Cape Town
Cape Town is the capital of the Western Cape. Table Mountain is the spectacular backdrop to the city, and the summit can be reached by Cableway. Cape Town's Victoria and Albert Waterfront is a popular area with shops, entertainment venues and over 80 restaurants. Trips may be offered to Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens and Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned during the apartheid era.
Durban
Durban is the busiest port in South Africa and is a popular tourist resort. It is famous for the Golden Mile, a long stretch of sandy beach ideal for surfers, swimmers and sunbathers, and bordered by uShaja Marine World, hotels and some of Durban's best Art Deco buildings. The city's Sri Sri Radhanath Temple of Understanding is a new and opulent temple which is open to visitors and has an underground restaurant.
Maputo
The capital of Mozambique is also known as the City of Acacias, and was once a Portuguese Colony. The railway station and the Iron House were built by Gustav Eiffel who designed the Eiffel Tower, and south of the city are several reserves and national parks, including the Maputo Elephant Reserve where visitors can also see flamingos, leopards, crocodiles and hippos. Locals sell wood carvings and batik cloth from stalls on the beach.
Port Elizabeth
Port Elizabeth is a green city with a number of parks and gardens, including the large and wildlife-rich Settler's Park. The Donkin Trail is a good way to see the city's sites, taking in the market Square and grand City Hall, the gothic library and old settler cottages. Beyond the city is the Big Five game reserve of Shamwari and Addo Elephant Park, where Cape Buffalo can also be seen.
Richards Bay
This industrial port in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, is the gateway to Zululand, the dunes, swamp, forests and wildlife of St Lucia Wetlands - hippos and crocodiles, pelicans, storks and flamingoes - and Hluhluwe Umfolosi Game Reserve. Other trips may be offered to the Shakaland Experience, a recreation of a Zulu homestead. Richards Bay has a new waterfront shopping mall, the Boardwalk.
Walvis Bay
This Namibian town is famous for the nearby sand dunes, the largest being Dune 7 offering wide-ranging views of the coast. Offshore is a large platform built to collect guano, now a major export, and an unusual and popular restaurant built on a raft. The area around Walvis Bay is an important wetland, a habitat for flamingos and the Damara tern. Trips may be offered to the Namib Desert, the Skeleton Coast - an inhospitable and arid terrain fronted by pounding surf and over a thousand shipwrecks - Swakopmund, Pelican Point seal colony and Sandwich Harbour.
Zanzibar (Tanzania)
The archipelago of Zanzibar off the coast of Tanzania has white sand beaches and a string of coral reefs. Its main industries are dhow building and the cultivation of cloves, cinnamon and ginger, both of which feature on tours. Stone Town is the old quarter of Zanzibar City, and a World Heritage Site with many interesting buildings built from coral rock. The Old Dispensary's four stories are decorated with wood-carved balconies and the House of Wonders with its tiers of pillars is now the Museum of History and Culture.