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South Africa
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Cape Town was built in a perfect strategic position, protected by the surrounding peaks and watchful presence of Table Mountain, the symbol of the city.
You can get up to the top of the mountain on a cable car, which in a short time goes from sea level to more than 1,000 meters above sea level, ending at its flat summit.
Over this block of sandstone where stocky mountain rabbits run, there is a thin blanket of mist, particularly during the summer season, which the locals call "the table cloth." The more serious science of meteorology says that what pushes the clouds over Table Mountain is the strong south-easterly wind, which is called the "Cape's Doctor." It has this name because it cleans the city of dust and pollution, making the air clean and healthy.
The nearby Signal Hill is a natural lookout point from land to sea. Every day at midday, except on Sundays, one of the city's most traditional rites takes place here, the firing of a volley of shots by a cannon. It is such a punctual event that South Africans use it to set their watches.
While the cannon is announcing that noon has reached, Cape Town gets back to its role of being a trading post, of being a city that lives in its beautiful streets and in its colorful markets which are filled with music, where everything can be found. Particularly brightly colored and filled with every type of knickknack is the market that is held in Green Market Square. Here you can find old dusty objects taken down from attics and handicrafts and ethnic trinkets as well.
In the market, the initial commercial spirit that distinguished the relationship between settlers and natives is revived. The Dutch, known for being good merchants, never fought the indigenous population with whom they fostered good neighborly relations and continuous trade.
Nowadays in Cape Town we find important testimonies of these indigenous populations, the Bushmen and Hottentot, in the South African Museum.
The museum contains numerous utensils, rock paintings, and carvings which give a sense of the archaic lives of these peoples. A primitivism was not seen as a limit but as a value. Even today the last descendants of these peoples choose to lie apart in the semi-desert regions of South Africa so as to keep true to their own way of life.
The museum also contains a vast collection dedicated to natural history and in particular to whales, with a series of interesting sound recordings.
In the area just behind the Cape zone are the Cango Caves which are among the most beautiful in the whole of South Africa. We know the Bushmen lived here in ancient times, because archaeologists found various types of utensils inside the caves.
The first person to discover this wonder of nature was a fortune hunter, Soon Van Zyl, who entered the Cango Caves to chase after an antelope. Thanks to Van Zyl, today the public can enjoy the sight of magnificent stalactites and stalagmites.
Among the many natural wonders of South Africa, there is a small group of elephants. In the big parks of South Africa, like the famous Kruger Park, it is easy to come across these animals. These young specimens have only recently been reinserted in the Elephant Nature Walk. For many centuries the elephant was the hero of this area, up until the forest was attacked.
This area was affected by a great gold rush which ended when the only vein present was exhausted. Nature, however, took its revenge. In the heart of the forest we find what the remains of Millwood, a ghost city which little more than a century ago was teeming with people, filled with banks, offices and bars. The old city of Millwood is nowadays almost unrecognizable, but in South Africa new gold vein is being laid down, one that has all shades of green.
Diamonds and gold were found in great quantities in South Africa, but not in the Cape area. It was in the republics of the north that the first treasures of South Africa were extracted from the depths of the earth. The city of Johannesburg is the most evident result of this great fortune. The city rose up over the richest natural treasure in the world, a treasure that today is still extracted from its many mines and takes the form of shining ingots when melted and refined.
Nowadays, Johannesburg has become the biggest city in South Africa, the economic capital of the country.
In 1961 South Africa, as a state, proclaimed its independence from London, giving rise to the Republic of South Africa and starting a long process of democratization for all of its inhabitants.
Democratization today is possible to see fully developed in the magnificent beaches of the Cape of Good Hope. The various South African ethnic groups enjoy the African sun and the bright and hot beaches in civilized coexistence.
Reconciliation has sown great hopes for the future. The many colors of Africa are the real source of wealth for the future of this country. South Africa already understands the enormous potential that it has, and is proud to say about itself: "The whole world in one country."
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南非
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开普敦的地势极佳，周围有群山环绕。开普敦的标志“桌山”更是俯瞰着城市。
乘坐缆车，你很快就能上升到海拔1000多米的平坦峰顶。
这块沙石岩峰上，经常飘浮着一层薄毯似的云雾，这种现象在夏天最明显，当地人叫它“桌布”。气象学研究发现，将云雾推过“桌山”的是强大的东南风。人们把这风叫“好望角医生”，因为风能吹走城里的灰尘和污染物，使空气洁净、清新。
附近的信号山是眺望大海的天然了望台。除星期天外，每天中午开普敦都要举行一种最传统的仪式。信号山上加农炮齐射，这种定时射击非常准时，南非人甚至用它来对钟表。
加农炮齐射宣告了正午的来临。此刻的开普敦又成了交易场所，城市在琳琅满目的美丽街道间，在音乐萦绕、色彩缤纷的市场里复活了。格林集贸广场的集市很有代表性，到处是鲜亮的色彩和各种小摆设。在这里你既能找到来自阁楼上的尘封古董，也能看到精致的手工艺品和有民族特色的饰物。
市场上，定居者和土著居民之间朴素的商业精神得以重现。以擅长经商而闻名的荷兰人，他们没有和土著人发生冲突，反而和他们建立了良好的邻里关系，继续进行贸易往来。
在开普敦的南非博物馆，我们能找到这些早期土著居民 -- 布什曼人和霍顿托特人 -- 用过的器具。
博物馆内珍藏的器皿、石画和石雕，使我们了解了古代土著居民的生活方式。对他们来说，原始生活不是一种桎梏，而是一种价值。今天，这些居民的后裔仍宁愿生活在半沙漠地区，保持他们自己的生活本色。
博物馆内还有大量的反映自然历史的展品，特别是鲸鱼标本，还有让人身临其境的声音资料。
毗邻好望角的坎戈岩洞是南非最美的岩洞群之一。古代布什曼人曾在这里生活过，因为考古学家在洞内发现了各种生活器皿。
最早发现岩洞的是一位寻宝人，苏恩·范·齐尔。他追捕羚羊时进入了坎戈岩洞。由于他的发现，我们今天才欣赏到了美丽的钟乳石和石笋。
南非诸多的自然奇观中，自然少不了大象。在南非的大型公园，像著名的克鲁格公园，你经常会遇到大象。这些大象最近才被放归自然。几百年来，大象一直是这里真正的主人，但森林很快受到了人类的侵犯。
一场声势浩大的淘金热席卷了这里，并最终导致当地的金矿资源枯竭，但自然也对人类进行了报复。在森林腹地，米尔伍德的遗迹还依稀可辨。这座死城在100年前还是座热闹的城市，到处是银行、办公楼和酒吧。今天，米尔伍德昔日的辉煌已无处可寻，但在它的废墟上又出现了一座新的“金矿” -- 一座绿色的金矿。
南非有储量丰富的钻石和黄金，但在好望角地区找不到这些宝藏，它们都分布在北方。正是在那里，南非的第一批珍宝从地下深处被开采出来。巨额财富带给南非的礼物之一就是约翰内斯堡。这座城市从世界最富有的自然宝藏拔地而起。南非人继续开采黄金，经过熔化、提纯后，制成光芒四射的金锭。
今天，约翰内斯堡成为南非的最大城市，南非的经济首都。
1961年，南非脱离英国宣布独立，建立南非共和国，开始了为所有南非人追求民主权利的漫长历程。
在好望角美丽的沙滩上，民主化的成果如今清晰可见。南非的各个民族终于实现了平等，一起分享非洲的骄阳和美丽的沙滩。
民族和解让南非的未来充满了希望。富饶的非洲大地，是未来南非真正的财富之源。南非已经充分了解了自身的潜力，并自豪地宣称：“南非浓缩了整个世界。”
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