南非共和國 - South Africa 2008

 Africa 2008   Turkey to Namibia overland - 274 days 


「願這片美麗土地將永遠、永遠、永遠不再發生人與人之間相互打壓！」－ 曼德拉

「No easy walk to freedom」是南非國父曼德拉爭取自由民主的名句，最初認識這句說話是從美國民謠樂隊《Peter, Paul & Mary》1986年出版的唱片，當中一段：「No easy walk to freedom. Keep on walking and we shall be free.（自由之路不易行，繼續行，終得到）」。當時，南非已實施種族隔離政策38年，而曼德拉亦被囚23載，估不到4年後被釋放，其後南非展開了翻天覆地的變化！ 

南非，有人稱她不屬於非洲的非洲另類國家，可能是由於南非比絕大多數非洲國家更富裕和更先進。南非整體發展全面，旅遊業頗發達，自助旅行並不困難。旅遊熱門地點首推克魯格國家公園（Kruger National Park，非陸最主要觀賞野生動物公園之一），其彼鄰的布萊德河峽谷（Blyde River Canyon）；其他皇牌包括開普敦（Cape Town）的阿爾弗德水濱購物城（Victoria & Alfred Waterfront）、桌山（Table Mountain）、好望角（Cape Point）及曾囚禁曼德拉而聞名的魯賓島（Robben Island）；西開普省的酒鄉（The Wine Routes in the Western Cape）；約翰尼斯堡（Johannesburg）的金礦城（Gold Reef City），比勒陀利亞首都美景（Pretoria sights）；當然，著名龍山渡假區（Darkensberg resorts）及德班灘前遊樂場（Durban beachfront）也甚有名氣！ 

    由於公路網絡完善，旅遊南非自己駕車遊理想不過；公共交通服務完備，往返主要城市極為便捷，時間緊迫的旅客可以乘搭貫通全國的專巴，「Door to Door」，無限次停站，穿梭熱門旅遊城鎮。住宿方面，從六星級豪華賓館、一般旅舍、家庭式民宿、背囊友之家，以至非洲風味鄉村圓頂屋、營幕帳篷等等，林林總總，豐儉由人。如果要省時慳力，可以參加費用較高的「貨櫃式旅遊車團」，包食包住包導遊，穿州過省及遠至鄰近多國…。南非之吸引力不僅於此，在百年前印度聖雄甘地曾旅居南非超過十年，孕育出非暴力抗爭的概念；1919至1939年，愛爾蘭攝影旅遊家 Duggan-Cronin，踏遍非洲南部土地，深入不毛，見證並紀錄土人的生活面貌，得到啟示。

當初曼德拉提到自由之路不易行，及要求一人一票普選，幾經波折終於在1994年得到實踐。除了《Peter, Paul and Mary》有歌頌之外，香港樂隊《Beyond》1988年作品《光輝歲月》也是歌頌這位偉人。「我已經把我的一生奉獻給了非洲人民的鬥爭，我為反對白人種族統治進行鬥爭，我也為反對黑人專制而鬥爭。我懷有一個建立民主和自由社會的美好理想，在這樣的社會裏，所有人都和睦相處，有著平等的機會。我希望為這一理想而活著，並去實現它。但如果需要的話，我也準備為它獻出生命。」 — 1964年被判終身監禁時，曼德拉將審訊法庭變成了揭露種族隔離制度罪惡和喚醒廣大民眾的講壇。他那長達4個小時的聲明是這樣結束的。

寄自 加拿大溫哥華 

2008年4月日22日



“Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another.” - Nelson Mandela

“No easy walk to freedom.” This is a famous comment from Nelson Mandela, Father of South Africa. In 1986, the American folk song singers, “Peter, Paul & Mary”, brightened us first by their album: “No easy walk to freedom. Keep on walking and we shall be free.” That had marked the adoption of apartheid policy in South Africa for 38 years and Mandela’s imprisonment for 23 years, not knowing that he was released 4 years later and the subsequent tremendous changes of the country.

South Africa, comparatively wealthier and far more developed than most other African countries, is not regarded as ordinary African countries. It is very well-developed in different sectors, including tourism industry for individual visitors as well. There are a lot of popular attractions like Kruger National Park (one of the oldest and world’s largest game reserve), Blyde River Canyon, Cape Town including Victoria & Alfred Waterfront , Table Mountain, Cape Point, Robben Island prison museum where Mandela was kept and the Wine Routes in the Western Cape, Gold Reef City in Johannesburg, old town of the capital Pretoria. Of course, not to miss the majestic mountains in Darkensberg and beachfront entertainment complex in Durban.

With the efficient highway network, self-driving travel is the ideal way going everywhere. However, public buses also provide comfortable and reliable services connecting big cities. Travellers can choose to afford the more time-saving door-to-door shuttles with unlimited stops running the tourist routes. There are accommodations with different styles and levels to suit everyone: luxurious hotels, guesthouses, pensions, backpackers’ hostels, African village huts, camps…The all-inclusive overland truck safari tours help saving energy and become more popular not just within South Africa but to various neighbouring countries. Those are just the “hardware”! About a hundred years ago, the respectable spiritual leader of India, Mahatma Gandhi, Father of the Nation, had lived in South Africa for 20 years and developed the idea of non-violent resistance in power struggle for civic rights. During 1919-1939, an Irish photographer and traveller, Duggan-Cronin, had visited extensively into remote places of Southern Africa and taken inspiring photos. 

As Mandela said it was no easy walk to freedom and to ‘one person one vote’, it was finally achieved in 1994 after long time of struggle. Not only “Peter, Paul & Mary”, a Hong Kong band “Beyond” also had recorded a song “Bright Life” (光輝歲月) expressing praise to this great man. “During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.” -- It was Mandela's defence statement in the 1964 trial in which he used as a platform for criticizing the evils of apartheid policy and arousing public awareness. That was the conclusion of his 4-hour-long statement. 

Traveled in South Africa

bet’n 21^st Jan ~ 3^rd Mar 2008

written in Vancouver, Canada（22^nd Apr 2008）

bet’n 21^st Jan ~ 3^rd Mar 2008  >>  30 days in SOUTH AFRICA（Turkey to Namibia overland, Day 230 ~ 249, 258 ~ 259 & 264 ~ 271）:

SWAZILAND - (…Jeppe's Reef…) - Nelspruit 2 - New Castle 1 - Durban 3 - East London 3 - Port Elizabeth 4 - Cape Town (Hout Bay, Rocklands, Simon Town, Kalk Bay, St James, Table Mountain) 7 - NAMIBIA (...Vioolsdrift../..Nakop…) - Bloemfontein 2 - LESOTHO (...Maseru Bridge../..Sani Path…) - Underberg 2 - Pietermaritzburg 2 - Pretoria (Johannesburg) 4 - QATAR

更多 相片 slide show  >>>  南非 South Africa