The History of Sun City and the Lost City Sun City is southern Africa’s most luxurious and best-known resort; indeed its very name has become synonymous with good living, excitement and fine entertainment. Situated some 187 kilometres west of Johannesburg, Sun City has four fine hotels, a Vacation Club and a wide variety of sport, recreation, live entertainment and gaming. It is one of the few resorts in the world with two 18-hole championship golf courses. The resort also boasts southern Africa’s finest convention facilities. The Lost City at Sun City is an R830-million African fantasy world featuring a man-made forest and massive wavepool. The Palace of the Lost City is one of the finest hotels in the world. Sun City was founded by South African leisure tycoon Sol Kerzner. In the mid-1970’s he had the idea of building a luxury casino resort in the heart of the African bush. Work started on July 15, 1978 and the complex opened on December 7, 1979. At the time its central features were the 340-room Sun City Hotel and the Gary Player-designed championship golf course. The golf course is now the most famous – and the busiest – in Africa. Other elements were a 55 metre swimming pool, a man-made lake for watersports, tennis courts and a casino with hundreds of slot machines and 50 gaming tables. The cost of the original complex was R30-million; today capital investment amounts to more than R1, 18 billion, R830-million of which was spent on The Lost City. Adjoining Sun City is the Pilanesberg National Park, a 55 000 hectare game reserve which opened a day after the resort welcomed its first visitors. One week later the curtain went up at the Extravaganza Theatre and Southern Africa was introduced to fast-paced show-girl musicals. The first artist to perform in the theatre was Cliff Richard. Sun City was such an overwhelming success that expansion was immediate. Exactly a year after Sun City opened, the 284-room Sun City Cabanas were offering family-oriented accommodation. Since Sun City’s inception, major sporting events have been regularly staged there. Perhaps the most famous is the Nedbank Dollar Golf Challenge, originally the Million Dollar Golf Challenge, which was founded in 1980. It was one of the world’s richest and most exclusive events. Specially invited top golfers competed for a first prize of US$1-million. Seve Ballesteros, David Frost, Nick Price and Bernhard Langer are among the golfing superstars who have won the Million Dollar Challenge, plus in more recent years Ernie Els and Retief Goosen have won it as the Nedbank Golf Challenge. In mid-1981 Sun City built the R30-million Entertainment Centre. Under a single vast roof were restaurants, cinemas, gaming floors, conference rooms and a 6 000-seat Superbowl with a state-of-the-art sound system. Frank Sinatra opened the Superbowl on July 24, 1981. Superstars such as Rod Stewart, Elton John, Wet Wet Wet, Joe Cocker performed there and several world boxing titles have been won the The Superbowl as well as numerous world beauty pageants. In 1992 the former Entertainment Centre doubled in size with the addition of The Hall of Treasures, which is part of The Lost City. The exterior seems as if it has been sculpted from living rock, covered in carvings of African animals. Dominating the exterior of the building is a huge sphinx-like carved leopard. The Hall of Treasures used to feature state-of-the-art gaming machines and the most modern video games and stimulators, along with fun-fair style side-shows offering high quality prizes. It is now part of the extensive offerings for conferences and special functions. There is also and enticing array of cinemas, restaurants and shops, both next to the Hall of Treasures and in the original Entertainment Centre, now redesigned and renamed The Jungle Casino. December 1984 saw the opening of the luxury 242-room Cascades hotel. The Cascades, which cost R50-million to build, is set in four hectares of lush tropical gardens. There are 7 740 square metres of water features, including 12 waterfalls and cataracts. The abundance of bird life in the gardens has become on of Sun City’s leading attractions. In January 1986 southern Africa’s first monorail – the Skytrain – began operating. Its three coaches can each carry 100 passengers and they run between Sun City car park and the Entertainment Centre. Sun City was famous for the huge jackpots paid out by its slot machines. The Resort’s most famous jackpot was the Dream Machine which was launched in 1987 and then became linked to numerous other resorts once they began operating. The jackpot had a starting value of R1 million. The elite International Room is an elegant gaming club, which is a private and luxurious casino facility at Sun City. Entrance is limited to top table game players who like to play for high stakes. In 1990 construction on the most ambitious endeavour in Sun City’s history – The Lost City. This African fantasy world is based on the theme of a lost civilization rediscovered in the densely jungled Valley of Waves. As visitors wander through the jungle they discover remnants of an ancient city and a wealth of leisure activities. The jungle is the largest ever made by man, consisting of more then 1,2 million trees and plants. At its heart is a man-made rain forest. Watercourses thread through the jungle, ranging from gentle streams to rushing torrents. The Valley of Waves is the world’s most advanced water park, with restaurants, bars, pools, theme rides and The Roaring Lagoon, where surfers ride two-metre breakers. Centrepiece of The Lost City is The Palace, a 338-room hotel which cost R400-million to build. The dramatic fantasy architecture of the building is decorated with wildlife sculptures. Each room is spacious and individually furnished to the very highest standards. Service and facilities match the quality of the building. In 1993 The Lost City Golf Course was opened at Sun City. The 18-hole, par 72 course utilizes the natural beauty of the Pilanesberg mountains surrounding Sun City. Crocodiles watch players from a pool on the 13th hole. Gary Player who designed the course said: “No other 18 holes in the world surpass the Lost City course for sheer variety”. Since the opening of The Lost City in December 1992, visitors have been streaming to Sun City at a rate of nearly three million a year. Sun International’s development programme has been focused on the refurbishment of the Sun City Hotels, Vacation Club facilities and broadening the variety of entertainment, cultural and sports offerings. The Sun City Hotel has been upgraded several times, the Cascades recently underwent an extensive room upgrade and the Cabanas was extended in the number of rooms to 380.