Mandela recalled in his autobiography, A Long Walk to Freedom, that he spent some of his happiest boyhood days in Qunu despite the modest living conditions.
Qunu and the village of Mvezo are extensions of the museum in Umtata. Both villages offer several authentic sites for Mandela fans. There are the foundations of his house of birth, the family graveyard, the church in which he was baptized and what remains of the secondary school where he got the name Nelson.
At present a center is being built in Qunu that will serve as a meeting place for youth all over the world wanting to follow Mandela's example. There is also an exhibition featuring artefacts from Xhosa culture.
Mandela occasionally can be seen in Qunu personally. On the edge of the village he built a home for his retirement. At Christmas time he can be seen giving a party for children.
One of the buildings was built according to the plans of the house in the Victor Verster prison, northeast of Cape Town, where he was transferred to in 1988. Mandela loved the floor plan of the house which was a real luxury and not only compared to Robben Island.
Mandela had for his own comfort several bedrooms, a fitness room and a swimming pool. The house, near the popular wine town of Paarl, can also be visited.
The sleepy town of Qunu will hardly draw the tourist masses but the museum in Umtata is frequented by many visitors. There, the many gifts Mandela received from foreign leaders can be seen. The main part of the museum is devoted to Mandela's life including photographs and quotes from his autobiography.
In the east, in Port Elizabeth, a businessman is planning the construction of a gigantic Mandela statue, larger than the Statue of Liberty in New York.
Around the statue will be a park with the Big Five -- the elephant, lion, leopard, buffalo and rhinoceros. The project is named Madiba Bay, after Mandela's clan name. The Port Elizabeth region, the fifth largest city in the country, has renamed itself Nelson Mandela Bay.
A travel guide describes Port Elizabeth as certainly not the high point of a South African tour. The planners in the city want to change all that with the help of "Mandela magic."
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