South Africa’s official name is the Republic of South Africa.
South Africa, on Africa’s southern tip, is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on the west and by the Indian Ocean on the south and east. It shares borders with Namibia in the northwest, Zimbabwe and Botswana in the north, and Mozambique and Swaziland in the northeast. The kingdom of Lesotho forms an enclave within the southeast part of South Africa. The southernmost point of Africa is Cape Agulhas, located in the Western Cape Province about 100 miles southeast of the Cape of Good Hope.
South Africa is a parliamentary democracy and though much of the population lives in poverty, it is considered a developed country.. All major urban areas have modern, world-class hotels and tourist facilities. Food and water are generally safe. The capital is Pretoria, while the seat of parliament is located in Cape Town. Johannesburg is the financial capital and largest city in South Africa.
South Africa is a multilingual country. Besides the 11 officially recognized languages, many others - African, European, Asian and more - are spoken in the country.
The country's Constitution guarantees equal status to 11 official languages: Afrikaans, English, IsiNdebele, IsiXhosa, IsiZulu, Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, SiSwati, Tshivenda, Xitsonga
South Africa’s monetary unit is the Rand
Based on 2001 statistics the ethnicity/racial percentages are black African 79%, white 9.6%, colored 8.9%, Indian/Asian 2.5%.
The South African flag is the only national flag to display six colors as part of its primary design: two equal width horizontal bands of red (top) and blue separated by a central green band that splits into a horizontal Y, the arms of which end at the corners of the; the Y embraces a black triangle from which the arms are separated by narrow yellow bands; the red and blue bands are separated from the green band and its arms by narrow white stripes. The flag colors do not have any official symbolism, but the Y stands for the "convergence of diverse elements within South African society, taking the road ahead in unity"; black, yellow, and green are found on the flag of the African National Congress, while red, white, and blue are the colors in the flags of the Netherlands and the UK, whose settlers ruled South Africa during the colonial era.
Around two thirds of South Africans are Christian of some form including Catholics, Anglicans, Dutch Reformed or African independent churches. There are significant Hindu, Muslim and Jewish communities and traditional African beliefs are also practiced.
Our trip to South Africa has been very short but very rich with experiences, scenery, good food, warmth and hospitality. While we are eager to return home, we will always treasure our time here.
South Africa’s official name is the Republic of South Africa.
The country's Constitution guarantees equal status to 11 official languages: Afrikaans, English, IsiNdebele, IsiXhosa, IsiZulu, Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, SiSwati, Tshivenda, Xitsonga
The South African flag is the only national flag to display six colors as part of its primary design: two equal width horizontal bands of red (top) and blue separated by a central green band that splits into a horizontal Y, the arms of which end at the corners of the; the Y embraces a black triangle from which the arms are separated by narrow yellow bands; the red and blue bands are separated from the green band and its arms by narrow white stripes. The flag colors do not have any official symbolism, but the Y stands for the "convergence of diverse elements within South African society, taking the road ahead in unity"; black, yellow, and green are found on the flag of the African National Congress, while red, white, and blue are the colors in the flags of the Netherlands and the UK, whose settlers ruled South Africa during the colonial era.
This morning "Finals Day" some of us went on a tour of Cape Town while others slept in. Our touring group was the with the first tour group on a double-decker bus. We sat on top but it was so very cold. We could see our breath! 
We were dropped off at the Waterfront at the end of the tour to meet the rest of our group, do souvenir shopping and eat lunch. We then headed back to the hotel to prepare for the Gala Dinner and final competition. 
It is located in the south-west corner of the country near the Cape of Good Hope, and is the most southern city in Africa. Located on the shore of Table Bay, Cape Town was originally developed by the Dutch East India Company as a supply station for Dutch ships sailing to Eastern Africa, India, and the Far East. 
After competition, we all changed our clothes and a group of us walked along the beach. It was nice, as long as we had a light jacket on. The sand felt good beneath our feet. The sand was so soft and fine. There were rocks and some shells in the sand and plenty of people and dogs out for a stroll. The water was cold but felt as warm as SM beach during winter. 
Tonight, we took a shuttle from the hotel and went to dinner at the V&A Waterfront. We ate at Balthazar Restaurant. The restaurant specializes in steaks but some of the more adventurous students had game meat – Larry had the springbok, Jessica and Evan each had the Kabob that included meat from wildebeest, springbok, impala, kudu. They enjoyed their meals and willingly shared to any of us that wanted a taste. By the time we finished dinner, we missed being able to look in the shops. 
We did meet up with the SAGE teams from Ireland and South Africa at the Waterfront. We heard there were some worthwhile shops to check out and an aquarium, so we may go back Monday. 
Saturday afternoon we returned to our hotel and practiced our presentation for Cultural Day. 
The presentations from the different countries were interesting and most were very polished. Thirteen countries presented but more teams are due to arrive tomorrow. After the presentations, it was time to go around to the various country team tables to see their country exhibits and share, barter, giveaway or sell country or team products. Team Santa Monica SAGE shared California State and USA lapel pins. 
We were driven up close to the wild animals including crocodile, lion cubs, lions, elephants, buffaloes, white rhinos, zebras, oryx, bontebok, elands, wildebeest, ostriches,helmeted guina fowl and a baby giraffe. One of the most frightening animals we saw was a black cat fearless enough to survive on a game reserve!
In the evening, we attended the opening ceremony for SAGE. There are 15 countries participating in the competition which starts Saturday. The opening ceremony was the biggest one yet. 12 of the 15 countries were present. Our students mingled a bit but they had lots of work so they didn't stay long. 
