Footprint Guides never fail to educate and entertain, and this Guide is no exception. South Africa is a land of wonderful contrasts from the lush wine growing areas of the Eastern Cape to the dry desert of the Kalahari and from the wonderful coastal scenery of the Southern tip to the magnificent Drakensbergs in the west and the Blyde River Canyon in the north. Here is a huge country with infinite variety and a never‐ending horizon.
Whatever your interest in South Africa, be it as a potential visitor, armchair traveller, businessperson or merely curiosity about this country, this Guide will supply the answers. It caters for all tastes – for those who wish to stay and travel in style – maybe at the Mount Nelson hotel in Cape Town and on the Blue train to Pretoria; to those with more modest budgets who want to backpack round the country and stay in hostels – fear not, the Baz Bus is alive and well!
The layout of the Guide is similar to other Footprint Guides – commencing with planning your trip, things to do before you travel, getting there and getting around once in the country. Health advice is given and there is a section on communications and keeping in touch.
The Guide then deals with each region of the country in turn, commencing with Cape Town, the mother city of South Africa, and in my opinion, unbeatable. With its backdrop of Table Mountain and wonderful coastal drives, plus lush botanical gardens and picturesque Waterfront – this must be the best city in the world. It has a Mediterranean climate, good food and excellent wines plus water sports and superb beaches – but beware – the sea is cold! You cannot swim in it as a cold current passes the Cape, but it is good for sailing. A trip to Robben Island to see where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned is memorable as is a climb (for the energetic) up Table Mountain. If you are feeling feeble, then take the cable car, which supplies stupendous views.
From Cape Town, you can visit the Winelands and lovely towns such as Stellenbosch, Franshoek and Paarl. Or you can drive north along the coast to Lamberts Bay and the West Coast National Park. In the spring, you can go even further north towards Namibia and see the amazing spring flowers in bloom. The guide gives full details of all of these and more with places to stay and to eat. Come south again to the Cederbergs and the Breede River Valley and try driving Route 66 to Montague. It's all wonderful.
The Guide goes on to explore and describe the whole of this vast country region by region. It will tell you about the perils of driving in Jo'burg, gives information on South African wildlife and the “Big Nine”, including some 32 pages of wonderful photographs of the animals and birds, provides numerous maps and details of hiking trails, and, of course, details of the wonderful safari trips and wildlife parks for which the country is justly famous. Lastly, there is a trip into the Northern Cape and the Kimberley diamond mines followed by a venture into the Kalahari Desert and Namaqualand to see the spring flowers.
At the rear of the Guide is much background information on the country covering the periods from early humans in South Africa to the Anglo‐Boer War and the rise of Nationalism. Reading these pages is fascinating and it is worth buying the guide for this section alone. A brief summary of the life of Nelson Mandela is here as are descriptions of the rich and diverse culture of South Africa and modern day politics. A separate section on Lesotho and Swaziland is available. There is a good booklist, index and some maps – though you will need bigger and better maps if you plan to visit.
Altogether the authors, both of whom have lived and worked in South Africa, provide a brilliant and in‐depth account of this wonderful country, which pulls no punches and which will reward the industrious reader. A must for a good travel reference section.
