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South Africa as a destination
South Africa is an exhilarating, spectacular and complex country. It is one-eighth the size of the United States (or twice that of Texas), with approximately one-seventh its population. Diversity abounds, in terms of geography, culture and experience. Perhaps the widely popular tourist slogan sums it up best: South Africa …a world in a country!
A visitor to South Africa can experience many different landscapes in one day; from the arid semidesert of the Karoo to the tropical beaches of Kwazulu-Natal; from the snow-capped Drakensburg mountains to the fertile wine country near Stellenbosch. One can go on a safari in Kruger National Park, arguably Africa’s greatest game park, as well as study the Fynbos Floral Kingdom in the Western Cape, the world’s smallest biome (area with similar flora and fauna) which is more diverse than any rainforest.
And don’t forget the beautiful cities of South Africa. Cape Town, in the shadow the breathtaking 3,500 foot Table Mountain, is a cosmopolitan city that still bears traces of the Dutch roots of its early settlers. Well up the eastern coast is Durban, long a British commercial center. Overlooking the Indian Ocean, Durban has a world class port, beautiful beaches and hotter weather than the Cape. Durban also is home to a substantial East Indian community. Mohandas Gandhi started his law career in Durban. Johannesburg, on the northern plateau, is the country’s largest city. The center of South Africa’s lucrative mining and manufacturing base, Johannesburg grew out of the country’s diamond and gold rush of the nineteenth century.
With eleven official languages, South Africa has embraced its own cultural diversity since apartheid ended in 1994. Dubbed “The Rainbow Nation,” South Africa is much more than just black and white. Afrikaners, Chinese, Indians, Zulu, Xhosa and Cape Malays are just a few of the cultural groups that call South Africa home.
interstudy was first to offer fully-integrated study abroad programs in the Republic of South Africa. We've been running our programs there since 1996, consecutively for eleven years. Nine programs at eight universities make up the program suite today. This amount of program choice affords things no other program can and gives students a wide range of choices in South Africa – from historically Black Universities – to traditionally Afrikaans-speaking universities who have brought English into the mainstream of their tuition – to those which have always been English-speaking. Small and large campuses, full curriculum options, and a wide choice of geographical settings mean that with interstudy there is a program to meet every student’s needs and interests.
All South African universities operate a full and balanced semester system virtually identical to North America, thus providing for the smooth transfer of credit. However, the South African academic year is a reverse of the North American one, with Semester I running from February through June and Semester II beginning in late July and finishing in late November, bringing to a close the South American academic year. There is a break in December and January as well as mid-semester breaks during the year. Enrollment in either, or both semesters is possible for all students from North America, as the South African academic year in no way complicates study arrangements at students’ home institutions.
The “new” South Africa is one in transition, still coming to terms with democracy and legitimate majority rule. It also evolving as a culture, with various groups opening a line of communication that for so long was shut. It is an exciting time for South Africa, and being able to be an observer of these changes first hand, is truly the chance of a lifetime.
Botswana as a Destination
Botswana is an African success story. Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent in 1966. At the time of independence, Botswana was considered one of the poorest countries in the world. In the years since independence the economy has made incredible strides, and Botswana is now considered a shining example of democratic, planned development. Economic growth has been a steady 9% from independence in 1966 to 1999. Much of this wealth is due to Botswana’s rich deposits of diamonds. Jwaneng, in southern Botswana, is the world’s largest and richest diamond mine.
Named for the Tswana people, the country’s largest ethnic group, Botswana enjoys high health, educational and economic standards, which, with the exception of South Africa, are unrivaled in Subsaharan Africa.
Botswana is comparable in size to Madagascar and Texas. The geography of the country is dominated by the Kalahari desert, which makes up nearly 70% of the land surface. Botswana has myriad of cultural attractions, including the largest inland delta in the world (Okavango Delta), 3,000 year-old cave paintings, the National Museum in Gaborone and the second largest protected wildlife area in the world (Central Kalahari Game Reserve).
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