Safari in South Africa. Tourist Sights South Africa. Shark Eco Tourism South Africa.

South Africa
South Africa is the name of a country geographically located at the bottom of Africa. Strangely enough, many Americans think that when one talks about South Africa, one is talking about Southern Africa. To clarify, South Africa, before sanctions, had the highest standard of liuving in the world, had the best cost of living in the world, had the best education system in the world, and is, probably one of the richest natural resource countries in the world. It remains one of the most stunningly beautiful geographical countries with the most diverse natural population, in the world. eleven official languages, and many different climate zones.

The Cape Town Coon Carnival
The Coon Carnival went through many metamorphases. It started off as a parade in the Mother City (Cape Town is the Mother City) and was later moved to stadiums by the South African Apartheid government. I think they wanted things to be tider. Thankfully, the Coon Carnival has returned in all its glory!

The homes of the Ndebele people are similar to those of the Zulu people - higly decorative and beautiful.. They also do beadwork.

Their style of dress is also very decorative, with particular styles of dress indicating their status in the tribe. Copper rings around arms and legs of women will indicate that they are married and faithful. The rings come off if her husband dies. Married women also wear grass rings around their necks. In the past, young boys would be naked except a small pouch covering the loins as would be young girls. Breasts would be naked. I grew up quite accustomed to seeing naked African men and women around me (only the pouch to cover the loins).

The Gumboot Dance is found nowhere else in the world. The white mine bosses created this dance for Africans while they worked on the mines. It is wonderful to watch and the energy and rhythm get into you.

There are many animal resevers in South Africa. Some are extremely expensive. Others aren't. Here are a few for you to enjoy. Some game reserves, like Addo National Park, predominantly have elephants, while others like the Kruger National Park have the big five. Private game lodges are extremely luxurious but expensive enough only to host the very rich. Game farms allow hunters to shoot anything from buck to lioin. However, special licences are required (also very expensive) and this is used as a means to cull animals as, although vast tracts of land are allocated to game reserves, there isn't really any land to increase the size of these reserves).

Shark Seeing
In my childhood, great white sharks were the nightmare of Durban beaches on the east coast. The Indian ocean is warm and it was always thought that the sharks liked the warm water and that's why there were so many attacks in Durban. However, Cape Town now has many shark attacks by Great Whites. This is because there is a shark Seeing Sight Tour. Divers go down in iron cages and horse meat is litered around the ocean. The sharks come to an eating spree and the divers watch. There has been an enormous outcry against this as surers now get attacked by Great Whites.

Nothing like summer in South Africa. Because it's the southern hemisphere, December is the month of taking vacation, having barbecues, surfing, and tanning in the sun. Beaches are fantastic in South Africa. The sand is snow white (except Durban) and fine grained. Sardinia Bay, just outside Port Elizabeth, has rolling sand dunes like the Sahara Desert going down to the sea. The bush surrounds that. In my youth, I used to go horse riding there. It's beautiful. Clifton Beach is the home of the world's most beautiful women. Charlize Theron might be one of them. Likewise my late mother. :)

 Surfers Come to Jeffries Bay From All Over the World
Jeffries Bay is one of the most famous surfing spots in the world. It has a particularly long continental shelf which makes for enormous waves. The dolphins in the video below are surfing alonside the surfers.

Zululand, Home of the Zulu People, and Paradise.
Zululand is on the east coast of South Africa and has a sub-tropical climate. The hills are green and the flowers are richly fragrant. There are birds that take your breath away. Towards the north, on the coast, is a diver's paradise. Alongside is a ink that tells you more about Zululand.

Pretoria, the Jakaranda City Where Nelson Mandela was sworn into power.
Pretoria is one of the seats of government in South Africa. It is known as the Jacaranda city because its streets are lined with the purple blossoms of the Jacaranda tree. In addition, it is where laws are made in South Africa. If I remember correctly, it is called the legislative capital. There are beautiful old colonial buildings throughout the city.

I spent some time living with my grandparents on their farm while my parents toured Europe for 6 or 9 months. Can't remember. But Ostriches are definitely part of my childhood!

South Africa is twice the size of Texas, and at one time, was probably one of the richest countries in the world. That's becausel it has diamonds, gold, uranium, gold, fertile farm land, coal for energy, etc. It has about half a dozen different climate zones and has most types of geographic terrain, ranging semi-arid desert through to lush sub-tropical vegetation. It has game reserves that have preserved most of the species.

The Drakensberg Mountains
Many people go to the Drakensberg in winter for the snow. Although skiing isn't a particulary South Africa pasttime, it has slowly entered the picture during the past two or three decades. The Drakensberg is where the snow is. Likewise, it is where hikers go.