Graffiti tribute to Mandela in Cape Town
Metrip to South Africa It was the first contact I had with theBlack africa, beyond previous trips to that continent, specifically, to Muslim countries such as Morocco, Tunisia or Egypt.
When starting the trip with the agencyAfrica adventure I preferred not to deepen previously in my knowledge of that country, really scarce.
In the historical plane it was limited to the memory of films about the wars between boers, English and black populations, at apartheid, already Nelson Mandela.
Safari in the Kruger Park in South Africa
Of course, also to the victory of the national team in the Soccer World Cup celebrated in that country.
This has allowed me to discover a country with many edges and contrasts and, at the same time, very interesting to make a tourism trip.
What to see and do in South Africa
From the outset I will tell you that on a trip toSouth Africa You will find the most topical image of an African country.
District 6 Museum in Cape Town
Kruger Park Safari
In that country you can participate in safaris in areas like the Kruger Park where there are no roads but dirt tracks, and where populations have an enormous precariousness of resources.
Here you have information on how to participate in a Kruger park safari and about the experience of sleep in a lodge in Kruger.
Cape Town
But in South Africa you can also visit a city of special interest such as Cape Town, with a beautiful location under the curious mountain formation known asTable mountain.
You should know that Cape Town has recently been considered one of the new Seven natural wonders of the world.
Table Mountain Cable Car in Cape Town
And in that African city there are corners that may well remind you of San Francisco or New Orleans.
Vineyards and wine tourism in South Africa
In South Africa you can also see valleys covered with vineyards with villages with lovely architecture.
These scenes take you to European corners of the Mediterranean or to California, because you hardly see anything that makes you think you are in Africa.
And you can also see interior landscapes that will remind you of Germany or France, or a coastal coastline that might well resemble the Mediterranean Spanish.
Virgin Beaches in Walker Bay
It is a coast with virgin beaches of 30 kilometers in length located in natural reserves such as Walker bay, on whose shores the whales arrive and, yes, they are full of white sharks.
Fly over the Walker Bay nature reserve in South Africa by plane
This African country Landscape contrasts also show you today a huge social and economic contrast that you will not be able to abstract during your trip.
Curiosities history South Africa
Think that the first aboriginal population of what is now South Africa were the saint, better known as Bushmen, who arrived 15,000 years ago.
Then, about 2,000 years ago, the khoi, and between the twelfth and seventeenth centuries the Bantues tribes from North Africa, among which are the zulu, they went down to these lands.
It was from 1652 when the white colonization began with the arrival of the Dutch associated with the commercial development that was promoted after the creation of the Dutch East India Company.
It is the origin of the creation of the community that will later be known as afrikaner or Boer.
Malay neighborhood of Bo-Kaap in Cape Town
With them came the Malaysian slaves, of Muslim religion, whose descendants now concentrate on the colorful Cape Town's Bo-Kaap neighborhood.
The purpose of the Dutch was to establish farms that would provide fresh food to ships that covered the long route from the Netherlands until Far East going through the Cape of Good Hope.
In this way we wanted to avoid the high mortality rate that scurvy produced among sailors.
At this time the Germans from the north and the French Huguenots also arrived, implanting the latter the winemaking tradition.
That is precisely the origin of the vineyards and wineries that you can now visit in the Franschhoek Valley.
At the end of the 18th century it was the English who went on to control these lands after their wars with the boers in 1795.
Carriage ride through the Boschendal vineyards in South Africa
It was later in 1910 when the so-called South African Union reached its autonomy from theCommonwealth British
It is at this point where the origin of the black stage of the apartheid.
I remind you that it was a system of racial segregation with the black population that was legally established by the afrikaner from 1948, and that was not abolished until 1990.
A good and emotional sample of what this racism system meant is in the visit of District 6 museum in Cape Town.
In this very instructive visit you will be surprised at how far discrimination came from the black population.
Charlys Bakery Pastry in Cape Town
The reconciliation process initiated in South Africa by the then white presidentFrederik De Klerk, which led in 1994 to the victory of Nelson Mandela, It was the first essential step to face the development of the black population.
I anticipate that when you travel to South Africa you will find a huge economic difference between the white and black population.
You will see that whites maintain economic power, but blacks at least already have the political structure to facilitate their development.
But in the face of a lifestyle and an economic level very similar to that of Europe enjoyed by white South Africans, the black population continues to live with one euro a day in the huge shack congregations of the town ship.
Cape Town views on the helicopter tour
And in that regard I remind you that the white population represents only 10 percent of the almost 50 million inhabitants of South Africa.
Tourism in South Africa
From the point of view of tourism, you should know that before 1994 it was an industry that did not exist in South Africa.
Now about 13 million tourists arrive in that country, with continuous annual increases, of which some 38,000 come from Spain.
In fact, tourism has become an engine of cultural and economic development of the country's black population.
Walker Bay in South Africa
An example in this regard is the Grootbos Foundation.
His founderMichael Lutzeyer defends that the economic development of tourism activities must go hand in hand with training, the creation of a community and the conservation of natural resources.
A sample is the Grootbos Nature Reserve hotel where the necessary training is provided so that the black population can develop economically.
For this, a school of tourist guides has been enabled, but work is also carried out in orchards where they have learned to grow food that is bought by said hotel establishment.
In short, you tourist trip to South Africa It has many more attractions than enjoying landscapes or tourist activities.
Braai, traditional barcacoa in Gugulethu in Cape Town
You will have the opportunity to appreciate the steps that are being taken in social evolution and in the disappearance of the reminiscences of the apartheid.
In this regard, a great experience will be to enjoy a braai, traditional South African barbecue, in a local township from Gugulethu in Cape Town,
In this corner, to the rhythm of music DJ mostly young people, black and white, and some tourists, we share a Sunday day together in a multiracial environment.
It is still something exceptional, but it is an experience that you should not miss on your trip.
