Discovering South Africa

Nature has worked a spe­cial magic on the South African land­scape. Although cul­ture and his­tory are an integ­ral part of the South African exper­i­ence, it is nature which is the true jewel in the crown.

Wind, sun and rain have sculp­ted vis­tas of unsur­passed beauty in which some of the earth's most diverse plant pop­u­la­tion thrive. With some of the biggest and most diverse game sanc­tu­ar­ies in the world and kilo­metres of coun­tryside and coast­line where vis­it­ors can enjoy the sun, the coun­try stands apart as an African masterpiece.

Our jour­ney through South Africa starts in the Western Cape. Sir Francis Drake wrote in his journal after reach­ing the Cape of Good Hope in 1580:

This Cape is the most stately thing and the fairest Cape we saw in the whole cir­cum­fer­ence of the earth.

Although Drake didn't prop­erly explore the Cape, he was right. The Cape offers some of the most beau­ti­ful scenery in the coun­try and is South Africa's primary tour­ist destination.

Offering a rich vista of incred­ibly var­ied scenery, the Western Cape is a per­fect area to begin the explor­a­tion of Southern Africa. Cape Town is the area's cap­ital, with Table Mountain its most fam­ous land­mark. Hiking up Table Mountain, or tak­ing the cable car, is a great intro­duc­tion to the area and gives on an amaz­ing view of Cape Town City and its sur­rounds. After Table Mountain, the Wine Route, so-called because it runs through the Western Cape's most import­ant wine-producing regions, is next on the list. Take the oppor­tun­ity to sample loc­als wines and cheeses and relax in a region that at times can feel more like Europe than Africa.

Travelling up the East Coast and through the coastal towns of Port Elizabeth and East London, each offer­ing their own unique mix of nature and cul­ture, one comes to the KwaZulu Natal region. The region is the home­land of the Zulu people and a cul­tural hot­spot for explor­ing their her­it­age. Durban is notori­ously hot and humid and the Kwazulu coast offers the warmest waters in South Africa thanks to the Mozambique cur­rent which flows down the coast­line. Lined with forests, beaches and lagoons and hous­ing some of the best game reserves in the coun­try, KwaZulu Natal is a must-see.

The Free State is his­tor­ic­ally a farm­ing com­munity and tra­di­tion­ally has done little to attract much in the way of tour­ism. It is, how­ever, start­ing to emerge as a new tour­ist des­tin­a­tion with towns like Clarens lead­ing the way. This small town, loc­ated near the Malta Mountains in the East of the province, is begin­ning to pos­i­tion itself as a trendy des­tin­a­tion and a haven for cre­at­ive types want­ing to escape the cos­mo­pol­itan con­fines of urban centres like Cape Town and Johannesburg. This, together with its small town charm, friendly loc­als and mag­ni­fi­cent scenery has made it into a prime artistic destination.

Johannesburg was the site of South Africa's ori­ginal gold rush, begin­ning in 1886 when gold was found in a reef in the Witwatersand. The gold rush which ensued was the greatest the world has ever seen and saw the city grow from almost noth­ing into a vibrant met­ro­polis. Today Johannesburg is South Africa's true urban des­tin­a­tion, rivalling the world's busiest cit­ies. Restaurants and parties are how leis­ure time is spent here and it offers a worth­while coun­ter­point to the more laid­back parts of the country.

These are just some of the high­lights which South Africa has to offer. The nat­ural beauty com­bined with a com­plex range of cul­tures and life­styles makes South Africa a dynamic and inter­est­ing destination.

 

Useful Links
For fur­ther inform­a­tion, please refer to the fol­low­ing pages:

• South Africa's Provinces and Regions
• South Africa's Attractions
• Game Reserves & National Parks
• World Heritage Sites
• Things To Do in South Africa