For the first-time traveller to Africa, South Africa is not a bad place to start: the infrastructure is constantly improving, the climate is kind and there are few better places to see Africa's wildlife. But if you want to understand the country, you'll have to deal with the full spectrum. Poverty still exists alongside riches, the AIDS pandemic is devastating and violence remains a problem. It's necessary to take some precautions: keep money and valuables out of sight; take care when using local public transport and around railway stations; and note that car hijackings and armed robbery are risks in parts of the country. But balancing the downside is the almost tangible sense of pride and hope across all communities (rich and poor, black and white), particularly at the way South Africa has emerged from the nightmare of apartheid.

Full country name: The Republic of South Africa
Area: 1,221,037 sq km
Population: 43.1 million
Capitals: Pretoria (administrative); Bloemfontein (judicial) and Cape Town (legislative).
People: 77% black, 10% white (60% of whites are of Afrikaner descent, most of the rest are of British descent), 8% mixed race, 2.5% of Indian or Asian descent.
Languages: Zulu, Xhosa, Afrikaans, Pedi, English, Tswana, Sotho, Tsonga, Swati, Venda, Ndebele.
Religion: Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Jewish and traditional religions.
Government: Republic and independent member of the British Commonwealth
President: Thabo Mbeki

GDP: US$146 billion
GDP per head: US$2133
Annual growth: 0.9%
Inflation: 7.8%
Major industries: Mining, finance, insurance, food processing
Major trading partners: USA, UK, Germany, Japan, Italy

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History

Although the nomadic San (also known as Bushmen) have possibly lived in Southern Africa since around 100,000 BC, they didn't reach the Cape of Good Hope until about 2000 years ago. Because of the close relationship between the San and the Khoikhoi peoples, who intermarried and coexisted, both are often referred to as Khoisan. By the 15th century most arable land had been settled by encroaching Bantu pastoral tribes.

Southern Africa became a popular stop for European crews after Vasco de Gama opened the Cape of Good Hope spice route in 1498, and, by the mid-17th century, scurvy and shipwreck had induced Dutch traders to opt for a permanent settlement in Table Bay on the site of present-day Cape Town. The mostly Dutch burghers pushed slowly north, decimating the Khoisan with violence and disease as they went. Towards the end of the 18th century and with Dutch power fading, Britain predictably jumped in for another piece of Africa. It was hoped that British settlers would inhabit a buffer zone between skirmishing pastoral Boers and the Xhosa, but most of the British immigrant families retreated to town, entrenching the rural-urban divide that is evident in white South Africa even today. Although slavery was abolished in 1833, the division of labour on the basis of colour served all whites too well for any real attempt to change.

Upheaval in black Southern Africa wasn't only generated by the white invaders. The difaqane ('forced migration' in Sotho) or mfeqane ('the crushing' in Zulu) was a time of immense upheaval and suffering, a terror campaign masterminded by the Zulu chief, Shaka. This wave of disruption through Southern Africa left some tribes wiped out, others enslaved and the lucky ones running. Into this chaos disgruntled Boers stomped on their Great Trek away from British rule in search of freedom. Most of the pastures the Boers trekked through were deserted or inhabited by traumatised refugees. The Zulus were no pushovers, however. They put up strong and bloody resistance to the Boers before eventually ceding to superior firepower. Boer republics popped up through the interior, and were annexed one by one by Britain in a chaotic kerfuffle of treaties, diplomacy and violence through the middle part of the 19th century. Just when it looked like the Union Jack was going to fly from Cairo to the Cape, diamonds were discovered in Kimberley, and the Dutch resistance became suddenly stronger.

South Africa's democratic phase lasted until 1926, when a military coup ushered in a long period of dictatorship under António de Oliveira Salazar. His reign came to an end in 1968 when he sustained brain damage after falling off a chair. Anachronistic attempts to hold onto colonies in the face of nationalist independence movements resulted in costly wars in Africa and led to the Revolution of the Carnations, a bloodless military coup on 25 April 1974.

The first Anglo-Boer War ended in a crushing Boer victory and the establishment of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek. The British backed off until a huge reef of gold was discovered around Johannesburg and then marched in again for the second Anglo-Boer War, dribbling with empiric greed. By 1902 the Boers had exhausted their conventional resources and resorted to commando-style raids, denying the British control of the countryside. The British quashed resistance with disproportionate reprisals: if a railway line was blown up, the nearest farmhouse was destroyed; if a shot was fired from a farm, the house was burnt down, the crops destroyed and the animals killed. The women and children from the farms were collected and taken to concentration camps - a British invention - where 26,000 died of disease and neglect. The Boers were compelled to sign an ignominious and bitter peace.

Soon after the Union of South Africa was established in 1910, a barrage of racist legislation was passed restricting black's rights and laying the foundations for apartheid. After a last flutter with military rebellion during WWI, the Afrikaners got on with the business of controlling South Africa politically. In 1948 elections the Afrikaner-dominated and ultra-right National Party took the reins and didn't let the white charger slow down until 1994. Under aparteid, every individual was classified by race, and race determined where you could live, work, pray and learn. Irrespective of where they had been born, blacks were divided into one of 10 tribal groups, forcibly dispossessed and dumped in rural backwaters, the so-called Homelands. The plan was to restrict blacks to Homelands that were, according to the propaganda, to become self-sufficient, self-governing states. In reality, these lands had virtually no infrastructure, no industry and were therefore incapable of producing sufficient food for the black population. There was intense, widespread suffering and many families returned to squalid squatter camps in the cities from which they had been evicted. Chief Mangosouthu Buthelezi was pivotal in the Inkatha movement, a failed attempt to unite Homeland leaders. Black resistance developed in the form of strikes, acts of public disobedience and protest marches, and was supported by international opinion from the early 1960s after 69 protesters were killed in Sharpeville and African National Congress (ANC) leaders, including Nelson Mandela, were jailed.

After withdrawing from the British Commonwealth in 1961, South Africa became increasingly isolated. Paranoia developed through the 1960s and '70s, as the last European powers withdrew from Africa and black, often socialist, states formed around South Africa's northern borders. South Africa's military responses ranged from limited strikes (Mozambique, Lesotho) to full-scale assault (Angola, Namibia). When Cuba intervened in Angola in 1988, South Africa suffered a major defeat and war looked much less attractive. As the spirit of Gorbachev-style detente permeated Southern Africa, Cuba pulled out of Angola, Namibia became independent and a stable peace was finally brokered in 1990.

The domestic situation was far from resolved. Violent responses to black protests increased commitment to a revolutionary struggle, and the United Nations finally imposed economic and political sanctions. But in the mid-1980s, black-on-black violence in the townships exploded. Although bitter lines were drawn between the left-wing, Xhosa-based ANC and the right-wing, Zulu-dominated Inkatha movement, such distinctions are simplistic in the context of the massive economic and social deprivation of black South Africa. There were clashes between political rivals, tribal enemies, opportunistic gangsters, and between those who lived in the huge migrant-workers' hostels and their township neighbours. President PW Botha detained, tortured and censored his way to 1989, when economic sanctions began to bite, the rand collapsed and reformist FW De Klerk came to power. Virtually all apartheid regulations were repealed, political prisoners were released and negotiations began on forming a multiracial government. Free elections in 1994 resulted in a decisive victory for the ANC and Nelson Mandela became president. De Klerk's National Party won just over 20% of the vote, and the Inkatha Freedom Party won 10.5%. South Africa rejoined the British Commonwealth a few months later.

Despite the scars of the past and the enormous problems ahead, South Africa today is immeasurably more optimistic and relaxed than it was a few years ago. The international community has embraced the new South Africa and the ANC's apparently sincere desire to create a truly nonracial nation. It will be some time before the black majority gain much economic benefit from their freedom, as economic inequality remains an overwhelming problem. However, the political structure seems strong enough to hold the diverse region together. There are huge expectations for the new South Africa.

In 1999, after five years of learning about democracy, the country voted in a more normal election. Issues such as economics and competence were raised and debated. There was some speculation that the ANC vote might drop with the retirement of Nelson Mandela. The ANC's vote didn't drop - it increased to put the party within one seat of the two-thirds majority that would allow it to alter the consitution. Thabo Mbeki, who took over the ANC leadership from Nelson Mandela, became president in the 1999 elections.

Mbeki has proven to be a generally competent president, but his standing both at home and abroad has not been helped by his refusal to condemn outright the inflammatory politics of Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe and his ill-informed comments on AIDS. This health crisis, affecting 4.2 million South Africans, seriously threatens to eclipse all of South Africa's other domestic problems.

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Culture

South Africa is a multiracial society and defining distinct subgroups by skin colour only will potentially get you into trouble. Those of Afrikaner and British descent won't be too happy to be confused with one another, and there are several major and many minor groupings in the traditional black cultures.

The mingling and melding in South Africa's urban areas, along with the suppression of traditional cultures during the apartheid years, means that the old ways of life are fading, but traditional black cultures are still strong in much of the countryside. Across the different groups, marriage customs and taboos differ, but most traditional cultures are based on beliefs in a masculine deity, ancestral spirits and supernatural forces. In general, polygamy is permitted and a lobolo(dowry) is usually paid. Cattle play an important part in many cultures, as symbols of wealth and as sacrificial animals.

The art of South Africa's indigenous populations can be one of the only ways to connect with lost cultures. Rock and cave paintings by the San, some of which date back 26,000 years, are a case in point. In other cases, such as the elaborate 'coded' beadwork of the Zulus, traditional art has been adapted to survive in different circumstances. Zulu is one of the strongest surviving black cultures and massed Zulu singing at Inkatha Freedom Party demonstrations is a powerful expression of this ancient culture. The Xhosa also have a strong presence; they are known as the red people because of the red-dyed clothing worn by most adults. The Ndebele are a related group, who live in the north-western corner of what is now Mpumalanga in strikingly painted houses.

The Afrikaners' distinct culture has developed in a deliberate isolation, which saw them wandering around with cows and the Bible while 19th-century Europe experimented with democracy and liberalism. Today's rural communities still revolve around the conservative Dutch Reformed Churches, but 'Afrikaner redneck' is far from a tautology.

A side from the Afrikaners, the majority of European South Africans are of British extraction. The British are generally more urbanised and have tended to dominate the business and financial sectors. The Afrikaners (more or less rightly) feel that they are more committed to South Africa, and have a charming term for the man with one foot in South Africa and one in Britain: soutpiel or salt dick (his penis dangling in the ocean). There is also a large and influential Jewish population and a significant Indian minority.

The British can take most of the blame for the food dished up in South Africa, although the situation is improving dramatically. Steak or boerewors sausage, overboiled vegies and chips are the norm, and where the food gets more adventurous it often turns out pretty scary. Vegetarians will not have a good culinary time. African dishes are not commonly served in restaurants, although you can get a cheap rice and stew belly-filler from street stalls in most towns. Beer and brandy are the popular swills, and South Africa's excellent wines are becoming more and more popular.

Although South Africa is home to a great diversity of cultures, most were suppressed during the apartheid years when day-to-day practice of traditional and contemporary cultures was ignored, trivialised or detroyed. In a society where you could be jailed for owning a politically incorrect painting, serious art was forced underground and blandness ruled in the galleries and theatres. The most striking example of this was the bulldozing of both District Six, a vibrant multicultural area in Cape Town, and Johannesburg's Sophiatown, where internationally famous musicians learned their craft in an area once described as 'a skeleton with a permanent grin'. Groups such as Ladysmith Black Mambazo have managed to bring South Africans sounds to a wide Western audience, both during and after apartheid.

One of the most exciting aspects of the new South Africa is that the country is in the process of reinventing itself and, with such a large proportion of the population marginalised from the economic mainstream, this is occurring without much input from professional image makers. Hopeful signs include gallery retrospectives of black artists, both contemporary and traditional, and musicians from around Africa performing in major festivals. The new South Africa is being created on the streets of the townships and cities.

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Getting There & Away

Although about 30 airlines now fly to South Africa, it still isn't exactly a hub of international travel and the fares reflect that. Johannesburg International Airport remains the main international airport, but there are an increasing number of flights to Cape Town and a few to Durban. There's an airport departure tax of R34 for domestic flights, R57 for flights to regional (African) countries and R179 for other international flights. The tax is usually included in the ticket price.

Getting Around

South Africa is geared towards travel by private car, with some very good highways but limited and expensive public transport. If you want to cover a lot of the country in a limited time, hiring or buying a car might be necessary. If you don't have much money but have time to spare, you might organise lifts with fellow travellers and, if you don't mind a modicum of discomfort, there's an extensive network of minibus taxis, buses and trains.

Two major national bus operators cover the main routes and will usually be pretty comfortable.

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Attractions

Cape Town (Cape Town Hotels & Cape Town Resort Reservation Service)

Like all South African cities, Cape Town is ambivalent - European but not European, African but not African - a mixture of the third and first worlds. But when it comes to being one of the most beautiful cities in the world, it is unequivocal. Even the transient visitor will appreciate this city, its mountains and the sea. Cape Town, South Africa's oldest settlement, is dominated by the kilometre high flat-topped Table Mountain and superb mountain walks, vineyards and beaches are all within easy reach. Despite an increase in street crime in recent years, Cape Town remains one of the most relaxed cities in Africa, which can instil a false sense of security. Paranoia is not required but common sense is.

The city centre lies to the north of Table Mountain. The commercial centre, known as the City Bowl, takes in many of Cape Town's attractions. The Castle of Good Hope was built between 1666 and 1679 and is one of the oldest European structures in Southern Africa. The South African Museum is a good old-fashioned place, with cases and cases of stuffed animals and bloodthirsty dioramas of dinosaurs. Exhibitions of indigenous cultures include some startlingly lifelike displays of San communities. If you see only one museum in Cape Town make it the District Six Museum , a much simpler place dedicated to residents of this formerly vibrant and now bulldozed community. The Victoria and Alfred Waterfront is to the north of the city centre. This area is unashamedly pitched at tourists but it avoids the glossy unreality of comparable port revamps. It's atmospheric, interesting and packed with restaurants, bars, music venues, shops and a great aquarium . This area kicks on late so head down anytime.

The Table Mountain cableway is such an obvious and popular attraction you might have difficulty convincing yourself it's worth the trouble and expense. It is. When it's clear, the views from the top are phenomenal and there are some excellent walks on the summit, especially in spring when the plants are flowering. The Kirstenbosch Botanic Gardens on the eastern side of Table Mountain are among the most beautiful in the world and are devoted almost exclusively to indigenous plants. A trip to Robben Island comes highly recommended: The island was a political prison until majority rule, and its most famous inmate was Nelson Mandela.

City Bowl is a good place to sniff out hostels, guesthouses and hotels. Sea Point, on the Atlantic Ocean, west of the centre, is another good place to stay. Observatory is a nice neighbourhood popular with students. It's east of the centre and a bit out of the way, but is good for budget to mid-range accommodation. It's also not a bad place to eat, if the shimmer and shine on the Waterfront gets a bit much.

Durban (Durban Hotels & Durban Resort Reservation Service)

Durban is a big subtropical city in the north-eastern province of KwaZulu-Natal. It has been a major port since the 1850s and is home to the largest concentration of Indian-descended people in the country. Today the city is better known as a holiday-makers' fun parlour with a happening nightlife. The weather (and the water, thanks to the Agulhas current) stays warm year-round drawing the crowds to Durban's long string of surf beaches .

Apart from the sandy strip, 'Durbs' has a fair bit to offer. The impressive city hall houses an art gallery which has a good collection of contemporary South African works and a natural science museum (check out the cockcroach display and the reconstructed dodo). Also in the city centre, the local history museum has interesting displays on colonial life and the African Art Centre features exciting work by rural artists.

The Indian area , to the west of the city centre, has a bustle and vibrancy that's missing from most commercial districts in South Africa. The Victoria St Market is the area's focus, but other must sees are the Juma Mosque , the largest in the southern hemisphere, and the Alayam Hindu Temple , South Africa's oldest and biggest.

Marine Parade, fronting the beach, is Durban's focal point. Most places to stay and eat are on the parade or in the streets behind it, and much of the city's entertainment is here as well. At night, most people head to the restaurants in the northern suburbs, or the big hotels and clubs along the beachfront. Durban has an international airport, and is well serviced by buses and trains to all of South Africa's major cities.

Garden Route

Heavily promoted and heavily scented, the Garden Route runs along a beautiful bit of coastline in southern Western Cape. The narrow coastal plain is well forested and is mostly bordered by extensive lagoons which run behind a barrier of sand dunes and superb white beaches. The Garden Route has some of the most significant tracts of indigenous forest in the country - giant yellowwood trees and wildflowers - as well as commercial plantations of eucalypt and pine. The area is a favourite for all water sports and the weather is kind year-round. There are some tacky developments dotted along the route, but you can steer clear of the worst of it, and hostel accommodation isn't too hard to find. Some of the quieter places are Mossel Bay , Herold's Bay and Buffalo Bay .

George is the major transport hub for the area and is a pleasant enough town to park your pack while you get your bearings. If you're travelling between Cape Town and the Garden Route, there's a gruelling but spectacular alternative through the mountains of the Little Karoo or Klein Karoo . This area is renowned for ostriches, which thrive in the dry and sunny climate; for wildflowers; and for the kloofs (ravines) and passes that cut through the mountains.

Johannesburg (Johannesburg Hotels & Johannesburg Resort Reservation Service)

Jo'burg, Jozi, eGoli or 'the city of gold' (never Johannesburg) is by far the largest city in South Africa. It's brash, fast-growing and often ugly, but it's got wealth, energy and a beautiful climate. Many would suggest you go through Jo'burg as quickly as possible, with your valuables plugging all available orifices. However, if you want to see the 'real' South Africa - and try to understand it - Jo'burg has to be on your itinerary. Anyway, you may not have a choice about visiting the city as most international flights stop here. While the colour lines are etched deeply, you stand a better chance of meeting blacks on relatively equal terms in Jo'burg than almost anywhere else. Unlike many South African cities where there are so few black faces you could forget that you are in Africa, the centre of Jo'burg has been reclaimed and the sidewalks are jammed with black hawkers and stalls of every description. There's also a growing multiracial music and theatre scene.

The city centre is laid out in a straightforward grid, so it's not hard to find your way around. The northern suburbs are white middle-class ghettos; they're antiseptic and isolated, manicured and Merc'ed, and the only blacks around are in neatly pressed maid and chauffeur kit. The so-called black townships, where conditions range from reasonable to appalling, ring the city and are a grotesque contrast to the northern suburbs. Soweto is the main township. It's an enormous, sprawling and sometimes grim spread of bungalows, houses, huts, shacks and dorms. Most white South Africans are completely ignorant of life inside the townships and few have ever been inside one. Although the townships are still in a state of acute social trauma, outsiders are not automatically targeted and it is possible to visit one. It is wise, however, to get local (and non-hysterical) advice before heading on in, and to either hook up with a tour or a trustworthy black friend.

Hillbrow was for a time one of the most exciting places in South Africa; a bohemian mecca, rivaling Soho and Greenwich Village. Now, however, it is possibly the most dangerous place in the country, dominated by towering apartment buildings and cheap residential hotels. If you must go there, wait until you've got your bearings and don't go at night.

Many people don't have any problems walking around Jo'burg, but there are enough true-life horror stories to make caution essential. A combination of common sense and cowardice will always be your best defence. Don't advertise your wealth or tourist status - bum bags and dangling cameras are a dead giveaway. Be aware of what's going on around you. Don't hesitate to cross the road to avoid an alleyway or a threatening individual or group. Avoid the city centre at night and on weekends when the shops close and the crowds drop. If you do get held up, don't try to be a hero: Give your assailants any possessions they want and try not to make any threatening moves. Jo'burg is inundated with guns and knives and their owners don't hesitate to use them. If you're driving, make sure your doors are locked, and when you're waiting at traffic lights leave enough room in front of you to drive away if necessary. Running a red light is not illegal if you're in reasonable fear of assault.

Kruger National Park

As well as being one of the most famous wildlife parks in the world, Kruger National Park is among the biggest and the oldest - it turned 100 in 1998. You can see the 'big five' here (lions, leopards, elephants, buffaloes and rhinos) as well as cheetahs, giraffes, hippos, all sorts of antelope species and smaller animals. Although most people will have seen African animals in zoos, it is impossible to exaggerate how extraordinary and completely different it is to see these animals in their natural environment. That said, Kruger is not quite a wilderness experience: it's highly developed, organised, accessible and popular.

The park runs for 350km along the Mozambique border and has an average width of 60km. There are about 2000km of roads in the park, so even on weekends and school holidays, it's possible to isolate yourself and just see what comes along (it could be a fleet of BMWs). The main entry points to the park are through the towns of Skukuza and Nelspruit, both about a day's drive from Johannesburg. Accommodation is usually in well-managed huts run by the National Parks Board. Facilities vary from communal and basic to private and swish.

Drakensberg

e awesome Drakensberg (Dragon Mountain) is a basalt escarpment forming the border with eastern Lesotho. Although people have lived here for thousands of years - there are many San rock painting sites - some of the peaks and rocks have only been tackled by Europeans in the last few decades. Much of the range is taken up by national parks, perhaps the most spectacular of which is Royal Natal National Park . The southern boundary of the park is formed by the Amphitheatre , an 8km stretch of cliff that is spectacular from below and even more so from the top. Here the Tugela Falls drop 850m in five stages (the top one often freezes in winter). There are some superb wilderness trails in the area, the flora is rich and varied and the mountain-climbing opportunities are heart stopping. Bergville is the jumping-off point for Royal Natal. It's accessible by minibus taxi from Ladysmith.

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Money & Costs

Currency: rand ©

Meals

Budget: US$5-10


Mid-range: US$10-20


Top-end: US$20 and upwards

Lodging

Budget: US$7-25


Mid-range: US$25-50


Top-end: US$50 and upwards

Shoestring travellers prepared to camp or stay in hostels and self-cater could just about scrape by on US$10 a day. Travelling, other than hitching, will bump this up considerably as the road is long and public transport can be expensive.

Those who prefer to stay in hotels with private facilities, eat restaurant meals a couple of times a day and travel freely by bus or train are looking at US$40-60 per person.

Most banks change travellers cheques in major currencies, usually at a commission of around 1%. Although the First National Bank has a higher minimum charge, it takes a lower commission so it can work out cheaper if you're changing a few cheques. Keep a few exhange receipts as you'll need them to reconvert your rands when you leave.

Credit cards, especially Visa and Mastercard, are widely accepted. More and more ATMs will give cash advances; if your card belongs to the worldwide Cirrus network you should have no problem using it across the country.

South Africa has introduced new coins and notes, but old coins are still common so it's hard to become familiar with what you're jangling. The R200 note looks a lot like the R20 note, so take care.

Tipping is pretty well mandatory because of the very low wages. Around 10-15% is usual.

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Facts for the Traveler

Visas: Entry permits are issued free on arrival to visitors on holiday from many Commonwealth and most Western European countries, as well as Japan and the USA. If you aren't entitled to an entry permit, you'll need to get a visa (also free) before you arrive.
Health risks: Malaria is mainly confined to the eastern half of South Africa, especially on the lowveld (coastal plain). Bilharzia is also found mainly in the east but outbreaks do occur in other places, so you should always check with knowledgeable local people before drinking water or swimming in it.
Time: GMT/UTC plus two hours
Electricity: 200/230V (250V in Pretoria), 50Hz
Weights & measures: Metric

When to Go

Summer can be uncomfortably hot, especially in the lowveld. Higher-altitude areas are pleasantly warm over summer, but the mountains are rain- and mist-prone. The north-eastern regions can be annoyingly humid, but swimming on the east coast is a year-round proposition. Spring is the best time for wildflowers in the Northern Cape and Western Cape provinces. Winters are mild everywhere except in the highest country, where there are frosts and occasional snowfalls.

Holiday-makers stream out of the cities from mid-December to late January: resorts and national parks are heavily booked and prices on the coast can more than double. School holidays in April, July and September can clog up beaches and national parks.

Events

Public holidays underwent a dramatic shake-up after the 1994 elections. For example, the Day of the Vow , which celebrated the massacre of Zulus, has become the Day of Reconciliation (16 December). The officially ignored but widely observed Soweto Day , marking the student uprisings that eventually led to liberation, is now celebrated as Youth Day (16 June). Human Rights Day is held on the anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre (21 March).

The Festival of the Arts transforms Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape each July. As well as mainstream art, opera and theatre, there are fringe and student components to the festival, including theatre performed in many of the languages spoken in South Africa. The big Arts Alive Festival is held in Johannesburg in September and October. This is a great time to hear excellent music, on and off the official programme. There are also a lot of workshops exposing South Africans (and visitors) to the continent's rich cultures, so long denigrated during the apartheid years. The immensely popular Pretoria Show is held during the third week of August.

Apartheid-induced cultural boycotts starved South Africa's mad sports fans - and competitors - of competition. Any international cricket or rugby game is therefore a big event.

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