At Sun City, the legendary creation of entrepreneur Sol Kerzer, Disneyland collides with ancient Egypt in Africa’s version of Vegas. Filled with gilded statues of lions and monkeys, acres of artificial beaches, a golf course, a water park, 1200 hotel rooms and line upon line of clinking slot machines, it serves no other purpose than to entertain. Yet although there’s no question that this gambling-centric resort is almost grotesquely gaudy, a visit here can also be pretty damn fun.
The complex is dominated by the Lost City, an extraordinary piece of kitsch claiming to symbolise African heritage. In fact, it has even less to do with African culture than Disneyland Paris has to do with French, but it’s still entertaining.
We'll be honest: this is not our sort of place. But it does have to be seen to be believed, and it does have one thing in its favour: Sun City has received awards for practising sustainable, environmentally friendly tourism.
Visit the Welcome Centre for the lowdown on the mind-boggling range of activities available. These include golfing (on two different courses), a walk-through aviary, jet skiing, parasailing, a crocodile park and zip lining, plus wildlife drives at the neighbouring Pilanesberg National Park.
Most of the fun takes place in the Valley of the Waves water park, overlooked by the towers of the Palace of the Lost City hotel. The water park is gaudy and outlandish even by Sun City’s standards – and children love it. Its centrepiece is the Roaring Lagoon, a 6500-sq-metre wave pool with a palm-fringed beach. Slides, flumes and chutes such as the 70m-long Temple of Courage get the adrenaline flowing; tubing on the Lazy River and swimming in the Royal Bath pool are two of the slower activities. Another Lost City attraction is its Maze, an enormous labyrinth in the form of an archaeological site.