A gap year in South Africa
Gap years in South Africa
“The Rainbow Nation” is famous for many things: Ghandi, Table Mountain, President Mandela, cricket… So what don’t you know about this beautiful country? Jutting out into the Atlantic and Indian oceans at the very tip of Africa, it couldn’t be more different from its fellow African nations. A modern business centre, temperate climate, and fertile agricultural land have propelled it to the middle of the world’s income charts. And South Africans don’t just work hard – they play hard too. The country’s sports teams compete on a world platform and, with the Football World Cup landing in 2010, South Africa is at the top of its game. Could it be perfect for your Gap Year?
Gap Year Opportunities
There’s an enormous wealth of opportunity for gappers in South Africa, from sports coaching to safari guide work.
If a day spent coaching kids in sport sounds like your kind of work, you’ll find plenty of offers. You could teach at the government-subsidised swimming lessons for public school children, or coach football to kids in an impoverished community. And, in the country where street cricket is a popular pastime, it comes as no surprise that coaching or learning cricket is on the menu South Africa’s reputation is legendary – and you can share in the success, training as a coach and then passing on the skills to young cricketers.
Meanwhile, extreme sports fans will be departing from Cape Town for Sky School – a place to try your hand at paragliding, kite-surfing, and flying parajets and microlites. There are several schools in South Africa offering sky sport packages at great prices. You can enjoy a tandem paraglide for about £25 or take a weekend paragliding course for £125.
Conservationists can sign up for the experience of a lifetime, helping to track endangered species or transporting animals to game reserves. There are projects offering the chance to work with orcas, leopards, and rhinos.
If big teeth scare you and you’d prefer to work with people, then look up one of the projects that will take you deep into the South African community. You can teach adults in one of the centres established for indigenous people, you can provide childcare, or work with marginalised women. For the more adventurous, there are training courses to turn you into a knowledgeable safari guide, complete with first aid, botany and tracking elements.
About South Africa
“The Rainbow Nation” is a relatively wealthy, commercialised country – with a stock market ranking in the world’s top twenty, a large agricultural trade, and three capital cities. However, it also has one of the most marked contrasts between rich and poor. The white South African contingent (descended from the first European immigrants) still retains most of the wealth, with the majority of the population living in poverty. Land and economic development continue apace, despite the country’s problems of crime, HIV and corruption.
The very serious problems of HIV and poverty have struck South Africa’s community hard: Because HIV is transmitted by the sexually active the virus is wiping out a generation, leaving more than a million orphans to be cared for by the state. As a result of the epidemic, a high percentage of pregnant women test positive for the virus, and the government has recently devoted resources to addressing the problem.
Despite the colonisation of South Africa by Europeans in the seventeenth century, the vast majority of the population is black African. Christianity is the dominant faith, with various strands (like Zion Christianity) having been created by fusing traditional Christianity with traditional beliefs of the indigenous people. This cultural diversity represents the varied history of the country, and makes it one of the most progressive nations in the world.
Getting Around
South African transport is modern and comfortable; use worldwide Greyhound or Intercape coaches to travel on the decent roads, or hire a 4x4! The main roads are in good condition, but plan your route and watch out for tolls. South Africans drive on the left and speed limits are similar to British law, so it’s fairly instinctive to manage. South Africa’s railways offer a grand experience too. Travel on the ordinary trains between Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth; cheap and cheerful. For maximum glamour, book a ticket on the Rovos or Blue Train routes: beautifully restored Edwardian carriages and steam-locomotives turn your journey into a Hollywood-style epic.