TopThingsToDo

Top Things To Do : ? South Africa's 13 major wine-producing regions have signposted wine routes that you simply must explore. The Stellenbosch Wine Route was the country's first, with all wineries situated within a 12km-/7.5 mile-radius of Stellenbosch. Stellenbosch is also one of South Africa's oldest villages with a great many attractive buildings, including the excellent Village Museum. The Olifants Wine Route is 200km/125 miles long, passing through the Cederberg Mountains, the unspoilt West Coast and Knersvlakte. The Klein Karoo Wine Trust is a 300km-/188mile-route through the eastern Cape Winelands. The Swartland Wine Route is a 40-minute drive away from Cape Town. The Orange River Wine Trust comprises the northern wine-making regions, irrigated by the Orange, Vaal and Riet rivers. The Robertson Valley is a two-hour drive from Cape Town, known particularly for Chardonnay. The winelands are a stunning region of vineyards, old Cape-Dutch villages and mansions. Many of the vineyards have excellent restaurants; most offer tastings and some provide bed and breakfast. Tiny Franschhoek originally hosted refugee Huguenots from France, who brought their wine-growing skills to South Africa. It now has an excellent Huguenot Museum. Paarl is home to several small museums and the KWV Wine Cellars. In the Breede Valley area, the charming little towns of Tulbagh, Worcester, Wellington and Ceres all have fine old buildings, interesting small museums, beautiful scenery, vineyards and fruit orchards.

? South Africa has recently gained a reputation for whale watching and shark-cage diving (with great white sharks) on the Cape. Sharks migrate through the Cape's False Bay from June to August and move into the Durban area (KwaZulu-Natal) from October to January. For whale watching fans, the Western Cape Tourism Board has established a Cape Whale Route to observe southern right whales, which usually swim very close to the shore. The best time to spot them is from June to September, especially in Walker Bay, where a Whale Festival is held annually during the last week of September. Hermanus, however, is probably the best place in South Africa to go whale watching.

? South Africa's diving infrastructure and facilities are well developed. Reef diving is popular in Sodwana Bay (on the northern coast of KwaZulu-Natal), while wreck diving is widespread around the Cape. Popular inland diving sites include Wondergat, Badgat and Miracle Water. The offshore Aliwal Shoal and Protea Banks are some of the best dive sites in South Africa. The Tsitsikamma Coastal Park offers excellent opportunities for underwater photography. PADI and NAUI courses are available.

? Surfing is a popular past-time in South Africa; one of the most well-known of locations is Jeffrey's Bay (J-Bay) near Cape Town. Lambert's Bay is another good surfing spot. The Alexandria State Forest is a reserve that runs along the coast and contains a hiking trail along the beach. East from here is Dias Cross, the location of one of Bartholemew Dias' stone crosses and a desolate paradise for beach lovers.

? One of the country's most popular sports, fishing can be practised along the coast or on the lakes and rivers in the game and nature reserves. One of the world's richest fishing grounds lies around the Cape of Good Hope, where the Atlantic and Indian Ocean currents meet and large shoals of tuna and swordfish draw increasing numbers of game fishing enthusiasts. The major trout fishing areas are the southern mountain ranges of the Western Cape and the foothills of the Drakensberg Mountains (in KwaZulu-Natal). Fly fishing is best in the mountain streams and along the coastline of the Eastern Cape. One highlight on South Africa's fishing calendar is the Sardine Run, in June, along the KwaZulu-Natal coast, where hordes of feeding game fish and sharks concentrate.

? South Africa is one of the few remaining countries where steam locomotives are still widely used. They range from the luxury Pride of Africa to small engines on narrow gauge railways like the Midmar Steam Railway near Pietermaritzburg. For those looking for a scenic ride, the famous Outeniqua Choo-Tjoe runs along the Garden Route on a day-trip from George and Knysna and the Union Limited crosses the famous Kaaimans River Bridge, one of the most photographed railway bridges in the world.

? Bungee jump from one of the world's highest drops ? the bridge over the Blaukrans River, Western Cape. At 216m (709ft), this jump is more than twice as high as the jump of the bridge linking Zambia and Zimbabwe across the Zambezi River near Victoria Falls. If you can, do not close your eyes though ? the view is absolutely breathtaking.

? Go to the Victorian Grahamstown's giant annual arts festival, held each July. The town has many fine buildings, amongst which the most interesting are the Cathedral of St Michael and St George, situated in the triangular Church Square, the 1820 Settlers Monument (after the first British to settle the area), Fort Selwyn, and rows of shops and houses on Church Square, Artificers' Square, Hill Street and MacDonald Street.

Tourist Information : South African Tourism Board (SATOUR) in the UK
 Street address: 6 Alt Grove, London SW19 4DZ, UK
Postal address: PO Box 49110, London SW19 4DX, UK
Tel: (020) 8971 9364 or (0870) 155 0044 (tourism enquiry line and brochure request).
Website: www.southafrica.net

South African Tourism Board (SATOUR) in the USA
500 Fifth Avenue, 20th Floor, Suite 2040, New York, NY 10110, USA
Tel: (212) 730 2929.
Website: www.southafrica.net 

    

      

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