With a booming economy and a sense of optimism pervading the country, South Africa can look forward to a fine future.

This is the opinion of Bermudian veterinarian Dr. Maureen Ware-Cieters who recently returned from the World Small Animal Congress, held in Durban, South Africa's third largest city.

Most of all, she says, she will remember the peacefulness of the Africans -- "it's very contagious''.

Although it is only eight months since the momentous elections that swept Nelson Mandela to power, Dr. Ware says she was astonished at the rate at progress since then. "I think that in 10 years or so, we could be looking to South Africa as a model. It was spiritually uplifting to see blacks and whites living so harmoniously together. There is a sense of them holding each other up for the future of their country. I mixed with a lot of South Africans of all races and I was struck by the fact that there is absolutely none of this surliness that seems to be a feature of life in Bermuda these days.'' After her visit to a game reserve in the north of the province, she is also deeply impressed by the country's approach to conservation. She believes that with the country now opening up, there is a huge potential for eco-tourism -- South Africa's national parks are acknowledged to be among the greatest in the world, with a huge variety of wildlife. She points out that with better roads and a generally good infrastructure already in place, South Africa can offer such services as rental cars for people to travel easily to reserves without incurring the cost of small airplane trips to reach game reserves (Dr. Ware rented an Avis car and drove herself to the Phinda Reserve). For this reason, South Africa is able to offer tours far below the cost of places such as Kenya and Tanzania.

"I suppose that, like most people, I was quite naive about the real South Africa,'' she says. "There is almost no reading matter on South Africa here and all we get, media-wise, is very filtered American news, so I was glad I decided to travel via London. It gave me a chance to research the trip -- they are far more knowledgeable in England, so I was able to get at least some excellent background information before I went there. The British Airways bookshop is a must for anyone planning to go there!'' Emphasising that she didn't wish to "over-simplify'' the situation in South Africa, Dr. Ware says she believes that a basic and very deep respect for the land, animals and people, has already united black and white. "We all saw how the blacks suffered and struggled, but I don't think people here are aware of how many of the whites also suffered.

'' Referring to the film, A Dry White Season, made in 1989 and gaining world-wide renown when Marlon Brando, believing in its powerful anti-apartheid statement agreed to appear in it, she points out that it was written by a white South African lawyer. "It showed how the system of apartheid affected not only black people but right-thinking white South Africans as well. They had the premiere while I was there (it wasn't allowed to be shown under the old system) and it made an enormous impression on everyone.'' Dr. Ware says that after talking to countless people of various races in South Africa, she began to realise that their problems were not exclusively racial ones. "I think it was really more complex than that. I suppose you could say I had my first surprise when I sat next to a white, third generation South African lady on the plane. It was a long flight, so we had plenty of time to talk. It turned out that all of her three sons had fled the country because of the National Service imposed by the repressive Afrikaans government. No one wanted to go into the townships but these young people were given no choice in the matter. Either you went in the army, or you went to prison -- or you left South Africa. The dissatisfaction with the system happened long before its fall.'' She now believes that the beginning of the long revolt against apartheid went back to when the decision was made by the government to enforce the teaching of Afrikaans instead of English throughout the school system.

"This was totally useless to everyone because it wasn't even modern Dutch. My husband is Dutch and he tells me Afrikaan Dutch is more like medieval Dutch, with a truly childish standard of grammar! So the realisation that Afrikaans was of no use in the modern world became part of the overall political struggle and led to all the mass demos against the entire system at the universities.'' Dr. Ware believes that it was the type of Dutch people who emigrated to South Africa that was also to cause so much of the trouble that followed. "They were Dutch Calvinists from the Dutch Reformed Church -- very puritanical, a bit like the puritans who went to the US and burned witches! To this day, the Afrikaans have this conflict of `Christians' against `heathens'.

There is a general realisation now in South Africa of the harm that has been inflicted with that `religious fundamentalism' approach. It flies in the face of everything that characterises the African character. When you see the Zulus (the major tribe in that area) you immediately understand, because their attitude is at one with nature, when man takes only what he needs from the earth. They understand how disastrous it is to upset the balance of nature. So how can you have this Calvinistic religion, harping on `original sin' and a stark rigidity of thought alongside these gentle, happy people who are at peace with their surroundings? It was a massive clash of cultures.'' Dr. Ware says that, probably in common with most other people, she was surprised to discover the extent to which the whites also suffered. "The white intellectuals in South Africa are mainly of British stock. Almost all of the vets I met had been involved in tragedy in one way or another. One woman whom I met said that while she was at university, about 60 percent of her friends were arrested for criticising or protesting the system. They were all detained and some of them, she has never seen again. So once they started enforcing this punitive system, the whole thing began to crumble from within. From what I could make out -- and I would really like to learn more about this -- the struggle really took off when the white people decided they didn't want their children to grow up in a society like that!'' Dr. Ware says that she was also surprised to find that Durban, a favourite sea-side resort, was so luxurious.

With architecture that ranges from Dutch to `Tudor' English to skyscrapers and then a western-style building with an African thatch roof on top, it is a vibrant city that attracts thousands of visitors. "It is spotless, with lots of little parks and lovely little open-air cafes where everyone mingles. The hotels there are really spectacular, modern and far better than anything we have in Bermuda. It's luxury-plus and all for 58 a night! Bermuda could learn a few lessons from their marvellous service.

They make you feel so welcome. From the minute I arrived I was treated as a long-lost friend. They said I looked tired and told me there was a bath waiting for me and supper after that. And they wouldn't accept a tip!'' Before attending the Conference, Dr. Ware drove to the Phinda Resource Reserve, owned by the Conservation Corporation. The ecological sensitivity of the site dictated that the lodge and visitor `huts' ("very luxurious, actually'') be built on stilts, each room is glass enclosed to provide uninterrupted views of the forest. "It is entirely fenced in and although it is one of the smallest reserves, you could fit Bermuda inside it five times,'' she laughs. It is also famous for the wide variety of wildlife which roams around the lodge, including rhinoceros, elephants, lions, cheetahs and leopards. She says it's not uncommon for lions to wander on to visitors' balconies. For this reason a very strict rule is enforced that no visitors walk from their huts to the main club house at night without an armed guard. "About three years ago, a woman was mauled to death by a lion, because she ignored that rule.A I did push a towel under my door, in case of snakes, but in fact it was very well screened.'' A South African adventure From Page 17 It was on her drives through the reserve that Dr. Ware became aware of the "tremendous respect'' that existed between Bekki, her Zulu guide and the ranger, an Afrikaan girl. "Her father was a professor of botany and she had, unusually, taken the trouble to learn Zulu. Bekki has a tremendous passion for his land -- he also spoke English very well, and Afrikaans. You could see the rapport between them and the huge extent of their knowledge of nature.'' She recalls one day when they were sitting under a tree while Bekki told one of his many stories when he pointed out a small green snake in the tree above. "He said it was the most poisonous in the reserve but would only be fatal if it managed to bite a small extremity, such as a finer or a toe!'' Dr. Ware says she was surprised by the viciousness of ostriches: "They are actually the most dangerous of all the animals. We were looking at cheetahs one day and it kicked the range rover which now has a massive dent in it!'' "The best thing, I think, was seeing the lions. We were so close, and I have to admit, I was sweating buckets! As a vet, I know what feline behaviour really means. They were eating a zebra and the male king had to have first go.

Then he allowed the female to eat and last of all, the cubs. We were only about 12 feet away and you could hear the crunching of the carcass. If the male saw any of the others approach he would growl and that growl shook the earth.

"I noticed afterwards, after he'd eaten his fill, he lay down for a rest, but like all cats, he had one eye open, and it was on us! He was used to the sight of the landrover, but even so, we couldn't move until he had moved off.'' Dr.

Ware says she will never forget the beauty of South Africa and the friendliness of its people.

"South Africa is self-sufficient in many ways, manufactures all its own goods and produces wonderful food, fresh fruit and vegetables. The quality of everything is incredibly good. And you really get the feeling that all of the races that make up South Africa all respect Mandela for being able to draw the whole country into elections with relatively little bloodshed.

"I am sure that people who visit South Africa in the future will be surprised as I was by its accomplishments in such a short time, as well as by the sheer beauty of the place.'' PICKED CLEAN -- Dr. Maureen Ware holds the bones of a rhino that had died in the drought only three weeks earlier. The vultures had since picked the bones clean.

TOILETTE, BUSH-STYLE -- Bekki, Dr. Ware's ever-happy guide during her visit to the Phinda Reserve in South Africa, demonstrates for the camera how Africans clean their teeth with pieces of twigs when they are out in the bush.

DOWNTOWN DURBAN -- A street scene in the busy city.