South Africa is a treasure chest of
unforgettable scenery, from lofty mountains to sun-baked deserts and dramatic coastlines washed by the Atlantic and Indian oceans. Its
game viewing equals the best in Africa, and where else can you find both
penguins and
elephants?
Overshadowed by dramatic
Table Mountain and surrounded by the Atlantic,
Cape Town is one of the world’s most picturesque cities. You can sample fine wine under the grapes in the tranquil
winelands, while the pretty
Garden Route offers country towns, lagoons and forests
to explore. The
Wild Coast boasts isolated beaches, rocky coastline and traditional rural villages, and the resorts along the
KwaZulu-Natal coast offer lots of
family seaside fun.
Inland are the intriguing and moving
battlefield sites that lay testament to the Anglo-Boer war. Here too rise the
Drakensberg Mountains where vultures ride on the thermals over deeply green valleys and jagged peaks. To the east is the
Kruger National Park where the thorny bush harbors the ‘
Big Five’ animals to see (the
lion,
elephant,
buffalo,
leopard and
rhino) as well as many other fascinating animals and birds.
South Africa also has a
vivid history.
Apartheid was broken down in 1990 by President FW De Klerk, and jailed ANC leader
Nelson Mandela was released after 27 years of imprisonment. In the first democratic elections to be held in South Africa, Mandela became president in 1994. The story is told in the excellent museums in
Johannesburg, by far the most vibrant of the country’s cities with a rich cultural heritage.
Apartheid activist Archbishop Desmond Tutu named the newly integrated South Africa
the
‘
Rainbow Nation’. It is a fitting name for a country with 11 official languages and people of all colors, races and creeds, living in a vividly colored and sculpted landscape. It is no wonder then that its cities are so
cosmopolitan.
GeographyThe Republic of South Africa lies at the southern end of the African continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the east and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and is bordered to the north by Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Swaziland and totally encloses Lesotho. South Africa has three major geographical regions, namely plateau, mountains and the coastal belt. The high plateau has sharp escarpments which rise above the plains, or
veld. Despite two major river systems, the Limpopo and the Orange, most of the plateau lacks surface water. Along the coastline are sandy beaches and rocky coves, and the vegetation is shrub-like. The mountainous regions that run along the coastline from the Cape of Good Hope to the Limpopo Valley in the northeast of the country are split into the Drakensberg, Nuweveldberg and Stormberg ranges.
Following the 1994 elections, South Africa was organized into nine regions. These comprise the Western Cape with its provincial and national capital of Cape Town, the Eastern Cape with its provincial capital of Bisho, the Northern Cape with its provincial capital of Kimberley, KwaZulu-Natal with its provincial capital of Pietermaritzburg, the Free State with its provincial capital of Bloemfontein, the North West Province with its provincial capital of Mmabatho, Limpopo (formerly called the Northern Province) with its provincial capital of Polokwane (formerly called Pietersburg), Mpumalanga with its provincial capital of Nelspruit, and Gauteng with its provincial capital of Johannesburg.
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