From its exceptional biodiversity to its complex and troubled social and political history, South Africa provides an extraordinary study of nature and human nature.

In Cape Town, we'll visit a township and the Company's Garden, which will give us a better understanding of the history of apartheid. At Robben Island, we'll see Nelson Mandela's tiny cell and have a home-hosted dinner with Christo Brand, Mandela's warder. We'll also take aerial tram rides to spectacular Table Mountain National Park and Cape Peninsula, then visit Boulders Beach with its resident population of rare penguins.

Leaving Cape Town, we'll fly to our safari home at Thornybush Game Lodge, a private preserve, where we'll enjoy dawn and dusk game drives and nature walks in the bush with experienced guides. We'll see elephants, lions, rhinos, impalas, warthogs, and a wealth of birds, from Marabou Storks to Southern Carmine Bee-eaters, when all of them are most active.

We'll fly to Johannesburg, where we will tour the Apartheid Museum and the inner city neighborhood of Maboneng, now a thriving center of art and commerce. A local activist will guide us through Kliptown, the oldest residential district of Soweto, where the Freedom Charter was signed in 1955.

This program is part of Cornell's Adult University (CAU), which offers acclaimed education vacations designed and led by Cornell faculty. Programs include off-campus travel adventures and weeklong on-campus summer courses open to all, including Cornell alumni, families, and friends.

For more information and to register, visit cau.cornell.edu, e-mail cauinfo@cornell.edu, or call 607.255.6260.