Cape Town’s gonna crucify me for this and the Kruger Park’s gonna lynch me, but you know what? Cape Town’s not the world’s only beautiful coastal city and Kruger’s not the only great national park.

So why do we keep thinking that they’re South Africa’s only USPs? (USP – it’s marketing speak: unique selling point).

Last week in Secret Location Revealed: Land Rover G4 Challenge Selections took place in Prince Albert (but don’t tell anyone!) , I stumbled upon the one thing that probably really does set this country apart – and I didn’t even know it at the time.

But an e-mail from BnB Sure’s Dave Jack – an old and loyal friend of This Tourism Week (and the owner of the non-profit bnbfinder web site)– lifted the helps-you-sleep-in-first-class travelling mask from my eyes.

In fact I’d bumped into Dave a few weeks before when the Land Rover G4 Challenge crew were staying at the Lord Milner in Matjiesfontein on the same night as a bunch of heavies on Harley Davidsons.

We sat in our corner of the dining room (wearing our G4 clothing) and they sat in the rest of it (wearing their leathers) and they made FAR too much noise and we felt AWFULLY righteous about behaving MUCH MORE proper and MUCH MORE grown-up (although maybe that was because they were having a bigger party…).

And then the next morning I realised that I had (embarrassment) a connection in their camp – and it was Dave.

He raved and raved about the trip they were doing at the time. And that not being enough, he followed up with this e-mail:

“An amazing co-incidence that a journalist from Knysna and an insurer from Johannesburg should bump into each other in Matjiesfontein.

“It was whilst I was riding the less travelled roads of this country and lunching on the beach at Muisbosskerm one day and in a cave on the top of the Cedarberg Mountains the next that I realised how much people are missing.

“Get into a car and leave Johannesburg to go to Durban or Cape Town or anywhere else and we attempt to break all land speed records (much to the delight of the boys in blue), ignoring all the sights we have.

“Take a common trip like the one from Johannesburg to Durban. How many of us detour at Harrismith to go down the stunning road over Olivier’s Hoek, stopping for lunch at one of the places there and then turning off for a slow drive down the Midlands Meander for scones and tea at one of the many places on that route, and then detouring again at Howick to look at the Falls?

“Between Pietermaritzburg and Durban the Old Main Road takes one through the Valley of A Thousand Hills with its spectacular scenery. It’s also the route of the Comrades Marathon and has the Wall of Honour which preserves the names of many of the runners who’ve tramped that long and tiring path.

“I spend a fair amount of time travelling on my Harley and despite cruel comments about its speed from people who would like to own one (um, he thought he was referring to me – M), it gives me the opportunity to see parts of the country many others don’t. I am not for a moment suggesting that everybody should rush out and buy a Harley Davidson (can you imagine the noise! – M) but one certainly can take in what the country has to offer by simply getting off the main roads.

“On this last trip we went to Namaqualand to see the flowers.

“I have lived in South Africa for almost 60 years and I’ve heard about them many times but I’d never seen them – and they are unbelievable. And yet so many of us say “I would really like to do that” and never get there.

“The CEO of South African Tourism, Moeketsi Mosola, in a recent TV interview said that with the economic times we face and with our exchange rate against major foreign currencies it’s time for South Africans to travel at home as there is so much to see and do.

“He is not wrong. Give it a try.”

Yes – and perhaps without realising it, Mr Mosola had also touched on South Africa’s greatest USP: our easily accessible but much under-sold countryside with its people and its incredible landscapes and its unbeatable wildlife (and yes, it is undersold – how often haven’t I heard people like the good folks of Prince Albert asking “how can WE get more tour operators interested in our region?”).

Which brings me to the question: is the tourism industry doing enough for itself?

Or are our wholesalers just lazy? And is the In-via-JNB-off-to-Kruger-round-the-Eastern-Cape-for-more-of-the-big-five-then-along-the-Garden-Route-and-out-via-CTN Tour everything the foreign visitor wants out of South Africa? And what of the domestic tourist? What about him or her? Hmm?

I’m just asking. That’s all…

And Talking of Journeys …

You followed me when I walked the Oystercatcher Trail and you were there with me in the Swartberg on the South African Regional Selections for the Land Rover G4 Challenge.

Want to see those amazing places on TV?

Well, here’s your chance:

  • TV 2’s Pasella will air a programme on the Oystercatcher Trail on Wednesday the 15th of October at 19h30; and
  • Highlights from the Land Rover G4 Challenge will be broadcast on SuperSport over the next few months – I’ve posted an abbreviated schedule of proposed broadcasts dates on This Tourism Week’s Media Room and you can download the complete proposed schedule here (please watch the press for actual broadcast times, which may vary).

What’s Martin Reading?

Here’s a selection of books to help you on your journey through South Africa:

The Story of Earth & Life – A Southern African Perspective on a 4.6-billion-year journey by Terence McCarthy and Bruce Rubidge

If you’re going to explore South Africa, two things: the people and the landscape.

There’s plenty of easily accessible information about the people, and lots (and lots and LOTS) about the animals, birds, insects, and plants that populate the landscape. But what about the geology that underpins them all?

Read more about it here

Geological Journeys – A traveller’s guide to South Africa’s rocks and landforms by Nick Norman and Gavin Whitfield

If you’ve ever driven down the N1 past Laingsburg towards Matjiesfontein, you’ll have noticed a distinctive white, crystal-like band in the rocks “standing above the surrounding countryside like a low, cream-coloured farm wall.” And if you’re anything close to curious at all, you’ll have wondered about it… and about the many other curious things you see in the rocks around you as you explore South Africa.

Read more about this great book here.

Field Guide to the Cradle Of Humankind by Brett Hilton-Barber and Prof. Lee R. Berger

The thing about the back roads of South Africa is that they’re very often remarkably close to our main centres – a fact which this superb and well-illustrated guide perfectly illustrates.

You’ll find The Cradle of Humankind – the Sterkfontein, Swartkrans, Kromdraai area – about 50 km from the centre of Johannesburg (kind of fitting, isn’t it: the birthplace of our ancestors lies right next door to the gold reefs which gave birth to South Africa’s economy. And, what with the South African War and all, to quite a bit more besides).

Books like this make the journey the destination. Read more about it here.

A Guide to Sterkfontein and the Cradle of Humankind by Brett Hilton-Barber and Prof. Lee R. Berger

The baby brother of the Field Guide to the Cradle Of Humankind.  You’ll find it here.

Bird Calls For Beginners by Doug Newman

This small book lists just 60 of South Africa’s birds – but it comes with a CD of amazingly clear recordings of their calls, and this is what makes it valuable.

Just one thing: the new bird names. I think the ornithologists have kind of forgotten the basics. Find out why I think this here.

… And Have  a Great Tourism Week!