South Africa Highlights
Cape Town
Arguably the most beautiful city in the world, Cape Town is also one of the most laid back. Like all South African cities, it is a cocktail of first and third worlds. The British-built Georgian buildings, cobbled streets and ancient oaks may look European and the shops, hotels and restaurants are some of the best on the continent, but the vast townships stretching across the plains east of the city could only be in Africa. On a clear day, Robben Island, Nelson Mandela's prison for nearly 20 years, is easily visible from across the bay.
Table Mountain
Locals simply call it "the mountain", for this famous flat-topped block of sandstone dominating Table Bay is a lodestone to all who live there - a compass, an anchor, a wilderness in the heart of the Mother City. No visit to Cape Town is complete without a view from the top. On the mountain's eastern slopes are the magnificent 560-hectare Kirstenbosch National Botanic Gardens, where formally laid-out beds display some of South Africa's showiest flora before blending into the natural protea fynbos and yellowwood forests on the mountain slopes.
Cape Peninsula
The Cape Peninsula, where two oceans meet, must rank as one of the most beautiful and striking sights in the world, let alone the continent. Cape Town's urban areas spread across the extreme northern end of a 100-km sliver of land, whose southern tip is the famous Cape of Good Hope. Here, precipitous mountain passes link innumerable coves and sandy beaches, villages and fishing communities like beads on a necklace.
The Winelands
Picturesque wine-growing towns east of Cape Town include Worcester, with its elegant architecture and beautiful setting at the foot of the Hex River Mountains; Robertson, whose local dessert wines and brandies enjoy an excellent reputation; and historic Tulbagh, restored immaculately after a series of earthquakes. Closer to Cape Town are Paarl, with its popular wine route that includes a number of first-class restaurants, and Franschoek, cradled by spectacular mountains and home to the beautiful 300-year-old Boschendal estate. Stellenbosch, cultural jewel of the winelands, has the largest number of Cape Dutch houses of any town in the region.
The Garden Route
The famous "Garden Route" is an area of lush, bountiful scenery along the Cape's east coast, and is extremely popular as a driving tour. This is very much an African garden: not the manicured lawns of Europe, but a rich belt of rugged coastline, flanked by indigenous rainforests, blue lagoons, parallel rows of serrated mountain peaks and fields bright with fynbos (low shrubs and bushes). The Route passes through some beautiful old Cape Dutch towns such as Arniston and Swellendam, and in the seas off the coast, you can often spot whales, particularly the southern right whale.
The Wild Coast
The Wild Coast lies between Port Edward in the north and Morgan's Bay in the south, and its wildness is apparent from the moment its deep ravines, steep cliffs and waterfalls come into view. Properly speaking, however, the coast was named after the reefs and rocks some distance offshore, which posed such a danger to shipping in the past. Port Edward marks the start of the splendid 200-km Wild Coast Hiking Trail, one of South Africa's best, which takes a full two weeks to hike. Here, you can walk for days without seeing another human being.
Durban
Named in 1835 after the Governor of the British Cape Colony, Durban is today more commonly known to its Zulu residents as eThekweni (place of the sea). South Africa's third-largest city, and one of the biggest and busiest ports in Africa, it is also South Africa's most popular holiday resort, thanks to a seductive subtropical climate, excellent beaches and year-round warm seas. However, what really makes Durban distinct from anywhere else in South Africa is its large Indian community - around one million strong.
Lake St Lucia Complex
On the central Zululand coast, Lake St Lucia is actually an estuary, opening to the sea at the southern end and running parallel to it while separated from it by some of the highest forested dunes in the world - a unique ecological system. In the north, the lake widens considerably and the three interlinked nature reserves encompassing the area are an intriguing mosaic of lakes, rivers, pans, swamp forests, open grasslands, dune forests and wide open deserted beaches. The estuary mouth is said to be the only place in the world where you can see sharks, hippos and crocodiles sharing the same habitat.
KwaZulu-Natal Battlefields Route
The Zulus were once a mighty military power, and the late 18th and early 19th centuries were characterised by almost constant Zulu warfare - against neighbouring clans, against the Afrikaner Voortrekkers, and against various British regiments. Legendary leaders such as Shaka are still a source of fireside tales and a symbol of both resistance and national pride. KwaZulu-Natal's historic "Battlefields Route" bears fascinating and sometimes chilling testament to these torrid times.
The Drakensberg
The craggy Drakensberg mountain range stretches from the Thukele region in the south to the northwest border of KwaZulu-Natal. Here, the edge of the huge inland plateau (highveld) swoops abruptly down to the coastal plains, providing breathtaking views, plus excellent opportunities for hiking and motoring. The Drakensberg's jagged cliffs are most spectacular along the border with Lesotho, and its eastern slopes and foothills provide a backdrop for some rich birdlife, including flycatchers and the shy bush blackcap.
Diamond Country - Kimberley
In around 1870, Kimberley was the fastest-growing city in the country, but when the diamond rush petered out in the 1930s, it went rapidly into decline. To get an idea of the heyday of diamond prospecting, visit the excellent open-air Mine Museum, where you can see a collection of 40 original buildings such as Barney Barnato's Boxing Academy, the diggers' tavern, and the custom-built De Beers directors' private railway coach. In De Beers Hall, there is an exquisite collection of uncut diamonds, all of which come from the nearby mine known as The Big Hole, some 800 metres deep and 470 metres wide.
Johannesburg
E'Goli - the City of Gold, Johannesburg is the pulsating heart of South Africa's industrial and commercial life where, more than a mile below bustling city traffic, miners dig for the world's most precious metal. At street level, stockbrokers and company directors rub shoulders with street vendors and traditional healers, and ultra-modern corporate towers dwarf noisy pavement stalls. It's the capital of Gauteng province, but many Jo'burgers also see their city as the unofficial capital of South Africa, and fervently defend it against the more obvious charms of places like Cape Town.
Kruger National Park
Set in classic bushveld wilderness, Africa's oldest wildlife sanctuary offers a wealth of natural splendour. The Kruger National Park has an extraordinarily rich and diverse bird and animal life, and this, combined with its tremendous size (it is roughly the size of Israel) is what makes it one of the world's great game reserves. The prime game-viewing season is winter (July to August), and visitors can spot lion, leopard, cheetah, elephant, buffalo, hippo, crocodile, giraffe and many other species.