South Africa. Magic Land

Author: Elaine Hurford
Struik Publishers
Cape Town, 2006
ISBN: 978-1-77007-411-8
Hard cover, dust jacket, 21x28 cm, 144 pages

Ein sehr schöner Südafrika-Bildband mit einem ausgezeichneten Preis-Leistungsverhältnis.

Description:

South Africa’s best-selling souvenir title is newly updated with modern pictures and a fresh magical cover. It takes the reader on a visual journey of discovery through a land of great diversity and astounding natural beauty.

It is aimed primarily at tourists who wish to see the best South Africa has to offer and photographs focus on those areas which travellers are most likely to visit.

Recent additions include Constitution Hill, the Apartheid Museum and uShaka Marine World.

South Africa is shown as a nation of contrasts, from the lush subtropical forests of Mpumalanga to the arid wilderness of the far west, and the sun-drenched golden sands of its beautiful coastline to the remote peaks of forbidden mountain ranges.

The country's scenic wonders are matched only by its spectacular diversity of animal and plant life, and the richness of its multicultural society. For visitors, South Africa truly lives up to its name as a ‘magic land’.

About the Author:

Elaine Hurford is a freelance writer, communications consultant and author based in the charming Karoo hamlet of Prince Albert, where she runs a National Monument guesthouse, Dennehof.

She was one of the major contributors to Magnificent South Africa as well as the author of Beautiful Garden Route and Southern Africa Revealed, South Africa: A Visual Celebration and Simply South Africa: A Culinary Journey.

Content:

INTRODUCTION
MAP of SOUTH AFRICA
JOHANNESBURG and PRETORIA
SUN CITY and the LOST CITY
MPUMALANGA and LIMPOPO PROVINCE
THE KRUCER
THE GREAT ESCARPMENT
KWAZULU-NATAL
DURBAN and the EAST COAST
LAND of the XHOSAS
THE GARDEN ROUTE
THE SUNLIT INTERIOR
THE WEST COAST
CAPE PENINSULA and WIN ELANDS
INDEX

Durban and the East Coast

Sunshine city:

Twice a year, during the longest school holidays, thousands of holiday-makers from the north come to Durban in search of surf, sand and sun. Unmoved by the city's fascinating, colonial architecture, botanical gardens, excellent museums and galleries, holiday hordes converge on the playgrounds, parks and promenades - and their multitudinous entertainments - in search of recreation. The hub of activity is the 'Golden Mile', a six-kilometre strip of silky, sub-tropical beaches washed by the warm Agulhas current of the Indian Ocean.

Hotels, apartment blocks and restaurants form a backdrop to the caches. The Marine Parade Boulevard and beachfront promenade are lined with craft stalls, an amusement park with chairlift rides, and offering surfboards, bicycles and paragliders for hire. It is the aquarium and dolphinarium at uShaka Marine World, however, that are the crowning jewels of the Durban beachfront.

Visitors to the aquarium are treated to stunning displays of marine life - set within the fagade of a rusting, 1920s steamboat - while the acrobatic antics of the dolphins are a source of joy for all ages. Durban's million-strong Indian population concentrates its commercial affairs on the western side of the city. This is where shoppers should go for exotic shopping and exciting cuisine among the mosques and market places.

Upmarket resorts hug the Dolphin Coast en route to the northern reaches of the province, where historic kraals, graves and significant battle sites commemorate the bloody history of the region. The south coast, more densely populated by far, is characterized by contiguous holiday villages - with Margate at the centre of the so-called Hibiscus Coast. Inland from Port Shepstone, the Oribi Gorge Nature Reserve provides refuge for leopards and birds, and respite for nature-loving holidaymakers.

Despite its stature as a tourist mecca and the fastest-growing city in South Africa, Durban - which also boasts the busiest harbour in Africa - is not capital of the province. Elegant Pietermaritzburg, 100 kilometres inland, bears this title. Renowned for its red-brick Victorian architecture and lush gardens and parks, it has an air of grace and tranquillity. Among its many notable buildings are the old Natal Parliament and City Hall - monuments to an era of exuberant ornamentation.

Index:

Adderley Street
Addo Elephant National Park
agama, southern rock
Amphitheatre
Drakensberg
Durban
antelope
Apartheid
Augrabies
Basterkokerboom
bearded vulture (see lämmergeier)
Belvidere 92,93
Berlin Falls 28,29
Bird Island, Lambert's Bay 114,115
bishop, red 81,81
Blyde River Canyon 32,52, 33
Blyde River Canyon Nature Reserve 29,
32,33
Bo-Kaap 117,119,119
bokkems 114,114
Boland 132,133
Bophuthatswana 22,23
Boschendal 138,139
Bourke's Luck potholes 32,32
Buffalo River 82,
Cable carl 17,117
Camps Bay 117,125,125
Cango Caves 96,97
canola 140-141,141
Cape L'Agulhas 117,142,
Cape Point 128,128
Cape Town 7,99,109,113,117,117,
119,120,122,125,130
Castle, the 119,119
Cederberg 110, 111,///
Chapman's Peak 126,126,127
Clifton 117,124,125
Constitutional Court 14,14
crayfish 109,113,113
Devils Tooth, Drakensberg 50,51
Dias Cross 76, 76
dolphin 79,79
Donkin Terrace 76, 76
Dorp Street, Stellenbosch 134,134
Drakensberg 29,45,45,50
Drostdy Hotel 100,101,70/
Durban 60,62,63, 64,54,65, ^5, 66,55,
67,71
Eagle, bateleur 41,4/
East London 73,%l,82
Eastern Buttress, Drakensberg 50,51
Eastern Cape 8,10,73,82,83
elephant 23,26,37,38,39,39,52,53,73,
82,
Empangeni 60,60
Fairy Knowe 94,94
False Bay 128,129
fishing 29,22, 57,57
fountain (see Sammy Marks)
flamingo 23,56,57
flea markets
Cape Town 121
Durban 66,66
flower sellers 117,117,120,121
Francis Farewell Square 66,67
Franschhoek/55-/J7, 137
Game drives 42,43
gannet, Cape 114,115
Garden Route 73,85,88,88,89,95,95
Gariep (Orange River)
Gauteng 7,10,29,99
gemsbok 104,105
giraffe 26,37,39,54,54
gold 7,13,13,29,31
Graaff-Reinet 99,100,101,103
Grand Parade, Cape Town 118,119
grape harvesting 132,132
Grey Street Mosque 64,64
Groot Constantia 117,130,/50
Groot Drakenstein Mountains 136-137,
137
Hans Merensky Nature Reserve 35,35
Hermanus 117,138, 139,141
Hex River Valley 6,7
hippo 41,41,42,53,56,57
Hluhluwe 53,60, £0
Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park 52,53,53,54,
54,55
Hole-in-the-Wall 72,73,74,74
Holy Trinity Church 92,93
Hout Bay 117,126,/25,127
Howick Falls 68,68
Huguenot Monument 137,137
Humewood 79, 79
Indian Market, Durban 64,64
Infanta 141,141
Injisuti Dome 48,49,50
Ithala Game Reserve 53,54
Johannesburg 12,13,13,14,14,15,
17,29
Kaizer Chiefs 17,17
Karoo, Great 98,99, .92
Katberg Pass 80,81
Kirstenbosch National Botanical
Garden 117,130,131
Knysna85,<?5,93,93
Heads 90,91
Lagoon 90,91,2/
lourie M,88
Kruger, Paul 18,18
Kruger National Park 29,36,37,37,41,
41,53
KwaZulu-NatallO,45,53,54,71
railway line 71,71
Lambert's Bay 109,114, //4,115
lammergeier 45,50,50
leopard 26,37,43,43,63
lion 37,39,39,43,54,104,104
Long Street 119,119
Lookout Beach 86,86
Lost City 21,2/,23; 24,24,25,25
Lutheran Church, Cape Town 119,119
Maltese Cross, Cederberg 111, ///
Maluti mountains 45,46,47
Mandela, Nelson 7, 7,13,14,14,18
Margate 63,70,71
Marine Parade 63,66,66
Market Theatre 14,14
Millwood House 93,93
mine dumps 12,13
miners (dancing) 15,15
mining 8,13,17,93
Minstrel Carnival 120,121
Mopani Rest Camp 41,4/
MountSheba30,31
Mpila hutted camp 53,53
Mpumalanga 29,30,31,37
Nama people 109,109
Namaqualand 108,109
Nature's Valley 10,11,85
Ndebele 8,<?, 10,20,20,21
Nederburg 134,135
Nieu-Bethesda 102,103
Nieuwoudtville 111,///
Northern Cape 99,104
Ntshondwe 53,54,54
Nsumu Pan 56,57
Olifants River 37,37, 39,52,134
Oom Sarnie se Winkel, Stellenbosch
134,134
Orange River 99,104,106,106,134
ostriches, Oudtshoorn 85,97,97,99
Outeniqua mountains 85,99
Overberg 142
Owl House 103,103
Paraglider 95,55
Paternoster 113,114,114
pelican 57,57
Pietermaritzburg 63,68,68,69
Pavilion 68,68
Pilanesberg 23,26,26
National Park 23,26,25
Pilgrim's Rest 29,31,31
Plettenberg Bay 85, 86,<?5,87
pony trekking 50,50
Port Elizabeth 73,76, 76,11,78,79, 79
Pretoria 13,18,18,19
Rand Stadium 17,17
rhino 23,26,37,39,53,54,55,73
Rhodes Memorial 130,130
Richtersveld 99,22,106
National Park 104,104,105
rickshaw 63,63
rock art 8,50,50
Rotunda 24,24
Sammy Marks 18,18
Salt River 85, ^5
scuba diving 58,58
Sea Point 117,125,125
Shakaland 60, £0,61
slave bell 101,101
snoek 109,126, /^
Sodwana Bay 58,58,59
Sotho huts 46,45
Soweto 13,16,17,/^
St Lucia 57,57
Stellenbosch 134,134,135
Storms River Rest Camp 84,85
Sun City 22,23,23,26
sunflowers 46,46
surfing 71
Swartvlei 94,24
Swellendam 117,142,143
Table Bay 8,10, /0,117
Table Mountain 116,117,125
Table Mountain National Park 8,1
tea plantations 34,35
trails 29,41,42,45,53,54,73,85,
88, M
Tshukudu 26,25
Tsonga people 8,10,35,35
Turtles 53,58,56*
Twelve Apostles 124,125
Umgeni 64,65
Union Buildings 13,18,19
uShaka Marine World 62,62 63
Valley of Desolation 98,99
Valley of the Waves, Sun City 23,23
Victoria and Alfred Waterfront 122,
122, 123
Voortrekker Monument 13,18,18
Walkerson's Trout Fishing Resort 29,$ j
waterblommetjie harvesting 132,133
Waterfront (see Victoria and Alfred
Waterfront)
West Coast 7,109,113,114,134
whale 117,138,138
whale crier, Hermanus 138,138
Wilderness 85,94,95,25
wilderness trails 40,41,54,54
WolfbergArch, Cederberg 110, 111
Xhosa people 8,10,73,73,74,75,75
Zebra 26,27,37,39,53,55
Zulu people 10,60,50,61,63,55,
66,101