Umtata

The town of Umtata is the former capital of the Transkei and the regional centre for trade in the otherwise rural, and often impoverished, region of the Wild Coast. Visitors be warned: it is not a pretty town - the streets are crowded with people and strewn with litter.

It's on the N2 National Road running from Cape Town to Durban, so self-drivers may want to stop off on their South African holiday to fill up and stock up.

Among the few good reasons to stay longer than absolutely necessary in Umtata is the Nelson Mandela Museum, an extended exhibition about arguably the greatest hero in South African history, who was born in nearby Mveso.

From 1976 till 1994 Umtata was the Transkei homeland's administrative centre, and its skyline features some ugly architectural throwbacks to the apartheid era. One particularly large building has a helipad on its roof, built so that officials could evacuate by air in case of a native riot.

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