south Africa

About

Extensive fossil remains have been recovered from a series of caves in Gauteng Province, SOUTH AFRICA which is one of the oldest archaeological and human fossil sites in the world. The area is a UNESCO World Heritage site and has been termed the 'Cradle of Humankind'.

But modern South Africa began emerging with colonization in the mid-seventeenth century. The Dutch in the mid 1650’s and later the Boers (original Dutch, Flemish, German, and French) were the first settlers in South Africa. In the 1800’s the British arrived and fought a few wars with the Boers for control over various provinces. Together with the local Zulu and Matabele people, all of these settlers shaped South Africa to what it is today. A pot pouri of different races, languages and cultures. Of course the discovery of diamonds in 1867 and gold in 1884 in the interior regions of South Africa changed the economics of the country for ever.

Beyond the history (and in South Africa’s case – tumultuous), every country in the world displays abundant diversity. But South Africa, stretching from the hippos in the Limpopo River to the penguins waddling on the Cape, takes the cake. It befits its position at the southern end of the world’s most epic continent, with more types of terrain than photographers can shake their zoom lens at.

From the deserted Kalahari, Namakwa’s springtime symphony of wildflowers and the iconic Table Mountain to Cape Point, Kruger National Park’s wildlife-stalked savannah (scene of the famous lion-buffalo-crocodile battle watched more than 40 million times on YouTube) that runs through the east of the country into Lesotho and the Drakensberg, South Africa tells you a story so diverse that you’ll never want to leave. KwaZulu-Natal’s iSimangaliso Wetland Park alone has five distinct ecosystems, attracting both zebras and dolphins.

South Africa. You must see it at least once in your lifetime.