South Africa is becoming ever-more popular as a mainstream windsurfing destination. Far from the madding crowds of the pretentious and expensive Hawaii, notable pros come here for training and brochure shoots. You won't find the Tarifan or Canarian Surf Bars blending the latest vid with the latest techno, nor will you even find windsurfing shops unless you know where to look.

But you won't find darkest Africa either. Actually it's much more like Australia or America and what isn't already Westernized is certainly on it's way. Unlike, for instance, Asian countries where you have to acclimatise to their way of life, you can slip into South Africa and hardly notice. Culture here is hidden by modernisation but if you want tribal dancing or wild life you can not just wander off into the bush. Kwazulu Natal, way up the East Coast is still home to native ways, but you have to be pretty adventurous to reach these parts. (Brave too - the surfers I met who toured there regularly always took 'shark attack units' with them including intravenous drips, a few miles of bandages, sewing machines etc. No kidding - even if you made it to a hospital in time, there wouldn't be the facilities to deal with your serious wounds anyway...)

South Africa is an enormous country which could fit both France and Spain within it's borders. Our travels here lasted four months in 1995, travelling as far North as Elands Bay and East as far as East London. A distance of about thousand miles of coast-line just packed with surfing and windsurfing opportunities.