Some Say… I am In Africa
The Truth is… Africa is in Me
Under the roof of the Ubuntu Hut in the Londolozi village, staff from a variety of departments joined to listen to guest speaker Steuart Pennington, CEO of South Africa: The Good News. A friend of the Varty Family, Steuart came to visit but also to share his wealth of knowledge about our country. An authority on Africa and South Africa and an author of a number of books on the country, Steuart shared fascinating insights about South Africa’s population, economy, heath sector, transport access and more.
Steuart’s inspiration for his work came about, a couple of years ago, after having attended a dinner party where the conversation at the time turned to the negative issues that were being broadcast about South Africa, its leadership and safety. Not one person at the table had anything positive to say about the country and this angered him. “I was adamant that I would change this negative perception and set out investigating the good news showing people just how much we have to appreciate.”
After the talk, the Londolozi staff who had gathered to listen felt inspired by the positive news and interesting facts – information that many of us in attendance had been unaware of. His talk made me think about the many incredible reasons that we have to love our country and why South Africa is simply awesome.
Here are just a few impressive facts to start the first of our South Africa is Awesome series:
South Africa has 11 official Languages
South Africa is rich in culture and boasts equal status to 11 official languages. The languages include: English, Sesotho, Sepedi, Xitsonga, Siswati, Afrikaans, Tshivenda, isiXhosa, isiNdeble, isiZulu and Setswana. The Xitsonga language is spoken by as many as 2.3 million people and is the home language of the majority of Shangaan staff working at Londolozi.
South Africa is the first country outside of Europe to gain Blue Flag Status for its coastal management
The Blue Flag is an award in recognition of beaches and marinas where a standard of excellence meets all 27 criteria of coastal management including safety, services, water quality and cleanness… South Africa has as many as 41 beaches and five marinas with this status.
Long Beach, Noordhoek, Western Cape.
Home to eight World Heritage Sites
South Africa is a place of great beauty and this has been recognised by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) that declared eight sites with World Heritage status. The following eight destinations in South Africa are World Heritage Sites: Richtersveld Cultural and Botanical Landscape, Cape Floral Kingdom, Mapungubwe National Park, iSimagaliso Wetland Park, Robben Island, The Vredefort Dome, The Cradle of Humankind and uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park.
The scenerity of the uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park. Photograph copyright: Tim Nicholas
The Biggest Man-Made Forest in the World
Johannesburg is the economic hub of the country but it is also famous as the biggest man-made forest in the world with as many as 10 million trees. The next time you visit this city take note of how many beautiful trees can be seen along pavements and in people’s homes.
It is estimated that there are around 10 million trees in Johannesburg from pavements and sidewalks to trees in private homes. Image courtesy of Google Images, unlicensed footage.
The Largest Green Canyon in the World
A short drive from Londolozi and the Kruger National Park and you’ll come across the word’s largest green canyon. The Blyderiver Canyon in Mpumalanga forms part of the northern Drakensberg escarpment and boasts verdant landscapes, unearthly rock formations and animals such as hippos, monkey, crocodiles and antelope to name a few of its residents. Bird watchers must look out for eagles and falcons. Apart from being the greenest, the canyon is also the third largest in the world.
The greenest canyon in the world – the Blyde River Canyon. Photograph by Rich Laburn
Today’s blog is just a taste of why we are proud to be South African. There are many more reasons, which will be explored in our follow up series on why South Africa is simply awesome.
Can you think of some reasons that make South Africa simply amazing? Share your suggestions in the comments below.
Written by Kate Collins, Londolozi Blog Editor
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Kate what a lovely inspirational blog. I am so proud of this beautiful country we call home. We are Africans because Africa is in our blood. Cant wait for the next blog in the series.
Thank you Marinda! We have such a beautiful country. Keep an eye out – the next blog is coming soon.
AWESOME! Given our political morass, the global economic commodity meltdown, the growing incidence of terror attacks and illegal human migrations it is ALWAYS good to check in on the good. Nice one!
Thank you Steuart. Your talk was so inspirational – we have lots of reasons to be proudly South African. Hope to see you again soon.
Having visited many of the safari hotspots in East and Southern Africa I would say that South Africa has a huge amount to offer both the first time visitor and experienced Africa visitor.
I have seen the Great Whites, Whales and gone Turtle Trekking. I have seen massive tuskers at Tembe and large amounts of Leopard at Sabi Sands.
The problems are pretty obvious and I winced at some of the poverty I have seen – but the overwhelming feeling is of a country on the up.
Thank you Ian – as you say there are so many beautiful places to explore. I have lived here for 28 years and there is still so much I have yet to see and do…
From my very first visit I fell in love with South Africa, the landscape, the animals and the people! There is no place like it in the world. This year will be my 4th visit and I hope to return for as long as my health and budget allow. We all have political, economic and terrorist issues, you are blessed in so many other ways.
Thank you Evette, I love hearing this and I am very glad to hear you are visiting again.
Great blog Kate and I wish I’d been there to hear Steuart speak. I am Canadian and we have a beautiful country, but since I was 10 years old I dreamt of seeing Africa…actually longed to see Africa. I can’t describe to you what I felt when I stepped off the plane onto South African soil 2 years ago…it was a feeling of coming home, which is a strange way to feel for someone who is not South African I suppose. Over the next 2 weeks the beauty of your Country and the warmth and generosity of the South African people only ingrained this feeling more in my heart. The day we left I stood on the Tree Camp deck and watched the Elephants grazing below and cried, and very kind Matthews said to me “Once you’ve been to Africa, you will always return…you will come back.” So…not only the beauty of your country and the wildlife there makes South Africa simply amazing, but the very warm, kind and absolutely amazing South African people touch your heart in a way that I have never seen before. So absolutely, South Africa is simply amazing.
Thank you Jill for your lovely words. I hope you will be back soon. As you say, South Africa is beautiful but so are the people – so diverse in every way.
Great Blog Kate, there are so many aspects of South Africa that make it the most unbelievable destination to come and explore. Thanks for sharing and I look forward to seeing more posts about our countries amazing offerings.
Thank you Rich, we are very privileged to live here and especially to live and work at Londolozi. I have lots more to share in my next blog.
What a lovely blog Kate. The pics are stunning. We are so incredibly lucky to live here.
Thank you Karin, we are very lucky to live here #proudlysouthafrican!
According to the John Templeton Foundation in the US, South Africa is considered to be one of the most “grateful” countries in the world.
Refer – https://www.templeton.org/grateful