1. House Music

South Africa has the best house music in the world, don't believe me? Let's argue. But before jumping into South Africa house music you have to understand it's predecessors. Obviously house music started out in Chicago, Detroit and surrounding areas, but it took on a new vibe elsewhere. The UK does a lot of Funky house and South Africa has styles of their own. Before house there was Kwaito music which is a bit slower and has more of a get-up-n-groove feeling. Once that transitioned more into SA house legends were born. The king of the game is clearly none other than Black Coffee. I've seen him in concert twice and he outperformed world renowned hip hop & Afrobeat artists.. with one hand. Literally. Also Black Motion gets a hat tip as well. Their music can not be solely classified as house because it is a fusion of house DJing and live drums as well. We'll see all of this and more when we travel to South Africa for the #ExperienceSouthAfrica Tour in December!

2. Braai

Braai is essentially South African barbecue. Yes it has two a's right next to each other, and it's pronounced bry, but you roll that 'r' a bit like 'br-r-r-rr-y'. South African's love to braai, especially on Sundays. They have a dayparty event called a shisa nyama (shee-suh nyah-mah) that is often held at a butchery. First you choose your fresh meats like beef, chicken, sausage, fish, shrimp, etc. Next you will choose other sides like pap, samp and beans, and chakalaka; this was some of Mandela's favorite food. Some of my favorite shisa nyamas to eat braai at in South Africa are Eyadini (Durban), Mzoli's or Rands (Cape Town), or one of the many rooftop shisa nyamas in Johannesburg.

3. South African Wine

The wine in South Africa will rival Napa, Santa Barbara, etc. Yup, I said it. Let's drink. Cape Town is famous for it's surrounding winelands in Stellenbosch, Paarl, Franschhoek, Constantia, etc. There are many wineries and vineyards to visit. On our #ExperienceSouthAfrica Tour we'll be visiting the M'hudi vineyard which was the first Black-owned wine farm in the country! We'll learn about pinotage grapes that are a staple in the region, and other tasty grapes too.

4. They Need To See Us

Out of the 3.5 million annual tourists, a lot of people who visit South Africa from the US, Europe, Australia, China, etc are non-Black. Black folks in America need to be a larger part of this group, too. Right now South Africa is going through a lot of things. They got rid of a corrupt leader, now they are redistributing some of that land that the Dutch and other Europeans never paid for. In the US we have a history of dealing with these kinds of people, too. South Africans and Black folks in the US share similar histories of oppression and growth out of that period. It's always great to have conversations in SA to learn more about what is going in and also to teach what you've experienced/learned throughout the years.

5. Fashion

We are a colorful people! The South African flag is the most colorful flag of them all. Maybe those two things contribute to the South African fashion scene, which is dope AF. From the hairstyles to the funky clothes, you will see it all and then some. I can't wait to see all the dope styles at the AfroPunk Festival in December! I love getting clothing made when I'm on the continent then wearing it back home when I'm in meetings, at work, in a bar, etc. You will be sure to love it too!

6. White Majority Myth

Often times I've heard "I don't want to go to South Africa, it's overrun by Europeans". This simply is not true, let's look at the numbers.

Black/African at 79.2%, Coloured at 8.9%, White at 8.9%, Asian at 2.5%, and Other/Unspecified at 0.5%

So, 88.1% (79.2% + 8.9%) of people in South Africa are Black. In the whole country. So don't believe the hype if people tell you different. Maybe they only visited the white places? But even those are dwindling because SA's white population is dwindling. So let's travel to South Africa and meet our cousins :)

7. History Of Resistance

A lot of times when people revisit times of overt oppression in South Africa they forget that South Africans resisted. They fought, bled and died resisting. Read up on the 1976 Soweto uprising and the brave students involved that did not want to be forced to learn the oppressor's language, Afrikaans. Read up about the #RhodesMustFall campaign. And they are still fighting oppression now...

8. Business Opportunities

There a lot of business opps in South Africa. Some of those stem from the fact that the US dollar is worth 14.65 ZAR (at this time of writing this). With such a great exchange rate you can find many affordable things like, food, services, labor, housing, etc. We have done business in the tourism sector, clothing, and professional services industry. And last but certainly not least, South Africa just legalized cannabis usage (in the home)! So there will be tons of opportunities there as well. When you travel to South Africa you can't help but notice the opportunities around you.

9. Dope Festivals

South Africa has some amazing festivals. To name a few: Afrika Burn, Back To The City Hip Hop Festival, Soweto Camping Festival, Cape Town International Jazz Festival and other American born festivals like the Essence Festival, and last but not least... AfroPunk! We'll be going to AfroPunk in Johannesburg as part of our #ExperienceSouthAfrica Tour. You coming?

10. Southernmost Tip

Yes! This is where you get to see the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet. Hint: They do not mix! Some people travel to South Africa for this alone.

#ExperienceSouthAfrica