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Africa - the cradle of Mankind:
- One of the 7 natural wonders of the world, Victoria Falls.
- Some of the most diverse and abundant wildlife in the world.
- Gorilla viewing.
- Over 2300 species of birds in Africa
- The second biggest canyon in the world, The Fish River Canyon, Namibia.
- The world's oldest living desert, The Namib Desert.
- The highest sand dunes in the world, Sossusvlei, Namibia.
- The best one day white water rafting in the world on the Zambezi.
- The 2 largest man made lakes in the world.
- A large number of World Heritage Sites.
- Excellent Great White Shark diving.
- Some of the longest stretches of unspoilt beach.
- Some of the best global surf spots.
- Fantastic and diverse cuisine.
- Over 135 million years ago, Africa was joined to Antarctica, South America, Australia, Madagascar and the Indian peninsula, as one huge continent called Gondwanaland (sometimes Pangea). Among proof of this is that dinosaur fossils of the Mesosaurus are found both in the Karoo and in South America.
Extracted from the Engen Fun Route Booklets
South Africa:
- Some of the most diverse and abundant wildlife in the world.
- 900 of bird species are found in South Africa alone and this represents 10% of the worlds total bird species.
- The most luxurious train in the world, Rovos Rail.
- White water rafting on three major rivers.
- A large number of World Heritage Sites.
- The highest commercial bungi jump in the world (216m).
- Excellent Great White Shark diving.
- Some of the longest stretches of unspoilt beach.
- Some of the best global surf spots.
- South Africa is host to some of the very finest golf courses in the world.
- The Springbok became South Africa's national rugby emblem in 1906, when the first South African rugby team to visit Britain went to the London Zoo. There they saw some Sprinbok pronking, and suggested they call themselves Springboks.
- South Africa's most endangered animal is the riverine rabbit. Once though to have been extinct, they are now being bred at De Wildt cheetah research station west of Pretoria.
- Johannesburg was born on 24 July 1886, when gold was discovered on the Witwatersrand. By 1898, the Transvaal produced more than a quarter of the world's gold.
- Cosmos, the wild flower found along the roadside in late summer and early autumn, is native to Central America. It's thought to have come to South Africa in horse fodder during the Anglo-Boer War.
- Bloemfontein was the first town in South Africa to introduce parking meters, and the only city in the world to have a game park, Naval Hill, at its centre.
- The Vredefort Dome, a huge 16km-deep crater, is just north of Vredefort town. It is 42km in diameter, and scientists believe it was formed when a meteorite collided with the Earth. They think the meteorite was about 1,6 km in diameter, and traveling at around 16km a second.
- Springbok used to roam the Karoo in their thousands, sometimes taking a day to pass through an area. In the last great migration, in 1896, springbok covered an area of 220 km by 25 km .
Extracted from the Engen Fun Route Booklets
Cape
- Mossel Bay is in the Guinness Book of records as having the second-most moderate climate in the world
- Leeu Gamka is named twice over - leeu is lion in Afrikaans, and gamka is the Khoikhoi word for lion
- Outeniqua means "man laden with honey" in Khoikhoi, as many wild flowers and fynbos in this area attract numerous bees.
- It was though that only one wild elephant remained in the Knysna forest, but a second was spotted recently. (The biggest problem faced by these forest elephants is rheumatism, brought on by the damp!
- The name Tsitsikamma comes from the Khoikhoi word for sparkling clear water.
- Once you have visited monkeys from over the globe at Monkeyland, try walking across the suspension bridge - it's said to be the highest and longest in South Africa.
- Staying up high, the Bloukrans River bridge offers the highest bungi jump in the world - 216 metres, with a seven-second free-fall.
- Thanks to legislation protecting Southern Right Whales from being hunted, the whale population in South Africa is recovering at a rate of 7% each year.
Extracted from the Engen Fun Route Booklets
Zulu-Land
- Up until 1969, wearing a bikini on Durban's beaches would land you in jail.
- Lions were thought to be eradicated in the Umfolozi region, until a lonely male made his way down south from Mozambique. He traveled about 350 km until he arrived at the Umfolozi game reserve (where the buck hadn't seen a lion in many years), and was mysteriously joined by a number of females a few years later. Today there are about 40 in the reserve.
- Pietermaritzburg's city hall is the largest red brick building in the Southern Hemisphere.
- The Drakensberg's soap aloe usually survives bush fires, probably because the leaves at its base are so densely packed together the plant is protected from the intense heat of the flames.
- Fever trees, or hlosinga in Zulu, were originally though to cause malaria, probably because of their green-yellow colour.
- Hippos are susceptible to sunburn, and spend most of their days with just their noses out of water. Their noses have special flaps that close when submerged, and they can stay under water for 25 minutes.
Extracted from the Engen Fun Route Booklets