SOUTH AFRICA: A TOP DESTINATION FOR FAUNA AND FLORA

It is no secret that South Africa is a haven for beautiful scenery, exquisite flora, fascinating history, friendly society, a great climate and high calibre personalities. This article will focus on the natural resources by geographic area to present information for a nature lover’s trip. Therefore whether a person would like to go on a wildlife safari, or go hiking, bird-watching, angling, sailing or visiting world heritage sites.

Depending on the period of the year, one can enjoy dry or wet weather, however, one can enjoy sunshine on the Highveld all year round. The summer season is usually hot and thundery while winter is dry. In the Cape, it is best to visit in summer and early winter months from October to May. Summer in Kwazulu-Natal is hot, thundery and humid at sea level therefore the best months to view game are from June to August.

South Africa has more animal species than North and South America combined, or Europe and Asia combined. One can view the Big Land Five which are the elephant, lion, leopard, rhinoceros and buffalo. Fortunately, the equivalent from the sea is available in the form of “The Big Sea Five” namely the Right Whale, Great White Shark, endangered Bottlenosed Dolphin, Blue Marlin and Tuna. The FIFA World Cup 2010 host, is also home to the world’s largest land mammal which is the African elephant, the tallest mammal, the giraffe and the fastest land mammal, the cheetah which can be seen racing against a popular South African rugby star Brian Habana. Other impressive nature stats are being a habitat to the largest antelope, the eland and the largest bird in the form of an ostrich. In rounding up these nature facts and figures, there are 900 bird species, 6000 spider species,175 varieties of scorpion and 100 different types of snakes living and thriving in South Africa.

• Eastern Cape:Port Elizabeth Oceanarium,The Addo Elephant Park,Tsitikamma National Park,Shamwari Game Reserve and the Wild Coast
• Free State:Golden Gate Highlands National Park and nearby Clarens,Ango-Boer War museums and battlefields,Vredefort Dome.
• Gauteng:Gold Reef City,Constitution Hill,Museum Africa,the Apartheid useum,The Cradle of Mankind,Krugersdorp Nature Reserve,Rhino & Lion Nature Reserve(all in and arou8nd Johannesburg).In Pretoria:The Union Buildings,Kruger & Smuts Museums,Voortrekker Museum,shopping and golf.
• Kwazulu-Natal:Durban's Golden Mile,uShaka Marine World,Greater St Lucia wetlands,Drakensberg Mountains,Anglo-Zulu and Boer war battlefields,golfing and adventure sports.
• Limpopo:The Northern Kruger National Park,Mapungubwe World Heritage Site,Valley of the Olifants,Hot Springs at Bela Bela.
• Mpumalanga:The Southern Kruger National Park,Blyde River Canyon,Pigrim's Rest,God's Window,birding a Wakkerstroom and golfing in the wild.
• North West:Sun City and The Lost City,Pilanesburg National Park,Madikwe Game Reserve,Hartbeespoort Dam,Vredefort Dome,golf,watersports and hiking.
• Northern Cape:Kimberly's Big Hole and the diamonds fields,San painings and culture,Namaqualand flowers in Spring and Kgalgadi Transfrontier Park.
• Western Cape:The Table Mountain,Cape Point,Robben Island,Kirstenbosch Botannical Gardens,Visctoria and Alfred Waterfront,umerous windelands,whale watching at Hermanus,The garden route,golf,hiking and adventure sports.