History & PeopleSouth Africa's population of 40 million is 3-quarters (African) and about 15% white (European), with the remaining 10% comprised of people of mixed white, Malayan, and black descent and people of Asian (mostly Indian) descent. The African majority is composed of many different ethnic groups, the largest of which are Zulu, Xhosa, Tswana, and Bapedi. Until very recently, the country's racial divisions were harshly enforced as part of the government's official policy of Apartheid, or apartness. Although the government began to dismantle apartheid in 1989 after prolonged resistance, protest, and international economic sanctions, racial inequality remains pronounced in South Africa. South Africa is a very large and extraordinarily varied land, offering almost unlimited opportunities for adventure travel of all sorts--from diving and whitewater rafting to mountain-climbing and trekking. For most visitors, however, adventure travel in South Africa means safari travel, and the best-known safari area in the country is Eastern Transvaal, a continuous stretch of savanna extending for 400 miles along South Africa's northeastern border. The Eastern Transvaal is home to Kruger National Park, undoubtedly one of the finest game reserves in all of Africa.
In addition to the Kruger National Park--and its surrounding private game reserves--visitors interested in safari travel in South Africa are also frequently drawn to Kalahari Gemsbok National Park. A narrow tongue of land extending northward into the vast expanse of the Kalahari Desert. Kalahari Gemsbok is an area of rugged beauty, with shifting dunes, wide-open vistas, and great herds of Springbok and Gemsbok. |
