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The Board of Tourism
Understanding Natal
The Federation of Natal, situated in the southern coasts of Himyar, along the Northcott Channel, which links the Indala Sea with the Wadjet Sea, is one of the few megadiverse countries of Europe. It is a relatively sparsely populated county, with around 40 million inhabitants while its geographic elements range from temperate regions on the southern coasts to savannas, deserts and even rain forests. The Natalians usually proud themselves as the 2nd most powerful nation in Himyar after Pelasgia. They are a proud people, very appreciative of their pioneering past, something omnipresent in the Natalian pop culture.
Modern Natal has been created in the aftermath of the disbandment of the Engell Central Himyari Company and the coming together of the three coastal republics that resulted from that and three majority Nethian states from the north.
What to see
Natalia is the best place to visit for both environmental tourists but also for people wishing to see different cultures. From the lush valley of the Natal River, after which the country is named, to the caustic lakes of Ashhall, Natal has anything a person would like to see. One can witness the arrival of penguins in the winter in the coasts of Lower Natal, or the great migration of antelopes, rhinos and elephants along in the savannas, or the arrival of the huge flamingo colonies at Ashhall which are coming to feed on the red algae thriving on the salty and corrosive waters of the nearby lakes.
It is a country of extremes. At one point you have the Grans (short from the The Granite Mountains) which provide a shield for the southern coastal regions giving them their temperate climate and shielding them from the hot air currents in the north and east and on the other side, close to Balaka and Wynyard you have the Garoo Savanna, part of the greater Sea of Fire Desert, dominating much of Himyar.
Tourists who want to taste the culture of Natalia are as lucky as the ones visiting for its environment. Natalia is situated in a territory which was inhabited by the first species of humans and it can truly be seen as a cradle of humanity. From the more recent history, with cities created in the early 17th century like Harton, Blackmere and Camp Hill to extremely ancient places like the terraces and irrigation complex at Engaruka or the great enclosure on the ancient city of Great Mapungu or the ruins of Bambandyanalo. There are also many paleo-anthropological sites around the Grans, where some of the oldest human remains have been dug up by archaeologists.
Climate
Like it has been stated before, Natalia is an extremely diverse land. Climate and weather wise, one can expect everything from warm temperate climate to tropical jungles and even hot arid deserts. The clime around the Indala sea is the mildest as the sea breeze cools the atmosphere while the Grans are shielding Lower Natal and south Langfield from the hot currents of the north-east. It wouldn't be a surprise if once or twice a year it snows up in the Grans and sometimes even ski resorts are quickly organised, though they don't last more than a week, two at maximum.
Most of the country is covered by savanna, being a heaven for the local fauna. Thanks to the influence from the Indala Sea and the Southern Thaumantic Ocean and the high altitudes of the central plateau, the country has lower temperatures than other countries at the same latitude, for example inland Loago being far more hotter than Natal. Being situated in the southern hemisphere, the winter starts in June and lasts till August, spring starts in September and lasts till November, summer starts in December and lasts till February and then the autumn takes over and continues until June.
Summers are hot and dry, while the winters are usually mild and rainy. Springs and Autumns are generally warm and rain can be expected at least once a fortnight. Usually when the first rains starts in the winter, the sun burnt savanna blooms back to life and from the golden colours it reverts to a verdant green in a week or sometimes even less.
Arrival and getting around
Most people arrive by plane in the country either through the Belvedere International Airport, situated in Camp Hill, or through the Jacaranda International Airport, situated in Harton. Both are hubs for the flag carrier of Natalia, the Central Himyari Airways, with the Harton Airport being also a hub for Jacaranda Air, the low-cost subsidiary of CHA. While Jacaranda mostly provides low-cost flights to Pelasgia, Auraria and Azraq, the Central Himyari Airways are providing premium services to Gallo-Germanian nations like Bourgogne, Eiffelland, Bergenheim, Serenierre, Lars and Gunnland. There are also direct flights to Beautancus, Clarenthia, Sylvania and the capitals of Xinhai, Kadikistan, Jyskerige-Ostveg and the Engellexic Republic. The flight from Goterhavn to Santa Cruz which has been set up early last year is officially the longest non-stop long-range flight in the world.
There are also ferries linking Arsinoe in south-eastern Pelasgia to Mzuzu in Northern Natalia.
For internal trips, Jacaranda Air offers cheap fares to flights from Harton and Camp Hill to Mzuzu, Wynyard, Blackmere or Balaka. While the plane is the fastest way of transport (a flight from Harton to Mzuzu lasting for around two hours), it isn't a particularly cheap option. For that there are rails and buses.
The TransNet Infrastructure is the state owned company which supervises the quality of the rail infrastructure and which has in the last five years managed to create a higher speed mainline along the coast from Parow to Harton and from there to Blackmere. There are more than 20 privately owned railway companies operating in the country. Even so, most of the bigger cities are connected by some sort of rail line with active services. Train tickets are better to be bought in advance as there are chances to find lower fares than last minute buys. The most famous Natalian train in the Trans-Himyarite, a luxury train service operated by Shosholoza in joint venture with the Pelasgian Railways and it provides a service between Harton and Propontis, the train being transported by ferry from Mzuzu to Arsinoe.
Interbus is the biggest bus transportation company, created in 1990 after the amalgamation of 13 bus transportation companies. They provide a cheap alternative having routes connecting all the big cities and from there secondary routes to smaller towns and even villages. Though on it rural routes, it wouldn't be unexpected to see the quality of services lowered than on big inter-city routes.
In the next issues the Board of Tourism will present each of the state of the Union.
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