South Africa

If your idea of a great holiday involves boots, a backpack, and a view earned by climbing rather than driving to it, South Africa has terrain that belongs on your list. The Free State and the Drakensberg mountain range, in particular, offer some of the country's most rewarding, least crowded hiking. Mushroom Rock: One of South Africa's Strangest Landmarks Near the village of Clarens in the Free State sits Mushroom Rock, a sandstone formation carved by centuries of wind and wa

First-Timers in South Africa: The Flowers and Coastline of Namaqualand Most first-time visitors head straight for Cape Town, Kruger, and the Garden Route, and those destinations deserve their reputation. But tucked into the Northern Cape is one of South Africa's strangest, most beautiful phenomena, and one almost no international visitor knows to look for: Namaqualand. The Flower Kingdom Most Visitors Never See For most of the year, Namaqualand looks like semi-desert: dry, ru