Situated right at the tip of the most magnificent, most mysterious, wildest and most ancient of continents, South Africa is a land of spectacular contrasts, both physically and socially. It is here one will find the world’s oldest rocks, the world’s oldest fossils, and the world’s newest democracy. Its constitution has one of the best human rights clauses in the world, and the people are actively working together to achieve harmony between, and a decent standard of living for, all. South Africa offers tourists a sanctuary of the mountains or the bush and wonderful beaches. Its natural heritage is truly spectacular. With vegetation zones ranging from scorching desert to tangled forests, or snow-clad mountains to vividly flower-bedecked plains, there is some beautiful vista just waiting to be discovered around every corner.
The wilder areas of the country offer a truly unique experience, where one can spend days watching a variety of animals, including impressive game such as giraffes, lions, elephants, rhinos and many others.
There is nothing quite like sitting back, watching a big, red, sun go down over the African bush while a herd of elephants saunters past. But there really is more to South Africa than beasts and bush and beach. During a visit, do take the time to find out how the people live and who they are. Visit the nation’s museums and villages.
NATURAL ENVIRONMENT
South Africa is a land of incredible natural beauty, with over three million hectares set aside for conservation. From the enormous, world-renowned, game-rich Kruger National Park to the little-known, tiny, botanically diverse Mkambati Nature Reserve, the conservation areas offer a wealth of natural experiences.
With enormous diversity of vegetation zones and types, it’s not surprising that South Africa has an enormous array of birds and animals. South Africa is the best place in the world to watch big game. Unlike many other countries in Africa, where elephant herds are dwindling and rhinos are practically extinct, South Africa has extremely healthy populations of these and most of the other animals one would expect to see on safari in Africa. And with over 900 species of birds, many of which occur in the national parks, you’ll never be able to put your binoculars down.
BOUNTIFUL OCEANS
South Africa has over 3,000 km of coastline and a correspondingly enormous range of sea life. Divers are able to travel up the coast in about two weeks and dive in a wide range of marine environments, seeing a totally different faunal and floral assemblage in each spot. And if one prefers to stay on the surface, one can still see an incredible array of marine life. South Africa is one of the most fantastic marine mammal-watching destinations in the world. Here you can see Cape fur seals quite easily on a short boat trip from most of the major seaside towns in the Western Cape and Garden Route. Enormous pods of bottlenose dolphins and the endemic dusky dolphin can be seen near Cape Town. Common dolphins are common, and humpback dolphins are seen quite often from Plettenberg Bay north and east to Maputaland. Southern right whales are a familiar sight in many places off the Cape coast between June and November, and humpback whales are often spotted between August and December. Brydes whales and orcas are also seen occasionally.
RAINBOW NATION
The rainbow nation is a reality — but an elusive one. With a dynamic fusion of African, European and Asian influences, South Africa is a hotbed of originality and creativity and it is the interplay between various cultures and the heritage of individual and shared histories that shapes the nation.
Citizens can be divided into two broad groups — indigenous Africans, and naturalized immigrants. Of the latter, the largest group is those of European origin. Some of the older families descended from the early British, Dutch, German or French settlers. And many South Africans of Portuguese origins may have originally settled in Mozambique or Angola generations ago, and only recently moved down to South Africa.
Other immigrant populations include the many people of Asian descent. Of these the major groups are the Cape Malays (who are actually of Javan descent, but what’s in a name?), the many Indians who have settled around Durban and a large Chinese population. The Javanese/Malays were brought out as slaves early on in the history of the Cape Colony, while the Indians and Chinese came over a little less reluctantly. The majority were brought out as indentured laborers on, respectively, the Natal sugar plantations and the Johannesburg gold mines and, on completion of their contracts, stayed. As well as these more settled groups, there are many newer immigrants who have made South Africa their home.
Indigenous Africans can also be divided into two broad groups — those of Khoi-San descent, and those of Bantu descent. Until the arrival of the European settlers, the Khoi-San people lived all over southern Africa, either as hunter-gatherers or as pastoralists. Some lived in harmony with the Bantu-speaking peoples and some were displaced by these bigger, stronger, more aggressive and more technologically advanced people.
HERITAGE
The diverse heritage has endowed South African with a very interesting culture. The cuisine celebrates influences from three continents. The languages are colorful and borrow freely from each other in both vocabulary and sentence structure. The art and music display a wild blend of the classical with the innovative, of the tried and tested with the new and experimental. And the built environment is treasured as jealously as the South Africans guard their precious natural resources.
South Africa has carefully recreated the symbols of apartheid into symbols of liberation — by liberating its own ideas instead of destroying the symbols. The Union building — once the bastion of apartheid — is now the symbol of the nation’s democracy. Robben Island — a place of fear, dread and isolation — has become a symbol of strength, resilience and forgiveness. Even the Voortrekker Monument, which celebrates, among other things, a historical victory of the Boers over the Zulus, has been allowed its place in the sun, and the Boer commandos have been acknowledged for the freedom fighters they were when they fought against British imperialism in the 19th century.
As with many other aspects of its heterogeneous, rather confusing, wonderful, country, South Africa’s heritage is what the people make it. The reality exists out there, but the meaning is created in the people’s minds — and in the rituals and celebrations they perform around the symbols.