SSoP Podcast Episode 38 — South Africa: Nelson Mandela, the Big Five, and Sweet Melktert

Animal safaris! White sand beaches! The majesty of Table Mountain! Plus, urban penguins, world-class wine, and food with irresistible names like melktert, bunny chow, and chakalaka. There is so much about South Africa to engage your curiosity.

Any conversation about South Africa is incomplete without addressing the scourge of Apartheid. For most of the 20th century, black people were denied the most basic human rights and lived a segregated existence. But in 1989, Apartheid was banished, and the country is moving toward the goal of being a Rainbow Nation.

Let’s talk numbers! There are 11 official languages, and South Africa is one of the best places on the planet to see the Big Five of safaris: lions, leopards, black rhinos, elephants, and Cape buffalo. The local cuisine combines four delicious influences that combine indigenous recipes with Dutch, French, and Indian flavors. And there are more than 40 wineries along the hop-on-hop-off wine tram in the Franschhoek Wine Valley.

In this episode, we fall in love with elephants (a.k.a., the world’s best gentle giants), dig into the country’s tumultuous history, and daydream about visiting Cape Town beaches. Then we recommend five books that transported us there on the page, including a moving family saga, a gripping urban murder mystery, a YA novel with teeth, a must-read memoir, and a story of feuding neighbors in modern Cape Town.

transcript

Read the full transcript of South Africa: Nelson Mandela, the Big Five, and Sweet Melktert.

recommended books

Born A Crime

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Born A Crime

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Gallows Hill

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The Promise

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We Kiss Them with Rain

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The Woman Next Door

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other books we mentioned

• Recipes for Love and Murder by Sally Andrew
• The Elephant Whisperer: My Life with the Herd in the African Wild
• The Elephant Whisperer (Young Readers Adaptation): My Life with the Herd in the African Wild
• Babylon’s Ark: The Incredible Wartime Rescue of the Baghdad Zoo by Lawrence Anthony
• The Last Rhinos: My Battle to Save One of the World’s Greatest Creatures by Lawrence Anthony
• Do Not Go Gentle by Futhi Ntshingila
• Women Writing Africa: Volume 1: The Southern Region) by Margie Orford
• Fifteen Men: Words and Images from Behind Bars by Margie Orford
• It’s Trevor Noah: Born a Crime. Stories from a South African Childhood (Adapted for Young Readers) by Trevor Noah

other cool stuff we talked about

south africa 101

• Mel mentioned the country of Lesotho during the show. It’s found entirely within the borders of South Africa. Read more about it here and here. It looks like this:

• Here’s a guide to the 11 languages spoken in South Africa.

• And enjoy Charlize Theron telling a funny story about getting caught speaking Afrikaans.

• Trevor Noah is always awesome. In this clip, he demonstrates how to correctly pronounce Xhosa and talks about his mom.

• The Sterkfontein cave near Johannesburg is where archaeologists discovered the earliest human fossils ever found. Breaking news — the week after we recorded our podcast, scientists made new discoveries that suggest the bones are 3.4 to 3.6 million years old, not the 2 million they’d thought.

• By 900 and until 1300, the Bantu established the first and largest indigenous kingdom in the sub-continent: The Kingdom of Mapungubwe. Now, it’s a gorgeous national park.

• A Brief History of South African Apartheid.

• Please do yourself a solid and explore this interactive bio of the one and only Nelson Mandela.

• There are many fantastic places to see animals in South Africa. Kruger National Park is one of the best. And Lonely Planet recommends 10 more.

• During August and September, the area called Namaqualand becomes a carpet of wildflowers. Enjoy the view:

• To round out your trip, here’s a list of 13 cool things and the top 15 things to do in South Africa.

• The food! Here are 10 traditional South African dishes to try, and the best desserts.

• Explore the South African barbecue called braai. It should definitely include boerewors (sausages). Hear from the Boerewors King:

• You might also want to try chakalaka, bunny chow, milk tart (melktart), and koeksisters.

• All aboard the Blue Train for a glam ride from Pretoria to Cape Town.

• We believe that Play on Podcasts will only improve your already-awesome podcast feed. It reimagines some of Shakespeare’s greatest plays for a modern audience with accessible language, original music, and fantastic acting.

two truths and a lie

• Statement 1: A Detroit musician became famous — super-famous — in South Africa. He was unaware of his fame there. He lived in obscurity in the states for decades. Watch Sixto Rodriguez on the Late Night with David Letterman.

• And here’s the trailer for the film Searching for Sugarman and the movie in its entirety.

• Statement 2: There is a group of women in South Africa who call themselves The Black Mambas. They are an anti-terrorist organization funded in part by Quentin Tarantino. National Geographic has the story on the badass women taking on poachers.

• Statement 3: A man who ran an animal sanctuary was so beloved by his animals that, when he died, a herd of elephants gathered around his home and mourned him as one of their own. Here’s the story of Lawrence Anthony, known as the Elephant Whisperer.

book-related info

• Yewande Omotoso is the author of The Woman Next Door. In this Q&A, she discusses her difficult, lovable characters and the ongoing recovery from Apartheid.

• Futhi Ntshingila is the author of We Kiss Them with Rain. In this Q&A, she talks about her writing routine and how she approaches character development.

• Margie Orford is the author of Gallows Hill. This article goes deep into her work; great quotes from the author.

• Trevor Noah is the host of The Daily Show and the author of Born a Crime. In this radio interview, he talks about why reading is important and why kids should be informed about Apartheid. If you can’t get enough of Trevor, here’s a collection of many video interviews.

• Damon Galgut is the author of The Promise. In these videos, the Booker Prize-winning author discusses his unforgettable novel:

Strong Sense of Place links we mentioned

• 27 Great Books In Translation to Crush Your Reading Challenge
• 10 Novels About Vacations Gone Horribly, Fantastically Wrong
• 45 Awesome Instagram Accounts For People Who Love Libraries and Librarians
• Destinations Directory Page
• Ireland Destination Page

finally…

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Do you enjoy our show and website? Do you love bonus content? Please consider supporting our work on Patreon! You’ll get input on which destinations we cover each season and access to bonus goodies. Every little bit of financial support helps us keep the show going and makes us feel warm and fuzzy inside. Get all the info you need right here.

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