Culture and Romance in South Africa
South Africa has a magnetic effect on everyone who visits and everyone leaves planning their return!
Its beauty is breath taking and there can be no more romantic experience than lying in your own private lodge after a day on safari, the scent of exotic flowers and the sounds of African wildlife floating in on the night air while overhead stars shine in the huge sky outside.
Image: Elephants in South Africa. Photo by Brian Scott
Take a leisurely drive along the Garden Route, past magnificent coastal scenery and vibrant flowers with stops to sample local wine at the many vineyards along the way or spend a few days in Capetown, with its lively night life, hundreds of restaurants and thriving cultural scene. It's truly a land of diversity, and not just in the sense of its people.
Lifestyle & Culture
Because of its ethnic diversity it is impossible to identify a single South Africa culture. It truly is a rainbow nation, a melting pot of languages, and traditions, and there are dozens of different cultures living side by side, these days for the most part peaceably.
There are problems still in the wake of the massive changes that have occurred in the last decade or so. It is wise to be aware of these and to stick to the main tourist areas and, especially in cities, not wander off the beaten track without a guide.
In general though, South Africa is laid back place, people are friendly and easy going and spend much of their leisure time outdoors, not surprisingly in a country with so much to offer.
Outdoor sports are hugely popular with tourists and pretty much anything you can think of is available, skiing, mountaineering, river and sea surfing, kayaking, diving, bungee jumping and much more.
Most visitors boarding planes for home leave with some South African craft, and there is plenty to choose from.
Carved wooden animals are widely available and there are some great jewellery makers, and the ingenuity of craft workers in evident with beautiful objects made from such unpromising material as wire, plastic bags, petrol cans and bottle tops.
And then there is the glory of the wildlife, and not just in the safari parks either. Amazing birds, butterflies and vibrantly coloured flowers are in abundance along the fertile coastal regions and the seas are teaming with exotic fish and marine mammals. However visiting South Africa, or indeed any part of Africa, without visiting a game reserve would be to miss the experience of a lifetime.