A World in one Country
THE Highveld (highland) of South Africa, is situated on a high altitude plateau of sweeping grasslands, and is also the commercial and industrial hub of the nation.
Centered around the prosperous megalopolis of Johannesburg - Africa's most dynamic city - the Highveld makes the ideal gateway to start a Southern African safari.
Johannesburg International Airport is the main entry and departure point to South Africa, and is a short flight away from some of the great wildlife areas of Kruger, Okavango and Zimbabwe.
It is also the ideal place to begin a train journey to Cape Town or Victoria Falls on one of South Africa's prestige carriers, Rovos Rail or the Blue Train.
Founded little more than a century ago by prospectors and tycoons clamoring after the world's greatest store of underground gold, Johannesburg and the surrounding cities which make up the province of Gauteng, remains the economic powerhouse of the nation.
However, small tracts of Highveld have escaped development, among these are Pilanesberg National Park, an extinct volcano, the island mountains of Madikwe and the sandstone cliffs of the Waterberg Conservancy.
A short flight or drive from Johannesburg takes the traveler to Sun City - a fantastical resort and casino carved out of the African bush, complete with a Gary Player designed golf course, but within a stone's throw of Pilanesberg National Park, which is home to the third-largest white rhino population in the world.
The Waterberg is home to Lapalala Wilderness, a vast tract of wild country providing a first-hand wilderness experience, rather than focusing on game-viewing, although it is home to a number of species, including the black rhino, as well as 275 bird species.
It is perhaps ironic but fitting that Africa's most prosperous region is also one of the acknowledged cradle of early mankind, with the Sterkfontein Caves providing some of the richest archeological sites in the world. The most recent - and perhaps dramatic - discovery, was that of "Little Foot", an early hominid which roamed the Highveld millions of years ago.
Today's traveler can reach many more destinations from the Highveld than the semi-arboreal Little Foot could ever manage!
