A few days – including an hour’s flight and a five-hour drive – later I’m bumping along a dirt road towards the Indian Ocean, not far from Qunu where Mandela was born and where he’s buried. This is the Eastern Cape, also known as the Wild Coast. Kiss goodbye to phone signal or plug sockets to recharge the trinkets of 21st century life.

I spend five glorious days hiking with Matt Botha and his partner Camilla Howard, who run tour company Wild Child Africa. We cross rivers with backpacks held above our heads, bathe under waterfalls, rescue lost goats, get rained on, get sunburnt, scrape oysters off rocks, meet solitary fishermen and walk along empty beaches.

‘I remember in 1992,’ Botha tells me around a crackling fire one evening, ‘I was playing in an under-13s rugby team and we’d driven to a match in the Orange Free State [known today as the province of Free State] where we had to stay overnight.

‘Just as we were about to get off the bus, the team manager stood up and said to the only black player, “Sorry, you need to stay on here tonight. This hostel is for whites only.” Unfortunately we were born into a South Africa that made it acceptable to leave a teammate on a bus because of who he was. How I wish that I had stayed with him.’ He pokes at the flames with a stick and reflects silently.

South Africa is a gorgeous country whose strongest asset, I’ve always felt, is its people. As holiday destinations go, it’s hard to beat. At times, like Christo Brand’s accent, it might be hard for outsiders to fathom but locals like Botha believe it’s the most beautiful and diverse country on Earth with millions of people who, like him, love the place unconditionally. The legacy of reconciliation and peace is perhaps Mandela’s greatest gift.