Sydafrika

Home to some of South Africa’s most striking landscapes, the Drakensberg Escarpment was, until a couple of centuries ago, untamed rainforest roamed by elephants, buffaloes and even lions. Today, it’s holidaying South Africans and, increasingly, international visitors who wander the highlands, enjoying the beautiful landscape in their droves. The escarpment marks the point where the highveld plateau plunges down 1000m to the lowveld, forming a dramatic knot of soaring cliffs, canyons, sweeping hillsides and cool valleys thick with pine trees and waterfalls – an apt backdrop for the myriad adventure activities that are on offer here.

The windswept coastline and desolate mountains on the western side of Western Cape are a peaceful, largely undeveloped paradise. You’ll find whitewashed fishing villages, fascinating country towns, unspoilt beaches, a lagoon and wetlands teeming with birds, plus one of the best hiking regions in the country.

Nelspruit (now officially called Mbombela, though locals rarely use the new moniker) is Mpumalanga’s functional provincial capital. It's more a place to get things done than a worthwhile destination for tourists, but it's not unpleasant and has the facilities to make it a practical stopover on the way elsewhere. Well connected to Jo'burg, it's a good place to organise a trip to Kruger National Park, the Blyde River Canyon, Swaziland or Mozambique.

Vagabonds bästa tips för en familjeresa till Sydafrika.

Mpumalanga is one of South Africa’s smallest provinces and one of its most exciting. Visually, it's as beautiful as it is diverse, with mountain vistas, lush green valleys, arid bush, subtropical plantations and cool-climate towns. Its natural assets make it a prime target for outdoor enthusiasts, who come to abseil down waterfalls, throw themselves off cliffs, raft or tube down rivers, explore subterranean caves, gallop through grasslands, and hike or bike forest trails.

Up there on the podium with the world’s great ecotourism destinations, and near the top of the scribbled list marked ‘Places I Must See in South Africa’, the Elephant Coast (formerly ‘Maputaland’) is a phenomenal stretch of natural beauty, with a fabulously diverse mix of environments and wildlife.

If there's one thing that Stellenbosch is renowned for, it is wine. There are hundreds of estates scattered around the outskirts of the town, many of which produce world-class wines. A tour of the wineries with their many tasting options and superlative restaurants will likely form the backbone of your visit, but there is a lot more to see.

Limpopo, which occupies South Africa's northern reaches, is a huge and diverse province characterised by traditional cultures, an interesting historical story, vast open spaces and terrific wildlife watching. In Mapungubwe National Park visitors can walk through the country's most significant Iron Age site, gaze from a rocky bluff over the riverine landscape where South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe meet, and observe birds, big cats and rhinos. Culture and traditional art shine in the enigmatic region of Venda, an area dotted with landforms of great spiritual significance. Nature takes centre stage in the Waterberg, where the eponymous Unesco biosphere reserve has endless skies, a landscape of distinctly South African beauty and great safari opportunities, particularly in Marakele National Park. Best of all, few travelers make it up here to the north, making it one of the country's most rewarding destinations.

På Babylonstoren odlas frukter och grönsaker, men också en hel del kryddor. Med bergen som fond breder vackra odlingsmarker ut sig och där, på den Sydafrikanska landsbygden, kan man stanna och övernatta.

This stretch of bushveld between Pretoria and the Kalahari is famous for Sun City, the southern hemisphere’s answer to Las Vegas. Though its slot machines and kitsch edifices are grotesquely fascinating, it's the nearby parks and reserves that we really love – Madikwe Game Reserve is a real gem, while Pilanesberg has terrific wildlife and is very accessible. And for that once-in-a-lifetime, romantic Out of Africa–style experience, a night in the bush at Madikwe’s exclusive lodges can’t be beaten.