# Has anybody been to South Africa? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 1, 2016, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-been-to-south-africa/750853 "2016-04-01T17:56:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2016, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-been-to-south-africa/750853/21 "2016-04-03T17:41:23Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > My strategy with places reached by cable cars is the other way round. Makes sense. But I recall the path as steep and rough enough that it might be trickier on the way down. (And ISTR that you paid at the bottom, with the ride down being free.) ---
**Author:** ![DaphneBlack](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daphneblack/32/5389_2.png) [@DaphneBlack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaphneBlack)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2016, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-been-to-south-africa/750853/22 "2016-04-03T18:28:53Z")
The walk down is def. steeper! ---
**Author:** ![shantih](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@shantih](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shantih)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2016, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-been-to-south-africa/750853/23 "2016-04-03T22:33:16Z")
Shoot, everyone’s already mentioned the things I wanted to recommend, so let me just nth going to the top of Table Mountain and to the Cape, and say that the vineyards are glorious and that South African wines are gorgeous. We found the steaks to be fabulous and ate quite a lot of ostrich steaks as well. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2016, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-been-to-south-africa/750853/24 "2016-04-04T09:23:36Z")
> [@WilyQuixote](#): > > It should still be warm enough for a visit to one of the beaches scattered around the Peninsula - midday highs for the coming week average in the mid twenties. (celsius) No, it is decidedly not beach weather. By all means, visit a beach for the view. But do _not_ expect to swim or suntan… our water is _cold_ (was in at Seaforth this W/E - _big_ mistake) ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2016, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-been-to-south-africa/750853/25 "2016-04-04T09:32:28Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Afterward I did a couple of other trips out of Cape Town with a local guide to the Little Karoo and a couple of other places. I picked up 190 species new to me although I had been to Africa before. His initials didn’t happen to be K.B., did they? ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2016, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-been-to-south-africa/750853/26 "2016-04-04T13:11:14Z")
Too bad you weren’t there this past week - you could have taken in the World Underwater Hockey Championships! (A niece is a longstanding member of the Women’s Elite! How’s THAT for a brush with fame?!) Now you’ll have to wait 2 whole years to catch the next tourney in Canada! ---
**Author:** ![Lurking\_Quahog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lurking_quahog/32/21274_2.png) [@Lurking\_Quahog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lurking_Quahog)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2016, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-been-to-south-africa/750853/27 "2016-04-04T13:12:09Z")
> [@shantih](#): > > Shoot, everyone’s already mentioned the things I wanted to recommend, so let me just nth going to the top of Table Mountain and to the Cape, and say that the vineyards are glorious and that South African wines are gorgeous. We found the steaks to be fabulous and ate quite a lot of ostrich steaks as well. We’ll be visiting the Stellenbosch Winelands. Looking forward to that. I may have to sample one of the ostrich steaks as well. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2016, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-been-to-south-africa/750853/28 "2016-04-04T14:40:50Z")
Have to drive up into the Drakensberg Mountains, esp. around sunrise/sunset, when it is lit up like a son of a bitch. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2016, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-been-to-south-africa/750853/29 "2016-04-04T16:01:38Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > His initials didn’t happen to be K.B., did they? No. My guide on the main tour was Rick Nuttall, who was then a grad student but now the Director of the National Museum in Bloemfontein. My local guide in Cape Town was Richard Grant. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-been-to-south-africa/750853/30 "2016-04-07T13:08:17Z")
If I could secure my security, I would live in South Africa. The people are amazing. Black, Afrikaner, English, the people I’ve dealt with professionally and socially have been awesome. There is crime in J-town and Pretoria, but I’ve been lucky. The food is awesome. The scenery is awesome. I really, really love South Africa. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2016, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-been-to-south-africa/750853/31 "2016-04-08T16:44:09Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > My mother has traveled the whole world speaking and she just got back from South Africa. She said it was one of the greatest places she had ever been. I asked her about the security aspect and she said it didn’t concern her at all but she had a local (black) guide that she adored and vice-versa. Keep in mind that this is someone that spent the early part of her teaching career teaching in a segregated black school in the Deep South and she said race relations reminded her a great deal of the Deep South in the 1960’s and 70’s. > > I don’t think she will mind if I repost her description plus a recommendation: > > “On Monday I got to visit the “Cradle of Humankind.” The name Cradle of Humankind reflects the fact that the site has produced a large number of (as well as some of the oldest) hominin fossils ever found, some dating back as far as 3.5 million years ago, which made recent news with their fossil discoveries. I also got to crawl through the caves of Sterkfontein before returning to Johannesburg and doing a presentation for over 100 South African parents. What a privilege to be here. I have never been treated better than I have in this country. I’m in love with the people here. I left them a note in the Cradle of Mankind Museum.” Did your mother write that line in [the Wikipedia article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cradle_of_Humankind) too? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2016, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-been-to-south-africa/750853/32 "2016-04-08T17:07:28Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > Did your mother write that line in [the Wikipedia article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cradle_of_Humankind) too? I doubt it. It is a famous world heritage site. She probably got the info from the same brochure that the Wikipedia authors did or maybe she just looked it up when she was writing her description. That is just a short, fact-filled, description of the site. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2016, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-been-to-south-africa/750853/33 "2016-04-08T21:16:55Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > Did your mother write that line in [the Wikipedia article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cradle_of_Humankind) too? Busted! ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2016, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-been-to-south-africa/750853/34 "2016-04-08T22:29:34Z")
> [@Penfeather](#): > > Busted! I am still wondering about what. She just used part of the standard description of the place as part of her message about what a wonderful experience she had in South Africa. I would do the same type of quick fact copying if I went somewhere that most people aren’t very familiar with and I wanted to give a quick summary. I am not sure about Dopers, but most normal people don’t include cites and footnotes in e-mails and messages intended for friends and family. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2016, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-been-to-south-africa/750853/35 "2016-04-08T22:49:03Z")
Your mother is the world-renowned motivational speaker, isn’t she? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2016, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-been-to-south-africa/750853/36 "2016-04-08T23:21:01Z")
> [@Penfeather](#): > > Your mother is the world-renowned motivational speaker, isn’t she? Yes she is and a very good one as well as a successful author on educational strategies. That doesn’t mean that she is any different than other mothers in e-mail to her friends and family. I can see now that I should not have posted that. It was supposed to be helpful and positive to the OP but some Dopers are so skeptical and malicious that they will pick anything apart, no matter how innocent, as an attempt to do something that I cannot even comprehend the motivations for. I personally couldn’t care less if she copied the basic description of a place she visited off of Wikipedia or if Wikipedia itself probably got it from the same brochure she did. That is a stupid objection to anything of that nature. Then again, maybe she didn’t really go to South Africa last month. I wasn’t there. The myriad of pictures could have been Photoshopped or taken on a set somewhere - just like the moon landings. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2016, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-been-to-south-africa/750853/37 "2016-04-08T23:24:51Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Yes she is and a very good one as well as a successful author on educational strategies. That doesn’t mean that she is any different than other mothers in e-mail to her friends and family. > > I can see now that I should not have posted that. It was supposed to be helpful and positive to the OP but some Dopers are so skeptical and malicious that they will pick anything apart, no matter how innocent, as an attempt to do something that I cannot even comprehend the motivations for. > > I personally couldn’t care less if she copied the basic description of a place she visited off of Wikipedia or if Wikipedia itself probably got it from the same brochure she did. That is a stupid objection to anything of that nature. Well, I’m no expert on globe-trotting sinew-stiffeners, so for all I know they _do_ write their personal blogs like a 12 year old whose Social Studies assignment is due tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2016, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-been-to-south-africa/750853/38 "2016-04-08T23:58:06Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > I doubt it. It is a famous world heritage site. She probably got the info from the same brochure that the Wikipedia authors did or maybe she just looked it up when she was writing her description. That is just a short, fact-filled, description of the site. Sure she did. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-been-to-south-africa/750853/39 "2016-04-09T01:11:47Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Sure she did. Is international travel really that exotic to people here that they can’t even imagine someone doing it routinely for work? I have news for you if you believe that is the case. Lots of people do it routinely including me. It makes up the highest profit center for the airline business. I have friends in finance that are in the Middle East more than they are at home. There are others that do supply chain work that travel the U.S. all week almost every week. I have to do it myself and have to travel from the Boston area to the backwoods of Colorado routinely and I may have to go to Belgium soon as well. The only thing special about traveling to South Africa is that it is a pain in the ass to get to from the U.S. (or almost anywhere else for that matter). You are looking at 16+ hour series of flights in many cases and even getting to Australia is a little easier. Still, thousands of people do it every day of the year. It isn’t a space mission. I am sorry if many of you aren’t experienced travelers but you can go to South Africa for less than $2000 round trip and usually much less. That isn’t significant money for business operations of that type. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-been-to-south-africa/750853/40 "2016-04-09T02:20:01Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > I have to do it myself and have to travel from the Boston area to the backwoods of Colorado routinely and I may have to go to Belgium soon as well. “Belgium is a low-lying country on the North Sea coast in the Benelux. With the majority of West European capitals within 1,000km or 622 miles of the Belgian capital of Brussels, and as a member of the long-standing international Benelux community, Belgium sits at the crossroads of Western Europe. Its immediate neighbours are France to the southwest, Luxembourg to the southeast, Germany to the east and the Netherlands to the north. I am certainly having a wonderful time in this country of Belgium that I am absolutely in.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-been-to-south-africa/750853.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-been-to-south-africa/750853.md?page=3)