By Beate Pechmann
Cape Winelands, South Africa: Visitors to Cape Town looking to experience local culture should take a two-hour drive to the Robertson Wine Valley in the Cape Winelands, South Africa’s hottest new gastronomic destination. The Robertson Small Hotel, a 10-room five-star boutique hotel is the perfect base to stay during the region’s vibrant festival season in 2012. (Rooms rates start from ZAR 650 per person sharing).
Hands-on-Harvest, the Wacky Wine Weekend and the Robertson Slow are just three top events of many that will take place next year the Robertson …

By Katie Hamilton
When all you crave is the company of your loved one and nothing else, after an overload of friends and relatives and wedding plans, Rhino River Camp offers the ultimate cathartic escape. Fresh-faced and eager to please, the brand-new lodge offers a novel alternative to the traditional safari camp. With the unique design of its canvas suites, your world is reduced to nothing but a nest of treated wood, plush linen and soft cushions perched high amongst the trees of the riverine forest where the camp is set. …

By Katie Hamilton
Tucked away in a quiet corner of paradise, with a dazzling beach to its front and dense bush concealing it from behind, Azura’s brand-new Beach Villa offers its guests all the trademark Azura luxury and style – at a lead in price.
With its thatched roof and rustic elegance holding true to the Azura style, the Beach Villa offers an appealing alternative to Azura’s Luxury and Infinity Villas. Although slightly smaller in size, no luxury has been compromised. The Beach Villa showcases the stylish afro-chic finishing’s of the larger …

By Katie Hamilton
Going abroad for a holiday together can be one of the most rewarding ways to spend time as a family. However, it is also a notoriously rare occurrence for them to go smoothly. We’ve all experienced the dark side of family holidays – stressed parents, screaming toddlers, and grumpy teenagers. With so many varying requirements and needs to accommodate, it takes something quite exceptional to produce a seamless, unforgettable family-bonding experience where everyone is truly happy.
Luckily for you and your family, Royal Zambezi Lodge does just that. Located …

By Judy Darley
There’s something uniquely fascinating about visiting a country in a time of flux. Ideally you should do this once the smoke has dispersed and the threat of violence is no more than a quiet rumble in recent memory. Yet you want to go there before the new regime is fully established, when people understand their new role, but have yet to fully embrace it.
That was the timing I hit on when I visited Hammamet in Tunisia. Just six months since the revolution was unleashed with a single, desperate …

By Katie Hamilton
Rhino River Camp is a new exclusive eco boutique safari lodge located in Kenya’s stunning Meru National Park where the legend of Elsa, the Born Free lioness began. It comprises of five beautiful tented suites built out of caramel canvas and raised on stilts above the romantic Kindani River. Whether it’s spotting the big game, the rare bird species or simply letting all those little stresses melt away in beautiful surroundings, a stay at Rhino River Camp will ensure a once in a lifetime African holiday.
Meru National Park …

By Rupert Parker
Tourists are staying away from Egypt because of the recent upheavals in the Middle East, but  get there now to enjoy the ancient monuments in complete peace and quiet. Tourism here is big business and is one of the country’s main sources of income.  Numbers are way down – normally around 300 cruise boats ply the Nile but there are less than 30 running, most of them docked at Luxor. Coach parks are empty and even the camel drivers are having a hard time.
My Nile cruise takes me …

By Rupert Parker
Now the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) no longer advises against all but essential travel for Tunisia, UK holidaymakers will soon be returning to the North African country.
Although Tunisair has been operating its normal schedule since 17th January to Tunis, the major tour operators including Thomas Cook, Thomson and First Choice only resumed their flight schedules to Monastir on 27th February.
Anissa Ramoundi, the UK & Ireland Director for The Tunisian National Tourist Office says “Tunisia has experienced a period of political unrest and great change, however the …