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All South Africa Sun City Sun City Resort

Sun City Resort

A safari-themed castle in the South African bush with the largest maze in the southern hemisphere.

Sun City, South Africa

Added By
Lew Blank
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Aerial view of the Palace of the Lost City   Nathan Hughes Hamilton / CC BY-SA 2.0
Aerial view of the Palace of the Lost City   Nathan Hughes Hamilton / CC BY-SA 2.0
Row of elephants at the Lost City   Maccoinnich / CC BY-SA 3.0
Monkey sculpture at Sun City   South African Tourism / CC BY-SA 2.0
Shawu elephant   Wee Bugger / CC BY-SA 3.0
Antelope fountain   Gary Bembridge / CC BY-SA 2.0
Foyer of the Palace hotel   hugodeon / Atlas Obscura User
Valley of the Waves   hugodeon / Atlas Obscura User
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About

Just a two-hour drive from Johannesburg towers a giant castle, accessible through a path lined with a herd of elephant statues. This castle's main fountain spouts water out of the horns of sable antelope, and the courtyard contains a life-sized replica of Shawu, who had some of the longest tusks of any elephant ever discovered in South Africa’s Kruger National Park.

This safari-themed castle in the South African bush is the Sun City Resort, a marvelous palace with a bizarre geopolitical history.

Sun City Resort was built in 1979 by business magnate Sol Kerzner just northwest of Johannesburg. At the time, this region was under the autonomy of Bophuthatswan, an independent state created under apartheid. Kerzner chose the controversial region as the site of his palace because it was the nearest place to Johannesburg that permitted topless venues. 

Kerzner had always dreamed of building a “mythical royal residence built by a lost tribe” in the middle of the South African bush, and just that he did—Kerzner’s brainchild would make both Indiana Jones and Walt Disney proud. In addition to the countless statues of safari animals, the “Big Five”—lions, leopards, rhinos, elephants, and Cape buffalo—can be found in living form at the resort. In the adjacent Pilanesberg Game Reserve, visitors to the resort can self-drive their cars through the African bush.

Past the majestic Palace of the Lost City and the sandy poolside beach, visitors can explore the largest maze in the entire Southern Hemisphere, a 300,000-piece mosaic of a lion killing a wildebeest, lamps held up by tiny monkey statues, and a 1.25-mile zipline, the fastest in the world.

Related Tags

Hotels Resorts Mazes Animals Castles Places To Stay
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Wild South Africa

Marine wildlife and Kruger Safari

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Added By

lewblank

Edited By

tylercole, hugodeon

  • tylercole
  • hugodeon

Published

January 25, 2017

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Sources
  • http://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/travel/usa-long-haul/travel-south-africa-sun-city-3148581
  • http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2158123/South-Africa-holidays-Stepping-Sun-City-hotel-dark-echoes.html
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_City,_North_West
  • https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC35ZTF_elephant-shawu?guid=24a0204a-365e-4673-97c5-9e17ae5e8514
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bophuthatswana
Sun City Resort
Sun City Resort
R556
Sun City
South Africa
-25.346969, 27.100195
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Cradle of Humankind

Mogale, South Africa

miles away

Sterkfontein Caves

West Rand, South Africa

miles away

Tswaing Meteorite Crater

Soshanguve, South Africa

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of South Africa

South Africa

Africa

Places 75
Stories 27

Nearby Places

Cradle of Humankind

Mogale, South Africa

miles away

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miles away

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miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of South Africa

South Africa

Africa

Places 75
Stories 27

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