#Travel - South Africa Part 1

The Waterfront - Cape Town

As an English-descended South African I'm often asked by family & friends why Africa holds so much allure. The simple answer is this. It's home. Paradoxically 'home', for those of us who love to travel, is seemingly a contradiction in intent but it's also what you know; where you return to for some structural comfort and, I suppose, where you have an intimate understanding of the people who share the same geography.

Union Buildings - Pretoria

For those of you who don't know, South Africa has had its problems; largely premised on gazetted racial discrimination & by 'gazetted' I mean 'made legal'. Apartheid, meaning 'to keep apart', as this wasteful system became known to the world, eventually collapsed in 1994. Since then the peoples of this country have lived in relative freedom; even if the economically-unemancipated are still largely excluded from the mainstream economy. As a result the vast majority of people in this country still live under the yoke of poverty. A much smaller, ethnically-diverse, minority are wealthy in real terms & therein lies the TRAVEL-rub.

Alexander Bay - Northern Cape

South Africa is difficult to pin down as a travel destination for a number of reasons. One of the often-published facts, particularly in mainstream media, is our high-level of violent crime. That's true. South Africa does, in fact, have some of the worst levels of crime in the world. To understand why you only need to look at our history. Another contributing factor often cited is our porous border with our neighbouring countries. Some of these countries have been involved in civil war or mass-political-displacement. It's difficult to shake a violent past or to respect the rule of law when survival-experience dictates a different tactic, often violent. Although local law-enforcement has been iffy, there are however, signs that crime is at last being managed if not being brought under control. Other contributing factors include a wealth-divide & therein are premised many examples of survival none more topical than the rhino-poaching pandemic. On this point it's difficult to argue against the starving family in favour of the 5-star lodge charging 1st-world photographic rates but that's an ethical / moral debate for another time.

Cableway - Cape Town

That's the downside - what's the upside, if any? First-off South Africa is a landscaper's dream. It's almost rudely perfect. You'd be pushed to better South Africa's diversity anywhere else. I acknowledge some degree of bias & in that context of course. Then again I've walked the length & breadth of 90-odd countries too.. Secondly, South Africa offers an eclectic travel experience from the cultural remnants of its colonial past to the modern, more heady throb of Africa. Our music is mainstream; our dancing energized; our beaches unmatched; our night-life world-class; our hospitality memorable and our wildlife - a refuge.

South Africa is not limited to Cape Town or its famous square-topped mountain. It's not just its people either or even the wildlife. It's just so much more & so easy to get around. Notwithstanding & let's be honest, Cape Town's great but the weather in winter [June - Sept] is about as bad as it gets. Australia's Melbourne is just as pretty. Our people are no more diverse; more eclectic; or even more troubled / less troubled than the people of New York / or anywhere else; the wildlife no less or more majestic than the wildlife in any number of locales, including Botswana | Kenya & so on. Here's the secret though - You will not find another destination that offers the full experience, CHEAPER & that too is a fact! More in the next post.