Every African country for tourists from Europe or another continent is a unique place where you can find a lot of interesting and unusual, but the attractions of South Africa favorably differ on the general background.
In this state, natural, historical, architectural and other attractions attract tourists from different continents in an amazing way.
The attractiveness of nature
The peculiarity of the South African Republic lies in its special position - the country harmoniously united several climatic zones in itself, which affected the flora and fauna.
It is noteworthy that special attention is paid to the care of natural attractions - 20 parks protected by the state were organized to protect animals, birds and plants.
Kruger National Park
The most famous reserve zone of the South African Republic is the Kruger National Park . Its area is more than 2 million hectares, and for the convenience of maintenance personnel, who looks after animals and plants, and tourists coming to explore the park, it has 14 zones.
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Especially popular with Kruger were five animals, which you can admire in their natural conditions - leopards, lions, elephants, buffaloes, rhinoceroses.
Limpopo National Park
Probably the most famous in our country, but only thanks to the poetic fairy tales of Korney Chukovsky.
This park covers an area of 4 million hectares and in addition to South Africa is located in two countries - Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
It is interesting that within the park there are no state borders - by mutual agreement the authorities of the three countries decided to abandon them in order to make it easier for tourists to visit this unique place.
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By creating a transnational park, the authorities of African countries want to preserve the animals and birds that live in these places.
It is noteworthy that tourists have the opportunity to visit not only protected places to see animals in their natural conditions, but also to visit the real African villages, get acquainted with the peculiarities of tribal life and immerse themselves in their culture.
Pilanesberg National Park
This is really a unique, unique place - after all, the park is comfortably located in ... the crater of a volcano! Of course, extinct. The overwhelming number of animals inhabiting it are brought from other parts of the country. There are many well-equipped specialized areas for bird watching. There are also areas for a picnic, gatherings in the open air.
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Other reserves and national parks
Among other natural attractions, parks and reserves, there are:
- Finschbon - southern areas of South Africa, characterized by a unique ecological system;
- Eddo is a park where elephants live. Originally it was created in order to save the lives of 11 elephants remaining in this territory - the creation of the guard zone helped other animals, and the elephant population now numbers more than 300 individuals;
- Tsitsikamma is a marine park, the first of its kind in Africa. The length of this natural zone exceeds 80 kilometers and includes the coast of the Indian Ocean.
What else will nature rejoice?
In addition to national parks, nature reserves and reserves, there are other natural attractions in South Africa. For example, tourists are advised to explore spectacular waterfalls and visit the deserts, which are also lacking here. Which, by the way, confirms the words about the diversity of climatic zones of this South African state.
Waterfalls
Beautiful, fascinating and incredible waterfalls are a true adornment of South Africa. For example, the mention deserves Augebis, whose height exceeds 140 meters. Its name in the language of local tribes means "Place of loud noise". After falling from a height, the water swiftly flows into the gorge from the rocks more than two hundred meters deep.
It is interesting that the waterfall itself and the gorge are part of the complex of the same national park.
But the waterfall Tugela is the second in the list of the highest in the world - its height exceeds 400 meters. Water, which is upstream of the place of its fall from the cliff, is so clean that it can be drunk without preliminary cleaning. And in the winter days on the edge of the cliff there is snow.
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At first glance, the Hoewick waterfall attracts little, especially against the background of its higher brethren - it falls from the cliff "only" at 95 meters. But Houik is a place of rites and worship of the Sangom tribe.
Deserts
Describing the natural sights of South Africa, we can not fail to note the desert. Attention deserve two:
- Kalahari;
- Kara.
The first is the largest in the southern part of the continent. Occupying an area of more than 600 thousand square meters. km., it "captured" the territory of three states - Namibia, Botswana and South Africa.
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It is noteworthy that here you can see not only a lot of dunes, but also various plants, animals. So, in Kalahari grow: cereals, various shrubs, acacia, wild watermelons.
From animals it is necessary to allocate: earth squirrels, earth wolves, antelopes, lizards, hyenas.
But in Karoo find signs of life is almost impossible, so do not be surprised that in the translation from the language of local tribes, the name of the desert means "barren, dry."
It is noteworthy that Karu occupies about 30% of the entire territory of the South African Republic , and this is more than 400 thousand square meters. km. Visit Kara is recommended in late April - early May, when the famous festival of music and other arts Afrika Burn is held here.
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A distinctive feature of the festival is that it is a territory without money. For sale on Afrika Burn only ice, and everything else is given. Coming to the festival, you need to take with you everything that can be needed in the desert, but when leaving - to take everything to the last mote, so that nothing reminds of the presence of people.
Cape of Good Hope
Attracting incredible landscapes a few centuries ago, the Cape of Good Hope gave the Portuguese, paving the waterway to mysterious India, confidence and tranquility.
Today Cape is visited annually by millions of tourists from around the world.
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Tourists will have to drive through the eponymous reserve with the Cape - it's hardly possible to walk on it, because the green vegetation here is very riotous. But you can admire plants that are not in other parts of the globe. Attracts the reserve and a variety of fauna.
Arriving at the Cape of Good Hope , tourists will be able to fully relax and relax, as there are many beaches suitable for comfortable bathing and sunbathing.
There are also separate, closed areas where couples in love can hide from prying eyes.
One of the most striking, attractive attractions of the Cape is its Lighthouse, built more than 150 years ago. The height of the lighthouse reaches 240 meters above sea level, it is the largest in southern Africa, but currently does not work. This is due to the fact that the beacon often covers the fog and it can not transmit signals - so, once because of this, the ship suffered from Portugal.
Drakensberg Mountains
This is a fabulous place , the peculiarity of which confirms its unusual name. Although in fact, the name of the mountains is due to the haze behind which their peaks are hidden - according to a long tradition, it was the dragon who released this smoke, which enveloped the mountain peaks.
In the mountains, many rare animals, birds, insects live and rare plants grow. A unique species, breathtaking landscapes attract hundreds of thousands of tourists - the mountains themselves, or more precisely their part, located in the park Drakensberg , is included in the list of the World Heritage of UNESCO.
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Table Mountain
Located near Cape Town and included in the list of Seven New Wonders of Nature. The name was received because of its unusual shape - the flat top really resembles a table. For the first time the official mention of this mountain appeared in 1503.
The height of the mountain is more than 1000 meters. On its slopes grow unique plants and live rare species of animals, but because they are protected.
Despite this, the Table Mountain is one of the places of tourist pilgrimage, and on the plateau you can climb the cable car.
How to get there?
Getting to South Africa is not so difficult - you should fly on an airplane. However, it will take at least 20 hours (if flying from Moscow) and will require one or two transplants, depending on the end point of your route - in Amsterdam, London or other major airports.
To get to the country, you need to issue a visa - the documents are accepted at the South African Embassy in Moscow. The package of documents will require a lot of papers, including confirmation of financial solvency, as well as confirmation of the redemption of tickets in both directions.
In conclusion
Naturally, this is far from all the sights of South Africa - there are many more. In the article, we talked about the most impressive, attractive and fascinating. The country opens up to the curious tourists a lot of unexplored and really worthy of attention - these are cities with a special architecture, and settlements of the indigenous population of South Africa, and many parks and reserves.