South Africa - Land of Beauty

South Africa is a very large country sapnning over 471,000 square miles. In comparison to another country, say Kenya, well it is more then twice it's size so tha gives quite a good feel to the size of it. It only borders countries to the north of it due to it having the Indian Ocean to the south and east of it and the Atlantic to the west. The countries it borders consist of Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Swaziland. "What about Lesotho?" you may well say to me. Well this is actually an enciave in eastern South Africa.

Two of the greatest physical features of the country are the Drakensberg Mountains and Table Mountain, probably the most well known feature in South Africa. SA also boasts a fine area of vineyards. Some of the finest wines of the world can be found here. The most well known area going by the name of Stellenbosh, situated towards Cape Town.

The climate in SA is very different to that of the one in the UK. The summers in SA, especially the last one, are very warm, along similar lines to that of Australia with temperatures reaching in excess of 38 C. Their winters are more like the UK summers, very mild and settling at a temperature of around 20 C.

SA, in my mind and that of all the people I know that have been there, holds an amazing amount of beauty that cannot be found anywhere else in the world. The countryside is never the same with the landscape changing from flat, open plains to undulating hills and mountains populated by a mass of trees and shrubs. But most of all the country boasts the best wildlife park in the world, the Kruger National Park. For a description of the park CLICK HERE. There are also some pictures of a handful of the animals that can be found within the park.

You can also view some pictures of the landscape that can be seen. Although only a small part of SA was visited you really can get a feel of the changing landscape.