These properties spare no luxury while also keeping you mindful of your location which is smack in the middle of wild African nature -- you're asked to never go to your room at night without a watchman, and staff will keep a watchful eye out to to make sure mischievous vervet monkeys don't snatch away your mid-day snack. (When I stayed at Singita Sweni a couple of years ago, on a visit arranged through Premier Tours, I received my most favorite answer to a question I posed to a bell man, ever: "oh yes, just last week, two lions killed an impala near the pool.")

Kensington's specially priced deal is based on double occupancy. The offer is good January 15th – May 31st, 2010 and August 1st – December 15th, 2010.

A limited edition Koenigsegg CCXR Trevita diamond-weave carbon fiber supercar (above), the first of only three being built for collectors worldwide, is for sale in South Africa with a whopping pricetag of $5 million, making it the world's most expensive supercar - easily beating out the Bugatti Pur Sang. The Swedish supercar is a special version of the marque's already exotic carbon fiber CCXR model, which goes for about $2 million. Both cars feature a 5.0 liter twin supercharged V8 engine producing 1,018 hp, and can do 0-62 mph in 2.9 seconds with a top speed of over 250 mph. The Trevita's unique diamond weave finish means that when exposed to sunlight it "sparkles like millions of silvery white diamonds infused inside the visible carbon fiber weave bodywork."

I haven't heard much lately about Charlize Theron, but she made it back into this news this past week with her part in the OneXOne charity event on October 22 in San Francisco, where she took the stage to auction off a prize that included a two-week trip to her native South Africa to watch soccer's World Cup in summer 2010, a safari, and a meet-and-greet with Nelson Mandela. The winning bidder, a woman, received an extra item for her $140,000 donation -- a kiss with Theron, who had tossed in the offer of a kiss to increase bidding when the offers plateaued at $37,000.

Theron was at the event to help raise money for the Charlize Theron African Outreach Project, which is teaming with the OneXOne Foundation to bring soccer fields and clean water to the children of South Africa by 2010, in time for the World Cup. Theron is in a long-term relationship with actor Stuart Townsend. "My boyfriend is not here tonight," she joked during the auction.

New York-based Dreyfus, Ashby & Co., a national independent importer and marketer of fine wine and spirits, has put together a list of great fall wines from around the globe, ideal for various cuisines and all priced under $25. France's Château de Campuget "1753" stems from an 18th century document mentioning the historic property. The 100% Syrah is aged in stainless steel, seeing no oak. Deep purple in color, it is elegant and herbal with nice tannin and a crisp finish, paring nicely with spicy foods as well as hearty cold weather dishes like beef and pastas in red sauce. SRP: $14.99. Under the discerning eye of consulting winemaker Véronique Drouhin-Boss, the light, fruity quality of Cloudline Pinot Noir (2007) from Oregon never waivers and pairs perfectly with everything from a fatty fish, such as salmon, to lamb. SRP: $19.99. Nederburg Cabernet Sauvignon (2007) from South Africa is a full-bodied, mouth-filling and rich wine with ripe fruit, delicate spice, firm tannins and a lasting aftertaste, pairing perfectly with robust winter stews, roasts and mature cheeses. SRP: $11.99.

Italy's Renato Ratti Barbera D'Alba Torriglione (2007) is structured and rich with a pleasing and harmonious bouquet. The result is a full- bodied wine with an excellent balance between acidity and tannin that lends itself particularly well to pastas with lean protein, such as pork or chicken. SRP: $18.99. Tedeschi Valpolicella Capitel Dei Nicalò (2006) is made from local Veronese grape varieties including Corvina, Rondinella, and Molinara in the traditional style of the region. It is complex and elegant with lively acidity and an alcohol content that is balanced nicely by its tannins. SRP: $17.99. Argentina's Enrique Foster Reserva Malbec (2006) is made of selected grapes from old vines and production is limited to 5,000 lbs per acre. The wine is then aged in French and American oak for 12 months and in bottles for an additional six months. It's a huge wine with fruity aroma and berry
flavors perfectly suited to richly spiced dishes and roasted or grilled meats. SRP: $24.99.

It looks like a chunk of clouded ice but the stone shown at right is a 507-carat rough diamond found at the Petra Diamonds Cullinan Mine in South Africa. The 507.55 carat stone is believed to be of exceptional color and clarity, and is most likely a Type II diamond. The rough was found as part of a run that also included a 168-carat piece of rough and two other stones of 58.5 and 53.3 carats. A lucky day indeed, the stone is one of the top 20 largest high-quality rough diamonds ever found making it incredibly rare.

The Cullinan Mine has yielded some of the world's great diamonds including the largest "gem-quality" stone ever recovered, the "Cullinan," 3,106 carats rough, and was the source for the Golden Jubilee, at 755 carats rough, and the Centenary, at 599 carats rough. Cullinan also produced the piece of rough that became the Taylor-Burton diamond, a stone that is 69 carats polished. The diamonds will be analyzed by a team of experts and then the long process of determining how to best cut them can begin.

[via National Jeweler]

Is South Africa's answer to Hugh Hefner ready to leave the country? Lolly Jackson, who owns a string of Teazers nightclub,s has been saying since 2006 that he was ready to leave the country. Now his home in the Befordview area is one of the properties up for auction by Saville Row Auctions on October 1. The fast-living, poker-playing beacon of controversy is selling a home that has five bedrooms, a gym, a sauna, and a Jacuzzi. Jackson is an exotic car collector and so the home has five garages. The grounds also include a garden, pool and aviary.

Jackson has long complained over bad treatment in South Africa saying that he receives harsher treatment than other people because of the business he is in. Most recently he was in court over complaints that he illegally employed Eastern Europeans at his Teazers clubs. He is also being investigated by the South African Revenue Service.

South Africa's Molori Safari Lodge is the epitome of the new luxury safari style. Situated on a 185,000-acre game reserve on the border with Botswana, the lodge features five luxe bungalows with spacious wooden decks, private infinity pools and floor-to-ceiling fully retractable glass walls. A staff of 44, including a chef serving local delicacies like pan roasted gazelle, looks after a maximum of 14 guests. Upon arrival the Lodge's butler unpacks your bags, presses your safari suit, provides a selection of Aqua di Parma toiletries and stocks each suite with an assortment of homemade cured meats and dried fruit. Up at the main lodge a well-stocked library also features a great selection of whisky, brandy and cigars, while the wine cellar is of course stocked with the finest South African vintages. There's also one of the largest private telescopes in southern Africa as well as a holistic indoor-outdoor spa.

[via Duncan Quinn]

Although traditionalists may not approve of the way the term "high tea" is bandied about these days -- it used to mean an elaborate early dinner, with meat -- who could really disapprove of The Table Bay Hotel's interpretation: a celebration of chocolate?

From 2:30 to 5:30 pm each day, dive into all things chocolate, from white chocolate madeleines with candied lime zest to rum chocolate truffles. You could have all this chocolate with tea, which costs 160 Rand (about $20), but why not throw tradition totally to the wind and pair it with a glass of champagne? (240 Rand.) And if you love chocolate so much that you feel like you'd just like to be immersed in it, the hotel's Camelot Spa is offering a 75 minute treatment which includes body scrubs of cocoa and sugar, vanilla massage, a cocoa mask, ending with a glass of hot chocolate. The Chocolate Delight spa special runs through the end of August.

I was already loving the look of The Sky Lodge, a boutique five-star condo hotel in Park City, Utah, before I spotted these really cool screen-style doors that divides the bathroom from one of the three bedrooms in the penthouse suite. It turns out that those screens have a very interesting story, and it made me love the property even more.

But first let me back up and say that Sky Lodge's penthouse is where I'd want to a host a party during Sundance, since it's got 2,736 square feet inside, and almost as much -- 2,600 feet -- outside in the form of an enormous wrap-around deck with views of the mountains and Park City, all easily enjoyed from the hot tub. (Check it out in the gallery.) I'll further digress and say that while this suite runs approximately $5,000 a night during the winter season, if you visit during the summer, you can get this three bedroom suite for around $1,500 a night.

Back to the doors: they're made from an opaque ecoresin, into which is embedded beads and coiled copper wire. It turns out that these are "Ithemba", a product of 3form USA's "Full Circle" program, which attempts to marry environmental consciousness with social awareness to create beautiful design products. The beads and woven copper are created by South African women who are impacted with HIV, they recieve training in business skills, job skills training, marketing assistance while they're earning a living by maintaining traditional crafts. "Ithemba" means hope in Xosi. Just knowing this made me enjoy my time in Sky Lodge's Amatsu spa all the more.

If you're not in the market for a screen or a door, check out the cuff bracelet in the gallery below, which you can order here.

Roads keep getting more treacherous, and cars keep getting faster. That's a bad combination, especially in Johannesburg where car-jacking is at an all-time high. The solution? A country club catered specifically towards exotic supercars and their owners. Similar to the Monticello Motor Club that opened last summer near New York City, the Imola Race Resort will offer well-heeled South Africans a place to play with their expensive sportscars without fear of consequence. Replicating the layout of the vaunted Kyalami circuit that once was home to the South African Grand Prix, the track at Imola (which takes its name from another grand prix circuit in Italy) does away with unyielding safety barriers and replaces them with vast fields for run-off areas for those times when wealth exceeds driving skills. And to help exchange the former for the latter, there'll also be an advanced driving school on site, along with luxurious facilities for both car and driver. Situated on the grounds of the Waterford Golf & River Estate, membership at the Imola Race Resort will be limited to prevent overcrowding, and will undoubtedly command a high premium to join.

In times of prosperity many people like to splurge on fine wine. Discerning drinkers will find however that a tighter budget need not mean sacrificing the pleasures of enjoying the fruit of the vine. New York-based Dreyfus, Ashby & Co., a national independent importer and marketer of fine wines and spirits, has put together a list of six great summer wines from around the globe, ideal for various cuisines and all priced under $20. Here's the rundown:

From Nederburg, the most award-winning name in South African wine, comes Lyric (above left), a new blend of Sauvignon blanc, Chenin Blanc and Chardonnay. Freshly cut grass and green peppers meet aromas of peach and apricot to create a wine that is crisp, fresh and beautifully acidic, perfect for pairing with anything from fresh fruit to seafood. SRP: $10.99

Château de Campuget's Tradition Rosé (center left) is a crisp and fruity rosé wine from the up-and-coming Costières de Nîmes region of France, made using roughly 30% Grenache Noir and 70% Syrah. The color is obtained through a short maceration of two hours which gives it its distinctive shiny hue. Perfect with spicy and ethnic foods. SRP: $10.99

Enrique Foster is a top-flight operation with the objective of producing the best Malbec in Argentina, which is to say the best in the world. Ique (center right) is fresh and young with fruity characteristics and a ruby-red color. Its firm structure and soft tannins make it the perfect counterpart for ribs and pulled pork sandwiches. SRP: $11.99

Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand is one of our all-time favorite wines. Geisen's bottling (above right) has all the ripe fruit and the crisp, green and lively components associated with the wine, aromatic, flavorful and genuinely refreshing. Perfect with a light fish with a citrusy sauce. SRP: $14.99

Actor Christian Slater was recently given the honor of the inaugural stay at the latest lodge to open at Richard Branson's Ulusaba Private Game Reserve in South Africa. Cliff Lodge is located at Ulusaba's Rock Lodge and has two one-bedroom suites. The larger of the two suites is a one-bedroom with two additional small pull-out beds, an en-suite bathroom, separate kitchen, private dining area, a bar, a spacious lounge, outdoor deck with a braai area and a large swimming pool. It also has a smaller second bedroom/study which can accommodate one adult or two small children. The second suite has a bedroom with an en-suite bathroom, lounge area with fireplace and an outdoor deck with Jacuzzi. Access to the Cliff Lodge is via a wooden walkway from the main house of Rock Lodge giving guests who stay in Cliff Lodge added privacy. The two suites in Cliff Lodge can be booked exclusively accommodating a maximum of five adults and four children. Exclusive use includes the use of both suites, a private game drive vehicle and a chef. Rates start at around $1.350 a night for this unique getaway.

Slater's stay wasn't all pleasure, he was there in support of Virgin Unite, the nonprofit foundation of the Virgin Group, to visit a new classroom built at the Jeremiah Creche, which he, Branson and guests of Ulusaba and Leopard Hill's Lodge jointly funded. The creche is supported by Pride 'n Purpose, the charity arm of Ulusaba, and will benefit over 60 disadvantaged children living in the communities adjacent to the reserve. Ulusaba offers a 'Day in the Life' village tour for guests, which looks into some of the charitable projects Ulusaba supports.

There are lots of selling points to the new Legend Golf & Safari Resort in South Africa. Each of the eighteen holes was designed with input from a different tour pro, including Sergio Garcia and Padraig Harrington and native sons Retief Goosen and Trevor Immelman. The course and the encompassing resort lie within the Entabeni Safari Conservancy, in a malaria-free zone of Limpopo Province about three hours north of Johannesburg by car. The big five--elephant, lion, rhino, leopard and buffalo--roam just on the other side of a perimeter fence from the golf course, while friendlier fauna like giraffe, zebra and antelope can be found grazing the rough.

But it's Legend's so-called Extreme 19th hole that's generating most of the buzz. The tee sits on a ledge of Highlip Mountain--more than 1,400 feet above the grassland and bush below; players take a helicopter to reach it. From that lofty perch, they can see the distant outline of the green, which is shaped like the African continent, complete with a grassy tuft for Madagascar surrounded by sand off the front-right portion.

The hole, by traditional measure, is 500-plus yards long. But given the steep drop, the putting surface is reachable by a roughly 300-yard carry or a 200-yard drive that catches a favorable bounce on a funneling tongue of fairway. Coolest of all may be the amount of hang time produced by a decent strike: up to 25 seconds. That's more than enough time for each player, after teeing off, to radio to spotters on the ground to tell them which direction the ball is headed. The Extreme 19th costs 3,500 rand (about $385) to play--but it comes with the promise, however remote, of a $1-million prize for a hole-in-one.

Words go only so far in describing the spectacle. Check out video of the hole after the jump.

Of all the countries in the world producing sportscars, South Africa may not spring to mind first. A small sportscar-maker called Noble operates there, and we recently reported on the new Barnard, but at the ongoing Geneva Motor Show this year, a new player called Perana popped onto the scene with the Z-One. Designed by venerated Milanese styling house Zagato - the same people who brought us the one-of-a-kind Ferrari 575 GTZ, the Spyker C12 concept car and the $1.7m Bentley Continental GTZ - the Z-One was perhaps the most beautiful new car presented at this year's Geneva Motor Show...and that's saying a lot. Power is provided by a Corvette-sourced V8 engine, and prices start at 50,000 euros. Not chump change for most of us, but a steal nonetheless for one of the most breathtaking sportscars money can buy. See for yourself in the gallery below.

South Africa is shaping up to be the newest source of relatively affordable supercars, it seems. On the heels of the Perana Zagato Z-One we wrote about the other day comes the exotic looking Barnard (above). Priced at only about $110,000 with deliveries slated for later this year, the Barnard will be capable of 0-100km/h in under four seconds with a top speed in excess of 300km/h. It's designer Chris Barnard has a "deeply rooted passion for endurance racing and had always envisaged building a Le Mans style race car," MotorAuthority reports. Therefore it doesn't include such frills as power steering, vacuum-assisted or anti-lock brakes, traction control, or electric windows. Its chassis is made from high-tech steels and its body is almost entirely composite. Under the hood it will have a souped-up twin-turbocharged V8 sourced from Porsche.