If you visit South Africa, you’ll find that English is now the main language for signage, education and tourism. But South African English, as well as being spoken with a distinctive accent, has adopted many words from the Afrikaans language, and from various African languages including Zulu and Xhosa. Here are some of the words [more...]
International travellers are sometimes hesitant to drive in another country, but self-drive is a great way to see the highlights of South Africa. Driving is on the left, as in 30% of the world including Japan, Australasia, and the British Isles. Distances are in kilometers, and speeds in kilometers per hour. Your drivers license is [more...]
A game reserve combines nature conservation with travel and adventure. Some game reserves also incorporate animal tracking and hunting, but those are not the kind of game reserves we’re discussing here. We’ll take as our example the game parks run by SANParks, the South African National Parks authority. The game reserves are huge tracts of [more...]
The South African townships originated when rural South Africans left their tribal areas and migrated to the cities, setting up squatter camps on the periphery. These areas later became locations where the policy of Apartheid was enforced—with black South Africans being restricted to living in the townships while white South Africans lived in the main [more...]
The Garden Route isn’t about gardens. The name alludes to its lush and verdant coast, mountains and forests, which contrast with the arid nature of much of the rest of South Africa, and it makes for a great driving holiday. The Garden Route is that part of the N2 highway which follows the coast between [more...]
By some statistical measures (but not others), South Africa has the highest crime rate in the world. Robbery, murder and rape are astonishingly high. How can people live in a place like that? First, it should be said that the statistics, horrendous though they are, are somewhat misleading. South Africa is unusual in that it [more...]
The name of the National Anthem of South Africa is “Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika.” The words and music of ‘Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika’ (‘God Bless Africa’) were composed as a hymn by Enoch Mankayi Sontonga in 1897 along with Samuel Edward Krune Mqhayi. ‘Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika’ was sung publicly for the first time in 1899. It steadily [more...]
Pretoria is is one of the South Africa‘s three capital cities, serving as the executive (administrative) and de facto national capital. The other two are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital. Pretoria was founded in 1855 by Marthinus Pretorius, a Voortrekker leader, who named it after his father Andries Pretorius. When [more...]
Bloemfontein is the capital city of the Free State Province of South Africa and along with Cape Town and Pretoria, one of the nation’s three capitals. It is the judicial capital. Bloemfontein was officially founded in 1846 as a British fort. Bloemfontein is frequently called “the city of roses”, due to the abundance of these [more...]
Cape Town is the second second largest city in South Africa and is the country’s legislative capital. Established in 1652, Cape Town was the first permanent European settlement in South Africa. Cape Town is a city with a wide range of activities and attractions. It has something for everyone, from the beaches of Clifton and [more...]
South Africa lies at the south of Africa. It borders Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Swaziland, and surrounds Lesotho. The legislative capital is Cape Town, the judicial capital is Bloemfontein, and the administrative capital is Pretoria. The South African National Anthem is Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika. How big is South Africa? South Africa has an area [more...]
The Garden Route, in South Africa’s Western Cape province, is a stretch of rugged coastline packed with attractions and activities of interest to tourists. Whether you’re looking for an adrenaline adventure or genteel sightseeing, you can find it along the Garden Route. The Garden Route follows the N2 highway from Mossel Bay in the west [more...]