South Africa
South Africa has three capital cities: Pretoria, Cape Town and Bloemfontein. Cape Town is the seat of parliament and the second largest city in South Africa. Among other things, Cape Town is known for its landmark, Table Mountain, which has an almost plateau-shaped surface and thus dominates the city's breathtaking skyline. The city is European in character and yet African, giving it a serene flair all of its own. In Cape Town, it is definitely worth visiting Robben Island, a prison island declared a UNECSO World Heritage Site, where Nelson Mandela was also imprisoned. Also located in the Western Cape are the towns of Stellenbosch and Paarl, which are best known as wine regions.
The gateway to South Africa, Johannesburg, is not one of the three capitals, but it is the largest city in the country and no less worth seeing. The golden metropolis is usually simply called "Joburg" and, as the largest city on the entire continent, forms the engine of South Africa. Johannesburg's golden past is indeed in mining, even though many of the city's gold mines have since been shut down. You can still visit them today and discover the impressive work of the miners at a depth of 200 meters.
Not far from Johannesburg is the Kruger National Park, the largest nature and wildlife reserve in South Africa. Here you can admire on a safari not only the Big Five in their natural environment but also a breathtaking nature. On the way from Johannesburg to the park you will pass the Blyde River Canyon Nature Reserve, which is one of the most spectacular natural phenomena in South Africa with its 800 meter deep gigantic gorge. But not only on the mainland you can observe huge animals, one of the attractions at the Cape and along the famous coastal road Garden Route is whale watching.
In Pretoria, the country's government sits in what is probably the most beautiful seat of government in the world, the Union Buildings. This is also where Nelson Mandela became the first democratically elected president. This, as well as many other historic buildings in the city date back to the 19th century and are definitely worth seeing. Since 2016, Pretoria has also been given an African name by election, although the old one was retained. Now the city with cosmopolitan flair is called Tshwane.
