President Thabo Mbeki steps up to the podium to deliver his annual State of the Nation address and describes this era as "our Age of Hope." It's true. Twelve years after it was first unfurled, a recent poll showed that 9 out of 10 South Africans are now fiercely proud of their rainbow-hued flag -- once denounced as garish -- and the nation is ranked by Gallup as the eighth-most optimistic in the world. Indeed, while acknowledging that there is much work ahead, South Africa has a great deal to be proud of, and the country you encounter now is nothing short of addictive -- an increasingly high percentage of travellers, to Cape Town in particular, are repeat visitors, here to cover so much more than the first-time visit allows for.
The Western Cape has suffered a series of power outages since the beginning of the year. While fingers point in every direction the fact remains that there is insufficient energy to meet our growing consumption and a chance that periodic power outages may continue for some time. While it has been somewhat devastating for business, visitors with a laid back vacation attitude are not unduly affected -- if you are concerned, make sure your hotel or guest house has a back-up generator in place when booking, and be prepared to dine by candlelight.
Whether this is your first or fourth visit, the following overview should help ensure you get the most out of your stay.
Money
The rand is no longer on its mad rollercoaster ride, but still fluctuates -- extremely irritating when the latest book, just published, features prices at R6.70 to the dollar, while the past few months has seen the rand stabilise at around 6 to the dollar. Please do bear in mind that prices are therefore slightly more expensive in dollars -- presently at any rate. Check the rand price quoted before you book.
Dining
One place where you still score, regardless of the exchange rate, is in the restaurants -- according to international critics, standards are incredibly high and still at relatively low prices. Winelovers be warned: some restaurants are pushing for astronomical vino prices.
Eat Out, South Africa's most respected restaurant guide, recently published their Top 10 for 2006, and it came as no surprise that Yum, my favourite Jo'burg restaurant, was chosen as Restaurant of the Year, nor that 95 Keerom, a Cape Town favourite, was one of the top 10 choices. Also in the Cape Town city centre, Haiku (owned by Bukhara, one of my touted Indian restaurants) took the deserved accolade of Best New restaurant -- book well ahead for this one. The top 10 selection was dominated by Wineland's restaurants. Worth booking well in advance for are Bosman's in Paarl, newcomer Terroir in Stellenbosch, Reuben's in Franschhoek and La Colombe in Constantia. Le Quartier Francais, in the Western Cape, was also voted no. 2 in the world by Restaurant Magazine UK. All contact information is featured in the latest Frommer's South Africa.
Accommodations
Best news from Johannesburg is that you can now head straight to the Cradle of Mankind for a night at Forum Homini (www.forumhomini.co.za), a fabulously chic boutique hotel showcasing South Africa's best design talents (check out the wall tiles by Peter Mthambeni and the resin stalactite lights by Karen Vermeulen and David Rossouw) before finding out more about the origins of man in this fascinating World Heritage Site.
Cape Town continues to lead the pack with gorgeous new boutique "hotels," most of which are better described as luxurious guest houses. One of the most beautiful in this category, Hemingway House has opened a new "annexe" in a converted Victorian semi-detached house near trendy Kloof Street. Designed by talented local architect Craig Kaplan, Hemingway Lodge features three generous en-suite bedrooms -- Mountain, Garden and Royal. Prices are from R2000 a night for two; check it out on www.hemingwayhouse.co.za.
Taking its cue from nearby Metropole (which incidentally was recently included in the international Design Hotels listing) is Long Street's new 20-room boutique hotel, Urban Chic (www.urbanchic.co.za). Prices from R1150 room a night are fair but if you're of a more artistic bent and looking for something with a real boho-edge, Daddy Long Legs is the way to go -- 13 rooms, each with a totally unique interior designed by a local artist (www.daddylonglegs.co.za) -- a snip at R490 per room.
Budget hunters note: three Cape Town backpackers' hostels were recently voted the best in Africa: Ashanti, Backpackers and Big Blue. Check out their en-suite facilities at www.ashanti.co.za, www.backpackers.co.za and www.bigblue.za.net.
Attractions
While in Johannesburg, be sure to find out about your own origins at the new Origins Centre, located on the Wits University campus in Braamfontein. Visitors are invited to have their DNA tested to determine their ancestry; if you wish, the results (available within two weeks) will be exhibited alongside Nelson Mandela's. The brainchild of Mbeki, the Origins Centre also displays 4-billion-year old fossils, a huge selection of stone-age tools as well as some 100,000 examples of rock art created by the people who inhabited Southern Africa 2.6 million years ago. The purpose of the DNA tests is to prove that humans not only originated here but became fully "modern" in sub-Saharan Africa before journeying to the rest of the world¿including the Americas, where it is estimated people only arrived 18,000 years ago. Check it out online at www.origins.org.za.
The National Gallery in Cape Town currently has a rather interesting exhibition, Picasso and Africa, that explores how the artist was inspired by African sculpture and also features pieces from his personal collection.
Reserves
Cape Town's Table Mountain National Park (and vast swathes of the Overberg, which encompasses the whale-watching coast) has just experienced the worst fire season in living memory, up by 40% on 2005; some 1500 hectares, including the flanks directly below the cable car, the 12 Apostles above Camps Bay and parts of Signal Hill, are charred black with soot. With some 250,000 hectares in Overberg turned to ash, this area is on the brink of being declared a disaster area -- if you are planning to visit the Overberg this year, best to stick to the coast. With luck (and plenty of rain, though the weather forecasters are somewhat pessimistic) Table Mountain should however be awash in colour this spring as watsonias traditionally bloom in swathes of flame-like pink after a huge burn like this.
Moving north, to the Kruger, the removal of the fences between Kruger's National Park and Mozambique's Limpopo Park has reached its second phase -- the core will boast a total area of 100,000sqkm, which will result in the world's largest trans-frontier park, and a free flow of visitors within the park between the international borders of South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
To celebrate this, and the new Giriyondo border post into Mozambique, Wilderness Safaris has launched a new mountain biking tour -- the 400km "Tour de Kruger;" this northern area -- known as the Makuleke concession, and home to baobab forests and an unbelievable variety of birdlife -- has also seen a number of new lodges springing up, best of which is the recently opened Pafuri Camp, part of Wilderness Safari's stellar program. This is currently one of the very best value private options in Kruger (around R2700 double, all inclusive), so book soon, before this rising star becomes as pricey as Wilderness Safari's Delta options (www.wilderness-safaris.com).
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