Six more reasons to love SA
South Africa’s beauty and heritage are internationally recognised on many levels and while the pandemic has impacted the industry, locals can still enjoy what Mzansi offers.
My African dream, is a dream that we can follow! The lyrics of the iconic Vicky Sampson song have the ability to stir the hearts of South Africans. While the country has so much to offer, this is often forgotten in the current climate.
Delight in these six things:
1. Table Mountain is a true wonder of nature
In November 2020, the World Travel Awards named Table Mountain Africa’s leading tourist attraction. The mountain was also included as an official New7Wonders of Nature in the world, after receiving more than 100-million global votes. With 29-million annual visitors reaching the summit via the cableway, this iconic mountain is globally popular. Visiting the mountain should be on every South African’s bucket list. The adventurous and fit can opt to climb Table Mountain – there are many hiking trails from which to choose.
2. Don’t be afraid, bungee from Africa’s highest bridge
Bloukrans Bridge in the Western Cape is the highest commercial natural bungee jump in the world. Jump off Africa’s highest bridge and plummet 216m into the Bloukrans River Valley. If you are an adrenaline junkie, go for it; if not, pluck up the courage and still go for it!
3. The longest wine route in the world, right here!
It’s always wine time in South Africa! When last measured in 2019, it was reported that our countrymen consume 313.8-million litres of wine per annum. South African wines are also sought after in the rest of the world and are globally recognised for their quality. Route 62 runs between Constantia in Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, via Oudtshoorn and the Garden Route. It embraces 350 years of wine-making as it passes classic Cape-Dutch homesteads, green mountains, 200 cellars and kilometres of vines. The meandering 850km journey through the Cape Winelands is the world’s longest wine route.
4. Call me by any of six names
South Africa’s beloved late former president Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was not only a Nobel Peace Prize winner, but was a man called by six different names. On his first day of school, his teacher gave him the name Nelson, following the custom back in the 1920s to give all children English names as English colonials ‘couldn’t’ pronounce African names. When he was 16, he was given the name Dalibhunga (‘creator or founder of the council’) during a traditional rite of passage ceremony. South Africans commonly call him Madiba, which is the name of the Thembu clan to which he belongs, or simply Tata or Khulu, the Xhosa words for ‘father’ and ‘grandfather’. Madiba’s legacy is internationally celebrated on July 18 during Nelson Mandela International Day. Choose to visit one of over 20 places across South Africa that tell the tale of Madiba’s life.
5. Rooibos now has a stamp to prove its origin
SA’s favourite tea has just received the European Union’s protected designation of origin status. This means that manufacturers of rooibos tea, grown in the Cedarberg area of the Western Cape, will be able to use a special stamp on their packaging to indicate where it originates. The tea is internationally recognised for its health benefits. Rooibos’ new status will protect its historic background and that of the communities who have farmed the tea for generations.
6. CAT scan proudly South African
The computerised axial tomography (CAT) scan was developed by Cape Town physicist Allan Cormack and his associate Godfrey Hounsfield. He provided the mathematical technique for the CAT scan, in which an X-ray source and electronic detectors are rotated about the body and the resulting data is analysed by a computer to produce a sharp map of the tissues within a cross-section of the body. This resulted in a Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine. (Source: South Africa The Good News)
