Where is Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela set? What is the landscape like? What objects are part of the setting?

The book opens in 1918, the year of Mandela's birth, in rural South Africa. More specifically, the setting is the small village of Mvezo.

The narrator notes that Mvezo is a traditional and isolated village, set quite apart from the major events that were playing out in the world at large (most notably World War I, called The Great War here because, of course, people weren't expecting a second one at the time, as well as the terrible epidemic of the flu).

The landscape of this setting is beautiful, and as Mandela introduces it to us, he emphasizes its "rolling hills," its lush valleys, and its many, many "rivers and streams." Thanks to these flowing bodies of water, no matter what time of year it is, the landscape remains green. Mandela goes on to describe the whole region as "rich and temperate," possibly anticipating that many readers in the US will automatically and incorrectly equate Africa with barren deserts.

The lushness and beauty of the landscape might be best summarized by Mandela's recollection that his childhood fostered his "love of the veld, of open spaces, the simple beauties of nature, the clean line of the horizon."

When the story moves to the nearby village of Qunu, the general landscape remains green, grassy, hilly, and full of clear streams.

As for objects important to the setting, you might consider the oxen first. We infer that they are of great value, since Mandela recounts the story of his father being deposed from his political position due to "a complaint against him involving an ox that had strayed from its owner." Other important objects in the environment here include the clusters of huts, made of mud and shaped like beehives; the buckets used to bring water from the streams; the three-legged iron pot in which the narrator's mother prepared food; as well as the "cattle, sheep, goats, and horses" that graze the grassy pastures. The cattle seem to be especially important:

"I discovered the almost mystical attachment that the Xhosa have for cattle, not only as a source of food and wealth, but as a blessing from God and a source of happiness."

The thorn bush seems important, also, as an object in the environment, as it's the reason for Mandela's early shameful encounter with the donkey that so embarrassed him in front of his friends.

Finally, the one-room schoolhouse with the "western-style roof" also emerges as a crucial part of the setting, the place where, despite his mother's reluctance, Mandela first attends school.