South Africa’s Rainbow Nation title refers to the incredible diversity of its people, from the original Bushmen inhabitants of the land to the people who migrated and settled here over the years. There is hardly a nation on Earth that is not in some way represented in this diverse country.
The term Rainbow Nation of South Africa found popular appeal from the moment Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu first used it to capture the multicultural nature of our country. The original inhabitants were the hunter-gatherer San Bushmen. There are only a few of these people remaining in the Northern Cape, but their rich heritage lives on through their ancient rock art. They remain a proud part of the South Africa’s Rainbow Nation.
When the pastoral Khoi appeared 2 000 years ago they brought with them farming. Unlike the San, who did not live in a hierarchical society, the Khoi had a complex social structure. The name Khoisan is an integration of the two names of the first inhabitants of southern Africa. The next to arrive were black migrants from sub-Saharan Africa, especially from the Great Lakes and Congo regions. They settled mainly in the northern and eastern parts of present-day South Africa and where they came into contact with the Khoisan, they pushed them west into the drier regions of the Northern Cape. These new arrivals morphed into the various South African tribes that thrive today, including Sotho, Tswana, Xhosa and Zulu.
The Rainbow Nation took on more colour when the Dutch arrived in 1652 and the British in the latter part of the 18th century. The Dutch brought slaves from the East Indies, which was the start of what is called the coloured people of South Africa, added to by cross-racial liaisons. A small but influential French group escaping religious persecution in France arrived in the late 17th century and were assimilated into the Dutch population. They were followed, after the discovery of mineral wealth, by representatives of nearly every society on Earth. And mining and sugar cane farming brought Indians and Chinese, who settled mainly in KwaZulu-Natal and Johannesburg.
For nearly 350 years our history was defined by clashes and racial oppression. But that changed with the first democratic elections of 27 April 1994 when we all truly became people of the Rainbow Nation. Source: www.southafrica.net
Julie was so knowledgeable on the area and helped make our first trip to Cape Town fabulous. I highly recommend.
Travis B 13th October 2021
"This is my second time using Julie’s services. She’s professional, meticulous and pays attention to detail.Expect a tour filled with Julie’s in depth knowledge of the Cape. Expect fun and laughter - in addition to being professional, she’s witty and kind.I HIGHLY recommend Cape Splendour Day Tours."
KholofeloSS 13th October 2021
Julie came highly recommended, so when we decided to head to Cape Town she was our first call. She took care of getting us picked up at the airport and even booked our hotel. We spent three days with Julie seeing the sights in Cape Town. By the end of the third day we thought of her as a friend. We left the three days up to her as to what we should do and see. Her ideas for us were perfect.
Mygal56. 20th September 2023
Julie has a vast knowledge of the area and her tours are fantastic. However, it doesn’t end there. Julie was an enormous help in planning the Garden Route section of our trip before we arrived in SA as well as helping us after with a vendor that did not ship our goods.
Steph H 20th September 2023
In the beginning of March 2020, just before the Coronapandemic toke over the world and South Africa went in to total lockdown, our group of 10 friends went on a week tour with Cape Splendour Tours. Well let me tell you, actually Cape Splendour Tours is just one lady, the lovely Mrs. Julie Clarke. She arranged a week tour including winetasting and a day tour around the Cape Peninsula. For 3 days we went on a winetasting tour in the wine areas of Stellenbosch, Paarl and Franschoek. We already made a list of which wineries we wanted to visit and Julie just filled in the blanks. That’s the good thing about Julie, she doesn’t always do a standard program, Continue Reading
Christi 13th October 2021