Free State, South Africa

Golden fields of maize cover the high plains of the Free State. Hidden below - even greater riches, real gold and glittering diamonds. Sandstone cliffs towering in blazing formations that have been carved over eons by wind and water create a brilliant display of burnished copper coloured mountains. Magnificent Jewelled Mountain passes soaring over majestic mountains.

The splendour of the Free State with its weathered scenery, farming communities, memorial and picturesque cities and towns, offers choice holiday resorts, and which encloses some of the country's finest highland scenery. Here, in the Free State many species of game have been re-introduced to their natural habitat, and where roughly 460 bird species can be found in the province that await the enthusiastic bird watcher.

The many attractive resorts nestling near the dams and rivers offer popular water sports for anglers, yachtsmen and other sporting enthusiasts. A wide variety, of choice facilities and entertainment options are readily available, and the golf courses are groomed for your pleasure awaiting your own brand of birdies and eagles.

The rich and diverse plant life that adorns the picturesque mountains in the east, the vast central plains, and the rocky outcrops in the south, with the Acacia thornveld in the northwest, as well as the San rock art that can be found in the spectacular sandstone cliffs of the eastern Free State, invites the holiday maker and tourist to enjoy the sense of freedom which nurtures the cordial, friendly nature of its people.

The wide-open spaces of the Free State convey an open armed invitation to experience the Free State's cultural heritage. Visit the rural festivals, explore the battlefields of the Anglo-Boer war and Voortrekker skirmishes and also visit the ancient ruins of tribes that previously inhabited the area. Piet Retief described the Free State as 'this beautiful land, the most beautiful I've seen in Africa'.