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A natural wander: Discovers the delights of Cape Town's Disa Gorge trail

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

I thought I knew Table Mountain. After five years as a foreign correspondent in South Africa, I thought I had rambled and scrambled over pretty much all of this rocky wilderness half a mile in the sky above Cape Town. Then a friend said: "Ah, but you haven't been up Disa Gorge. You've missed the best bit."

A natural wander: Discovers the delights of Cape Town's Disa Gorge trail

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

From grim battleground to sparkling playground

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:00:19 GMT

'I'm going to take you the scenic route," says our pilot. It's 24 hours, a bus, Tube and two international flights since I left home in London, so this statement should be met with consternation, if not a riot.

Egypt: Setting sail through the centuries

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 23:00:01 GMT

I had never tried hailing a felucca before, but how hard could it be? We were standing on the banks of the Nile at Aswan. The river is dramatically beautiful here, and races through channels between scattered lush islands. Everywhere, brightly coloured boats were weaving up and down the waterways. There were painted motorboats, big cruisers off in the distance and the elegantly curving white sails of feluccas, the traditional Arab sailing boats. Self-consciously, we raised our arms and started waving.

City Slicker: Tangiers

Sat, 03 Oct 2009 23:00:01 GMT

Why visit?

King Mohammed VI's recent investment in northern Morocco, with Tangiers as its focus, has rescued the once fashionable resort from festering.

How to find a good value hotel in Sharm el Sheikh

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 15:32:10 GMT

Egypt’s playground, Sharm el Sheikh, is now emerging from the fierce heat of its summer months and getting ready for peak season.

Travel By Numbers: Ghana

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 23:00:01 GMT

What's the score on World Cup travel?

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 23:00:01 GMT

'Soccer City': European contenders for that title include Manchester and Liverpool, Rome and Milan, Madrid and Barcelona. But beside Soweto Highway, well beyond the confines of football's "First World", the true Soccer City rises proud – halfway between South Africa's biggest metropolis, Johannesburg, and the sprawling township at the heart of the anti-Apartheid movement.

Travel challenge: A week-long beach break in Egypt

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 23:00:01 GMT

Every week we invite competing companies to give us their best deal for a specified holiday. Today: a Red Sea resort break, departing late September; prices are for two people.

The long march: If you're looking for big game in Zambia, ditch the 4x4 and strike out on foot

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 23:00:01 GMT

The trail had gone cold, lost somewhere in a maze of tracks among the purple pan weed. Our guide, Levy, straightened up, wiped his brow and scanned the treeline – but without conviction. It was nearly two hours since we had found the first tell-tale paw print etched in the dust. This, it seemed, was one lion that did not want to be found.

The long march: If you're looking for big game in Zambia, ditch the 4x4 and strike out on foot

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 23:00:01 GMT

The long march: In search of some big game in Zambia, ditch the 4x4 and strike out on foot

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 23:00:01 GMT

The Complete Guide To: Mauritius

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 23:00:01 GMT

Does Tanzania's wilderness need another five-star hotel?

Sat, 18 Jul 2009 23:00:59 GMT

The president of Tanzania formally opened the newest and most luxurious hotel in the Serengeti last week. Amid the celebrations, President Kikwete sounded a curious note by calling on the country's tourism authorities to go slow on building more hotels in the Unesco World Heritage Site.

Destination unknown: Night kitchens of Zeida

Sat, 18 Jul 2009 23:00:31 GMT

We've dozed fitfully on the way here, as the bus swerves its twisting way through the Atlas foothills, passing headlamps and the dim glow from the dashboard are all that breaks the absolute Moroccan night. I'm half asleep as the bus pulls into town. Rubbing my eyes, as the blur of waking dissolves, I see a wide street, low buildings, a line of buses. Gravel crunches under the tyres as we pull over. It's one o'clock in the morning. We'll be here an hour.

The King and I: An audience with Tutankhamun

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 23:00:59 GMT

Cairo can get to you. There are 19 million souls in the most populous city in Africa and sometimes it seems as if they are all inside your head at once.

The Sun City showman is back – with a touch of class

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 23:00:33 GMT

Even if you've never heard of Sol Kerzner, you would have your breath taken away on arrival at his One&Only hotel in Cape Town. Instead of crossing a featureless expanse of carpet to a standard reception desk, you are greeted by a three-storey sheet of glass, perfectly framing the city's iconic Table Mountain – so perfectly that it looks like a projection.

Travel by numbers: Cape Town

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 23:00:01 GMT

The world ranking of South Africa's wine industry by volume of production. Wine-making began properly here in the 17th century when Governor van der Stel created Groot Constantia, an estate set at the foot of Table Mountain, the wines of which were highly acclaimed in the 18th century. These days Groot Constantia boasts a museum and also holds wine tours costing R25 (£1.90) per person. grootconstantia.co.za

On The Road: A day in the life of Matemwe beach

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 23:00:01 GMT

It's 8.30am and I'm walking barefoot to work, on sand as soft as white pepper. My job today is to check hotels along Matemwe beach, but the real working day here on Zanzibar's shimmering east coast started just after dawn, when the tide went out to the sound of the muezzin's call for prayer.

Five colonial hotels in Africa

Fri, 29 May 2009 23:00:01 GMT

Cottars 1920s Safari Camp, Kenya

Stone age: Travels in ancient Tunisia

Fri, 29 May 2009 23:00:01 GMT

You need a fertile imagination to get the best out of Carthage. While the Romans may have done a lot for us, they certainly did no favours to the most beautiful and richest seaport of the ancient world. During the Punic Wars in 149BC, the Roman senator Cato sent out the order: Delenda est Carthago. In other words, mere victory was not enough: Carthage must be destroyed.

Travel challenge: A short break get-together in a Moroccan riad

Fri, 22 May 2009 23:00:01 GMT

Every week we invite competing companies to give us their best deal for a particular holiday. Today: four nights' hire of a riad (a traditional Moroccan house with an interior garden) in Marrakech. Prices are for the rental of an entire riad in mid-June.

Take your seats, the hippos are about to arrive

Sat, 09 May 2009 23:00:01 GMT

You don't go out on the delta before seven. The hippos are making their way back as sun rises and the last thing you want is to run into one of them. A hippo's jaws would flip our zippy little aluminium swamp boat like a pancake.

Five best walking safaris

Fri, 01 May 2009 23:00:01 GMT

Djibouti: Meet nomadic tribes and brave flying fish in the tiny former French colony

Fri, 01 May 2009 23:00:01 GMT

Being slapped in the face by a wet fish is, it is my duty to inform you, every bit as unpleasant as it sounds – and just as comically uproarious to others. The baby barracuda were whipped up to the top of the sea by the power of our tiny motorboat, the loudest thing for miles around in the Bay of Tadjoura, as we weaved a choppy course through the pitch-black night.