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參觀★鴕鳥養殖場。除了原本的駝鳥飼養外，安排如何養駝鳥，了解鴕鳥生態及習性，並可試騎鴕鳥。

This is the 22^nd articles in the category of "Travel Around the World", you can refer to other articles as well.   South Africa is the 38^th countries I traveled so far up to now.

Take a look and have a nice day.

上午抵達非洲南端一大城且是名列世界最美麗的城市之一開普敦。

南 非 簡 介

◎面積：約130萬平方公里。

◎人口：約4,300萬。

◎語言：英文和南非語為南非正式語言。

◎電壓：南非的標準電流皆為220/240V，僅三插式的插頭才能使用。

◎時差：比台灣慢六小時。

南非，位於非洲最南端，以高原為主體，周圍大斷崖將高原和沿岸平原地帶隔開。一個繽紛動人的夢幻國度，以盛產黃金和鑽石聞名於世，燦陽藍天，無垠遼闊的莽原叢林中，活躍著憾人心弦的奔放生命力，一座沒有圍牆的野生動物王國，令人讚頌的生之歌。

東、南、西三面瀕臨印度洋與大西洋；賴索托王國位於南非東部境內；東北面和莫三比克、史瓦濟蘭相接；北與波札那、辛巴威比鄰，西北和柰米比亞為界。首都普利托利亞，以舒適便利的現代化旅遊設備，成為世界上最大的渡假勝地。

開普敦 (CAPE TOWN)

人口：約260萬

特產：葡萄酒、虎眼石

簡介：位於南非西南方，為印度洋和大西洋的交會處，好望角的北邊，是南非第二大都市，首要商港與貨物集散中心。開普敦是南非最古老的城市。

參觀★鴕鳥養殖場。除了原本的駝鳥飼養外，安排如何養駝鳥，了解鴕鳥生態及習性，並可試騎鴕鳥。

開普酒原產地★康斯坦夏展開浪漫的酒鄉之旅，有專人帶領實地參觀酒窖並詳細介紹各種葡萄酒的產製過程，同時可品嚐紅、白葡萄美酒。

抵達豪特灣，安排乘船前往著名的★海豹保護區，觀賞上百隻海豹聚集在一起嬉戲的自然生態景像。

南非幅員遼闊，終年陽光普照，各式花卉爭奇鬥艷，彷彿是一座超大型的植物園，置身其間，總讓人大為驚嘆造物主的神奇。應有盡有的樂園擁有西方大城市的進步，非洲原始的奔放活力，交錯縱橫出豐富迷人的多樣色彩。

應有盡有的國度，提供您最廣泛的旅遊活動：自然原始的動物樂園，無限綿延的山光水色，舒適怡人的休閒設施，燦爛奪目的城市美景。盡享溫暖柔和的陽光，感受熱情殷切的款待。繽紛南非絕對超乎想像：可以追求探險刺激，輕鬆體驗山野叢林傳奇，或融入國際大都會的高水準生活。忘卻煩憂，避開塵囂的最佳選擇，來一趟南非就等於環遊世界，海角樂園天地任遨遊，南非遊蹤，格外輕鬆。

順著大西洋沿岸一路南下，途經克里夫頓灣，此處為開普敦的高級住宅區，若天候良好，可在此處看到12 門徒岩。

★企鵝保護區，並下車參觀著名的南非企鵝。

★企鵝保護區，並下車參觀著名的南非企鵝。




好望角自然保育區並搭纜車登上瞭望臺，俯瞰印度洋及大西洋交會處海浪之洶湧的浩瀚風光。

好望角自然保育區並搭纜車登上瞭望臺，俯瞰印度洋及大西洋交會處海浪之洶湧的浩瀚風光。

科斯坦博斯國家植物公園，面積寬達 560公頃以上，有4000種本地植物，其中 2600 種為開普半島地方性的植物，其中南非的國花－帝王花更是不可錯過。

科斯坦博斯國家植物公園，面積寬達 560公頃以上，有4000種本地植物，其中 2600 種為開普半島地方性的植物，其中南非的國花－帝王花更是不可錯過。

A Trip to South Africa       by David W. S. Liu

                  (February 15 to February 25, 2007 during the Chinese New Year holiday)   

South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of the African continent. It borders the countries of Namibia , Botswana , Zimbabwe , Mozambique , and Swaziland . South Africa is located at the southern most region of Africa, with a long coastline that stretches more than 2,500 kilometers and across two oceans (the Atlantic and the Indian).

South Africa has eleven official languages: Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Southern Sotho, Swati, Tsonga, Tswana , Venda , Xhosa and Zulu. In this regard it is second only to India in number. While each language is technically equal to every other, English has emerged recently as the chief-among-peers as it is the most widely spoken language across racial barriers as well as globally, even though it is not the most widely spoken language by population.  As a result of immigration, South Africa is a very ethnically diverse nation. It has the largest population of people from a mixed ethnic background, whites, and Indian communities in Africa . Black South Africans account for slightly more than 70% of the population.

In 1652 a station was established at the Cape of Good Hope by Jan van Riebeeck on behalf of the Dutch East India Company. For most of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the slowly-expanding settlement was a Dutch possession. The British annexed the Cape Colony in 1805.  While the White minority enjoyed the highest standard of living in all of Africa, often comparable to western nations, the Black majority remained disadvantaged by almost every standard, including income, education, housing, and life expectancy.

A long period of harsh suppression by the government, and at times violent resistance, strikes, marches, protests, and sabotage, by various anti-apartheid movements, most notably the African National Congress (ANC), followed. In 1990, the National Party government took the first step towards negotiating itself out of power when it lifted the ban on the African National Congress and other left-wing political organizations, and released Nelson Mandela from prison after twenty-seven years' incarceration on a sabotage sentence. Apartheid legislation was gradually removed from the statute books, and the first multi-racial elections were held in 1994. The ANC won by an overwhelming majority and has been in power ever since. Despite the end of apartheid, millions of South Africans, mostly black, continue to live in poverty.

It is the eighth largest wine producer in the world, and the eleventh largest producer of sunflower seed. South Africa is a net exporter of agricultural products and foodstuffs, the largest number of exported items being sugar, grapes, citrus, nectarines, wine and deciduous fruit. South Africa will be the host nation for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. It will be the first time the tournament is held in Africa .  As in many African countries, the spread of AIDS is a serious problem in South Africa .

Numerous mammals are found in the bushveld habitats including lion, leopard, White Rhino, Blue Wildebeest, kudu, impala, hyena, hippopotamus, and giraffe. There is a significant extent of the bushveld habitat in the northeast including Kruger National Park and the Mala Mala Reserve, as well as in the far north in the Waterberg Biosphere.

There is no direct flight from Taiwan to South Africa , we took Singapore Airline via Singapore to Cape Town and return trip from Johannesburg via Singapore back to Taipei .  Personally, I prefer to take Singapore Airline; usually 747 flight got 10 seats a row, 3-4-3 seating, while Singapore Airline have 9 seats of 3-3-3 seating; therefore, a little bit more space and still comfortable for a long distance flight. 

South Africa is the 38^th countries I traveled so far.  During our 10-day tour in South Africa , we started with Cape Town , the 2^nd largest city with 2.6 million population.  Cape Town is a beautiful harbor city, we visited Table Mountain , Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens , Hout Bay & sea lions at Duiker Island , penguins at Boulder ’s Beach, Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve , … etc.  From Cape Town fly to Johannesburg ( Gold Reef City , The house of MYNHARDTS, De Beers diamonds,…), we also spent a whole day by 4X4 Jeep to search for wild life at Kruger National Park . Stay one night at the 6-star the Palace of the Lost City; ended with visiting Pretoria, the capital city of South Africa, and a cultural trip to Lesedi Zulu at Ndebele village.  South Africa is quite different from my original thought, I took some notes during my trip as follows:

1.       Infrastructure in SA is very good, very similar to USA or European counties, and better than Taiwan .  Travel in South Africa is just like travel in Australia or north America . 

2.       Safety is a serious concern, our tour guide and bus driver keeps remind us not to walk alone, watch our bags.  I saw a lot of sign in front of the houses or the shops with signs of “Armed Response”, “Armed Reacted”, or specify that this premise is protected by XXX security system, … etc. Crime has been a major problem in South Africa . Many emigrants from South Africa also state that crime was a big motivator for them to leave. 

3.       While the 30% White minority enjoyed the highest standard of living in all of Africa, the 70% Black, the 70% Black majority remained disadvantaged by almost every standard, including income, education, housing, and life expectancy.  I do not have their detailed income data; if I simply use simple average US$33,000 x 30% + US$3,300 x 70% = US$12,210 on average, the gap between the white minority vs the black majority will be 10 times ($33,000 vs $3,300), and personally I think this is the major reason behind the high crime rate.

4.       At the cape point of Cape of Good Hope 好望角, we took a tour train to the light house, the safety record on the train showed 2,100 days since the operations and they are targeting on 2,600 days.  I made a joke to the train operator that “Are we going to have an accident within next 500 days?” 

5.       We went down to level-5 265 meters below ground at Crown gold mine.  One ton of mine rock only can produce 4 grams gold, the deeper the hotter and very tough working conditions.  It is an amazing visit of gold mine.

6.       Driving 4X4 sport utility vehicle at Kruger National Park to search for wild animals is a new experience to me.  We were able to find African elephant, crocodile, zebra, greater kudu, blue wildebeest, ostrich, hippo, steenbok, African buffalo, giraffe, … etc.

7.       During the trip, there are many tour groups from China , Taiwan and Hong Kong .  Local Africans are friendly to us.  I chatted with some local residents, they told me that they do not like British or American because they think they are economically or politically depress them while Chinese are helping them.  Some of them told me that they would like to learn some Chinese language.

8.       I also noticed that SA value added tax is very high, you need to pay another 14% for VAT.  I bought one 1.06 carat diamond round cut, E color, SI2 clarity at MSRP market suggested retail price of US$10,685 and on top of that I also need to pay 14% VAT tax.  80% of diamond comes from South Africa , on average 350 ton mine rock can only produce 1 carat diamond, no wonder diamond is so expensive.

9.       For tax refund at Johannesburg international airport, it took me waiting for one hour and still can not be refunded over there.  There are 8 counters and only 3 in service, two custom officers just chatting and do not assist tourists at all.  The government service is very poor and no customer satisfaction at all.  All foreign tourists are very disappointed and complaints a lot.  Singapore Airline employees had to come to Tax Refund Office to push us back to departure gate and eventually we are forced to leave without tax refund and need to airmail it back to South Africa Johannesburg International Airport VAT Refund Post Office for refund claim.

On my way back, I watched the movie “A Good Year” by Russell Crowe at the plane. A story of a successful London banker Max Skinner and he is living life in the fast lane.  When he learns that he’s inherited his late uncle’s Provencal chateau and vineyard.  As he stays there to settle the property’s legal affairs, he begins to discover a new lifestyle.  I remember he said in the movie “My life is not suitable to this place” while his lady replied to him instead “This place is not suitable to your life.”  While I took my Chinese New Year holidays in South Africa, I am still kind of busy, I am tie up with sight-seeing, photographing, take notes, doing English/Chinese translations for the members of our tour group, rush for shopping, … I am exhausted instead of take holidays for relaxation, this is oftentimes what we did, aren't we?

Travel note was taken at home in Taipei ,

David W. S. Liu

February 25, 2007