While each of these elements is an important trait of the region’s larger personality, no single feature of the Cape Winelands stands on its own. Rather, they form a complex web of connections: the gorgeous nature is related to the local agriculture, which is in turn connected to a history of colonisation and cultural development that continues to affect social and environmental issues today. The Cape Fold Mountains, for example, provide a scenic and geologically rich border to the region, and the vineyards are the basis of South Africa’s wine industry, but those vineyards are deeply dependent on the environment and climates created in part by their mountainous shelters, not to mention the people who devote attention to them.

At the Chamonix Cellar in Franshhoek in the Cape Winelands region of South Africa, excellent wines and shnaaps are ready for tasting. Photo courtesy of WineLands Experience

Nature, Ecology and Culture Noted by UNESCO

UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) took into account all of these overlapping spheres of the Winelands when it recognised the Cape Winelands Biosphere Reserve as a special Man and Biosphere (MAB) reserve. The aim of the MAB program is to strengthen the relationship between society and the environment through sustainability and conservation, all by considering the unique ecological, environmental, social and economic components of a place.

Parts of the region have also been recognised for their intangible cultural heritage; the Cape Winelands Cultural Landscape has been on the tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 2009. From diverse styles of architecture to a four-centuries-deep tradition of winemaking, the cultural heritage of the Winelands is an inseparable part of the larger ecological and social spheres of the region.

Of course, the Cape Winelands Biosphere Reserve is particularly famous for its biodiversity. In fact, cutting through the heart of the Reserve is the Cape Floral Region, another UNESCO-protected World Heritage Site. One of the world’s richest plant areas, it is home to nearly 20 percent of Africa’s endemic plant life – on only 0.5 percent of its land.

Nearly 80 percent of the flora in the Cape Floral Region is shrub-like Fynbos vegetation (fynbos means ‘fine bush’ in Afrikaans) that thrives in rocky and nutrient-poor soil found in coastal and mountainous regions with a Mediterranean climate.

The fynbos plant, which thrives alongside grapevines in the rocky soil of the Cape Winelands, helps make the region a remarkable biosphere. Photo courtesy of wikimedia/Abu Shawka

Agricultural, Historical, Colonial and Cultural Connections

As at home as fynbos in the region’s rocky soil are the local grape vines. This agricultural twist was first exploited by 17th-century Dutch colonists, who imported the European tradition of winemaking to the region. The first bottle of South African wine was produced in 1659; within 30 years, over 100,000 vines had been planted in the Constantia Valley. Over time, colonial agricultural practices were superimposed onto this land of already abundant biodiversity.

Today the Cape Winelands region is divided into subregions, each notable for the variety of soil types that support different kinds of grapes and thus lend themselves to different winemaking practices. This ecological diversity, further influenced by nuanced climatic distinctions, gives the Cape Winelands an upper hand in the cultivation of grapes and production of wines that have met with great success in global markets.

Stellenbosch, for example, is widely acknowledged as the Winelands’ foremost wine-producing region. It has both limestone- and granite-laced soils that sustain white and red grapes. The Paarl region, with a slightly hotter climate and higher elevation, focuses on other varieties of red.

Intertwined with the history of agriculture and winemaking is the rich mix of cultural traditions just as diverse as the land and the grapes. Towns like Paarl have been shaped by Khoisan and East-African slave traditions, Dutch and French Huguenot customs and architecture, immigrant traditions from Eastern European Jewish communities and Italian migrant groups, and the practices and habits of Xhosa migrant labourers.

The Beyerskloof vineyard in Stellenbosch is an example of the vineyards that make Stellenbosch the country's foremost wine-producing region. Photo courtesy of flickr/Mark Turner

Environmental and Social Connections

UNESCO designation doesn’t stop at simple recognition for the Cape Winelands Biosphere Reserve and Cape Floral Region. A number of environmental and social challenges are being addressed with the help of UNESCO funding and international awareness.

For example, even though large tracts of the Winelands Reserve are doubly protected by the Cape Floral Protection Zone, much of the land is still privately owned and over-farming threatens some of the endemic plant life with extinction. The region’s agricultural history also has a darker past of ecologically unsound practices, and the use of pesticides has harmed local birds and animals, including the blue crane, raptors and owls.

It goes without saying that the country’s tumultuous political history has had an impact on the region’s current state of affairs. A number of communities within the Reserve, many of which are rural, struggles against the effects of poverty, unemployment and urban migration.

When asked to comment on UNESCO’s involvement in the Cape Winelands region, a spokesperson for Winelands Experience, the whl.travel local partner in the Cape Winelands, was optimistic, especially given the company’s active participation in the community as local business owners:

“[UNESCO status] creates local and international interest and awareness of the region as a biosphere reserve and fulfills a marketing and educational function on both the national and international levels. It also empowers local communities and economies by bringing more visitors to the area, which results in the inflow of capital and investment to these regions. A UNESCO designation also focuses on local, provincial, regional and national government attention, and ensures that social, economic, environmental and biodiversity conservation issues are placed on the national and international agendas of the relevant agencies… Education of local communities [will] result in positive and workable solutions to complex regional issues.”

UNESCO’s attention is an important step for the Cape Winelands, as its communities move toward reconciling a turbulent past with progress toward a future in which the diverse and overlapping spheres of ecological, agricultural and cultural heritage are appreciated and fully utilised for the larger wellbeing of the Western Cape of South Africa.

Taste the wine and absorb the layers of heritage in the Cape Winelands for yourself. To plan an experiential trip to the region, get in touch with Winelands Experience, the whl.travel local connection in Cape Winelands, South Africa.

On the occasion when this picture was taken, we were visiting the park, staying at Gorah Elephant Camp, one of the luxury camps found within the park, and were on an afternoon safari. We came across these lions a few hundred meters from the camp. They were on their way to the camp to overnight with two other lionesses and the big dominant male, which was on the periphery. The young male shown here was reaching an age at which he would be kicked out of the pride fairly soon and was probably savouring the last few weeks or months with his family.

During the evening we enjoyed dinner and then were escorted to our tented rooms for the night by our ranger. We heard the pride of lions all night, grunting and roaring, clearly letting the rest of the animal kingdom know where they were and who was “King of the Addo”. Early the next morning, we found the pride again on our safari; they were very relaxed and did not seem very interested in moving on. Lions do sleep about 20 hours of the day away, so it was no surprise.

Visiting the Addo National Park is a must for any visitor venturing up or down the Garden Route of South Africa, as it offers a fantastic opportunity to enjoy a safari before or after the scenic drive along our southeastern coastline. Various accommodations, from budget to luxury, can be found around the Addo National Park, as well as in Port Elizabeth, as the park is only about 80 kilometres from the “Friendly City”, as it is locally known.

A major draw is the opportunity to compete in a unique and spectacular environment. Forget the endless fire roads and jeep-track climbs that some races tend to rely on, where road-bike endurance tends to matter more than MTB skill. The Induna MTB Challenge provides an entirely different challenge for riders to get their teeth into.

Known for its hand-cut trails that snake through the forest, the course serves up a difficult mix of short sharp climbs, rock shelves, rooty drops and tricky switchbacks. Add a few shallow water crossings and even some single tracks beaten flat by hippos and you can see that the riders have their work cut out for them.

The Lowveld’s warm winter climate provides a comfortable environment for those who choose to camp at the race venue. As excitement builds before the race, the community spirit of the riders and spectators is a jovial and rewarding experience.

For those not up for competing, the race is an incredible event just to be around. But if you are looking for something to get the adrenaline pumping, there are plenty of activities available in the Western Kruger area.

Even after relatively mild experiences on roller coasters and other vague elevations, it took a long time for me to feel comfortable with being up really, really high. I finally had a breakthrough when I decided to attempt my first bungee jump at the age of 18, in late 1996, in Kuranda, Queensland, Australia. The adrenaline hit, and, of course, I loved it immediately.

A suspension bridge connects the colourful Orlando Towers of Soweto, South Africa. The bridge was built for high-intensity vertical sports such as bungee jumping. Photo courtesy of Jen Campbell

The instructor had advised that I focus on a spot on the horizon, avoid looking down and lean forward until my balance reached the point of no return, at which time I was to bend my knees, push off and yell, “Bungee!” Rather embarrassingly, not only did I follow the latter instruction, but have continued to do so during most of my six bungee jumps since: three on the Gold Coast in Australia during 1997, two in Bali in 2008 and the Macau Tower jump in 2008 – a massive 233-metre plunge.

In 2009, I moved from London to Johannesburg to work on the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Given this was my first experience visiting Africa, let alone living there, I compiled a list of experiences I wanted to tick off before my contract ended in August 2010.

This list included a proper safari – something I never got around to doing – and, after spying the Orlando Cooling Towers during a work visit to the Soweto Derby in late 2009, another bungee jump.

A Vertical Vision

Orlando Towers was opened to adrenaline excitement in 2009 by Skyriders, a South African company established in 1988 and specialising in rope access for work, inspection and maintenance in very high or hard-to-reach areas. While Skyriders began in window-cleaning and progressed to industrial access in the 1990s, Orlando Towers was their first foray into the world of extreme sports.

The anxiety builds as adrenaline thrill-seekers are swept into a cage elevator that propels them to the top of the Orlando Towers Vertical Adventure Centre in Soweto, South Africa. Photo courtesy of Jen Campbell

Long before that, the hulking structures were the cooling towers for the Soweto Power Station from 1942 to 1998, when the coal-burning facility closed. Then, Bob Woods, a rope-access specialist and director at Skyriders, was fortunate enough to experience the stunning view from the top of the towers while conducting maintenance work. Believing that more people should be able to take part in this amazing experience, a brainwave that struck Woods in 2001 compelled him to developed the decommissioned Orlando Towers into a ‘vertical adventure centre’.

The years that followed were filled with discussions and negotiations with the people of Soweto, as well as local councils, engineers, builders and the Johannesburg Property Company. In 2005, preliminary plans for the Orlando Ekhava Precinct were presented, with the comprehensive Orlando Towers Vertical Adventure Centre project approved in 2007.

At the end of 2007, a lease was signed; development began soon after. By July 2008, a lift tower was installed and the site officially opened. In order to develop the vertical adventure component, a bridging platform between the two towers was raised 100 metres from the ground (three metres from the top of the towers) and secured in place for the ‘World’s First Bungee Jump Between Two Cooling Towers’. Fittingly, the first leap was made by Bob Woods.

Hanging around at the Orlando Towers of Soweto, South Africa, bungee jumpers and giant swingers wait to be lifted to a launch platform 100 metres above the ground. Photo courtesy of Jen Campbell

Today, Orlando Towers offers a number of adrenaline-pumping experiences, including the 100-metre bungee, a swing from the centre of the suspension bridge resulting in a 40-metre free fall, and a swing into one of the cooling towers. Beyond these thrills there are also rap jumping, base jumping, abseiling and a zip line. The centre even offers rock climbing and paint balling, and the suspension bridge itself is an excellent viewing platform from which to take in the seemingly endless panorama of Soweto.

A Flying Leap

In August 2010, only weeks before I was due to head back to London, I realised I’d ticked very few things off my to-do list. No safari. No bungee jump. Then, two people I had met at the Soweto Derby back in 2009 suggested we tackle Orlando Towers as a celebratory wrap-up after the World Cup.

When I arrived, I was surprised at how simple and laid-back the setup was. Despite being very professionally qualified and approved, the staff were all very relaxed about the experience. Instead of my usual bungee experience, I therefore elected to try something new to me – the giant swing – and was outfitted with a harness, something specific to the swing experience.

At first we waited at the foot of the tower, watching the group before us throw themselves into gravity’s embrace from 100 metres above. This increased the anticipation, and perhaps the apprehension too, but given past experiences and my love of bungee I was desperate to give it my go.

In Soweto, South Africa, the swing at Orlando Towers is an adrenaline-packed alternative to bungee, which is also available. Choose your thrill. Photo courtesy of Jen Campbell

When it was our turn we were given a quick briefing and bundled into the open-air rickety-feeling lift riveted to the exterior of one of the towers. The staff played on this fact by tweaking the speed of the elevator halfway up the tower (50 metres above the ground) to make the entire lift shudder. It also didn’t help that the lift hugged the shape of the tower, meaning you began by leaning slightly against it, and finished by dangling off it.

At the top, the walkways to the suspension bridge allowed us to look into the massive tower. We worked our way around to the launch platform and waited for the first of our group to bungee. It took a lot of coaxing, and a few moments of considering turning back, but she eventually leapt. The second group member completed her bungee jump too, and then I was strapped on to the swing rope.

The swing does not involve walking out onto the bridge, as with the bungee, but instead begins on a platform attached to one of the towers from where you try to fly from one tower to the other. Once you’re attached to the rope, the weight of the rope itself practically drags you to the edge. Unlike a bungee, where you’re told to lean into it and fall headfirst, the swing involves taking a long stride off the 100-metre-high platform and then free-falling for 40 metres before the rope pulls taught and drags you into a massive swing toward the other tower.

Free-falling 40 metres from a 100-metre platform between the Orlando Towers in Soweto, South Africa, is a powerful swing experience. Photo courtesy of Jen Campbell

It was far more stomach-churning than a bungee jump, feeling much more like the floor had been removed from under my feet and I was simply falling to the ground below. I’d certainly recommend it to anyone who has previously bungeed and is interested in putting a new spin on it.

Although I missed out on a few things while I lived in South Africa, I certainly do intend to go back and take part in a safari. I also hope to experience the world’s highest bridge bungee: 216 metres from Bloukrans Bridge!

A kayaker dwarfed by the 56-metre-high Mac-Mac Falls, Mpumalanga, South Africa

If an epic experience means going beyond what is usual or ordinary – to encompass that which is extraordinary, momentous and great – then that is how I would describe my first descent on the creeking Mac-Mac River, beginning from the thunderous Mac-Mac Falls, a national monument of South Africa.

More than a monument, though, the Mac-Mac River is one of the country’s healthiest, most untouched biospheres. It is home to Red List fish species and many birds like the African finfoot, half-collared kingfisher and African crowned eagle. It’s also a botanist’s heaven.

And now, after two years of planning, contemplating and waiting for the right amount of water, there was no better time to tackle the 14-kilometre stretch of river between Graskop and Sabie, Mpumalanga. Fellow adventurer Andre van de Berg and I would start at an elevation of 1,220 metres and then drop 450 metres. With the help of maps and Google Earth, we had studied the steep gradient with lots of drops, which meant we should be prepared to face some serious rapids.

A Falls Start

Early one morning, after seeing my sons, Luan and Dian, off to school, Andre and I made our way to the still-locked gates of the scenic view point at Mac-Mac Falls. Some friendly craft ladies eagerly awaiting potential buyers pointed out a way around the locked gates and wished us luck. We needed it.

The 30-minute hike to the bottom of the world-renowned Mac-Mac Falls was nothing short of breathtaking. We clawed and slid our kayaks down a small path and already knew that there would be no turning back. There would also be no one that could come and help us. A rescue mission would be a mssion impossible: so we had to play it safe, even though playing it safe is not really in a kayaker’s genes.

Finally at the river’s edge, we quickly climbed into our kayaks and paddled up to the falls to capture the splendour and powerful thrust of the dropping water. We also wanted to mark the start of our epic journey. We tried to get as close to the eye of the falls as possible, but the force of the spray left us literally breathless. What a way to start an experience, at the bottom of one of God’s most amazing creations!

Before departure, we had used Google Earth to create checkpoints and to landmark water features, waterfalls and rockslides to tell us more or less where we might be. But with lots of shaded turns and thick tree cover, the satellite images could not really tell us what grade and type of rapids would be lurking around every corner.

The forces of gravity pull Andre over the first challenge: a seven-metre-high waterfall on the Mac-Mac River, Mpumalanga, South Africa

Some Early Reminders

Rapids were thrown at us from all directions right from the start. There was no stretch longer than 50 metres before we had to climb out to scout ahead. Always concerned about what lay hidden around each corner, we needed to plan our line of approach… if what lay ahead was approachable. This was basically the itinerary for the whole day as there was always something interesting around every twist in the river. A kayaker’s dream.

Our first landmark, just a couple of stone’s throws from the falls, was a seven-metre waterfall with an easy approach. For us, it served as a reminder that respect for nature must be a high priority for a safe first descent. Andre missed his line and disappeared into the curtain of the falls. A couple of seconds later he popped back up, but with nothing more than a paddle. His red medium-sized Solo Fluid kayak was nowhere to be seen: a fairly important item given the objective of our journey.

Andre was fine; with no more than a couple of bruises to his leg, we searched for his missing kayak, which Andre eventually glimpsed still pinned under the curtain of the falls. Our boat rescue attempt produced a kayak that looked like a tin can beaten with a five-pound hammer by an angry teenager. Luckily, as it was made from the finest materials, we could bash it back into shape and were left with only a 20-millimetre tear at the top of the cockpit – something with which we could live, although Andre had to drain water from his boat every 15-20 minutes.

The author enjoys a fast 'super tube' on the Mac-Mac River of Mpumalanga, South Africa

After some great drops and a 40-metre-long rock slide, we encountered our second landmark of the day: another waterfall that tumbled 15 metres down a hill and then disappeared over another ledge to somewhere we could not see. With no more than a glance at one other, we both knew that this was not just unrunnable in a kayak, it could even be impossible on foot. The problem was: there was no turning back!

So with blood sweat and close to tears we clawed our way through nearly impenetrable, thorn-infested bush that was so steep we had to anchor either the boats or ourselves to prevent serious injury. One and a half hours later, nature spat us out like ‘old chewed-on biltong gut.’

Overjoyed to be back on the river, we stopped for a well-deserved lunch break of dried fruit, nuts, chocolate and water from a trickling stream that you just know is as fresh and clean as God intended it to be.

Rapid Thrills

As time was not really on our side, we wrapped up our leftovers and paddled over the next three-metre drop with renewed energy and purpose.

The next grade-4-plus rapid ended with the river pushing straight toward an undercut (water that disappears underneath a rock because of an overhang or ledge formed by a rock). After dropping two meters, the river passed through s-bends over and between massive boulders and then pushed directly toward the water hazard. To get through, at the bottom of the drop, after going over a ledge, we had to land on the lip of a hole (the side of a wave that shows the exit) and ride a lateral (crossing diagonal) wave to avoid the teeth of the undercut. I had a smooth run. Andre decided to skip this whole saga and tried an easier drop on the other side of the big boulder.

What happened next I can only describe as the most fun rapid I have ever run in my life! It was neither the scariest nor meanest, but it gave me a feeling which said, “Wow, I want to do that again!” It was a 40-metre drop with two super tube (water slide) launch pads (places from which to get airborne with your kayak), one at the beginning and the other in the middle of the rapid. True to its name, the first launch pad catapulted me through mid air to a landing on the second launch pad, which, in turn, sent me hurtling, a slave to gravity, into a big pool at the bottom.

There was nothing left to do but stick my fist in the air and shout my best war cry. Maybe I’ll ask Santa this year for a rapid just like this one in my backyard.

Colossal Challenges

Still filled with excitement and pure adrenaline, I ran the next rapid blindly, only to find out the wheel had turned. I boof stroked through a wave and landed in a massive hole with a terminal eddy (a water hole being fed from all sides like a hungry child in a chocolate factory). Andre, still packing away his camera after my 40-metre super-tube run, could only watch as my three-metre-long Solo cartwheeled like a Nemesis on 12Bb (a famous surfing wave on the Zambezi River).

After a couple of disappearing acts I decided to pop the cord and free myself from my boat. I had had enough of that chocolate factory! Luckily, the river spat me out while my kayak did a couple of solo runs. River=1, Jaco=0. This had Andre thinking twice about his approach. After some long thought, he opted to play it safe and not tempt the chocolate factory again.

The author uses a boof stroke to launch over a munching hole on the Mac-Mac River of Mpumalanga, South Africa

The onslaught of rapids did not stop here: drop after drop, with all that we encountered being runnable. A kayaker’s dream!

We then came to another waterfall we had marked as both unrunnable and maybe unwalkable. To get around it, we had to backtrack upriver and find a way to across the mountain and down to the water again. This was not what we had had signed up for. After 30 minutes of crawling on all fours, we nevertheless succeeded in getting back to the river below the falls. By this time we were tired and uncertain how far we still had to go. To top it off, Andre had snapped one of the blades off his paddle while bundu-bashing through the thickets. Reluctantly, I agreed to carry on with his paddle, which I called ‘stokkie,’ meaning ‘stick’ or ‘tree branch.’

The thing about steep creeking rivers is that when the water plummets down a drop or slope and there is a recycling hole (a dangerous water hazard that looks and acts like a funnel, trapping kayakers) at the bottom, chances are good that there is no easy way down, so you just have to face the gauntlet. However, there is less room for error than on high-volume rivers and there are more obstacles to negotiate. So it was with the next four rapids, all class-4 and each with a 50-50 chance of recycling us. We’d like to call it calculated risk.

So with energy levels in reserve and the sun bowing its head on Mother Nature, we were really hoping for no more surprises. Around the next corner, however, we were greeted with the sound of thunder. We agreed that on a regular day, the waterfall we faced would definitely be runnable, but this was no regular day and I was left with ‘stokkie’ to steer me over a two-level drop with sticky holes at each end and an unclear picture off what was still to come and how far we still had to go.

We opted for the portage and staggered down the side to a compulsory five-metre jump into the bottom of the pool.

An inspiring view of just some of the challenges overcome on the first descent of the Mac-Mac River from the Mac-Mac Falls of Mpumalanga, South Africa

A Safe Return

Slowly the steep gradient eased and the rapids became less and less serious. The last four kilometres were one continuous stretch of grade-2 rapids with a 100-metres-long pool in the middle. Those are conditions that I have rarely come across and were a great way to cover a lot of distance in the quickest time, with limited energy and tired bodies.

The take-out point greeted us like a family member after we had served a five-year jail sentence. We were safe, uninjured and more alive than ever.

On our way driving home, looking at the pictures, we let a feeling of ‘invulnerability’ creep back into our thoughts. We relished the idea that we were the first ever to witness the splendour and feel the power and rage of this never-paddled stretch of the Mac-Mac River.

We had done it! The first kayak descent from the Mac-Mac Falls!

For more about kayaking and other adventure-travel experiences in South Africa, contact Jaco Lubbe of Induna Travel, your whl.travel local connection for the Panorama Route in South Africa, also an expert on the area’s accommodation, tours, activities and loads of local hints.

The Greater one-horned Indian Rhino (rhinoceros unicornis)

Fortunately there are organisations like Save the Rhino and awareness-raising efforts like the one I am leading now working hard to draw the crisis to the attention of more people.

Deadly Myths

In Southeast and East Asia, superstitions about rhinoceros horn have people believing it to be a ‘remedy’ for various ailments, such as fever and pain. There is, however, no scientific evidence supporting this. Rhino horn has absolutely no medicinal effects on humans.

And yet cultural myths surrounding rhino horn persist and are why rhinos are slaughtered illegally. These deadly myths are why wild rhinoceros populations in Africa and Asia are at risk of extinction. The high and unrelenting demand for rhino horn has pushed its price to US$59,000 per kilogram, making it far more expensive than even gold.

Dwindling Numbers

2010 was a very bad year for poaching in South Africa, which is home to 90% of the world’s wild rhino population. Figures released by WWF (the world’s leading conservation organisation) that the number of rhinos shot dead in South Africa increased by 173% in 2010, a 15-year high across the continent. At a time when the rhinoceros is need of protection, South Africa is losing more than 20 per month. Conservationists warn that, at the present rate, the number of killings will outstrip new births.

It is not just the African rhinoceros populations that are suffering. Listed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as critically endangered, the Sumatran Rhino faces an extremely high risk of extinction in the immediate future; it may not live to see the end of the next decade.

This mother and baby are southern white rhinos, which in the late 19th century were considered extinct, are part of a very small population in the Umfolozi-Hluhluwe region in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa. The northern white rhino sub-species is critically endangered; in mid-2006, only four were reported in the wild in Garamba National Park, DRC.

Big 4 Safaris in 2035?

Right now, a lucky few of us are able to travel to Africa and Asia to see rhinoceros in the wild. But in 2035, will our grown children and grandchildren still see wild rhinos? Will the Big Five have been reduced to a Big Four?

I am trying to make a difference and make people aware of the terrible plight of the world’s rhino population. The Facebook page – Save the Rhino, see my Horn is a great place to show your support. All I ask is that you please just spread the word and ask your friends and family to please ‘like’ this Facebook page. By showing your support, the more people we can get on board, the more pressure we can put on governments to do all they can to STOP this. To stop it today, before it is too late.

As the hard-adventure sector has grown, our whl.travel local partners have climbed to the summit of the trend. Their local expertise brings to you some of the wildest and most thrilling tours out there. Here is our pick of five tours guaranteed to give you your adrenaline fix.

The jagged Himalaya mountains of Nepal provide the perfect backdrop for paragliding in the Pokhara Valley. Photo courtesy of Sunrise

Paragliding over the Peaks of Pokhara, Nepal

Nepal is quickly becoming a paragliding hotspot and the legendary Pokhara Valley offers ideal conditions for the sport.

The valley’s terrain is the kind of blend of mountains and flats that pros dream about. Its enclosed microclimate keeps atmospheric variables stable and mild, a perfect combination for a sport that counts on pilots being able to maintain flight by controlling the pressure of the air passing through the glider. Of course, the views of local villages, Buddhist monasteries and the jungle of Royal Chitwan National Park are unmatched.

For the intrepid, Outdoor Himalayan Treks, the whl.travel local connection in Nepal, organises tandem paragliding tours. He recommends tandem flights for beginners because “lots of adventurers come to Nepal (especially Pokhara) to dare solo. Some of those who get overambitious and try midair acrobatics and other risky tricks/stunts have met with fatalities. On the contrary, tandem flight has got a very promising safety/success record.”

The Outdoor Himalayan Treks team also offer rafting and trekking for anyone not quite ready to soar.

An advanced kite surfer catches some waves on the coast of Florianópolis, Brazil. Photo courtesy of Renata Asprino

Kite Surfing in Florianópolis, Brazil

While not yet as well known for kite surfing as some places in the north of the country, the island of Florianópolis actually has some of the best sites in Brazil, promising excellent kiting conditions and a mix of surf for both beginners and the advanced. Even better, Florianópolis has topnotch kiting schools and all the right infrastructure in place.

The best kite-surfing conditions in Florianópolis occur in September, October and November (Brazil’s spring season); however, given the island’s unique topography and exposure to the Atlantic trade winds, good weather can continue all the way until March and suitable kiting conditions can be found year-round, especially starting in the mid-afternoon. Practitioners put the count of ‘kiteable’ days at an average of 250-plus per year.

Kite surfing sweet spots include the beautiful Lagoa da Conceiçao, a large saltwater lagoon that is fantastic for everyone, including anyone looking for wave-riding lessons, and Praia Mole beach.

Wave to the camera! The free fall starts now. Skydiving in Fiji is a bird's eye view of the tropical island. Photo courtesy of Raumati Wikaire

Skydiving in Fiji

Skydiving is possible all over the world, so why take the leap in Fiji? Raumati Wikaire, General Manager of GlobalBedBank Fiji, the whl.travel local connection on the island, was thrilled to skydive in Fiji for the very first time:

“The beauty of skydiving in Fiji is that it’s so relaxed and laid back, just like the Fiji life,” she explains. “We arrived to a tiny little building on the tropical island. Having completed the paperwork, we were bundled into the plane and took off. The Tandem Masters were calm and joking around so although the adrenaline was pumping, I relaxed and had faith we’d make it out alive.

An added bonus was the scenic flight on our way up. Seeing the islands and reefs of gorgeous Fiji was a great distraction to calm the nerves. Before I know it, we’re rolling out the door and falling through the air. My skin is rippling and I don’t know whether to keep my mouth open or closed. But after a few seconds I get used to the sensation and enjoy the feeling of flying. I feel powerful.”

The grade-5 rapids of the Nile River in Jinja, Uganda, make for a roller coaster ride on rafts. Photo courtesy of Nicola Swann

Whitewater Rafting in Jinja, Uganda

The Far Horizons, the whl.travel local connection in Uganda, is a team of dedicated travel professionals and adrenaline seekers committed to the fun found in and around Jinja, the adventure capital of East Africa. Only they could have come up with a heart-stopping trip called The Threesome; as if one dose of adrenaline isn’t enough, this thrill-tour combines the best of whitewater rafting, free-falling and jet speeds on the Nile.

The tour begins with a rafting plunge down the roaring grade-5 rapids of the Nile River, where the truly daring paddle with all their might through huge walls of white water. Then, once on dry land, adventurers climb to a point from which there is no choice but to jump! Options are to bungee the traditional way, try a tandem leap or hop in a kayak for a splash in style. The day ends by exploding up the river in the Wild Nile Jet, a custom-built jet boat that can perform 360-degree turns in walls of spray at 90 kilometres per hour.

Abseilers pause before setting off down the ZASM route in the Mpumalanga Highlands of South Africa to enjoy the view of the Elands River waterfall. Photo courtesy of wanderson

Abseiling Down a Waterfall in Mpumalanga, South Africa

The Elands River waterfall in Mpumalanga, South Africa, is a hotspot for abseiling. On offer locally are two variations of a dramatic descent down the canyon wall – one for beginners and one for the more experienced (or whoever “promises not to chicken out”).

The easier route is the ZASM Abseil, a spectacular 35-metre descent. The fully backed-up ropes system is safe, secure and foolproof. Half adrenaline and half relaxation, the ZASM route has unmatched views of the waterfall and, from the bottom, a pleasant hike back up the gully.

For the harder adventurer, the Waterfall Abseil is a total rush. This drop is a breathtaking 60 metres right into the mists of the raging waterfall. Abseilers enjoy a swim in the river at the bottom, then a challenging climb back to the top that is known to pique interest in rock climbing too. Addictive, isn’t it?

Traditional dancers perform in the Ringetani Cultural Village. Photo courtesy of Brenna Bales-Smith

Even better, the attention tourists give to the province – and the consequent need for local accommodation and tour providers – has put locals involved in the industry in a position to design and implement sustainable business strategies that help protect the area they serve.

Making the Best of New Opportunities

Although Kruger National Park is the jewel in the province’s rich tourism crown and acts as a major drawing card in this part of South Africa, other industry subsectors – in adventure, heritage and cultural tourism – have also shown enormous market potential as well.

For example, around Kruger National Park and the Lowveld in particular, the growth of tourism has led to the development of new tour operators, adventure outfits, accommodations and restaurants, but It has also given organisations such as Maholoholo Animal Rehabilitation Centre and Ringetani Cultural Village the exposure they need to enhance and develop their endeavours.

Moholoholo Animal Rehabilitation Centre is an animal educational centre that offers tours in and around their facility, to educate the visiting, local and surrounding communities and public through programs, talks, skills development and unique interactive workshops and experiences about the importance of wildlife conservation and environmental awareness.

The Moholoholo Animal Rehabilitation Centre is a haven for the care of abandoned, injured and poisoned wildlife. Photo courtesy of Brenna Bales-Smith

Ringetani Cultural Village is the result of a local community that jumped at a commercial opportunity to reclaim their heritage. Working together, they built and created a traditional village where they work and entertain. Through their earnings and fundraising, they built a school where they educate their youth about African principles and the importance of preserving nature and the environment. Their non-profit organisation subsists largely on donations made by the visitors they receive each day and entertainment services provided to the hospitality and tourism industries in Lowveld and the surrounding areas.

Finding Support from All Quarters

More visitors to Mpumalanga has also spurred the creation of new jobs in what is otherwise a struggling province, providing strong incentives for locals to develop the skills necessary for earning a living through sustainable tourism and hospitality. As a result, Mpumalanga has seen improved services and facilities, as well as a rise in environmental and conservation awareness through education and environmental campaigns conducted by national parks and affiliated wildlife programs such as Moholoholo.

Some important secondary effects of environmentally friendly practices and awareness have been beneficial developments in the use of clean energy. In fact, most of Kruger National Parks facilities now use solar heating and recycle all their rubbish, which has added to the sustainable tourism boom in South Africa.

Fine crafts and bead work sold to visitors at Cultural Villages help raise funds for local projects and needs. Photo courtesy of Brenna Bales-Smith

Finally, even targeted external investment is making a difference. Through organisations like WHL Consulting’s Project-Exposure, small-scale local accommodation and tour providers in the Mpumalanga Lowveld region have gained an understanding of how to shift from unreliable energy practices to better, cleaner and, in the long term, more cost-effective energy sources.

All in all, as Mpumalanga draw in more and more visitors, all stakeholders – local tourism businesses, non-profit organisations and national parks – must continue to work together to protect the homelands they rely on and cherish. The travel industry has helped to promote economic growth and environmental awareness and long-term sustainable strategies designed to bring lasting benefits to the social, economic, natural and cultural environments in Mpumalanga.

Competition is fierce for the invitation-only right to set up shop in the coveted 'Traditions' section at Lima's Mistura food festival. This special space devoted to good, old-fashioned Peruvian street food featured tamales as a highlight in 2010.

Peru, a True Culinary Crossroads

September sees Peru‘s grand culinary fiesta, Mistura, take place in the Parque de la Exposición in central Lima. This weeklong extravaganza features renowned local and international chefs celebrating the country’s cultural and culinary melting pot, which boasts influences from Africa, China, Japan, Spain, Italy and the Middle East. One of the highlights is the ‘Traditions’ section, which is dedicated to the versatility and endless variety of Peruvian street food with stalls selling much-loved goodies such as anticuchos, tamales, sandwiches and sweets.

Pitahaya, also known as dragon fruit, is actually the fruit of the cardon cactus. Native to Mexico, it is also cultivated in parts of Asia.

Prickly and Fruity in Baja Mexico

Every summer, the coastal area of Los Cabos at the southern tip of Mexico‘s Baja California Sur, likes to show its appreciation for the pitahaya (dragon fruit) harvest, during the famous Feria de la Pitahaya. Held in the charming village of Miraflores, just 30 minutes from Cabo San Lucas, this festival is, as one might suspect, all about this succulent fruit of the cardon cactus, with homemade pitahaya ice cream and candy, as well as fresh fruit and a crowning ceremony for the pitahaya queen, as well as the less fruit-focused pursuits of donkey racing and arts and crafts contests, all accompanied by the mellifluous strains of music from a mariachi band.

San Pedro on the island of Ambergris Caye in Belize plays host to the annual San Pedro Lobsterfest. The last and longest of the three lobsterfests in Belize, it's five fun-filled days of BBQs, carnivals, block parties, cocktail parties, pub crawls and music.

A Belizean Fishy Fiesta

With 198 miles of Caribbean coastline and the longest barrier reef in the northern hemisphere, Belize can always be counted on to feature its fresh fish and shellfish cooking. To celebrate the start of lobster season (in June), there are annual summer lobster fests that kick off in Placencia Village before moving on to the island of Caye Caulker and wrapping up at the San Pedro Lobsterfest in the main town on the island of Ambergris Caye. The towns slip into lobster lunacy, as stalls selling all manner of lobster dishes set up along the streets and beaches, bands play day and night, and the rum and beer shacks are in full swing. With most restaurants offering all-you-can-eat lobster buffets as well, this two-week party is guaranteed to satisfy your king-of-crustaceans urges until next season.

Cooking and Culture in Australia and Portugal

Australia has a large Greek population, so it is only fitting that there be celebrations of Hellenic hospitality. The city of Brisbane has its own in the form of the Paniyiri Greek Festival in late May. This largest cultural festival in the state of Queensland is in its 34th year and is a three-day extravaganza of food, drink, fashion, fireworks, music, eating contests, grape stomping, dancing and cooking demonstrations, all adding up to more than 50 hours of non-stop entertainment. Zorba would be proud!

Machico Gastronomy Week on the island of Madeira, Portugal, is one of the highlights of the island's social calendar. Not just content to showcase local cuisine, the event also features a very popular cocktail festival.

The Portuguese island of Madeira celebrates Machico Gastronomy Week at the beginning of August. Visitors and locals descend on the seaside town of Machico, famous for being the landing point of Madeira’s first settlers, to enjoy a vast array of local dishes and delicacies. Although there are a few other food fests on the island, this one draws the biggest crowds and culinary talents and acts as a showcase of traditional Madeiran cuisine and produce with the aim of widening its appeal beyond the island. Food is of course the rich principal attraction, but the addition of sports tournaments, live concerts featuring local bands and artists, and even a cocktail festival adds to the fun.

Wet Your Whistle in India (wine), Malta (beer) and South Africa (whisky)

Proudly billed as Malta‘s largest free outdoor festival, the Farsons Great Beer Festival has celebrated the humble ale annually in since 1981. The 10-day mid-summer festival boasts over 300 hours of music, 40 live performances from local bands, 15 bars, two stages, a daily beer drinking competition and a variety of international cuisines complemented by a large selection of beers produced and imported by Farsons. The bars and souvenir stalls also sell the official festival beer mug, which has become quite a collector’s item!

A wine festival in India like the Grape Escapade Festival in Goa might seem rather unusual, but the country does actually produce both decent vintages. Of course, there are a few wacky interpretations thrown in for good measure. Herb-infused health wine anyone?

The beginning of every year sees wine fever hit India’s small, southwest state of Goa with the Grape Escapade Wine and Haute Cuisine Festival. Going strong since 2005, it attracts India’s biggest wine makers, guaranteeing some great local nectar. In addition to some traditional grape crushing, which lures in participants eager to dance barefoot in a vast tub of grapes, the event features free wine tastings, top-notch nosh in the food courts, dancers, fire-breathers, artists, fashion shows, live music and the crowning of the Grape Escapade Queen. Started by the Goa Tourism Development Organisation as a fun platform to promote Goan lifestyle, culture, food and drink, the event has certainly done that and more and regularly attracts between four and five thousand visitors a day.

South Africa pays its respects to the aqua vitae with both Cape Town and Johannesburg playing host to a three-day FNB Whisky Live Festival every November. With the Scotch Whisky Association confirming the spirit is fast becoming a tipple of choice to young, upwardly mobile South Africans, it’s little wonder that this is the largest whisky and lifestyle event of its kind, attracting more visitors and brands than any other whisky festival globally. Divided into zones, the display area is definitely not short of attractions, including a chance to sample over 180 whisky varieties in the tasting hall, expert workshops and tutorials on whisky jargon, distillation and cocktail making, guided tours and food and whisky pairing. The event is capped off with a big party, where everyone still standing can indulge further before heading home to sleep it off.

A common sight in Thailand's Bangkok markets, this deep-fried insect food stall sells locusts, bamboo worms, moth larvae, crickets, scorpions, diving beetles and giant water beetles. Photos courtest of Wikimedia/Takoradee

We’ve rounded up a collection of some of the world’s most uncanny edibles, from fried spiders to local lizards and great big mouthwatering worms! Adventurous eaters beware: not everything tastes like chicken and one man’s pet may be another man’s delicacy.

Crunchy Crickets, Thailand

Visit the street markets in Thailand and you are certain to find all manner of ready-to-eat fried insects like locusts, dragonflies and even giant water bugs! In the northeast of the country, though, small crickets are the local delicacy, considered the perfect beer munchies and often compared to popcorn for their “buttery” taste and crispy texture.

Caught using light traps in the rice fields of Chiang Rai, the crickets are cleaned, dehydrated and seasoned to taste. Yum! Cricket husbandry is even catching on as a means for farmers to supplement their incomes. Of course breeding them means having to contend with the constant chirping, but luckily, these little guys only need to be fed twice a day. Cricket breeders can make up to 20,000 Thai baht (over US$600) per month!

Chicken feet and heads (affectionately known as walkie talkies) are a popular street food in South Africa, particularly in Durban and Soweto. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia/Maqi

Yummy Walkie-Talkies, South Africa

Don’t play fowl! Chicken thighs and breasts are positively tasty, but why throw away the rest of this otherwise appetising poultry? As any good cook from China, Jamaica or Peru will happily explain, some of the best bits of this bird include the liver, gizzard and feet!

In South Africa, “Walkie-Talkies” are a common traditional township delicacy. To prepare it, the feet – the “walkies” – and head – the “talkie” – are boiled to remove the tough outer layer of skin; they are then covered with seasonings and grilled. Explore the local food markets in Durban or Soweto and you are likely to stumble upon this classic savoury snack. Other regional specialities include mngqusho – a dish made from samp (cracked corn) and beans – and “smileys,” which are whole roasted sheep’s heads, each still bearing a gruesome toothy grin.

A bag of mopane worms - harvested and sun-dried and ready to eat! The dried worms tastes like dried fish and have surprisingly more protein than beef. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia/Hsuepfle

Mouthwatering Mopani Worms, South Africa and Botswana

In hot, dry, low-lying areas throughout Southern Africa, the Mopani worm (a type of caterpillar that metamorphoses into an Emperor moth, one of the world’s largest) lives on the Mopani tree. There it is hunted down by hungry locals!

Considered a tribal delicacy in many countries and a staple snack in northern Botswana, the harvesting and sale of Mopani worms is a multi-million rand industry in Southern Africa. South Africa alone does annual trade of roughly 1.6 million kilograms of Mopani worms, which are plucked off the trees by locals two times each year. Like long tubes of slimy green toothpaste, the worms are squeezed, gutted and then laid in the sun to dry. Southern Africans just can’t seem to get enough of this grub, whether eaten raw like crispy potato chips, or canned and packaged in tomato or chilli sauce.

Peruvians eat approximately 22 million of these cuddly guinea pigs each year. High in protein and low in fat, the healthy meat apparently tastes a bit like rabbit.

Guinea Pig Picante, Peru

The Andean delicacy of cuy, or guinea pig, has been a popular traditional food staple in Peru for literally thousands of years, even before the rise of the mighty Incan empire. Domestication of the cuy in the Peruvian Altiplano can be traced back to 5000 BCE, but it wasn’t until Queen Elizabeth I took one as a pet that these little critters became popular household animals. Today, though, while guinea pigs may be the “first pet” of choice for many European and Northern American kids, these tasty little fur balls continue to make mouths water in many Andean communities.

Peruvians consume more than 22 million guinea pigs per year – a number that might be startling were it not for the fact that cuy are, after all, rather lean and bony. Picante de cuy, a dish in which the guinea pig is fried and doused in spicy peanut sauce, is perhaps the most traditional recipe. Other variations include cuasa de cuy (guinea-pig stuffed potatoes), aguadita de cuy (a type of guinea pig soup) and escabeche de cuy, which is guinea pig served in a vinegar sauce with plenty of onions and potatoes.

A spiny sea urchin being dissected to get to the tasty orange roe inside. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia/Portum

Spiny Sea Urchins, Corfu

At first glance, ricci di mare, or sea urchins, don’t really resemble an edible treat. As any experienced scuba diver will explain, you certainly wouldn’t want to step on one of these small, spiky underwater animals that often inhabit the ocean’s rocky regions. Catching and eating them therefore requires some care, although when urchins pull across your palm, their spines merely tickle.

Considered a delicacy on the Greek island of Corfu and many other regions around the world, urchins are in fact rather meagre reward for the effort taken to catch and prepare them! With urchin in hand, take a seat right on the sand and begin: snip off those spines (carefully), split the urchin in half and then scoop out the raw insides. Urchin roe has a light consistency and complex salty taste. We’re told it’s best served raw with a nice glass of ouzo!

Barbecued green iguana (or bamboo chicken, as it's known) is a popular dish in Belize. Just season with salt and pepper, garlic, soy sauce and pepper sauce et voilà!

Braised Bamboo Chicken, Belize

Rest assured that you won’t be eating poultry if a local from Belize invites to dinner of bamboo chicken. This delicacy is none other than the great big green iguana, an animal commonly found throughout Central and South America. Catching these fellows is not always easy business, as some grow as large as two metres in length and have sharp tails (used for whipping) and an occasionally nasty bite. Nevertheless, this particular reptile does appear as bush meat on local menus, usually grilled or sautéed with seasonings such as garlic, pepper and teriyaki sauce.

While hunting green iguanas for food and sale as pets has unfortunately left their numbers rather sparse in certain areas, the Belize Zoo and Tropical Education Centre manages to maintain a captive green iguana-breeding program to increase their populations.

Fried tarantula sellers on a street in Skuon, Cambodia. This market town is sometimes known as 'Spiderville' in the local lingo on account of its penchant for this unusual delicacy. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia/Thomas Schoch

Crispy Fried Tarantulas, Cambodia

Ever wondered what would be the scariest job in the world? If you’re afraid of arachnids, then being a spider-catcher in Cambodia would top that list! The spiders are dug out of their holes in the ground with a shovel and then collected by hand. Cambodian “tarantulas” (unrelated to the Western variety and by no means poisonous) are extremely slow and do not run quickly like their relatives on the other side of the world. This makes it relatively “easy” for the catcher to pick up the spider and prepare it for consumption.

For the bold, fried spiders are available at street stalls throughout Cambodia, especially around the town of Skuon (75 kilometres north of Phnom Penh. Jam-packed with protein – and flavoured with salt, sugar and garlic, these a-ping are the healthy snack food of choice for local Cambodians on the go! Many Khmer women also believe the furry arthropods have cosmetic properties which can enhance one’s natural beauty. Crunch and munch on the legs first, ladies, and feel your hair grow long and lustrous!

The three winners have been announced and The Travel Word is honoured to present the top three essays. After having published stories by the third- and second-place finishers, the following is from the first-place winner.

The day after Spain held aloft the 2010 World Cup trophy, we found ourselves listening to South African talkback radio during a long drive down towards the country’s picturesque Eastern Cape. The topic for the show was what hosting the World Cup had meant to each listener.

As the kilometres whizzed by, caller after caller expressed their pride, as South Africans, at having proven the doubters wrong by staging one of the most spectacular sporting events ever. The tournament had been an unabashed success: the third-highest attendance of any World Cup, marked by a carnival atmosphere throughout (despite the early elimination of the host country’s team), and barely a security incident to speak of. Hundreds of thousands of international visitors had left the country wowed.

A view of the interior of a World Cup stadium. Photo courtesy of Flickr/Jason Wojciechowski

A Transformed Nation

It had been no small achievement for South Africa to pull off. For so many people to watch the matches, the nation had constructed seven glistening new state-of-the-art stadiums, each of distinctly African architecture. Several cities, Cape Town and Johannesburg among them, had also launched vastly improved mass rapid transit systems to ferry spectators out to each venue. To allow smooth passage between the nine host cities, road networks and airports had been greatly upgraded.

Violent crime, so central to the country’s international reputation, had been reduced by 60 percent during the tournament to make South Africa one of the safest host nations in living memory. With crime down, host cities could show off their redeveloped waterfront districts and entertainment areas and all and sundry could confidently walk along the streets well into the night. For the few crimes that did occur, increased police deployments and 56 dedicated World Cup courts provided swift and decisive justice.

Why, asked one caller, did these achievements have to end now that the tournament was over? The question is a particularly pertinent one: Why could South Africans not continue to do for themselves what they had done so well for the massive influx of international visitors?

An Epic Road Trip

My partner Dave and I were two of the most enthusiastic among this influx of ‘visitors’ (South Africa’s term for international tourists). During the 31 days of the tournament, we drove around 8,000 kilometres to watch eleven of the 64 matches played, visiting eight of the ten stadiums in the process and passing through every single South African province. Our epic odyssey saw us cross paths with other visitors from every continent on earth, as well as South Africans from all walks of life. And it had all taken place amidst a stunning diversity of landscapes and wildlife, ensuring that the long journey was never for a moment dull.

Fans at the World Cup in South Africa. Photo courtesy of Flickr/babasteve

The South African Welcome

Quite apart from the spectacular stadiums, the clockwork organisation and the amazing games, it was the genuine warmth and welcome from all South Africans, regardless of race, ethnic group and economic background, that made attending the tournament such a remarkable experience.

Everywhere we went, once people discovered we were ‘visitors,’ they would instantly initiate conversations with us. More than once, while waiting for our car to be refilled, we would be spontaneously approached by another young black petrol station attendant who just wanted to chat about football.

We also met numerous older wealthier white South Africans, many of whom were more interested in the upcoming rugby season and the match against the New Zealand All Blacks.

While doing a coastal hike in between matches, a lovely couple asked about how we were enjoying our time in South Africa, where we were going, our background and interests. They even recommended a lovely place for lunch.

No one seemed to take notice of us being an inter-racial couple (I am a Chinese who grew up in New Zealand and Dave is an Australian of Scottish descent).

Racial and Social Divisions Still Exist

And yet, as wonderful a host as each South African was, even the most casual visitor could not miss the social and economic divisions that are everywhere apparent. The democratic elections that swept Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress to power may have taken place 16 years prior, but the change of political system could not erase Apartheid’s legacy overnight.

Many of the towns we visited remained visibly divided into different suburbs that were effectively two different worlds. Poorer, more dilapidated streets and suburbs made up a world inhabited by black South Africans, while just across the way others lived in a better kept, visibly more affluent world. Beyond this geographic separation, different groups seemed to keep to themselves even where day-to-day life brought them into close proximity. People of different races may now sit in the same cafes and restaurants, but we rarely saw them sitting around the same table.

The divisions on view were not simply between black and white, or between the various other “colours” represented within the population of the Rainbow Nation. With the stark inequalities between the nation’s rich and poor, the haves and have-nots of each Apartheid-era grouping also had their separate worlds. In Johannesburg, Durban and Mthatha, we encountered a black middle class whose lifestyles are far removed from those living in rural townships. We also saw a vignette of social tensions between different white people in an exchange at a fan park between fellow South Africans supporters of the Dutch team. When the one fan failed to understand a sentence in Afrikaans from the other and answered “I speak English,” the other angrily retorted “Then you’re not a real Dutch fan.”

The contrast between the attitudes of South Africans to ‘visitors’ and their guardedness with each other poses a second pertinent question: If South Africans could extend such universal goodwill to visitors of all races and ethnic groups from around the world, why could this sense of trust and togetherness not always be extended to each other?

World Cup Legacy

In trumpeting the success of the World Cup, the South African government has focused on the concrete economic benefits: masses of new jobs in the construction and hospitality industries generated in preparation for the influx of visitors, a noticeable bump in gross domestic product (GDP) from the money spent in-country by visitors, and shiny newly built infrastructure. The infrastructure apart, however, these tangible benefits are inescapably short-term. Employment, for instance, is expected to decrease in the coming year now that there are no more stadiums to build, while the GDP bump is likely to be just that: a one-off anomaly.

In Cape Town, visitors can explore traditionally multicultural areas that date back to the 19th Century. Photo courtesy of Flickr/neiljs

If these were to be the only benefits of hosting the World Cup and receiving so many visitors, then South Africans might rightly question the cost. But what we have seen during our approximately 8,000-kilometre journey across the country suggests a more significant legacy from the tournament, albeit one that is less tangible: South Africans have shown to the rest of the world that their nation is capable of making its streets safe, of providing quality and secure public transport and, more importantly, of overcoming racial and social barriers in its day-to-day personal interactions. Besides creating a sense of national pride, this achievement can also become a catalyst for the population to realize new possibilities both of what the country, collectively, can deliver and more importantly, the public services and respect that every person deserves.

Some of the improvements made during the World Cup have already been continued. The World Cup courts, for instance, have continued operation in order to assist the regular courts with a logjam of cases. At a personal level, there is also plenty of cause for optimism. During the World Cup, the “fan fests” established in parks, beaches and other public spaces in the host cities were sites where social and economic divisions were left at the gate. Tens of thousands crammed into each of these fests on South Africa match days to will their team to victory; the fests were again packed in the later stages of the tournament as South Africans enthusiastically responded to appeals to adopt a new team. A friendly atmosphere prevailed when everyone was thrown together, with football to break the ice. More flamboyantly dressed fans happily posed for photos with people of all backgrounds, while people mingled, danced together and compared notes on how the match would pan out. It was also in the fan parks that we saw our first inter-racial couple, and saw teenage friends of different races sitting together. This new togetherness did not escape notice by South African commentators, as papers during the tournament were filled with column after column wondering how long and whether it could persist.

If just some of these opportunities for change are seized, then the lasting legacy of the World Cup will be that of having proven to visitors what South Africans could achieve. South Africans have themselves re-imagined what their nation could and should be.

Diane Zhang is from Hamilton, New Zealand. In 2010, after living in Indonesia for six years, she quit her job to travel for several months in Southern Africa, including attending the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Diane has also travelled extensively in North America, Asia and Australasia.

A group of preschool kids with whom EDGE of AFRICA runs weekly workshops plays with a large branded ball

As volunteers with EDGE of AFRICA, we were given the opportunity to learn about the extraordinary work that takes place on a local level in Knysna and I also believe we have learnt a lot about ourselves. The amazing people we met, including the EDGE of AFRICA staff, inspired me in many ways and I don’t think I could ever thank them enough for what I now recognise as an unforgettable experience.

I enjoyed every single minute of my time on this trip, but six weeks was surely not long enough for me. I have already decided to go back in June 2011 to volunteer again for a year!

Read on to learn more about the exciting community projects where volunteers can lend a hand.

The Sinethemba Street Kids Project

As a volunteer for EDGE of AFRICA, I worked locally for the Sinethemba Street Kids project, a community centre for homeless and disadvantaged kids and youth between the ages of 4 and 25. In the safe and picturesque township of Kayalethu, Knysna, in South Africa, this project aims to give kids another chance in life.

Sinethemba, which translates as “we have hope,” is an outreach program through which volunteers act as mentors to help teach kids through literacy, sports education, art and other important skills. Many of the children come from the streets, broken homes, and other harsh and painful circumstances, but hope is still visible on the face of every child.

Children of the Sinethemba Youth Centre (street children centre and shelter) on an EDGE of AFRICA excursion to one of our local beaches

Every day, I was in complete awe of these truly amazing young people. They taught us that unconditional love comes in all shapes and sizes and that “hope” is one thing that none of us, young or old, can live without.

MAD About Art

MAD About ART is a charity that exists in the Nekkies township of Knysna, South Africa, to unite children and help fight the spread of HIV and AIDS through art and education. The program delivers arts-based education and narrative therapy, which is designed to increase children’s knowledge of HIV and AIDS as well as reduce risk-taking behaviour by increasing self-esteem and self-advocacy. Ultimately, the goal is to reduce new HIV infections in children and young people.

The moment I stepped in the building I knew I was somewhere special. The children had an overwhelming enthusiasm and incredible kindness. Together with the other volunteers, I worked for three weeks to create a short drama, music and dance performance for the kids to perform at the end of our time together. Each child has had a difficult upbringing, experiencing things on a day-to-day basis that I’ve never even come close to back home. Despite this, they gave the performance everything they had.

Jamie-Lee (centre) worked with young people in Knysna, South Africa, to develop their arts and drama skills

Watching them during the final performance at the show, titled “When I grow up I want to be…” was a moment I will never forget. In that moment the children showed me that dreams should never be forgotten. I came home with an inevitable need to return someday soon.

EDGE on Talent 2010

The EDGE on Talent competition was an event that took place in Knysna, South Africa, thanks to the hard work of two other volunteers, Ennis McAvera and Sarah Desjardins, both Events Management students at the University of Chester. The show’s goal was to encourage unity between the residents of two neighbouring townships. They had just two weeks to organise the talent show with no contacts and no budget whatsoever. The task seemed nearly impossible to them, but it soon became one of the most memorable accomplishments of their lives.

Thanks to the extremely kind donations and support from the local business community, their hard work really paid off. The volunteers enlisted the many talented individuals they met at various local schools and youth centres, and showcased singers, dancers, drama acts and poets right in the centre of town.

Local kids, with face paint, prepare to perform in the first EDGE on Talent event in Knysna, South Africa

The community was brought to life that day through the creative performances by local kids, who had a fun day out complete with many prizes, activities and giveaways. Knowing that they had organised this amazing day gave Ennis and Sarah an indescribable feeling of pride for the kids. They had left a lasting mark in Knysna. There is now even talk of making the EDGE on Talent an annual event, with planning for 2011 already in the works!

Kadiki Kids Project

Two other volunteers from Chester University, Louise Charmley and Laura Holden, worked side by side on another project known as Kadiki Kids, dividing their time between two local preschools serving children ages 0-7 year old. Before arriving in Knysna, the girls had even raised money back home, which helped to purchase some much-needed educational supplies.

As you can imagine, when the children saw the new toys they had been given – skipping ropes, balls, cars, paints, jigsaws etc. – they were extremely grateful. Over a period of four weeks, Louise and Laura also planned various literacy and math activities. These older kids learned and developed rapidly, which was amazing to witness. Ultimately, the project was a life-changing experience for every volunteer involved, leaving us with wonderful memories from this beautiful place.

Jamie-Lee Hassett is a third-year student at the University of Chester, England, where she studies drama and theatre. The unabridged original version of her article was first published on the EDGE of AFRICA blog.

The three winners have been announced and The Travel Word is honoured to present the top three essays. After having published the third-place finisher, the following is from the second.

When I was in London on July 6, 2005, the city was celebrating. After a long bidding campaign to host the 2012 summer Olympics, the International Olympic Committee had declared it the winner. People were cheering in the streets and the media was drunk on the good news. On the subway, everyone was buzzing and smiling until an old bearded man got on board and started nay-saying.  ”London Olympics? Not on my dime!” said his cardboard sign.  ”This is just one more way that the working man’s taxes are siphoned into deep corporate pockets!” he ranted. “The promises are false!”

The subway may not be the best forum to open a dialogue, but the bearded nay-sayer had made an impression on me. If everybody else in the city was joyful with the news, what was this guy talking about? Who was making these promises? How are they false? I decided to entertain the bearded nay-sayer’s position and look into the expectations surrounding this year’s most recent mega-event, the FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa. Do mega-events really keep their promises?

Promise #1: “Huge Economic Benefits!”

Economists talk in numbers about the impact of past mega-events in past host regions and make sunny forecasts about the total effect on job creation, increased GDP, direct foreign investment etc. The actual data for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa is still rolling in, but estimates had promised between US$7.6 billion and US$21.3 billion of direct economic benefits from the event. Between 159,000 and 415,000 jobs were estimated to have been created or sustained. An estimated US$40 billion was spent on infrastructure. No wonder hosting mega-events is often projected to be a great economic windfall. In this case, speculators had even called the World Cup bid a ‘turning point’ for South Africa.

Who Actually Benefits?

As the skeptic, my response is that economists and their estimates can’t even agree and their numbers are hollow. They don’t tell you, for example, what investment in other projects could have done. South Africa is a country with extreme economic disparity between the rich and the poor, among other urgent social problems. Yet a hefty amount of World Cup investment is going towards stadium infrastructure.

World Cup Game 2010. Photo courtesy of Flickr/Jason Wojciechowski

Tony Roshan Samara, who has published research on Cape Town politics, commented on the new stadium with a price tag of US$600 million. “In a city where you are struggling to provide housing, education, drug counseling services, in a city that is dealing with a horrible epidemic of methamphetamines, to spend that much money on building a stadium, it is a question of the allocation of resources – whether it is a smart allocation of resources… when you have a city struggling with all these social and development issues.”

Nor do the economic estimates indicate who benefits. As the bearded nay-sayer and other skeptics are apt to point out, it is often mega-private interests that gain the most from the mega-investments of mega-events. Media conglomerates and corporate sponsors are the likely bedfellows of FIFA, and they all come out on top.

Rian Malan, South African reporter for the Telegraph, explains. “South Africa winds up with 10 new stadiums, some smart new infrastructure and £450 million in tourist cash. FIFA walks off with about £2 billion in tax-free profits [from sponsorship and broadcast and licensing deals] – 50 per cent more than it made at the last World Cup in Germany.”

Promise #2: “Good for Tourism!”

Maybe the entire economic picture is messy, but the mega-event advocates say the benefits for the tourism industry are clear. Hosting a mega-event is a marketing boon for a destination, its big chance to project an attractive image when the entire world is watching. “I think it is an opportunity to dispel some of the myths about South Africa and about Africa in general,” said James Stewart, American economist and Africa expert. In fact, destination marketing research has dedicated serious attention to the relationship between mega-events and destination image. A study on Seoul, South Korea, found that foreigners from three different countries had a more positive image of the country after the 2002 World Cup than before, suggesting that a mega-event can change the image of a country in a short time period. In South Africa, destination marketers want to harness the World Cup as a way to ‘brand’ South Africa in a strong and positive way.

Can the Good Tourism Image Last?

But, says the skeptic, all that glitters is not gold. The shiny image is a makeover that can only conceal so much from tourism’s eye for so long. Behind the scenes of the event, egregious displacement temporarily made cities in South Africa more presentable. In Cape Town, homeless people were moved from the downtown area around the stadium into razor-wire-encircled encampments outside the city.

Workers’ rights journalist Michelle Chen spoke to Isaac Newton, a homeless South African who had been arrested six times for loitering. “Police harassment is increasing,” he said. “They want to make a good impression for the foreigners coming. We are like insects to them – like flies.” Such harsh realities will eventually reflect back into the image of South Africa as a destination as the World Cup makeup wears off.

Long Street, Cape Town, teeming with people. Photo courtesy of Flickr/flowcomm

Further, a momentary spotlight does not necessarily translate into continuous tourism growth. Granted, this year’s World Cup in the Rainbow Nation promised to attract up to half a million visitors from all over the world, but this represents a wave and not necessarily a rising tide. The wave was smaller than expected. Again the numbers disagree here depending on the source, but border counts show that absolute tourist arrivals were around 200,000 – less than half the 450,000 that had been predicted.

Promise #3: “Green and Carbon Neutral!”

Another weak argument in favor of hosting a mega-event is that the environmental impacts can somehow be neutralized somehow. A ‘Feasibility study for a carbon neutral 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa‘ predicted that the event would generate 2.75 million tons of carbon dioxide, which could be offset at the cost of between US$5.4 million and US$9 million, and that by publicizing a carbon-offset program, awareness could be raised about climate change. Also, other ‘green’ measures would be taken, such as waterless urinals in the new stadium.

Biggest Footprint Yet

I’m about ready to make a sign and start ranting on the subway myself about this one. The carbon emissions from the 2010 World Cup in South Africa were eight times higher than they were in Germany in 2006, without even including the emissions from international flights to the location.

Why such a difference? The main reasons cited are worse energy efficiency in South Africa and the geography of the location. South African cities are very far apart and the 64 matches were spread out between nine different cities. Also, South Africa is geographically remote from attendee places of origin. Long-haul flights into the country represented 67.4% of the emissions total. Perhaps carbon footprint is one thing FIFA should consider a little more carefully when awarding the bid.

Carbon emissions are a global problem, so researchers and reporters paid attention. But the skeptic can only wonder about the local environmental impacts of the mega-event on the host region of South Africa. What happens environmentally when an influx of sports spectators descend upon a place for a few weeks? They consume tons of water and power, then they generate tons of waste and sewage. Preparedness involves a little more than the new stadium’s waterless urinals.

Promise #4: “Fun and Patriotic!”

So, it turns out that the impacts of a mega-event on the overall economy, on tourism in particular and on the environment are debatable. But, reply the yay-sayers, at least one thing is certain. Hosting something like the World Cup can be a source of great national pride and unification for the host region’s residents.
People had fun and felt proud.

This skeptic agrees. Ever since humans have been playing sports, we have wanted to stage competitions at the broadest level and largest scale possible. To be chosen as the host of such a competition is indeed an honor and a reason to get excited.

As I saw that day in London, the winning of the 2012 Olympic bid created a collective buzz that the bearded nay-sayer and his sign couldn’t kill. In the case of this year’s World Cup, South African reporter Rian Malan says it best: “I found myself caught up in the primordial business of waving flags, stirring national anthems, and watching our beautiful stadiums glowing like jewels in the African darkness on my television … such things are almost invaluable.”

Cynthia Ord is from Denver, Colorado. She traces her travel addiction back to a semester abroad in Puebla, Mexico. Having recently completed a masters degree in Tourism and Environmental Economics in Mallorca, Spain, she is now doing a summer internship at Outdoor Albania in the Balkan region. For fun, she likes hiking, thrift store browsing, poi spinning and building adult-sized hula hoops.

The three winners have been announced and The Travel Word is honoured to present the top three essays. The following is the third-place finisher.

There’s something repugnant about carbon calculations. In an age of green enlightenment, it seems whatever recreational pursuit we might want to indulge in, we’re instantly informed of the carbon footprint that such a heinous activity leaves.

The angel on our shoulder has been replaced by a sandal-wearing environmental protestor, who whispers in our ear every time we decide it’s a chilly day and we’d rather drive to the local shop. The imp at our other ear somehow seems more sympathetic to the needs of modern life.

The Carbon Footprint

It was inevitable then that the then South African Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (along with the Norwegian Embassy) should release a report on the carbon footprint of the 2010 World Cup. The party-pooping assessment estimated a staggering 2.8 million tonnes of CO2 emissions would be produced – a notable shortfall from the carbon neutrality aimed for by the event authorities. If the numbers mean nothing to you, the figure is allegedly roughly equivalent to the production of 20 cheeseburgers for every man, woman and child in the UK. I work this out as 1200 million burgers. See? Staggering.

The report’s conclusion, of course, should be taken with a generous serving of salt. However it’s also inevitable that, in practice, the report will have a minimal impact on the behaviour of the majority of World Cup supporters, who, while flying to Durban’s newly built King Shaka International Airport, will quite understandably wonder how their own personal holiday activity could possibly have an effect on the environment. Meanwhile, about 1200 million burger wrappers will float ominously around Cape Town’s Green Point stadium.

The Regional Effects

Prophecies of global-warming doom aside, it would be churlish not to consider the environmental impact that such an event could have on South Africa on a regional scale. When we picture the Rainbow Nation, all 1.27 million square kilometres of it, we envisage the natural: acres of burning savannah and Bushveld, a haven for charismatic predator and graceful prey, diverse cultures, modern-wonder-of-the-world Table Mountain, and penguins dipping and diving near the former prison cells of Robben Island. South Africa enjoys the third-highest level of biodiversity in the world, and generously, it has brought its wild side to tourists, courtesy of game drives, and adventure sports ranging from bird-watching to diving with sharks. It’s likely that with such abounding opportunities, many travellers this summer will at some point during their stay swap their vuvuzelas for their videophones.

However the country is also home to 2,000 plant species on the endangered list, not to mention about 20% of its mammals being under threat, including the black rhinoceros and African elephant – some impressive creatures that could do without the waste, pollution and, especially pertinent to the area, the unsustainable use of water associated with large influxes of people.

Packed World Cup stadium. Photo courtesy of Flickr/Jason Wojciechowski

For the well-informed visitor, ecotourism provides a pleasing balance of memorable experience and a clean conscience. This ‘responsible’ tourism ostensibly exists for visitors to enjoy pristine areas of natural beauty with a low environmental impact, and designs on providing education, funds for conservation and local empowerment. South Africa itself boasts a well-maintained network of protected areas and shrewd conservation practices. Yet scratch the surface of ecotourism, and the hidden costs are revealed: the displacement of local communities for the creation of parks, disputes over land use, the creation of amenities for the unwitting do-gooder and the channelling of money away from other long-term conservation strategies – and let’s not even go into the carbon produced from the often-lengthy journeys required to see such exotic locations. The little protestor on the shoulder is a-whispering again.

South African Wildlife Acclimation

It’s not just the economy that can suffer. The tooth-and-clawed natives are also affected by such an invasion of tourists. Just as footballers learn to acclimate to the audiences of thousands around them and grow begrudgingly accustomed to the snapping of the paparazzi, South Africa’s wildlife is all too much at risk of acclimating to their human spectators, with arguable potential for human/animal conflict and unpredictable change in animal behaviour brought about by disruption of feeding and nesting. In Kenya, it’s been noted that cheetahs have been driven off their reserves by tourists, increasing the risk of inbreeding and endangering the species even more than they are already. (They are listed as ‘vulnerable’ with a decreasing population on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.)

Does Ecotourism Ameliorate or Exacerbate Concerns?

Its intentions are honourable and it can increase environmental awareness; if wisely managed, it can still be one of the most conscientious ways of seeing animals in their natural habitats. But South Africa’s wildlife-encountering opportunities reveal a heart of far greater darkness. A tabloid newspaper recently revealed that a number of game lodges are aiming to tempt World Cup fans with packages allowing them to shoot animals in an activity known as ‘canned hunting,’ in which the animals – notably the big cats – are bred, released and pursued. At over £15,000 a pop, the sport is strictly for the wealthy (and opportunistic) and it’s a fair bet that the average footy fan wouldn’t miss a game to indulge.

With such a range of environmental threats to South Africa being increased this summer, it’s gratifying to see control measures being put in place. A partnership between the Global Environment Facility, the United Nations Environment Programme and the South African Department of Environmental Affairs has brought about an initiative comprising an array of projects seeking to minimise the event’s environmental impact. Across six of the nine host cities, the programme aims to reduce energy consumption through solar panels on public street lights, traffic lights and billboards, and is carrying out a ‘Green Passport’ programme, distributing a booklet containing information on responsible tourism to 100,000 spectators. At 32 pages each, it’s hard not to wince at the irony of 100,000 Green Passports being discarded by the roadside. The plans to allow visitors to be able to assess their own carbon footprints also have doubtful potential (‘Hey kids! Who’s game for some number-crunching fun?’), but then nobody ever claimed that environmental education was a speedy process.

Long Street in Cape Town, South Africa. Photo courtesy of Flickr/Anne Froehlich

Nor is it a process that can be easily achieved on a large scale. The environment is closely linked with the economy, and often dependent on it, and it’s indubitable that the World Cup is sure to boost opportunities for guesthouse owners, restaurants, transport companies, local attractions and cultural activity. A healthy respect for a country’s environment can begin with a healthy respect for the country itself. If well managed, South Africa’s tourism can perform wonders for conservation and green living. Audits and assessments will encourage good practise, conscientious consumers can encourage the running of sustainable businesses and (in our wildest dreams) generated wealth could be invested back into promoting conservation measures and new environmental initiatives.

Tourism itself needn’t be a case of simply standing back to see a country with a pair of binoculars. South Africa has countless opportunities to actually participate in hands-on rural development initiatives, conservation expeditions and, perhaps most importantly, education. These are invaluable ways of redressing the environmental and sociological balance that can be knocked during holiday seasons.

The Environmental Consequences Remain Unwritten

South Africa stands canned and cornered like one of its magnificent lions, staring curiously down the barrel of a hunter’s rifle. Whether it’s shot or released remains to be seen, and the decision lies with not just the masses descending for the football but on its own people, government and the hordes of tourists that wish to see this stunning country in the future. With the enormous investment channelled into venues and amenities for the year’s big event, South Africa will have to work hard to continue to make use of its new and improved infrastructure, public transit systems and energy resources in the long term – even years after football fans have skipped or trudged their ways home.

And while British visitors perform an autopsy on Rooney’s performance and Capello’s curious methods, perhaps we should also use the consequences of mass tourism observed at the event as an example to study for the approaching London Olympics 2014. South Africa should at least provide us with some food for thought – and hopefully fewer than 1200 million cheeseburgers worth.

Rob Stringer is a writer and editor for Earthwatch, an international environmental and conservation charity. He enjoys adventures in the great outdoors.

Darron Raw (@swazitravel) – the whl.travel local connection in Swaziland
.

Elsie C. Orabona (@UbatubaTravel) – the whl.travel local connection in Ubatuba, Brazil
.

Kate (Ward) Webb (@rscmalawi) – the whl.travel local connection in Malawi
.

Neil Lyon (@lyontours) – the whl.travel local connection in Port Elizabeth and Addo National Park, South Africa
.

Nicola Swann, (@TheFarHorizons) – former whl.travel local partner in Uganda
.

Rajendra Sapkota (@WHLNepal) – the whl.travel local connection in Kathmandu and Pokhara, Nepal
.

Sonja Grau (@kaunostours) – the whl.travel local connection in Dalyan, Turkey
.

Thomas Holdo Hansen (@whlcambodia) – the whl.travel local connection in Siem Reap, Cambodia
.

Tomaz Martinek (@travelslovenia) – former whl.travel local partner in Slovenia

Willie Ki (@borneoecotours) – the whl.travel local connection in Sandakan and Kota Kinabalu, Borneo, Malaysia

All of these #whltravel tweeps, plus those presented on Make Travel Fair and all the rest, can be found on the WHL Group Twitter list.