With its long and colourful history, South Africa is rich in culture and cultural experiences.
Wherever you take a golfing trip you can soak up some of its fascinating culture when not on the fairways, immersing yourself in heritage or enjoying cultural activities.
No one resonates more with visitors than Nelson Mandela, one of the world’s greatest leaders of modern times who coined the name Rainbow Nation for South Africa for its cultural and ethnic diversity. You can visit the house where he lived in Soweto township Orlando, close to Johannesburg, that is now the Nelson Mandela National Museum and take a bus tour of Soweto and Joburg.
South of Johannesburg, the Gold Reef City theme park highlights South Africa’s gold mining legacy and features traditional gumboot dancing displays.
North-west of the city, the Cradle of Humankind is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that vividly brings to life a million years of habitation there, while capital Pretoria’s Freedom Park is a monument to democracy.
There are numerous golf courses in and around Pretoria and Johannesburg, within Gauteng province. Among them are the Bryanston and Ruimsig country clubs, Randpark Club, Parkview and Glendower golf clubs, and The Fairway resort.
Cape Town’s many museums include Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was incarcerated for 18 of his 27 years in jail. Boat trips go there from the V&A Waterfront. Tee off at nearby golf clubs such as Royal Cape, Metropolitan, Westlake, Steenberg and Durbanville.
At Mossell Bay, on South Africa’s beautiful Garden Route, the Human Origins Experience a guided tour of caves where archaeologists have uncovered the earliest evidence for modern human behaviour starts from the clubhouse at the Pinnacle Point Beach & Golf Resort. There is also golf close by at Oubaai and George golf clubs.
Get a taste of Xhosa hospitality on a visit to cultural villages at East London and just inland in the Eastern Cape, where golf is on offer nearby at Fish River Sun.
In the Limpopo, explore the unique traditions of the Venda culture, whose people celebrate their belief in the spirit world through their art, crafts and sculptures. Take a tour of art galleries, workshops and museums in Makhado town and villages along the Limpopo’s Ribolla Art Route, taking time out for golf at the Legend Golf & Safari Resort.
Discover history and heritage galore in KwaZulu-Natal. Zulu culture remains strong in the province, where you can experience Zulu lifestyle, traditions and dancing at cultural villages such as Shakaland, just over an hour from Prince’s Grant Golf Estate, and at Phezulu Safari Park, 35km from Durban in the Valley of 1000 Hills and a short drive from Cotswold Downs Golf Club. And witness age-old festivals such as the Zulu Reed Dance at Zululand towns including Eshowe and Nongoma.
Memorials and museums mark the sites where fierce battles were fought between the Zulus and the British, among them Rorke’s Drift and Isandlwana, and during the Anglo-Boer Wars between the British and the descendants of the Dutch settlers, including Ladysmith and Spion Kop after which Liverpool Football Club’s famous Kop stand was named for the many local soldiers who fell in the battle.
The mighty Drakensberg mountains are close to several battlefields and Champagne Sports Resort’s golf course is overlooked by Champagne Castle, South Africa’s second-highest peak.
On the coast, Durban has a strong Indian influence and is where you will find some of the country’s best curries. Durban golf courses include Durban Country Club.
