Even More of my Favourite Things....

There are many, many good things about South Africa.  It is these good things that will ensure that I never succumb to any desire to emigrate.

We have an average of 8.5 hours sunshine daily!

You've heard that Africa is 'wild'?  Well, in South Africa we have modern cities with skyscrapers and shopping malls and world-renowned restaurants.  Below is a picture of the Johannesburg CBD.

We have modern hotels lining the beach in our seaside cities.  Below is Durban beachfront in KwaZulu Natal

We have major contrasts in our landscape with some regions being semi-desert

while others are rain-forests

Apart from our wildlife and wonderful scenery our country is also blessed with great mineral wealth, particularly diamonds, gold and platinum.

In South Africa we have few natural disasters, the worst I can recall in my lifetime being the occasional flood, one small earthquake that caused a bit of damage, and a tornado every now and again.  Loss of life due to natural disasters has been minimal.  The mining operations in our country are far more dangerous and take their toll in human life.

We have golf courses that look like this....

and any sport or outdoor activity under the sun that you could want to participate in.  Hot air balloons are one of the ways to enjoy our wonderful scenery.

Dare I say it again?

We have sunshine for an average of 8.5 hours per day.

Please visit again and find out more good things about my wild and wonderful homeland.

Ciao.

A few of my favourite things...

A few weeks ago a visitor to this blog pointed out to me that non-South Africans might like to know about some of the positive aspects of South Africa. I told her I would do it some time in the future ... and the future is now.

Jeez... Did she have any idea how much effort I would have to put into figuring the positive aspects out? It is just so much easier to focus on the negatives, isn’t it? After grinding my teeth and pulling my hair out - oh no, that was because I was doing a reinstall on my pc at the time and almost everything had to be reloaded - this is what I came up with. I have thought of so many things that I am going to do a few postings every day. Hope you enjoy...

• The sun shines for an average of 8.5 hours a day.

• We have endless beautiful white sunny soft sandy beaches

•  Signs that used to segregate us by race, such as "Beach and Sea - Whites Only" (you'd better believe it), are not part of South Africa today.

• In 2010 our rapid transport rail system became operational in one small but economically vital section of Gauteng.  Citizens are so excited about this that they are having family outings to take a fifteen minute ride on it.
  
• We have 232 mountain passes in South Africa

• In addition to buses, trains, planes, and metered taxis, we have millions of mini-bus taxis that take us here there and everywhere very cheaply.

• We have an amazing range of wildlife.  The best known are lions, leopards, elephants, water buffalo and rhinos, commonly known as the Big Five (although they could soon become the Big Four if rhino poaching continues unabated).  Contrary to what some people believe these animals do not roam freely in our streets but the do roam freely in hundreds of game reserves around the country.

• By far the vast majority of people are extremely hospitable and friendly.   
  
• We voluntarily stopped manufacturing nuclear weapons.
   
• The sun shines for an average of 8.5 hours a day.

Ciao.

Acknowledgements
Images courtesy of MediaClubSouthAfrica and photographers as follows:
Elephant Cow and Calf - Mary Alexander
Tsitsikamma Forest Road - Rodger Bosch
Baobab Tree - Graeme Williams

The other images are property of MEC Friedenthal