tom cruise
Photo: Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Images
Tom Cruise took South Africa by storm when he landed his helicopter in limpopo film the eighth installment of Mission Impossible in February of last year.
Photos shared by the Limpopo Tourism Agency show Cruise piloting and landing a helicopter in the lush bushes of Hoedspruit, where he was greeted by well-wishers.
In what became a daily routine, Hoedspruit residents greeted the actor in the morning on his way to work and in the evening on his return.
“Every morning, Tom arrives in a car with his security and the film director, where he is met by a helicopter… Tom always walks around the helicopter and does pre-flight checks before getting in and flying it himself to the landing site. the film”, Antares Bush Camp. and Safaris owner Mel Owtram said News 24 At the time.
READ MORE | Tom Cruise on his stay in South Africa: ‘It would be nice to live here permanently’
Months later, in December, Cruise returned to the country supposedly to tie up loose ends related to the movie.
According to a spokesperson for the Killarney Country Club in Johannesburg, “His helicopter landed here and dropped him off. And then, he was escorted off the property by security. He then came back about two to three hours later and agreed to meet some of our members of the staff. And then he was off again on his way.”
Cruise then shared a video of himself flying “over stunning South Africa,” wishing his fans and supporters happy holidays before hopping out of the plane.
READ MORE | Tom Cruise jumps out of a plane over ‘awesome’ South Africa to wish fans happy holidays
Throughout his travels to the country, Cruise called various places home, including Qambathi Mountain Lodge – an adults-only boutique hotel and nature reserve located in the heart of the Kamberg Valley, Drakensberg, in KwaZulu-Natal.
“Tom Cruise and the production team stayed with us for a few months in 2022 while they filmed mission impossible 8“, says the owner of the hostel, Nadia. News 24.
“We are very pleased and honored to know that they chose our little hostel to stay in,” she adds, sharing the story of how she and her husband, Stephen, moved to South Africa from the UK in 2019, bought the hostel and renovated it before before the Covid-19 pandemic arrived.
“Post Covid, the travel industry has yet to recover to pre-2020 numbers and if Tom and the MI team hadn’t stuck with us, we wouldn’t have been able to survive as a business. It’s thanks to him that the doors still are open and our staff can still feed their families.
Sharing more about Cruise’s stay, Nadia says: “They enjoyed the locally sourced food – our vendors, although they didn’t know who they were supplying, went above and beyond and provided the best the Midlands has to offer.”
The entire production crew stayed at the lodge, and Cruise called the Stable Suite, also known as the honeymoon suite, his home away from home.
The suite is its “largest room with stunning views from your bed” and offers a “cozy fireplace and its own terrace to relax on with hanging chairs to enjoy the beautiful gardens and mountain views,” according to the Qambathi website. .
The Stable Suite includes luxurious finishes such as a handcrafted camphorwood king-size bed, a freestanding bathtub and a separate shower for added comfort.
The price for a luxurious night’s sleep in the suite starts at R2 300 per guest, including breakfast.
ENTER TOM CRUISE’S SUITE HERE:
The stable suite at Qambathi Mountain Lodge.
The stable suite at Qambathi Mountain Lodge.
The stable suite at Qambathi Mountain Lodge.
The stable suite at Qambathi Mountain Lodge.
The stable suite at Qambathi Mountain Lodge.
The stable suite at Qambathi Mountain Lodge.
The stable suite at Qambathi Mountain Lodge.
The stable suite at Qambathi Mountain Lodge.
“They were very charming and generous,” says Nadia. “They made an effort to speak a little Zulu, so to speak, at the end they said thank you to the staff in Zulu, which I thought was a very humble and very nice thing to do.”
As for whether Cruise had any downtime during his stay, Nadia says, “He came to South Africa to work and he worked very hard to make the best movie possible.”
She highlights “the importance that the film industry brings to our economy,” saying, “Many businesses survived and prospered while the film crew was in the country. Hotels, restaurants, caterers, farms, and many other industries received a huge momentum thanks to them choosing our country as the backdrop for the film”.
filming of mission impossible 8 in South Africa has since ended, and Nadia says that as they left, Cruise and director Christopher McQuarrie wrote “a lovely letter” thanking them for their hospitality.
“To everyone at Qambathi, thank you for welcoming us into your home and making our stay a peaceful and memorable one. We hope to see you again soon,” McQuarrie wrote.
“To our Qambathi family, I will never forget our magical time with all of you. I look forward to my next visit. Thank you.”
–Tom Cruise
