1. SOUTH AFRICA Made by : Mari Angeles Alcaraz Sánchez

4. The Western Cape The Garden Route, Swartberg and Cederberg mountain ranges and The cape of Good Hope. POPULAR DESTINATIONS The Eastern Cape Sea-side, theTsitsikamma forest and the Great Karoo. The Northern Cape Orange River, The Diamond capitol . Kwa-zulu Natal The Drakensberg Mountain Range and the hilly coastline. The Free State Orange River in the south and Vaal River in the north. Gauteng Johannesbourgh. Limpopo Limpopo River and Mapungubwe. Mpumalanga The northern Drakensberg Escarpment, the subtropical Lowveld/Bushveld and the southern half of the Kruger National Park . The North West The Kalahari desert and the Magaliesberg mountain range .

5. CLIMATE The Karoo (semi-desert region), which occupies a large part of the western Central Plateau, can be extremely hot in summer and bitterly cold in winter. In contrast, the eastern coastline is lush and well watered. The Cape of Good Hope has a Mediterranean climate, with wet winters and hot, dry summers. The southern coast, part of which is known as the Garden Route, is temperate and green.

6. HISTORY The tip of Africa has been home to the Koi and San people for thousands of years. Their rock art can still be found in many places throughout South Africa. Bantu tribes started expanding into Southern Africa around 2500 years ago and by around 500 AD the different cultural groups as we know them today had been established in the area. Dutch traders landed at the southern tip of modern day South Africa in 1652 and established a stopover point on the spice route between the Netherlands and the East, founding the city of Cape Town. After the British seized the Cape of Good Hope area in 1806, many of the Dutch settlers (the Boers) trekked north to found their own republics. The discovery of diamonds (1867) and gold (1886) spurred wealth and immigration and intensified the subjugation of the native inhabitants. The Boers resisted British encroachments but were defeated in the Boer War (1899-1902).

7. FLORA

8. FAUNA

13. FESTIVALS The most interesting festivals in South Africa, that you must not forget to have are: Ficksburg Cherry Festival : One of the oldest festivals in South Africa - first held in 1969 - the Ficksburg Cherry Festival now attracts around 20 000 visitors to this small eastern Free State town every November. The scenery is magnificent, and the festival offers cherry and asparagus tastings, tours, picnics, music, and the Miss Cherry Blossom and Miss Cherry Pip competitions. The Hermanus Whale Festival: Every year, southern right whales travel thousands of miles to the Cape south coast to mate and calve in the bays. Join the villagers of Hermanus for an entertainment-packed festival, in the town with the best land-based whale watching in the world. The Lambert's Bay Kreeffees : Kreef is Afrikaans for crayfish, and a fees can be both festival and feast. At the Kreeffees, held every March in the West Coast town of Lambert's Bay, you'll feast on fresh crayfish and get festive at rock concerts by some of South Africa's favourite musicians. There's also bungee jumping, aerial displays, a half-marathon, beer tents and more. The Prickly Pear Festival : Held in late February or early March every at Cuyler Hofstede farm near Uitenhage in the Eastern Cape's Nelson Mandela Bay. It's a day of traditional food such as ginger beer, pancakes, potjiekos, home-made jam, a spit braai and fish braai, bunnychow and home-made pudding. Oppikoppi Bushveld Festival : Held on the bushveld farm of Oppikoppi (" op die koppie " in Afrikaans, or "on the hill"), this festival offers three permanent thatched stages, a smaller comedy stage and a stage for more chilled music at the top of the koppie.

15. Local industries in all sectors are thriving, and the country produces an array of unique artefacts, textiles, jewellery, leather goods and crafts. Stock up on delicious local beverages, cheeses, dried fruits, sweetmeats and honey, which comes infused with delicate fragrances from orange blossom to eucalyptus. There is no shortage of covetable goods to take home as a reminder of an unforgettable holiday. Local craftspeople are frequently in attendance in craft markets where you can spend hours choosing rotund polished hippos, intricate beadwork, stately wooden giraffes and a plethora of other sculpted objets d’art made from colourful beads, gemstones, wood, leather, grasses, fabric and metal. DO NOT STOP SHOPPING !