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A paradox of South Africa’s current unrest is that the troubles can hardly have helped the tourist trade yet the resultant fall in the value of the rand has made South Africa far cheaper for the visitor than anywhere in Europe.
No country can rival the resources of South Africa for what most visitors come to see – wild game. Finest of the eight national parks in Kruger, spreading 200 miles north to south, and 40 miles wide.
An average square mile of park carries 20 impala, two or three each of wildebeest, buffalo and zebra, and one elephant. To every square miles, there’s giraffe; and to every six miles, a lion. During dry season – mainly August, September and October - game keeps close to the rivers and waterholes, , and spotting is easy. The “summer” season of mid-October to late April is best for seeing a dazzling variety of birds: the lilac-breasted and European rollers, the bee-eaters and hornbills.
But all the tourist ingredients of South Africa can likewise be found in her neighbors south of the equator. Consider Malawi, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Swaziland and the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius. Between them they can offer all the variety of travel experiences which make an African journey so memorable. Something for every taste. Consider Malawi – one of Africa’s most scenically beautiful countries, with a truly friendly relationship between black and white. A green, thickly-wooden land, Malawi offers an out-of-this-world serenity along the western shores of its vast lake of the same name.
The country’s focal-point is shifting from the commercial city of Blantyre (with tea-growing hills a few miles away), to the ultra-modern capital of Lilongwe, carved out of the bush in the Central.
Malawi is not yet into the organized package-tour circuit. As a holiday destination, it’s mainly for the visitor with friends or relatives in the country; or for the go-it-alone traveler who can cheerfully rent a car and go exploring on his own initiative: to Lake Malawi, to game parks, or to the idyllic Zomba Plateau. In the neighboring Zimbabwe, the tourism industry is much more highly organized, with excellent facilities everywhere.During the long years of sanctions against Rhodesia, the local tourist industry certainly didn’t go into mothballs. Germans and Americans generally ignored the travel ban, while regional tourism kept hotel s busy.
In the capital Harare (formerly Salisbury), Meikles Hotel still offers a standard of service that can out-rival anything in Africa. Close by is the 200-room Monomatapa, a top grade hotel built during sanctions. A prestigious Sheraton opens this year, fully equipped for international conferences.
Other new resort hotels have been established at Victoria Falls, and at several locations along the huge Lake Kariba. The finest game reserve in the region is Hwange (formerly spelt Wankie), extremely rich inn wildlife. Even outside the 2,250 square miles of Hwange National Park, there are great herds of wildebeest and zebra, with elephant by the hundred in the park itself.
Africa’s greatest sightseeing highlight is the awesome Victoria Falls, where the milewide Zambezi River plunges over a 300-ft cliff. Sightseeing symbol of the fertility, health and prosperity of the land. Local displays of traditional African dancing recreate the colourful life that David Livingstone first saw when he explored a region in 1855. Little has changed since then, except for construction of range of tourist hotels, camp sites, serviced chalets and cottages. Chobe Game Lodge, across the border in Botswana, located in another rich in wildlife, with even the fantastic possibility of game-viewing from a hot-air balloon.
In Swaziland later this year, wildly exuberant tribal dancing will mark the coronation of a new monarch but, any year, major dance event share a regular part of the Swazi calendar. Among the most popular is the Reed dance of bare-breasted young girls – normally held in August/ September as a gesture of respect for the Queen Mother, affectionately known as the She-elephant.
I once made a 200-mile circuit which combined a scenic day’s tour of southern Swaziland with a dance of middle-aged ladies. Among the participants was a bus-loaded of 30 royal wives. The traditions of Swaziland are many and varied. The King – the Ngwenyama or the Lion – has a solemn duty to marry often and sire many children, as a Sibaca team of men and boys – dressed in kilts, with white cow-tails around wrists and calves 0 came to dance within a semi-circle formed by several hundred women. Quite unforgettable – the kind of event which a European tourist finds well worth an 11,000-mile round trip. Again, the tourist can enjoy top-grade hotel facilities, with Sun International group operating in four location. Many South Africans themselves go for the casino gambling and a swinging night-life where black and white can mix.
On the island of Mauritius there is even greater choice of luxury international hotels, alongside superb beached. It’s a perfect destination for the lover of water-sports – sailing, snorkeling, fishing, scuba-diving, water-skiing, sunbathing.
Several major hotel groups are well established, including Sun International and Club Mediterranee. In the Normal Club-Med style , most sports and activities are included in the holiday price. Accommodation and facilities are spread over a 32-acre site with a beach where the French girls sunbathe topless.
Goggling is even more enthralling in a glass bottomed boat on the coral reef, where the marine world is as packed with interest as anything in a game reserve. | 
