This document provides a summary of the author's trip through South Africa. Some key points: 1) The author visited several cities and sites in South Africa including Cape Town, Robben Island, Table Mountain, and Kruger National Park. 2) The tour guide provided historical context for the places and issues related to apartheid. Some details were disputed by the author. 3) The author enjoyed the scenery and walking during the trip but felt the tour did not provide much insight into how most Africans live. 4) Additional destinations included Victoria Falls and Sun City casino resort. The trip overall provided beautiful scenery and history of South Africa.

1. World in One Country (2002) by Jayant Doshi
For over a century, South Africa was torn apart and ruled by the most vilified apartheid
system whereby people were grouped together by their skin colour, where mixing of races
was banned, and all the public facilities
were segregated for the whites and others.
Over the same period, the whites built a
heaven for themselves at the cost of the
rest of the population. After years of strife,
and world boycott of this reviled system,
the Africans, or the majority, were granted
the right to select and participate in the
government of the country. It is only eight
years since this change took place, and it
would take a long time to undo the
iniquities created by the past regime.
Since then, S Africa has become a popular country for sightseeing. Besides a good holiday,
I was expecting to see the aftermath of those years of strife and racially segregated
system that put all humanity to shame. We decided to arrange such a holiday. Being
vegetarians, with a special taste for spicy foods, we were inclined to go for a tour offering
Indian food. But, after some research, we opted for a local company, with established
reputation, which promised vegetarian food but not necessarily Indian spicy food.
We reached Cape Town just before lunchtime. Our hotel was right on the sea front and we
could see the waves from our window. After freshening up, and a quick lunch, we decided
to walk along the sea front and get a feel of the place. The next day we had a half day
tour of the city. The city was founded by the Europeans who needed replenishment for the
long journey made by the ships, which went to India and the East to procure spices. White
people, who excluded the blacks and the coloured people from the cities, had developed
the city beautifully with wonderful
architecture in buildings, neat roads and
lots of greenery along the way, and little
seems to have changed since apartheid
was abolished.
In the afternoon we visited the famous
Roben island where Nelson Mandela spent
27 years of his imprisonment. The visit
was emotionally moving and touching. The
guide who showed us around the prison
had himself spent 20 years in the prison,
and his comments could not hide the
bitterness behind them. He graphically
described the life in the prison. The island has now become a national monument and a
tourist attraction.

2. Next day we saw the Cape point where the Indian and the Atlantic oceans meet. In reality,
the oceans are one, but since man has
named them, the point signifies the point
where the two are separated. We also saw
southern most point of the continent of
Africa, and the place where the first
Europeans set foot on the continent five
hundred years back. We visited the famous
botanical gardens and some museums on
our way.
Table Mountain, literally like a table, is
world famous, and was on our itinerary.
Three times our visit was cancelled due to
thick fog and clouds. However the guide arranged for us to leave hotel early on the last
day so we could visit the mountain. Luckily, the sun shone on that morning and made our
visit to the top of the Table mountain worth the wait. The top of the mountain is accessed
by a cable car, which revolves while taking people up a steep slope and allowing a
panoramic view, and the mountain is like a table as its name implies. We spent an hour on
the mountain, and walked around it and enjoyed the beautiful scenery, which could be
seen from that height.
The guide, a proper Africaaner, with a
husky voice, looked after all our needs,
and gave running commentary all along
the trip. He came up with detailed
historical facts for each place, and at
times gave such difficult Boer and Zulu
names that it was difficult to keep up with
his commentary, and lot of passengers in
the coach could be seen snoozing. While
all the facts he presented were new for us, I could see discrepancies on the facts I was
aware of, but it seemed futile to try to rectify those facts and end up in an argument,
which no one would have liked.
Then we drove along the coast to Worcester
surrounded by vineyards. We visited a
vineyard and had a taste of their wine,
followed by a visit to a peaceful small town
where we had lunch and did some
shopping. Next day we visited the historic
town of Tulbagh, the town where the first
Dutch made their settlement in S Africa.
Though the original town was destroyed in
1969 by earthquake, the historical

3. buildings with their unique features, were rebuilt and restored to their original Dutch glory.
Our drive to Wilderness was long, but relief was given by a visit to an ostrich farm, which
proved very informative. We passed George, which styles itself as the capital of the
famous Garden Route, and reached to our
hotel in Wilderness in the evening. Next
day was the day of a nostalgic trip on a
steam train journey through some of the
beautiful scenery and greenery of the
route. Next day we drove along the famous
Garden Route. Unlike the name, it is a
route of greenery with rolling hills and
valleys and forests along the route, and a
lovely coastline along the way. If one were
expecting beautiful gardens along the
route, then one would have been
disappointed.
The hotel at our next stop, Port Elizabeth, was also on the sea front with a busy
waterfront. We paid a visit to the original settlements by the British in the area, with some
early 19th century towns and traditional architecture. We also saw the solid steel bunkers
built to fight the Boers. We flew on to Durban. The southern part of this huge country is
mountainous and green, while the northern part is flat like a plateau and quite dry. While
Durban visit was not on the schedule, the guide decided to take us on a short tour round
the city. This city was in total contrast to Cape Town and Port Elizabeth. The first two
towns were quiet and serene, with a preponderant white population, Durban seemed
teeming with Indians and black population and buzzing with lot of activity.
When we booked the holiday, we stressed that we must be given Indian food as far as
possible, and we were promised the same. But the variety of foods we got in the buffet
three times a day was such that whenever Indian food was given, most of us avoided it.
Soups, salads, fruits and vegetable
dishes more than filled us up, and I have
feeling that most of us put on a few kilos
weight during our trip. We found the food
more satisfying and healthy, and did not
miss our traditional food for a day.
We moved on to a game lodge. The lodge
had wooden huts built on stilts, and
connected by a wooden walkway to other
huts and dining area. It had a watering
place nearby and a hut built to watch
animals come to drink water. The place
was lovely, and we had a bon fire while having our drinks. The next day we had open
jeep safari through the game park. Like other game parks, we saw lots of animals, but
somehow the numbers of wild animals to be seen seem to be depleting fast.

4. Next day, we visited a traditional Zulu village and learnt a few things about their life style
and culture. We continued our journey with a drive through Swaziland with its lush sugar
cane farms and total change in the landscape. This small country is landlocked, and is
very beautiful with its sugar cane and orange orchards, misty mountains and greenery.
We spent a night at a lodge. Next day we
drove through a pretty small town, and
then on to Kruger National Park in S Africa
where we spent two nights in a game
lodge inside the national park. We had a
drive in open jeep for a safari through one
of the oldest and largest national parks of
Africa. While we saw a good variety of
animals, missing out on the big ones, the
numbers were negligible and
disappearance of many animals seems
inevitable if strong measures are not
taken soon.
Our next stop, and final stop for some, was Pretoria where we had a farewell dinner. Some
of the group left next day for London, while others flew on to Livingstone for a visit to
Victoria Falls in Zambia. Driving from the airport to our luxurious hotel on the banks of
river Zambezi, we could see that we were now really in an African country. Our journey
from Cape Town right up to Pretoria hardly gave us an insight of how the Africans lived.
What we saw were beautiful riverside bungalows, and beaches with lovely houses, but
we saw little of how the majority lived.
Victoria Falls, with a span of almost 2 km, is the biggest waterfalls in the world. However,
due to lack of rains, the falls seemed
pretty dry, and the falls covered hardly a
few metres of the big span of the actual
falls. While we walked many times and
saw the beauty of the falls from various
angles, and actually walked on the falls
itself which were dry at this time of the
year, the site did not have exciting trips
as offered by Niagara falls. Our hotel
was on the banks of river Zambezi, and
we had a lovely cruise down the river.
The highlight of the trip was walking.
Some of our group were keen at walking,
and at times woke up as early as five in the morning to go on long walks. On the average,
one to two hours of walking per day was standard, and that was the most enjoyable part
of the trip. Walking along the beach, with perhaps gusty winds, or walking down the
riverbank, or on the streets of a still sleeping town, had its pleasures, and only those who
appreciate and experience those walks, know what those pleasure feel like. Walking on
boulders and rocks on the surface of the Zambezi river which was dry, and reaching to the

5. mouth of the actual falls, had adventure
and pleasure mixed in one.
We were told that a visit to South Africa
would be incomplete without a visit to the
famous Sun City. Surprisingly, all local
touring firms do not include this venue on
their itinerary. However, those who came
back from Victoria Falls had 24 hours at
their disposal, and decided to visit this city.
Originally built as a gambling resort, but
now more of a family resort, the whole
place can be looked around on foot in a matter of hour or two. There are four hotels, and
lots of leisure activities. A Lost City has been built depicting hug animal carvings in rocks,
and a real jungle atmosphere. Two golf courses adorn the city, and a lake provides a
range of water sports. While we did not have the time to enjoy all the facilities, we at least
had the satisfaction that we saw the place.
(More on www.jayantdoshi.yolasite.com)
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