A positive space celebrating ‘Small Town South Africa’! This community is bringing all the joy of hidden gems to locals and the curious, one small town at a time!
South Africa (04 April 2024) — When we think of tourism in South Africa, we are often led to thoughts of our big (and often award-winning) cities, vast natural landscapes from mountain tops to sea bottoms, and the incredible biodiversity that surrounds almost all of the above.
But, as almost all locals know, South Africa is far more than what meets the eye. We boast so many lesser-known treasures that might not be on the cover of a travel brochure but still etch a different kind of importance in the hearts of those who know them. These are known to some as hidden gems and to others as SA’s small towns!
Honouring the small towns of South Africa is a not-so-little online community and hundreds of thousands of people celebrating ‘Small Town South Africa’.
Started by Ron Mackenzie, the group is said to have just exploded since the beginning of the year. Here, people can share photos, experiences, and personal takes of their favourite small towns, an initiative that’s made all who have found ‘Small Town South Africa’ a little prouder to be South African and more encouraged to travel locally.
From the Western Cape’s quaint fishing villages that you’d be forgiven for mistaking as slices of Greece to the Eastern Cape’s ‘blink and you’d miss it’ beauties, it’s not difficult to understand why ‘Small Town South Africa’ has taken off (to over 126,000 members) in such a short space of time.
But the group is not just about travel. It’s about sharing the many, many positives that make up our country. In the small ways, in the small towns, in the visual stories that don’t always get told.
As travel blogger and hidden gem explorer ‘Sunshine Simplicities’ shares:
“i think people enjoy knowing that they are contributing in a positive way. As I said to Ron this morning…”little by little”…that’s how we can all make a difference. All of us. All it takes is one little positive work, or one small, kind action at a time.”
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