South Africa’s history
Luxury villas tucked away behind barbed wire and ramshackle huts held together with corrugated iron. South Africa’s 45 million inhabitants do not all enjoy the same good life. However, they have drawn a line under the oppression of apartheid, which was introduced in 1948 and which kept the races separated, until Nelson Mandela was released from his political incarceration on Robben Island and elected president in 1994. To a large extent, apartheid caused foreign tourists to stay away, but since the late 1990s there has been a marked influx of tourists to this great country, and it is becoming an increasingly popular holiday destination.
South Africa’s animals
You really should experience South Africa’s wildlife in Kruger National Park, one of South Africa’s most majestic scenic areas and home to lions, elephants, zebras, giraffes, antelopes and hippos. In Kgalagadi Transfortier Park, which borders the Kalahari Desert, rust-coloured sand dunes, thorn bushes and beautifully sweeping camelthorn trees provide a spectacular backdrop for the lions, leopards and antelopes, as well as the park’s more than 200 different species of bird. These include exotic birds of prey like the African pygmy falcon, the bateleur and the chanting goshawk.
South Africa’s sights
South Africa benefits from having the Indian Ocean south of Africa’s southern tip, Cape Agulhas, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and there are good opportunities for both bathing and surfing all the way along its 3,000-km coastline. Jeffreys Bay west of Port Elizabeth is famous for its fabulous surfing, and all the main beaches are secured by shark nets. If, nevertheless, you want to get the adrenalin going, it is possible to make the acquaintance of the deadly white shark by diving inside shark-safe cages in Mossel Bay. Here you can also have the experience of seeing about 2,000 seals on Seal Island. Mossel Bay is also known for being the departure point for the “Garden Route”, which extends to Tsitsikamma National Park – a long, paradise-like belt of flowers with a high concentration of South Africa’s rich flora, which grows among lakes, lagoons and miles and miles of beaches. And to the west in Namaqualand, the semi-arid soil is bursting with wild flowers, and the marguerites are a superb botanical pièce de résistance. Travelling within South Africa is cheap and easy. The infrastructure is good, the hotels are clean, the standard of service is high and the price level is attractive. Thus, your holiday in South Africa could well also take in the beautiful scenery and cave paintings in the Drakensberg mountains, the panoramic route in Mpumalanga, a visit to the flamingos in the St Lucia river estuary, as well as the unbridled life of the big cities of Johannesburg, Durban and the capital, Pretoria. And, of course, beautiful Cape Town, situated at the foot of one of the world’s most interesting vantage points, Table Mountain. Cape Town is also good for lively nightlife with countless bars and restaurants – some down by the harbour, with front-row seats to watch the seals playing. This would also be a good opportunity to taste wines from the many famous wine districts in the region, another of South Africa’s many attractions definitely not to be missed on your trip. The stable climate makes it possible to produce wine of consistently high quality year after year. Because of the relatively high air humidity in most of the wine districts, the tannin in South African wine is milder than in wine from countries with a drier climate.