South Africa is a land of many different cultures and diverse values – a mix that is at once the root of its many challenges and the bud of its great potential. But on one thing there is general accord: this is a beautiful land, and the traveller is faced with an almost unlimited choice of what to see and do. The canvas is kaleidoscopic; variety and contrast are vividly evident in the astonishing mix of race and language, creed, colour and culture. The diversity is there, too, in the nature of the land; in its geological formations and regional climates; its mountains, plains and coasts; its rich farmlands; and its bushveld scrub and deserts. South Africa is, truly, a world in one country.