Gateway To South Africa Trivia Quiz

Answer: Karoo

The Great and Little Karoo occupy much of central South Africa, and at one time would have been rich with wildlife. Now the landscape is mostly barren and uninhabited, apart from the occasional farm or small town.

Having flown into Johannesburg the day before, our trip around South Africa began with an overnight train journey from there to Cape Town on the "Premier Classe" rail service, following more or less the same route as the more famous (and expensive) Blue Train. The "Premiere Classe" was luxurious enough, with comfortable sleeper cabins and three full meals a day (plus high tea). It has to be said, however, that the train is not known for its punctuality, and we were about five hours late arriving in Cape Town on Friday afternoon. The upside was that they served us an extra lunch at no extra cost.

Answer: Boulders Beach

Boulders Beach attracts large numbers of tourists to Simon's Town, who come to see the famous colony of African Penguins (sometimes called the Jackass Penguin, after its braying call).

We stayed for several days in an historic villa once owned by the South African statesman Jan Smuts, overlooking False Bay to the south of Cape Town. It was just a few stops by train from Simon's Town, and we went to see the penguins on Saturday, our first full day there.

We picked the perfect time of year to go - November, South Africa's spring - just when most of the adult penguins were moulting and thus confined to the beach. There were also large numbers of fluffy juveniles, just starting to develop their adult plumage. The birds were also very tame, and although visitors were prevented from getting onto the main beaches with them, it was possible to get very close to the birds from the paths and walkways. There were even signs in the carparks asking visitors to check under their cars before driving off, in case a penguin had crept underneath.

Answer: Tablecloth

Table Mountain ... tablecloth ... hopefully there was enough of a clue in the name, even if you hadn't heard the phrase before. It really is quite unusual to see the summit without its tablecloth, so I was pleased to be able to get this picture.

We spent the whole of Sunday in the centre of Cape Town. The group I was with were all bell-ringers, and during the trip we hoped to ring on all the sets of bells in the country that are hung for "full-circle" ringing in the English style. There aren't many, and two of them are in Cape Town. We rang first for the morning service at Cape Town Cathedral, then after lunch eight of us rang a full peal at the nearby church of St Mary's, Woodstock. This took just under three hours, and was very hard work, to put it mildly.

The rest of our party had a rather more relaxing afternoon taking the cable-car to the top of Table Mountain and enjoying the spectacular cloud-free views, before we all met up back at the cathedral to ring again, for the evening service. We then finished the day with a meal in a restaurant overlooking the harbour before getting taxis back to the villa.

Answer: Wine making

Grapes have been cultivated in this region of South Africa since the seventeenth century, when the early Dutch settlers planted the first vines here. Wines from here are now famous around the world, and there are well over a hundred vineyards throughout the area.

After our busy Sunday, we spent a more relaxing Monday on an organised minibus tour that took us round half a dozen different vineyards in the Stellenbosch region, enjoying tasting sessions at each of them. My memories of the latter stages of this tour are somewhat vague, but it was certainly a lot of fun. Not to be missed! We then spent the night in a back-packers hostel in the town of Stellenbosch itself; a bit grim, but in our relaxed state it didn't seem too bad.

Answer: Elephants

All of these animals can be seen at Addo, but it is best known for its large residential population of elephants. Indeed, its full name is Addo Elephant National Park, and it is South Africa's third largest game reserve.

We spent a night in the reserve itself, having driven all day from Stellenbosch along the famous Garden Route (an attractive strip of scenic coastline stretching roughly from Mossel Bay to Plettenberg Bay). Unfortunately, we didn't see any lions on our drive through the large park, but we did see a variety of other wildlife, including plenty of the eponymous elephants.

I wanted to use a picture I took of an extremely cute baby elephant, but that would have rather given away the answer to the question.

Answer: Cecil Rhodes

Rhodes University was founded in 1904, placing it among the half-dozen oldest universities in South Africa. Its foundation was made possible by a grant from the newly-established Rhodes Trust, itself funded through a bequest by the late Cecil Rhodes (1853-1902), who had served as Prime Minister of the Cape Colony between 1890 and 1896.

Grahamstown Cathedral contains a ring of ten bells, where we rang a full peal on Tuesday. We stayed for two nights in the nearby Mariya uMama weThemba Monastery, Hillandale, which itself has a little ring of six bells attached to the chapel. The monastery has a tradition of hospitality, and we joined the small community for breakfast and evening meals.

Answer: Antelope

There are two species of eland in Africa, the Common Eland (Taurotragus oryx) and the Giant Eland (Taurotragus derbianus). The Common Eland is widespread across sub-Saharan Africa, while the Giant Eland is rarer, being restricted to a few Central African countries.

After leaving Grahamstown, we stayed for the next night at the Lake Eland Game Reserve, in a pair of attractive lakeside cabins. It was unforgettable to wake in the morning and see the animals grazing around the lake.

The reserve is also well-known for its zip-wire tour, which consists of a series of 14 slides, the longest and most spectacular of which crosses the Oribi Gorge itself, 300 feet from the ground. A couple of our party chose a more relaxed walk around the top of the gorge, but most of us took the plunge, and had a great time zipping back and forth.

Answer: Durban

Durban traces its history back to a European settlement founded in 1824. It developed into an important trading city and is now South Africa's busiest port. Its location on the Indian Ocean gives it a sub-tropical climate, making it a popular tourist destination.

We stayed in Durban for three nights in a rather luxurious beachside apartment with its own cocktail pool, which we made good use of. The sea was also warm enough to swim in comfortably, although we were advised to stick to the areas monitored by life-guards because of the strong tides.

Durban also has two churches with rings of bells, although sadly we were unable to ring at one of them because of damage to the roof. However, we made good use of the ten bells at St Mary's Greyville, attempting two quarter-peals, one of which was successful, and attempting a peal (which was sadly unsuccessful).

Answer: Jacaranda

Strictly speaking, this is the Jacaranda mimosifolia species, also known as the blue jacaranda. Although very common as a decorative plant through much of South Africa, it is not in fact native to the country, but was introduced during the nineteenth century from its original habitat of South America. Many of the streets of Johannesburg are lined with them, and for around three or four weeks during the spring the copious bright blue flowers make a spectacular display.
Our trip round South Africa ended where it began, in South Africa's largest city, to which we returned after our stay in the city featured in the previous question. We were lucky enough to see the jacarandas at their best.

We stayed for a further two nights here, enabling us to ring at the final three sets of bells on our tour; the eight bells in St George's Parktown, and the two rings of six in St Peter's School, Paulshof, and All Saints, Fourways Gardens.

Answer: Cradle of Humankind

The official UNESCO designation for the site is the "Fossil Hominid Sites of South Africa", but it is generally known as the "Cradle of Humankind". The visitor centre is located adjacent to the Sterkfontein Caves, where in 1947 archaeologists discovered a 2.3-million-year-old fossil Australopithecus africanus, one of the earliest hominids then known. Many other significant discoveries were made in the following decades, leading to the site's recognition as a place of truly international importance.

We visited the site on our last full day in South Africa, and took a tour through the caves as well as viewing the fascinating exhibits in the modern visitor centre. It made for a truly fascinating end to our trip.