SOUTH AFRICA
The Republic of South Africa is possibly the most interesting country for 2010. However, it has always been that country with the “baddest” risks. Regardless South Africa’s synonymy to “crime”, the Crime Capital of the World, as some coil it, hoards around 900,000 tourists annually for almost 2 years now, add the estimated 400,000 who have come to SA for the full-month event of 2010 FIFA World Cup that has created dynamics to the lulled statistics of South African tourism of what is otherwise at a standstill. SA after all is the country that tops the list of the most number of people with AIDS in the world, 5.7 million to be nearly exact. Still, fact remains tourists cannot go around the city and take photos lest they want to be immediate targets to SA felons who will prey on camcorders, music players, any currency and gizmo.
South Africa is also tops when talking about countries of “lost cultures” because of issues of poverty and unemployment, slowly losing their culture and identity in the process. Not only that, there is an acknowledged social imbalance on opportunities after the apartheid that gears towards enriching the black society, hence, increased incidences of criminal activity on the part of unemployed white Africans. But the factoid is, whether we like it or not, South Africa is a renowned tourist destination with picturesque landscape diversity of all textures, colours, game and flowers, the superior South African wine, while the South Africans are animated light-hearted chaps ever ready to share a smile and give a laugh, not forgetting Charlize Theron is from South Africa who’s doing a great heck of a job promoting it. These or the latter alone are why.
GEOGRAPHY
South Africa (29 00 S, 24 00 E) is a 1,219,090 km2 area of pure diversity with a steady elevation – coastal plains to the south facing the Atlantic and Indian oceans, vast and flat central plateaus that gets drier towards the northwest versus the lush and humid zone to the east, steadily rising to jagged hills and high mountains to the north. The highest being the peak of Njesuthi at a height of 3,408 m of the Drakensberg, also the ceiling of the mountain range in South Africa. Other landscapes are at hand like the savannah that gives shelter to the richly swarming wildlife of South Africa-the Kruger National Park; the Kalahari Desert which becomes a wildflower estate; and the coastal plains that are the foundation to human settlement.
CLIMATE
In South Africa, the main climate is moderate as a result of its perfect location and steadily rising topography towards the north, although it is in fact diverse, semi-arid to the Kalahari, extreme desert to the south of Namib, Mediterranean to the southwest, and subtropical to the coast on the east. Days are sunny and nights are cool year round. The coldest place is Sutherland, and the hottest, as with most countries in Africa, in the deep interior.
PEOPLE
By 2009, South Africans number to 49.3 million of a variety of cultural and ethnic backgrounds, but mostly Black Africans of various ethnic and linguistic groups of up to 80% of the population (the next census is to be engaged in 2011). The “Whites” which is a classification to pertain to European ethnic groups, compose 9% of the population, the “Coloured” or those with sub-Saharan ancestry, 9%, and then Asians, 2%.
LANGUAGE
The major ethnic groups speak Bantu languages like the Zulu, Basotho, Xhosa, Bapedi, Venda, Tswana, and so on. Due to the linguistic diversity, there are 11 official languages including ENGLISH, which are spoken by a few as their first language, mainly the British and the Irish immigrants, precisely about 8.2%. ISIZULU is spoken by the majority, almost a quarter of the population, then ISIXHOSA by 17.6%. AFRIKAANS is used by around 13.3%; SEPEDI, by 9.4%; SETSWANA, by 8.2% almost as much as those who speak English. The languages SESOTHO, XITSONGA, SISWATI, TSHIVENDA, and ISINDEBELE are also amongst the 11 official languages.
RELIGION
Christians account for prevailing religious group in South Africa, particularly of the Zion, Charismatic, Catholic, Methodist, Anglican and other Christian sects. Muslims, Hindus, Jewish and traditional African beliefs are but minorities in contrast. Hindus are mostly Indians
ATTRACTIONS
Despite its current issues, which surely is never absent in any country, South Africa continues to draw audiences who find more good things than they expected. Sure they anticipated world heritage sites like the Robben Island, Voortrekker Monument, Isimangaliso Wetland Park, and, the several Fossil Sites (Sterkfontein, Swartkrans, Romdraai and Environs), and they are as picturesque, vibrant, and teeming with culture and species as can be. South Africa also is the icon for that African Safari tour we’ve mostly associated with as outsiders. This won’t be a guide to the places not to go but leave Johannesburg out, and nothing is missed, most say.
The Rand area, the Greater Johannesburg, is a No-Go since it’s rendered generically unsafe daylight or otherwise, thanks to poverty and unemployment. As a participant in the 2010 World Cup, tourists risk it anyway, and a mighty risk at that in the World’s Crime City Numero Uno. At least, skip the evening walks…really. Wherever the traveller’s restless feet takes them, surprises and immense beauty await like the Timabavati’s rare white lions.
Cape Peninsula boasts of the Table Mountain, Cape Point, Cape Malay, and the Castle of Good Hope. Besides visits to museums and mosques, sampling traditional cuisine in a Malay home is a proactive aspect of interaction with the local community and their culture. Cape Town takes the cake for rich and deep history and hats-off architecture, so is East London and Port Elizabeth – all lying on the coast. The best beaches of South Africa, these three places are no side trips at all. Inland, there also are the out of the ordinary cities like Pretoria, Rustenber, Ladysmith, and Pietermaritzburg. Whatever your tastes, whatever your budget, lowbrow or sophisticated, in South Africa, a myriad of things to see and do are readily available. For the hedonistic traveller, know very well that SA is the 4th in world blighted with adult prevalence of AIDS.
FOOD
Certainly, the diversity in sights, sounds, and textures heightens the overall experience, and yet we haven’t even gotten to scents and tastes, which will blow anybody’s expectations away. Talking about SA cuisine distracts everybody from the ugly statistics of everything undesirable in South Africa. SA cuisine is diverse as diverse gets. It’s got Dutch, British, German, Portuguese, Malay, and Indian influence “spiced” all over it, not failing the influence of the tribal cuisines. Tribal influence would include pap and potjiekos, those popular meat and vegetable stews. But if mopane worm dishes called masonja don’t make you drool, perhaps boerewors shall do it for you. This spicy sausage is good on its own, but better on a bun with the fixings and stuff.
Let’s include the Durban bunny or some also call bunny chows (the traveller might hear kota from the locals) which are not “rabbit dishes”, but are half white loafs carved on the inside and dumped with chicken tikka-masala or lamb or beef curry, respectively. Meat much? Truer than ever, the traveller will get a good beating of a meat-based diet when in SA spawning such an event where individuals gather around for a braai, that typical barbecued meat jamboree.
They are quite lucky enough to have been complemented with European desserts like Dutch pudding malva served with hot custard and ice cream. There’s absolutely no chance to miss this because this is served in almost every restaurant in SA. When all is said and done, the traveller may round the meal about with a glass of charming South African wine, the best way to drink it.
Josh Boorman
Editor-in-chief
Backpacking Addictz
Twitter: @backpackaddictz
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