South Africa
Rainforests and deserts, mountains and volcanoes make South Africa a hiker’s wet dream. For trails, though, look beyond the tackily developed, if beautiful, Garden Route. Take a hike along the Wild Coast, with bottle-nosed dolphins leaping excitedly offshore amongst the wrecks of seventeenth century treasure ships, or trek through the jagged teeth of the Drakensburg Mountains and be a part of something way more dramatic.
Offshore, South Africa hosts the Billabong Pro Surfing event and offers dazzling fish and plenty of wrecks for the scuba diver or part-time snorkler. Even better, dive with sharks and come face to jaws with Hammerheads and Great Whites, controversially attracted by bait (you).
The wildlife of South Africa reads like the cast list of ‘The Lion King’: behind the Big Five royalty (lions, leopards, black rhinos, Cape buffaloes and elephants) come a procession of baboons and hyenas, meerkats and warthogs, wildebeest and zebra. Noah would be proud.
You can get even closer to the wildlife by inspecting them from the inside before they disappear off the braai and into your belly. Sample ostrich, springbok, crocodile and almost anything else that isn’t on the endangered list. Recover with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc at a Cape Dutch vineyard set in the beautiful mountain scenery around Cape Town. It's only polite to take advantage of the free tastings, but a bottle is cheap and all too good.
Your drinking buddies will be a diverse bunch: the nomadic San; the Bantu Xhosa, Zulu and Sotho; the Cape Muslims and Afrikaners; coloureds, Jews and Indians. Unbelievably, these people spent over 40 years living under the laws of apartheid and the fault lines are still very much in evidence.
Respect this history: it is painfully real. Robben Island, Nelson Mandela's cage for 27 years, is now a symbol of freedom for South Africa with tours given by former inmates. A guided tour around Soweto or one of the townships around Cape Town is vital to break through the thick tourist insulation that could surround you. Come and feel the real South Africa.