Wild Places: Unspoilt Nature In South Africa

By Author: Bonny Kominek
Total Articles: 96
Comment this article

1) The Cederberg Mountains. In the warm sandstone rock formations of the Cederberg Mountains (three hours drive north of Cape Town) it sometimes feel as if time has stood still. Though the elephants and other wildlife that once thronged the valleys have long gone, the Cederberg offers peaceful places to hike and camp, and a unique floral heritage. Visitors should also look out for rock paintings made by South Africa''s indigenous San hunter-gatherers.

2) The Karoo. Many visitors to South Africa will explore the Garden Route, along the southern Cape Coast, seldom venturing inland. However, the interior offers a unique experience of a semi-desert landscape that seems almost untouched by time. The Karoo National Park is rich in Mesozoic fossils and has been stocked with a variety of desert-adapted wildlife, from zebra to rhino. In spring the dry landscape bursts into bloom ? a sight none who see it will ever forget.

3) The Eastern Cape Province. The Eastern Cape remains one of South Africa''s least developed areas, perhaps best known as the birthplace of Nelson Mandela. It is also known for one of the world''s most ...
... famous game reserves, Shamwari, patronised by the world''s royalty and a consistent winner of top conservation awards. Shamwari is one of the best places to see the ''big five'' (lion,elephant, buffalo, rhino and leopard). Though famous for its super-luxurious lodges, more affordable accommodation is also available.

4) KwaZulu-Natal Drakensberg. The Drakensberg, or Ukhahlamba, Mountains form the border between the province of KwaZulu-Natal and the mountain kingdom of Lesotho. These majestic mountains and their rolling green foothills offer a variety of diverse environments, ideal for outdoors enthusiasts, from birdwatchers to hikers and climbers. Large parts of the mountain range are managed by Ezemvelo (formerly the Natal Parks Board), which oversees wildlife management and tourist access.

5) A few miles north-west of Johannesburg lies a series of prehistoric valleys known as the Cradle of Humankind. The caves in these valley have yielded scores of fossils that have changed our understanding of human evolution. Visitors can visit Sterkfontein, perhaps the most famous site, where the australopithecine fossil known as ''Little Foot'' was discovered by researchers in 2003. In the Cradle of Humankind visitors can cast their imagination back millions of years, to the time of our oldest ancestors.

6) Kruger National Park. At over 7 000 square miles in area, the Kruger Park, in the north-east, is South Africa''s largest (and oldest) wildlife reserve. It is now part of an even bigger area of unspoilt nature, the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, which includes areas of southern Zimbabwe and Mozambique. With almost 150 species of mammal in the park''s six ecological zones, the Kruger experience truly gives visitors a flavour of the wealth of wildlife that Africa boasted in abundance before the colonial era.

The vast country of South Africa gives visitors the chance to see landscapes that seem hardly to have changed in many millennia and to experience a rare tranquillity. Every area of the country has some wilderness or remote pocket to delight and entrance the visitor in search of an older and unspoilt world. Bonny Kominek wrote this article while on a holiday booked with Dialaflight who provide flights to South Africa and other desinations.