These Africans, who centuries ago moved into South Africa from Central Africa's lakeland district, can be split into several tribal groupings who made their homes largely in different areas of the country. The tribal area of the Xhosa today falls generally within Eastern Cape Province. These groupings are fused together in the urban areas, where the Africans have adopted a westernised way of life - yet they remain faithful to their traditions, which are still practised in rural areas. Xhosa buildings are typified by circular walls built of mud, with a pointed thatched roof - a rondavel design frequently copied in the buildings of game lodges. Xhosa women are known for covering their faces in ochre - and for smoking long pipes.
Bracelets are a status symbol, and are frequently made from wire brought at trading stores.
The ideal way to view the countryside and get to know this friendly people is to drive through the Eastern Cape, where small, affordable hotels offer a variety of holiday options. State President Nelson Mandela is Xhosa. Tours to his birthplace near Umtata, to Fort Hare University where he studied and to Robben Island where he was imprisoned are organised. Zulus live in beehive-shaped huts formed in a circle within an enclosure known as a 'kraal'. Zulu men wear skin aprons and fur armlets and anklets, carrying shields and spears at traditional ceremonies.