South Africa

• The Cape Escape - Cape Town
• My Mountain High in Cape Town - Cape Town
• The Drop Zone - Cape Town
• On the trail to true adventure - Johannesburg
• The great es-Cape - Cape Town
• Come into the Garden - The Garden Route
• My Zulu Extravaganza - Durban
• Up Close and Personal - South African Safari
• Tracking Big Game - Kruger National Park
• Sleeping with the Lions - South African Safari
• A Safari with real pride - South African Safari
• Where the Lion King comes to Life - South African Safari
• Our guide to the top 10 safaris - South African Safari
• A Roaring Success - Victoria Falls
• Come into the Garden - The Garden Route
• The Worlds Most Beautiful Road? - The Garden Route
• Zipping off to Zanzibar - Zanzibar, Kenya
• Africa's catch of the day - Mozambique
• The Cape escape… and it was right up my Street - Garden Route: South Africa
• The nation kissed by a rainbow - South Africa
• Our wild silver wedding! - Kenya
• The chic side of this Rainbow Nation - South Africa

WHEN I HEARD THAT the African elephant’s closest living relative lived at the top of Table Mountain, I wasn’t expecting to see a tiny, toothy furball perched precariously on a rocky outcrop, regally surveying the beaches and city bowl of Cape Town below.

The rock dassie, which looks like a guinea pig but bigger, stared at me defiantly. South Africa is full of surprises.

The salty tang of seaweed andhope hangs in the air down at the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront in Cape Town, where colourful trawlers click-clack alongside boats taking tourists shark-spottingin Table Bay.

The shadow of apartheid still hangs over the townships, the inner-city grassland of District 6 from where families were forcibly removed, and Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 18 years.

But there’s a positive feeling among the bustling waterside cafes and shops - a new era is kicking off as Cape Town gets ready for the 2010 World Cup. With a vibrant waterfront, fantastic

food and wine, sugar-soft sand beaches and a menagerie of wildlife, it’s now a world class city. And, thanks to a weak rand, it’s comparatively cheap to visit.

There’s a positive feeling

Leading the way in this celebration of the Rainbow Nation is South African tycoon Sol Kerzner - the brain behind Atlantis at the Palm Jumeirah in Dubai and the exclusive One & Only resorts.

He has now opened a One & Only in Cape Town showcasing the best local food, art and wine. While boasting all the usual five-star attributes, the resort has also won an elusive accolade, the approval of notoriously critical Capetonians.

The hotel has garnered this support by introducing two celebrity restaurants to the city: Nobu and Gordon Ramsay’s Maze.

Combined with the stunning open-plan Vista lobby bar, with floor-to-ceiling windows offering spectacular views of Table Mountain, they have made the hotel a destination in itself.

A big statement like One & Only Cape Town needed decor to match, and New York based designer Adam D. Tihany has created eye-catching interiors with bold fixtures, African-influenced colour schemes and rich, dark woods.

South African art plays an important part in the design and large-scale canvasses adorn the hotel. There’s even a mezzanine branch of Cape Town’s Goodman Gallery, with exhibitions and the chance to buy local art.

You can admire Table Mountain from the pool

Contemporary design is also on the menu at the restaurants. Nobu’s sleek sake bar overlooks the dark-wood dining room and sushi counter where die-hard fans, including Matt Damon, have enjoyed a fix of Japanese food.

The tasting menu is ideal for indecisive types, and Nobu classics such as black cod appear alongside dishes using local seafood. Gordon Ramsay’s Maze also celebrates local produce with a cold seafood bar featuring Cape crayfish and huge Mozambique prawns.

Maze is shielded by a triple-level wine loft where more than 5,000 bottles, from Cape classic vintages to new wineries, are displayed in a glass library. A hundred of them are available by the glass.

The winelands themselves, at Paarl and Stellenbosch, are only 45 minutes from the city. There’s more temptation before you reach Maze’s impressive dining area as you wander past the dessert station, where chefs create delicious puddings and rows of colourful macaroons.

Ramsay came to Cape Town to source local produce and, thanks to the combination of South African and international fare, it’s possible to enjoy a simple dish of pap (a creamy African maize porridge) with an ostrich steak, springbok steak or £75 Australian Wagyu beef steak: luxury meets local.

There are many other surprises. Walk into Vista, for example, and you find yourself inside a buzzing city bar - but exit through the back doors and you find yourself in the heart of the resort.

There are two landscaped islands: one with a luxury ESPA spa and the other featuring a freeform infinity pool, Italian restaurant and 40 villa suites. Marina Rise – the main part of the hotel – has 91 rooms and two residential penthouse suites.

Each room is huge – even standard rooms are a minimum of 678sq ft. On the ESPA spa island you can grab a haircut, manicure or just chill out with a massage.

Visitors can use the ‘heat experiences’ - a sauna, steam room and heat pool with massage beds, jets and showers, while an ice fountain dispenses a shower of frozen chunks to cool you down.

You can admire Table Mountain from the pool - and it’s not far to the cable car that will carry you to the top.

Cape Town has it all

Here, you’ll be met by dassies, lizards and a 360-degree view of the Cape Peninsula and the city and beaches.

Back in the city, a stroll down Long Street will give you a taste of Capetonian life as you pass funky cafes and the Pan- African market selling crafts.

Up the hill you’ll reach Bo-Kaap, the Cape Malay area where a rainbow of houses painted hot pink, babyblue and parma-violet are all lined up like the macaroons in Maze.

Cape Town has it all - a hot destination for foodies, art and wine lovers, wildlife-spotters and culture-vultures alike.