By: Tricia Willis
South Africa’s scenery has been described as ‘the world in one country’, and its natural diversity provides the perfect location for vast and beautiful golf courses, many of which feature luxurious properties and spectacular world-class facilities, and, considering the current climate, an equally strong focus on eco-friendly design.
“Coming back into fashion, South Africa has been a favourite destination with property buying golfers for many years. Where else can you spot warthogs trotting down the fairway or having to watch out for crocodiles in the water hazards?”
South Africa is a long-haul destination - about 10 hours to Johannesburg, and 12 hours to Cape Town - it is still possible to have a long weekend away as there is just two hours time difference. Plus the language is English, the weather is good all year round, the scenery is stunning everywhere and the food and wine outstanding. The favourable exchange rate helps to create a seriously wonderful destination.
New golfing resorts including Fijnbosch, Pearl Valley and Oubaai are attracting a cosmopolitan property purchasing crowd, with low golfing fees, caddie rates, estate charges and general cost of living all adding to the allure, while these gated communities also offer excellent security.”
Buyers desiring wider holiday benefits than golf alone should look to the delightful lagoon-side town of Knysna, which was voted South Africa's best vacation town in 2000 and 2002. Located just ten minutes away from Knysna, a 40-minute flight from Cape Town, 20 minutes from Plettenberg Bay airport and 60 kilometres from the national airport at George, the golf and country estate of Pezula affords a fantastic golfing holiday home.
Pezula possesses an enviable location on the famous Garden Route. Bordered by the Southern Cape’s rugged cliffs, the resort encompasses a protected nature reserve and forest, bestowing breathtaking views of the Indian Ocean and Knysna Lagoon with a backdrop of the Outeniqua Mountains from its position high up, on the eastern head of Knysna. Only 15 per cent of the estate is due to be developed, with the rest remaining as forest and replanted native fynbos, a project that has also encouraged wildlife back into the area.
Immersed in this kaleidoscopic scenery, the golf course, designed by Ronald Fream and David Dale of Golf Plan USA, combines the Scottish links style with parkland-style rye grass fairways shaped by semi-rough areas to protect the reserve’s bordering roughs.
Widening the sporting interests, Pezula’s Field of Dreams includes four world-class tennis courts, golf practice area and international cricket oval, with provision for archery, softball, football, hockey, and pétanque, bird-watching, horse-riding and nature trails. Families are made welcome by an animal touch farm, and residents desiring complete R&R should head for the Botanical Garden, the resort’s hotel and award winning spa, or the secluded Noetzie beach. The 28 north-facing plots in the Country Estate average 5,000 square metres in size and start from R1.37 million (£90,000). The type of property that can be built is restricted to maintain the resort’s environmental credentials.
Keith Stewart, Pezula Chairman, comments: “Property at Pezula represents great value when compared with top private estates in other countries around the world, as the pound and dollar is currently so strong against the rand.
Property values at Pezula have risen steadily since the resort began, with buyers in 2003 realising a 74 per cent return on their investment. This is an exceptional opportunity for UK buyers to acquire a superb property with proven value.”
Buyers with strong environmental awareness who desire the Western Cape should certainly view the prestigious Mount Royal Golf and Country Estate, especially since it is one of the last to be approved in this region. Occupying a 17-hectare conservation area located on the edge of Malmesbury next to the motorway and only 62 kilometres from Cape Town, the hillside position offers views over the fairways and a distant vista of Table Mountain, the wheat lands and vineyards of the Swartland, and borders a seasonal stream that provides an essential bird habitat. In fact, while an advanced access control system with 24-hour security provides the ultimate in safety, resident’s eco-friendly peace of mind is assured by a catalogue of conservation initiatives: preservation and landscaping of highly threatened indigenous vegetation and public access to the conservation area via hiking and jogging trails are accompanied by treated waste water to irrigate the fairways, alongside water and energy saving property design. A public benefit scheme provides training and skills development to empower the local communities.
Future plans will also create a formidable golfing venue. The existing nine-hole golf course is to be extended to a full 18-hole course designed by renowned architect Mark Muller, who has previously worked alongside Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player. Commencement of play at the new course is scheduled for April 2010, with an upgraded club house, new medical and wellness amenities, a health spa and boutique hotel centre, function facilities, gym, tennis courts, and a restaurant.
As for Mount Royals property range, 715 plots between 600 and 800 square metres for self-building now come with pre-approved plans in styles named English Country, Rural Victorian, Rural Tuscan or Provencal, and Cape Vernacular. Properties with lower garden maintenance are provided in the first of two group housing complexes planned - the ‘Royal Toscana’ comprises 11 units in French Provencal style on 400-square-metre plots, located on the estate’s highest elevation with lofty countryside views. Priced from R395 000 to R1 million (£25,000 to £65,000).
Illustrating the shift in attention to world-class facilities, Oubaai Golf Resort features a Lifestyle Centre and Golf Academy, which comprises a lobby, fresh fruit smoothes bar, kids club, locker-rooms, squash court, gymnasium and a multi-use room. Add to this a roof-top tennis and basketball court and external facilities including a driving range, chipping and putting area, half Olympic-length heated lap pool plus recreational pools with leisurely decking areas, and the self-contained community provides residents with a very well-rounded and exclusive lifestyle.
Located five minutes from George Airport on the coastline of the Garden Route at Harold Bay, Oubaai Golf Resort is the first championship golf course in South Africa designed by three times Major winner Ernie Els, who ranks Oubaai as one of his favourite courses in the world. The coastal course of 6,516 metres comprises a links layout with veld grasses lining the lush fairways and greens. A two-tee operation comprising an exclusive members-only area and a visitor section, each boasting a clubhouse, is accompanied by the prospect of sighting whales in the Indian Ocean or fish eagles in the gorge, plus idyllic scenes of the Gwaing River and distant Outeniqua Mountains.
The Village at Oubaai comprises residential apartments weaving around scenic walkways emanating from a central hub of communal amenities, with moat and promenade providing the opportunity to purchase a waterfront property. Indeed, interest is soaring, with the on-site Nicholson Group sales team signing contracts to the value of more than R79m since December 2007. Group chief executive Denis Nicholson states that there are many influential factors: the 100-room, five-star Hyatt Regency Hotel and Spa plus the retail centre due for completion in late 2009 will add value to the overall Oubaai experience, as well being a catalyst in attracting high-profile golf tournaments. It has been announced that the Southern African Golf Hall of Fame will be hosted at Oubaai with an expectation of at least 20,000 visitors per annum, thus raising rental occupancies and sales interest. For your slice of this highly acclaimed resort, property prices start from R1 350 000 (£88,000).
For unadulterated peace and quiet, Fijnbosch Estate is situated on St Francis Bay - one of South Africa’s finest stretches of coastline in an area renowned as much for its unhurried lifestyle as its offering of bird-watching, world-class surfing, adventure sports and game parks. Yet the estate is conveniently positioned within a 90-minute drive of three major airports in an area officially recognised as the 'Eastern Gateway’ to the Garden Route golfing experience. Moreover buyers seeking world-class recognition will be thrilled by the 18-hole St Francis Links course, designed by Jack Nicklaus. The magnificent setting boasts undulating dunes speckled by fine grass and protruding mounds lashed by coastal winds, delivering a rewarding and challenging course for all level of players. Wider appeal is provided by a luxury clubhouse and boutique hotel, with all property owners receiving free membership to this stunning course, plus access to the driving range and golf academy, worth around £15,000. A range of properties are available in the gated low-density residential development, which is based around a contemporary neo-Cape Dutch lifestyle-ideal, focusing on relaxation and easy living.
Properties on offer range from two-bedroom, two-bathroom houses to four-bedroom, four-bathroom residences, all entailing covered patio areas with timber decking for outdoor entertainment, priced from £142,680 to £227,220.
At the other end of the budget scale, Zimbali Coastal Resort offers luxury residences for the most discerning clientele. Spanning a 700-hectare site on the pristine stretch of KwaZulu-Natal’s Dolphin Coast, Zimbali is just 45 kilometres north of Durban, within close proximity to several safari game parks and historic Anglo-Zulu battlefields. Andreas Wassenaar, sales and marketing director for the resort, says: “With an incredible coastal positioning, Zimbali is naturally endowed with an ecological richness as well as biological diversity. These include lowland and coastal dune forest and wetland vegetation and scrub, which are the natural habitats for the many bush buck, grey and blue duiker, crested guinea fowl, bush pig, and mongoose that live in Zimbali.” Yet while the setting certainly stands out, the development is also astounding: the existing Tom Weiskopf-designed golf course is joined by the Zimbali Lodge and Country Club, comprising five-star luxury accommodation, health spa and pool, alongside a pro shop, putting greens, driving range and restaurant.
A beachfront property with infinity pool and master-crafted finishes on Cherrywood Lane, Zimbali, not only commands one of the highest asking prices in the province at R35 million (£2.3 million), but sets a benchmark for luxury living. Within the impressive architecture of two pavilion wings, four luxury bedrooms are joined by a fifth room suitable for staff quarters, an open plan kitchen and dining room is furthered by three lounges and large built-in bar, with indoor entertainment catered for by a play room boasting a remote entertainment system and pool table. Since residential sites at the Zimbali Costal Resort are almost sold out, buyers must now look to future resort plans such as the Fairmont Resort currently under construction. Fairmont will deliver an ultra luxurious hotel and Willow Stream Spa alongside property sales spanning hotel condominium units, signature beachfront villas, golf chalets and designer apartments with fractional ownership opportunities.
Another development, the Lake Resort is to be launched in 2008, where a second signature golf course designed by Gary Player will contain a clubhouse and golf academy, plus a mix of residential, business and leisure opportunities with a waterfront recreational and restaurant node along a 30-hectare lake.
Tricia Willis for Homes Overseas - property for sale in South Africa, guides to buying property in South Africa, property investment in South Africa property experts since 1965.
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