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AFRICA…The LAst Frontier

Africa. Africa! It’s a small word, but few other words carry such an enormous weight of associations. Unfortunately, at any given moment, most people can only connect a small number of ideas or pictures with a single word, and in Africa’s case they’re often negative.

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The LAst Frontier

What do we think of when we hear the word: Africa? There’s bound to be wildlife (I’d bet on lions and elephants), probably violence (I’d bet on child soldiers and Johannesburg crime), perhaps a famine or two (I’d bet on

Ethiopia or Somalia)… And that might just about cover it.

All in all, Africa sounds more than a little scary and - because you can see animals in a zoo – the argument for visiting can struggle to get traction. That is until you speak to someone you know about their African trip. First there’ll be a silence and a faraway look as they try to process the extraordinary experiences they have had, then they’ll smile, and then they’ll start raving.

The reality of Africa has always been a great deal more complex than a few simple prejudices and, fortunately, some of the old, negative stories are changing for the better.

For a start, the continent is enormous and there is a correspondingly wide geographical and cultural diversity. Africa is at least as diverse as Europe – and it is three times larger.

There are vast differences between the French-influenced north and west (countries like Senegal, Mali and Chad) and the English-influenced south and east (countries like Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa). And that’s before you consider the impact of the Arabs, Portuguese, Belgians, Dutch and Germans, who were all into the lucrative business of exploiting slaves and running empires.

Africa is finally beginning to transcend the inter-generational damage unleashed by hundreds of years of slavery and colonialism. Over the last 20 years, the economies in the majority of African countries have begun to grow at significant rates. There are exceptions, but all but a few of the continent’s 1 billion people now vote in regular national polls. That is something that 1.5 billion Asians, for all their impressive economic performance, cannot do.

Over one third of Africans now live in cities, and there is a growing middle class. And in a world where natural resources are becoming increasingly valuable, Africa has 60% of the world’s uncultivated arable land and 30% of the world’s mineral resources. Many say the 21st century will be the Asian century, but Africa will definitely write itself into the story.

In many ways Africa is the world’s last great frontier – and that makes it a fascinating place to visit. It’s a frontier that is attracting fortune seekers from around the world, where millions of people are striving to escape poverty, where towns and cities are mushrooming.

It’s a frontier where diverse and amazing cultures are rubbing up against each other. The sparks resulting from this friction can be destructive and can be creative, can be frightening and invigorating.

And, of course, it’s a frontier that you can quickly leave behind to find yourself under a vast African sky on a breathtaking savannah with the creatures of your dreams (maybe even your nightmares) running wild around you.

Unless you’re a backpacker with a year or so to spare, you’ll need to quickly narrow your focus. You can’t cover Cairo to Cape Town in a normal vacation.

For Australians with limited time, South Africa is the easiest option. One important advantage is that South Africa shares Australia’s seasons; Cape Town is on much the same latitude as Sydney. If you’re restricted to a vacation during Australia’s summer and you don’t fancy the tropics or a European winter, South Africa is a good bet.

The South African national parks are among the greatest in the world and there are few better places to see Africa’s wildlife. It’s a contentious debate, but most experts argue the South African parks are the equal to those further to the north in Tanzania and Kenya.

As a bonus, South Africa’s beaches are amongst the best and least crowded in the world. There are vast open spaces, dramatic mountain ranges, tropical lowlands, deserts, and magnificent valleys with 300 year-old vineyards.

Few countries have a more dramatic or bloody history. The collision between the Dutch, the San, the English, the Xhosa and the Zulu is an amazing story. The fact that this rolling conflict ultimately resolved itself in a democracy is miraculous, but also a clear a testimony to all these tribes and their modern leaders.

The ongoing issues with violence remain a terrible blight on the country, but from a visitor’s point of view crime is extremely unlikely to have any impact. In an ironic throwback to apartheid, there are simply some parts of the country (and most cities) that you cannot visit – which can, of course, be said of many countries and cities.

South Africa’s infrastructure, by African standards, is extremely good – the transport and communications systems all work. On the whole, the hotels and restaurants are not particularly sophisticated, but you can always find somewhere decent, clean and safe to eat and sleep. There is a growing list of exceptions to this mediocrity, particularly in the Cape Province with its beautiful wineries and rich culinary traditions (a melting pot of African, Dutch, English, Indian, and Indo/Malay).

South Africa’s two great national parks are the Kruger (bordering Mozambique) and the lesser-known Kalahari Gemsbok (bordering Botswana and Namibia), but there are also some sensational privately owned game parks (a number of which border the Kruger).

In all these parks you are guaranteed of seeing Africa’s iconic wildlife. In the sub-tropical Kruger you stand a very good chance of seeing lions, elephants, giraffes, hippopotamus, zebra, and a myriad of antelopes and gazelles. In the Kalahari Gemsbok, which is a desert environment, you stand a very good chance of seeing lions, leopards, antelopes and gazelles.

The national parks have excellent roads that link key waterholes. In a private vehicle you can, if you wish, explore independently. You’re perfectly safe and the animals are sufficiently habituated to the presence of vehicles that they largely ignore you. The expertise of a guide is essential if you want to explore on foot, but if you have your own vehicle you can move at your own pace and enjoy the experience in your own way.

It’s hard to explain how mind-blowing this experience is. There is a vast difference between being in the animals’

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AFRICA The Last Frontier…

RIchARd EVERIST

natural environment, where the cycle of life unfolds before your eyes – and being in a human environment, where the animals are more-or-less controlled. When you’re in the animals’ environment it as if ancestral memories locked in your genes are unleashed. The animals are most definitely not under anyone’s control, and a blast of adrenaline is likely to remind you if you momentarily forget.

This is just one of the pictures locked in my mind: I am sitting alone in my car on the side of a dirt track in the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park. I’m watching a herd of around 100 delicate springbok antelopes pick for food in a dry riverbed. I can see they are alert, which is often a signal that a predator is nearby.

I scan the waist high dried grass in front of me, but suddenly sense movement over my right shoulder. I look around - straight into the face of a young lioness standing about five metres away. She looks briefly at me – and through me - as if I have no more significance than a bug. The irises in her golden eyes are wide and black and empty. Her gaze shifts and she glides past me, head low, her shoulders relaxed. I lose sight

of her in the grass. The springboks suddenly explode into flight – more like a flock of birds than gravity-bound animals. I cannot see the lioness, but I sit there a long time. Shaking.

Richard Everist started work with Lonely Planet in its early days, and spent his last five years with the company as

Global Publisher. He has co-authored guidebooks to Nepal, South Africa, Papua New Guinea, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Malta and Britain.

He was the CEO of Peregrine Adventures, before moving to Geelong. These days, he runs Around the Sun travel with his wife, Lucrezia Migliore, organising trips to the couple’s favourite corners of the world.