South Africa: A New Beginning

There's one major difference between Les Becker's "home video" about his trip to South Africa, and numerous other "have camcorder, will travel" on-the-fly chroniclers of faraway lands: Becker uses a better camera. Traveling to a newly democratized South Africa with a group of travel professionals, Becker captures footage of the multi-racial culture of Capetown and Johannesburg, visits the Kruger Game Preserve and has a brief duel (and loses) with a taller and rather in-your-face ostrich, marvels at Zimbabwe's magnificent Victoria Falls, and offers occasional compliments on South Africa's new political system. In the long run, however, this short program is really a very well done home video, offering too little political insight, historical background or practical travel information to warrant purchase by academic, school or public libraries. Not a necessary purchase. Aud: J, H, P. (R. Pitman)