Venture into the edges of the Kalahari Desert, diamond rich lands of the Kimberley, the Highveld, the great Drakensberg mountain range, the Garden Route along the eastern & southern cape & most certainly, make time to gaze in awe at sentinel like ‘Table Mountain’ towering over & guarding Cape Town & Table Bay.

If you enjoy cities then South Africa has many & varied options. Johannesburg was the lure for prospecting miners in 1886 when gold was discovered here & this ‘City of Gold’ still continues to pulse with entrepreneurial energies. This is the largest city in the land, remaining its financial & commercial heart & housing the old stock exchange which rises symbolically above the financial district. While most people arrive into & depart Johannesburg as a stopover or transit point, it is indeed worthy of more of your time. The shopping to be found at huge centers in Sandton, Hyde Park, Rosebank & Fourways, with everything from exclusive boutiques to entertainment complexes & Casinos, reflects the immense power of this city & its peoples.

A short 70kms distant is Pretoria, the nations’ political & administrative capital city. In the central city feature of Church Square sits a bronze statue of ‘Oom Paul’ Kruger who is generally regarded as the father of ‘Afrikanerdom’. High on the hills above is the enormous Voortrekker Monument, a shrine to the Afrikaner community. While Pretoria is deeply rooted in its historical past, it does offer the visitor superb shops, restaurants & vibrant art communities. It is from Pretoria that the famed Blue Train departs twice weekly on its two day, overnight journey to the tip of the continent- an experience of luxurious splendor & days gone by elegance & the ambiances afforded high society.

The jewel of the southern extremity is Cape Town.

Set under the shadow of Table Mountain, it isn’t just that this city is enveloped by the magnificence of the mountain or its many changing moods & expressions; nor that Cliffside drives rival those of Monte Carlo - or that the site of the prison which incarcerated arguably one of the world’s most famous, adored & respected persons (Nelson Mandela) is but a short boat ride away. No, it is much, much more that undoubtedly coverts Cape Town as South Africa’s ‘Mother City’ steeped in a fascinating history & pulsing to a heady African rhythm.

Cape Town sits firmly at the top of our list of ‘musts’ to visit. & requires at least 3 nights – 4 days to begin to get a ’feel’ for. Here, modern high rise rubs shoulders & share green manicured lawns with centuries old Dutch Cape Malay & British architecture; magnificent Houses of Parliament on Adderley Street; the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront development – indeed, Cape Town has something for all tastes.

Table Mountain is visible no matter whether you are in Cape Town itself, or from the seaward side at Clifton Beach. It dominates the horizon & has a superb cable car that in minutes, whisks visitors to the very top, where defined walking trails provide routes to unsurpassed views down to the city, the far shoreline & south to Robben Island beyond the tip of the Cape itself.

Robben Island & a tiny cell in the prison that remains there disused now, was for two decades, home to Nelson Mandela. Nowadays it not only draws visitors as a stark reminder of those darker repressed times, but as well, it is home to jackass penguins & the year round resident caspian terns, who ride the eddies & thermals generated off its cliffs.

While many folk are happy to lap up the Cape’s natural wonders & beaches, most head off into the wine country & Stellenbosch –vintages from Nederberg, Meerlust & Boschendal are worth the journey alone & one of the best known wine estates ( Buitenverwachting ) sums up in two words this fair city & surrounds : “beyond expectations”.

Head west of Cape Town, travelling the Garden Route which ideally has to be self-driven to really be appreciated. From the Slang River near Heidelberg, eastwards to the Tsitsikamma Forest & Storms River an exquisite variety of flora & fauna abound, ranging from magnificent fynbos & protea species, to dense tropical forests. Richly endowed by nature, graced with golden beaches, lakes, lagoons & meandering river valleys, it is a route that should be taken in stages. Accommodation is plentiful & varied, ranging from up-market boutique hotels to cottage bed & breakfasts. The combination of delightful climate, spectacular coastline scenery & attractions all contribute to the international acclaim the Garden Route rightly enjoys.

Durban is well north, warmed by the Indian Ocean. It sizzles in summer & has a wonderfully mild winter climate, but owes its reputation as a ‘hot-spot’ for a variety of unrelated reasons.

Firstly it has wonderful beaches; its port is South Africa’s busiest & it boasts the widest variety of restaurants & pubs perched right at harbourside. The restaurants extend all over Durban with fine Italian, colonial & especially Indian faire - a ‘must’ for the culinary enthusiast.

An hour's drive north in Kwa Zulu Natal lies Shakaland – the focal point of the Zulu Kingdom, with its craft markets & traditional cultural performances offered twice daily in this working, living community.

And then there is the mighty Drakensberg mountain range, recently proclaimed as a World Heritage Site for its superb examples of Bushmen paintings, soul-feeding vistas, mountain trails & invigorating walks.

South Africa for the nature lover, is not a land in which you journey – it is a land in which you choose to wander. It is vast, untamed with a natural glory that sees some of the best preserved species of animals & birds on the African continent. Fiercely guarding their heritage & well being after decades now thankfully past of unscrupulous hunting, here, you can discover nineteen National Parks headed by the famed Kruger National Park, which itself covers an area the size of Israel.

You may be wondering why we haven’t yet addressed what is likely the greatest international visitor drawcard to South Africa – it’s animals - amongst which the “Big 5” consisting of lion, leopard, cape buffalo, rhino & elephant - have & likely always will lure filmmakers, amateur photographers, novelists, screen-play writers, eco-adventurers, anthropologists & nature seekers alike.

Intricate networks of good roads, some sealed, others in remote areas of hardened dirt & the many bush airstrips mean that even the most rugged & distant regions of South Africa’s wilderness are easily accessible. Forge a new bond with nature, come to witness all manner of wonderful creatures from the large cat family predators to many species of antelope, zebra, wildebeest, giraffe, hyena, African wild dog, hippo, black & white rhino & elephant.

But we ask you leave only footsteps & take only memorable visionary experiences on film & in the recesses of your mind & soul.

Close to 900 species of birds greet each new South African dawn – & if you have never seen the primary pink hues & felt the first rays of African sun, or heard the myriad of bird calls, distinctive shrill cries of a fish eagle or the flashes of the brilliant colours as beating wings take to the skies in search of breakfast, then you have to this point in your life, missed out on what is an awe-inspiring & unbeatable experience of nature.

The raptors – eagles, hawks & falcons abound. So too vultures, who soar & glide on the daytime thermals in their relentless search for carrion. Orioles, rollers, bishop birds, loeries & hoopoes provide flashes of brilliance against the backdrops & muted tones of the bushveld. Around water, be it a lake, river, dam or water hole you’ll likely find spoonbills, pelicans, herons, cranes, stork & dippers wading in the shallows.

And amid all of this natural raw beauty, some of the most luxurious exclusive accommodation & lodges, delight. They cover the spectrum with decant glass ceilings, forest chalets, rondavels, fabulously appointed tree houses & tented bush lodges.

Indulge & be pampered by the hand picked staffs of these amazing places -the pick of Private Game lodges such as Lion Sands, Singita, Londolozi, Ulusaba, Thornybush, Mala Mala, Leopard Hills, Kapama Lodge, Bongani Mountain Lodge, Phinda, Shamwari, Jaci’s Camp at Madikwe, Ngala & Elephant Plains are but a few of the finest examples. Say them out aloud to yourself & the hair on the back of your neck may well rise up as you conjure up minds’ eye imagery of what you are anticipating witnessing. In these reserves it is nature that holds sway. Unspoiled, untarnished, relentless & unforgiving in its brutality, here you can & quite possibly will witness the ‘Big 5’ in a single day.

But to be there & watch a lion kill, to be awakened to the awesome power & aftermath of the prides ravenous eating, is something that words alone fail to describe. Or at first light, follow leopard tracks in the sandy & loamy soil until suddenly, there it is, resplendent, vibrant & above all, free.

Then there the sight of the fastest beast in the animal kingdom - the cheetah. A combination of raw muscle, explosive acceloration & precision balance provided by a rudder like tail as it hurtles after prey with blinding speed reaching upwards of 90 kph in bursts of 300 to 350 metres. Witnessing cheetahs hunting has to be one of the special sightings of an African safari experience.

Find herds of buffalo, wildebeest & zebra grazing on the savannah & see both black & white rhino in greater numbers than anywhere else in Africa. Then, the most majestic of all animals - African elephant, - still treading the same trails their ancestors & ancient forebears frod with a determination ingrained from decades past.

The combination of ancient history, indigenous peoples from a repressed past now coming of age & being drawn into a dawning of this new & modern era; the diversity of amazing landscapes blended & tempered with rugged coastline; the multi-cultural richness of the cities & the wild, untamed splendor of the savannah & bushveld populated by species of wildlife & animals - many of whom teetered close to the brink of extinction but of which now are back & thriving - is a wonder to behold. This land, this awakening giant is calling out & beckoning to those wanting new, invigorating experiences unlike anywhere else. Simply put, there is nowhere like South Africa on this earth.

When you answer the call it will captivate you way & beyond the immediacy of the time you invest. As when you leave, you will not only take with you an awareness that invades the soul, but you will inherit a spirituality to draw you back time & again to this sprawling land - South Africa.