Tea At The Nellie And Baths With The Ellies

Iroshini Chua heads to Cape Town for a historic pink celebration, then ventures to Botswana to discover its luxury, wild charm and natural wonders in an adventure of a lifetime

When the grande dame of Cape Town invites you to a centenary party to celebrate 100 years of being in the pink, to mark the end of World War I, the only sane thing to do is accept and jet across the Atlantic to hop into that Mercedes-Benz waiting for you.

As we drive past the imposing mountains that preside over the beautiful city of Cape Town, my chauffeur says, “My son is 20 and he still can’t make out the gorilla or the lion’s head.” Among them, it is Table Mountain that dominates the sophisticated city steeped in history.

Soon, the Prince of Wales “gate” comes into view; installed in 1925 to honour the visit of the eponymous prince, the open structure features soaring columns instead of the usual hinged barriers, atop which sits a proclamation rendered in a rose-gold hue: “Mount Nelson Hotel”. We cruise through it and down the driveway flanked by Canary Island palm trees, towards a monumental structure whose iconic pastel-pink façade has remained unchanged for the last century.

Built in the 1800s to offer Union Castle Line’s first-class passengers a hotel as elegant as those in London, the Pink Lady has seen the likes of the Windsors (Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her 21st birthday here), Nelson Mandela (who welcomed political leaders here), John Lennon (who meditated beneath its trees) and the Dalai Lama (who shared his wisdom in its ballroom) pass through its revolving doors over the years. Winston Churchill once proclaimed it “a most excellent and well-appointed establishment which may be thoroughly appreciated after a sea voyage”.