Shopping in South Africa

South Africa is a place of remarkable people and places, offering lush forests, vast desert plains, vibrant cities, pristine beaches – and great shopping! There are sophisticated malls, vibrant markets, specialist curio shops and informal street sellers at almost every turn.
This means that while you explore the sea, mountains and abundant wildlife, you will also have a chance to explore some of the best shopping on the continent and effortlessly pick up gifts and souvenirs on your way. Along with superb local art, you will be able to buy a wide range of quality textiles, jewellery, leather goods and local beverages and even designer clothing at relatively affordable prices.
For serious shopping, South Africa is home to world-class malls in all major cities. Malls are also often centres of local entertainment and stock top brands of clothing, jewellery and accessories at large chain stores and smaller, specialised boutique outlets.  These South African shopping malls all have banking facilities, restaurants and children’s activities.
You will also find large and well-stocked local markets all over the country, with the biggest located in the major centres of Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban. These stock authentic traditional arts and crafts like wire sculptures, beadwork, pottery and carvings – South African shopping at its best.
There are also many specialist curio shops, which are most abundant (and expensive) at well-known tourist centres. They stock books, DVDs, ceramics, designer jewellery, cutlery and leather items like bags, belts and shoes made from local materials.
Be sure to stop at roadside stalls run by informal traders who use their artistic talents to earn a living. You can pick up anything from arts and crafts to home-made preserves, depending on the particular stall you stop at. Invariably you will also encounter street sellers, who take advantage of our great weather to ply their trade almost anywhere they can – often at traffic intersections or busy commuter routes.
Aside from the bargains and unique buys, in South Africa, shopping is also a chance to interact with local people, making shopping an even more rewarding experience. South Africa’s exchange rate is also tourist-friendly, which means that shopping is affordable – just make sure you leave enough room in your luggage!

Reference : http://www.southafrica.net/sat/content/en/za/full-article?oid=12353&sn=Detail&pid=472&Shopping-in-South-Africa

Diving with Tiger sharks

The Aliwal Shoal has become famous for its tiger shark diving, with numerous tours now offered for competent, qualified divers.

May to April is prime viewing time for this world-rated shark dive experience. Lured by the scent  of fish oil or fish offal, lithe, ferocious tiger sharks, considered to be one of the most dangerous and rare sharks in the world, appear in the water, along with their scavenging side-kicks, up to 50 black-tip reef sharks, at a time.

Breathe slow and shallow, no sudden movements, and “shark jockey’s” beware - you need to show respect to these 4 m long deep sea predators if you don’t want to end up being dinner. As they glide within inches of you, up to 8 “tigers” at a time, this incredible encounter’s for qualified, experienced scuba-junkies only, to watch in silent awe.

Once the sharks realise you’re less appetising than you look, they swim off, making way for dolphins, turtles, moray eels, potato bass, reef and pelagic fish, rays (devil, manta, bull, eagle) and more sharks - bull, guitar, sand sharks, and in summer masses of breeding ‘raggies’ (ragged tooth sharks).

Reference:http://www.southafrica.net/sat/content/en/za/full-article?oid=28121&sn=Detail&pid=117526&Diving-with-Tiger-sharks

Craft markets

Items sold at South African craft markets are varied and can range from traditional beaded necklaces and clay pots to eco-friendly bags made from recycled material and fruit bowls made of colourful wire.
With afro-chic items gaining popularity around globe, local crafters are rising to the occasion by widening their range of contemporary items but still retaining the use of traditional materials, such as shweshwe fabric, glass beads, leather and clay.
Regardless of whether you’re looking for funky items for your home, traditional souvenirs or understated items for gifts, there’s something for everyone at craft markets in South Africa.

Amongst the local craft markets not to be missed is Cape Town's Waterfront Craft Market. Locals and travellers flock to the country's largest indoor market, hosting over 120 stalls, which can be found wedged between the V & A Waterfront and the Two Oceans Aquarium.

Colourful, noisy and buzzing with activity, the Pan African Market is another must-visit market. Also in Cape Town, the Pan African Market offers 3 floors of African masks, clothing, wooden figurines, paintings and other African-inspired cu rios.

For a real taste of local flavour, go to the Khayelitsha Craft Market, situated 40 kilometres south-east of Cape Town’s city centre. Here, within a vibrant township, you may get the chance to meet the crafters in addition to purchasing their wares.

The Mgwali Village Market in Stutterheim and the Mzamba Village Market near Port Edward both focus on Xhosa crafts, such as beaded dresses and wraps, jewellery, woven items and paintings.

If you're in Mpumalanaga, the Kruger National Park's road-side markets focus on Swazi, Tsonga and Sotho traditional crafts. Look out for the 4 markets near the Numbi, Kruger, Phalaborwa and Punda Maria gates for a taste of authentic local crafts.
Reference:http://www.southafrica.net/sat/content/en/za/full-article?oid=8706&sn=Detail&pid=439&Craft-markets

South Africa's National Monuments

There are many South African national monuments and memorials commemorating those people and events that shaped the country. Some of these, such as Robben Island, are World Heritage Sites, others point to the quirky side of our character.

Among the many national memorials are the Huguenot Monument in Franschhoek, dedicated to the French religious refugees who settled at the Cape in the late 17th century; the magnificent Union Buildings in Pretoria; and the Samora Machel Monument at Komatipoort where the Mozambican president's plane crashed.

Then there is the Owl House at Nieu Bethesda in the Eastern Cape. One of the best examples of Outsider Art in the world, it was created by the eccentric Helen Martins during the last 30 years of her life. In that time she completely transformed her typical Karoo cottage into a haunting world of glass and mirrors.

As poignant is the National Women's Monument in Bloemfontein. This honours the thousands of women and children who succumbed in the concentration camps during the Anglo-Boer War.

Provincial monuments and memorials celebrate everything from battles and the arrival of the British settlers in 1820 to hyena traps and temples. In Port Elizabeth there is the only monument in the world to Prester John, the mythical priest thought to be the key to vast African wealth and the inspiration for 15th century Portuguese exploration.

In Mossel Bay is the first post office in South Africa - a tree. In 1500 a Portuguese captain left a letter in an iron pot under a milkwood, which was found and delivered by a Dutch naval commander the following year. The tree is now a South African national monument known as the Post Office Tree.

So whereever you are in South Africa there is a monument or memorial that tells a part of our fascinating story.

Reference : http://www.southafrica.net/sat/content/en/za/full-article?oid=11174&sn=Detail&pid=716&South-Africa-s-National-Monuments

Cultural Villages

A big part of what makes South Africa special is its diverse, unique cultures and traditions. To best give you an insight into this rich heritage, cultural villages in South Africa have been opened to visitors, where you can see people from various tribes living the way their ancestors lived.

Cultural villages in South Africa are home to the Pedi, Zulu, Xhosa, Basotho, Twana, Shangaan and Ndebele, who spend their days tending cattle, building and decorating their distinctive huts, moulding clay pots, weaving baskets, crushing maize, brewing beer, taking part in ritual dancing and occasionally consulting the local traditional healer. The beauty of South African rural villages is that travellers are invited to participate, giving you an authentic feel of what life was like in the past and, in some cases, what it is like in the present for those people who remain living in rural conditions.
Among the best known of these is the Basotho cultural village at the foot of the sandstone mountains in the Free State province, Shakaland and Simunye Zulu village in KwaZulu-Natal, and Lesedi cultural village in the Gauteng province. While traditional practices might be similar, each tribe enjoys its own customs in hut-making, hut decorating, dance, language and dress.
You will be told of the people's history and culture, while being offered traditional food and brew. You can also have your fortune told by a witchdoctor throwing bones. Entertainment comes in the form of rousing tribal dance performances. At some of the villages, you can stay overnight, completing an authentic African experience worthy of many a dinner party tale back home.
Some of these South African villages are also excellent responsible tourism projects, as the money generated from tourism is ploughed back into the communities, enabling them to be self-sufficient and preserving their age-old traditions.

Reference: http://www.southafrica.net/sat/content/en/za/full-article?oid=5582&sn=Detail&pid=7014&Cultural-Villages

South African Natural Heritage Sites

South Africa's four natural heritage sites each foreground the planet's natural elements - water, air, earth and fire - in some way.

The iSimangaliso Wetland Park may feature a surprising range of habitats and eco-systems, but the overpowering theme here is water. Trailing up 280 km of KwaZulu-Natal coastline, it includes Africa's largest estuary at Lake St Lucia, a 60 km-long river mouth parallel to the coast yet separated by forested sand dunes.  Drawn to this water world are hundreds of bird species and some interesting amphibians, while in the wild Indian Ocean waters off shore, the passing sea traffic includes whales and sharks.

Air or, more precisely wind, has been a force in the uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park, shaping the spectacular mountain scenery.  Carving breathtaking precipices and soaring peaks, the wind has left South Africa with a natural world heritage site not only for the eyes to marvel at, but to challenge the body with rock climbing, abseiling and hiking.  In the winter, when snow dusts these wind-hewn monuments, the stunning visual effect is doubled.

In the Cape Floral Region, a South African natural heritage site that stretches from the Peninsula to the Eastern Cape, Mother Earth has given birth to a plant life so rich, it includes 3% of all the species to found in the world.  A good share can only be seen in this corner of the globe.

In the formation of the fourth Natural World Heritage Site in South Africa, the Vredefort Dome that traverses the Free State and North West border, fire played a key role.  This vast crater was shaped billions of years ago, when a meteorite the size of Table Mountains slammed into the earth.  As it passed through the earth's atmosphere it heated up enormously, crashing to earth as a blazing fireball.

Reference :http://www.southafrica.net/sat/content/en/za/natural

South Africa's wildlife attractions

South Africa is one of only 17 countries in the world that is considered to be mega-diverse. Between them, these countries are home to the majority of the earth's species, so if it’s animals you’re looking for, South Africa’s wildlife will not disappoint.
South Africa’s astonishing array of wildlife is protected in a range of private game reserves, national parks, transfrontier parks and animal sanctuaries, located in the most diverse and beautiful landscapes imaginable.
From lunar-like deserts, to mountains, estuaries, beaches and bushveld, there are a number of places to view animals interacting in their natural habitats. Whether its penguins at Boulders Beach or crocodiles at iSimangaliso, or perhaps the big cats that roam our private game reserves, you won’t be disappointed by South Africa’s wildlife.
Common bushveld mammals include lion, leopard, white rhino, blue wildebeest, kudu, impala, hyena, hippopotamus and giraffe, not to mention smaller mammals like the fruit bat and the bush baby. There are also thousands of amphibians, reptiles, fish, butterflies, bugs and beetles that form part of South Africa’s animal kingdom.
There are also more than 850 bird species recorded in South Africa and 50 of these are endemic or near endemic and can only be seen in this country. South Africa also teems with more than 20 000 plant species, which form 10% of all the known species of plants in the world
You can enjoy South Africa's biodiversity in a number of ways – on foot with specially trained guides, on guided game drives, from a hot air balloon or river raft while enjoying a wide range of accommodation to suit any budget.
Reference : http://www.southafrica.net/sat/content/en/za/full-article?oid=6851&sn=Detail&pid=137&South-Africa-s-wildlife-attractions