Dear fellow travellers,

This month we bring you a most delicious and diverse selection of journeys.

Our first stop is the iconic Oyster Box Hotel close to Durban in South Africa. With armfuls of awards, this luxury hotel has all the 5-star amenities you could want but still has that ocean aroma--the one that floods you with memories from childhood vacations by the seaside. The bright red colours reflect the energy and vibrancy and the almost quirky nature of the friendliness of the staff--none of that stiff-upper-lip-how-dare-you-have-fun-in-a 5-star-hotel attitude.

So side-by-side with opulence exists this happy, vibrant, almost eclectic atmosphere. It's an absolute MUST-visit place.

Much lower down the coast, our next stop is the Kogelberg Biosphere in the Western Cape region of South Africa, a highly significant and beautiful piece of our planet. The Reserve is not only one of our most beautiful biospheres but is also the heart of the Cape Floral Kingdom, the world’s most diverse and abundant floral area.

We stay at gorgeous eco-cabins in the mountains--with solar power and long-drops and all--and tell you the story of the area; in my opinion one of the most beautiful in the world.

And speaking of beautiful, award-winning National Geographic adventure photographer, filmmaker and climber Jimmy Chin travelled to South Africa in September on behalf of National Geographic Channel (NGC) and South African Tourism to create a magnificent 60 second vignette in the South African province of Mpumalanga. We tell you all about this series of programs in this month’s issue.

And then for something completely different. More than a year ago I travelled to the amazing land of Turkey on a very special and unique trip. Tourism in the Turkish region of Cappadocia only started about 50 years ago and that is where we found ourselves, climbing into massive underground ancient cities and flying high above this moonscape in hot air balloons. Two big volcanoes erupted three million years ago and created the table top hills familiar to the semi-arid area. Tall, thin spires of rock protrude from the bottom of the arid drainage basin and is a very strange, almost eerie site indeed. Our lodgings here were the cave hotel of Goreme Kaya, in the heart of the tiny tourist town, close to Goreme Open Air Museum and Uchisar Castle. The hotel has all modern amenities and most rooms have private patios with views of the surrounding landscape.

We then go to the immortal city of Istanbul, my favourite city in the world. We sample the cuisine, stay at a magnificent hotel and take in the sights and sounds.

So don't miss this issue of Travel Africa and until next time, bon voyage!

Jo Kromberg, Editor