I took the marvelous “Best of South Africa, Botswana, Namibia & Victoria Falls” tour with Vantage Deluxe World Travel (Boston, MA; 800/322-6677) in October ’11. On the last full day in Cape Town, four of us chose to go on the optional all-day tour “Traditional and Modern Medicine of South Africa” ($159). We all loved our day.
We first went to Groote Schuur Hospital, where Dr. Christiaan Barnard performed the first heart transplant in 1967. With a superb guide, we saw the life-size dioramas of this momentous event in the very rooms where the operations were done. If the tour had ended there, it would have been worth it!
We then visited a sangoma, a traditional healer, who worked out of what looked life half of a railroad-container box. This small space was filled with hanging bits of various animal body parts and bottles of stuff I didn’t want to ask about. Fascinating!
Next was spectacular Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, on land left to the nation by Cecil Rhodes in 1902. The flowers were beautiful, but the mountain vistas in which this garden is nestled added so much to the floral displays.
Our guide explained the medicinal values of some species, but mostly we were entranced by the colorful aspect of the plants. October is their early spring, and the flowers were in full bloom.
There are well-marked routes, long and short, that people can take; our group walked 7.8 kilometers (about five miles) in three hours. It was not crowded at all, and others we met were quietly taking it all in. It was absolutely gorgeous to see and one of the highlights of our lovely trip.
MARVA BIEBER
Kearney, NE
