Sun City

Sun City opened in 1979 in the bushveld beside the Pilanesberg crater, on land that was then part of the nominally independent Bophuthatswana - a status that allowed gambling and entertainment prohibited elsewhere in South Africa at the time, which is why a resort of this scale was built two hundred kilometres from anywhere. It grew into four hotels, two Gary Player golf courses, a casino and a conference industry. The Palace of the Lost City, added in 1992, is the piece worth seeing: a hotel built as a fictional ruined African palace, with a wholly invented backstory, elaborate mosaics and carved animals, and a manufactured rainforest of some sixteen hectares planted around it. The Valley of the Waves is an artificial beach and wave pool under palm trees. Pilanesberg National Park, a genuine big-five reserve in a volcanic crater, is directly adjacent and is the better reason to be in the area.

What you actually see

• The Palace of the Lost City - a hotel built as a fictional ruined palace, from 1992.
• The Valley of the Waves - an artificial beach and wave pool.
• The planted forest - about sixteen hectares of manufactured rainforest.
• Pilanesberg next door - a real big-five reserve in a volcanic crater.

When to go

April to September for comfortable heat. Two to three days. School holidays are packed.

Honest expectations

It is a large commercial resort and everything inside it is expensive. The complex is dated in places despite refurbishment. Day visitors pay separately for most attractions. Summer heat in the bushveld is severe and the water park is crowded.

Nearby

Pilanesberg National Park adjoins the resort; Rustenburg is south-east.