By Lisa Densmore

If you’re making a journey to South Africa for the usual attractions, to go pigeon and dove hunting, or to check out J.R.R. Tolkien’s childhood home, here are some helpful hints:
 
While travelers from the Upper Valley to South Africa likely have Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Krueger National Park on their must-see list, Bloemfontein is worthy a stop, particularly for literary and political history buffs. It is not only the birthplace of author, J.R.R. Tolkien (1892), but also where the African National Congress (ANC) was founded in 1923. Nelson Mandela led the ANC, which eventually ended Apartheid, the controversial political system in South Africa from 1948 to 1991 that discriminated against race.

Today, Bloemfontein, which means “fountain of flowers” in Afrikaans (Dutch), is the capital city of the province of Free State of South Africa and the judicial capital of the country. South Africa has three national capitals: Bloemfontein, judicial; Cape Town, legislative; and Pretoria, administrative capital.