Health Spa Reviews - Ukuthula Bush Spa - Place of Peace

  

Review by Carien Wandrag

French elegance, African beauty, understated sophistication… this is what you will arrive at a mere 100kms from Johannesburg.

Ukuthula is a spa for people who like small groups and exclusivity, who really want to run away from the rat race and absorb Mother Nature in her full glory and experience personal, loving treatments.

Everything is done with style. The spa-day (I really recommend the full-day treatment) is a fantastic blur of beautifully presented, delicious food and ultra-relaxing, caring treatments all blending into a backdrop of African bush and bird sounds. (If you're a birdwatcher, take your book, someone needs to start logging the species there!) Even as a non-ornithologist, I spotted many different birds and my treatments had the perfect background music - diverse and never-heard-before bird-arias!

I enjoyed the well-timed breaks in between the different treatments, giving you a bit of time to simply sit and relax or read a book or page through a magazine, while sipping water or herbal teas. (Well, that is till lunch-time when a rum-cocktail is served while lounging next to the sparkling, heated pool, followed by wine or beer during lunch.) Like the trend with many spas today, they offer a well-planned "set-menu" of treatments ranging from a head massage, full body massage, steam room, Turkish bath and a foot therapy. The day is concluded with a short game drive and some bubbly in the bush. It is a magnificent way to spend the day!

Two final thoughts:
1) This is a day spa, however, none of us felt like driving back afterwards. Ask Danielle or someone at the Health Spa Guide to arrange for accommodation in the area. It is a fast-growing tourist destination supported by Blue IQ with a vast amount of places to stay, depending on your budget and mood. (Have no fear, we have started to brainwash Danielle to build a few exclusive rooms on the 50-hectare game farm…! Danielle, I hope you are reading this! However, she has only been open since the 1st of September 2005 and will probably grow when the time is right.)

2) A word of advice - the treatment officially start at 08:30 and if you are driving from Jo'burg, please leave enough time to get there on time! The traffic between Jo'burg and Pretoria is mostly a nightmare. I suggest that you leave home, if you're in Jo'burg by 06:30. Then it will take you an hour to get there. They promise to look after you nicely till 08:30. You can have a nap or coffee next to the pool or on a deck chair in the shade. However, if you leave at 7 am or later, it will take you anything from 2 hours to 2 and ˝, as my fellow spa-guests discovered to their great stress and frustration. Remember, you can always catch up on that extra snooze time during any of your treatments!

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