By Tom Nevin.

A few million years ago, the earth's surface suddenly twisted, buckled and cracked. Monstrous fissures, many kilometres long, split the land and lava spewed forth creating rivers of molten rock and flinging blazing comets high into the sky. Towering mountains and deep valleys were created. In time Nature did her work and transformed the seared and blackened landscape into an Eden: forested mountain slopes, clear rivers that crash over waterfalls or flow silently, kaleidoscopic flora and shy fauna, and a climate northerners can only dream about.

Standing at the poolside of the Royal Swazi Sun Hotel and gazing up at the majestic blue-hued mountains on all sides, it's impossible to imagine the conflagration aeons ago that time has translated into the Ezulwini Valley - the tranquil and magnificent setting of the Royal Swazi Sun trio of hotels high in the Lubombo ranges of Swaziland.

The Royal Swazi Sun Valley is home to three of Sun International hotel group's four hotels in Swaziland, the fourth is the Nhlangano Sun in the Southern region of the country. Sun Valley is part of the deeply riven Ezulweni Valley between the capital of Mbabane and the industrial hub of Manzini. Here a remarkable playground has been created: hotels with luxury accommodation of a standard easily equalling anywhere in southern Africa, tournament standard golf courses, casinos and other amenities too numerous to mention.

The hub of the hotel complex is the Spa - a hot water spring of eternally warm and therapeutically bracing mineral waters, a reminder of the region's fiery origins, which flows into a swimming pool romantically known 'the cuddle puddle'.