South Africa

is a heady mix of third and first world cultures – along with the best and least crowded beaches in the world. Throw in wildlife parks such as the Kruger Park, beautiful natural scenery, a great infrastructure, and a stable post-apartheid environment and you have a great destination waiting to happen.

Durban is a major holiday resort with high rise hotels crowding each other for space along the beachfront. The wide promenade is full of Zulu ladies selling hand-woven baskets and beautiful beadwork, while the men try to lure you into a rickshaw for a ride around town.

Johannesburg, or 'The Place of Gold' as the Sotho word for Gauteng suggests, harbours the gold fields of South Africa. These are just part of one of the largest industrial regions in the Southern Hemisphere. No-one could have imagined the repercussions when an unemployed miner found a stone bearing traces of gold in 1886.

Cape Town is the city on everyone's lips. Where Sydney and San Francisco were once rated the world's most desirable tourist destinations, travel to Cape Town with its scenic beauty and vibrant lifestyle has now taken over. Table Mountain, Clifton and CampsBay beaches, the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, the Stellenbosch wine farms, Robben Island …the list of must-sees goes on and on.

Port Elizabeth, overlooking Algoa Bay is known as the friendly city with sandy beaches, pleasant parks and a thriving nightlif. Settlers Park includes 54 hectares of cultivated and natural gardens in the valley of the Baakens River, with the emphasis on native plants and flowers attracting many colourful birds.