South Africa

South Africa is a big, full of variety and incredible beauty country. The size of combined France and Spain, and almost twice the size of the state of Texas, it varies from  breathtaking Garden Route towns of the Western Cape to the raw subtropic at the coast of northern KwaZulu-Natal, having the vast Karoo semi-desert across its center and Africa's best known safari destinations, Kruger National Park, in the northeast. South Africa is also one of the greatest points of cultural meeting of the Black continent, a fact underdeveloped by years of enforced racial segregation, but now fully visible in the big SA cities.
In the second half of the 20th century South Africa was considered by the world as a pariah state in which the ruling white minority passed a range of heavy laws to subdue and enslave the black majority. All this came to change in 1994 with the release of imprisoned freedom fighter and icon of the oppressed worldwide, Nelson Mandela. A new age of democracy was introduced and South Africa was immediately seen by the world in her beautiful true colors: a rainbow nation with a kaleidoscope of cultures and a hand-full of attractions to attract visitors. Some years later tourists were landing to sunny South Africa in droves, especially to the Western Cape with its beautiful scenery, magnificent beaches, mountains of magic and green wine-lands.
This republic at the southern tip of Africa surrounded by ocean on its three sides, is offering a sip of Africa's experience like the chances to visit traditional tribal villages, game reserves and sprawling townships. At the same time it provides the trappings of a exclusive holiday experience, having luxury hotels, modern shopping, high-tech theme parks and clear beaches. The visitor can have a breakfast in a New York style deli; a lunch in an African shebeen; drink cocktails on a sunset cruise; and dine in style in a fine British-style colonial restaurant. All this is possible in the same day, visiting a South African city.
But it is not only the cultural diversity that makes South Africa magical and unique. The country has a handful of animal and plant life living across its varied climactic zones - from desert to snow-covered mountains, with many forests, grasslands and mangrove swamps.
On the historic side of things there is plenty to discover as well - from the fossils of ancient hominids, trough the pioneering spirit of the Dutch ‘voortrekkers’ and to the settlement of the Eastern Cape by British colonialists. South Africa is often referred as  ‘the world in one country’, by the visitors experienced its delights - from the city jumble of Johannesburg, built by the gold rush in the north, up to the sophistication of Cape Town in the south.