Rising from the plains of the north, Joburg is a modern metropolis, the powerhouse of South Africa, its veins coursing with rivers of gold. Yet for all the country’s natural wonders, it is human history that is writ large in Johannesburg: moving museums chart the difficult story of Apartheid, while the Cradle of Humankind is home to the largest concentration of ancient human fossils ever discovered, a fascinating glimpse into where human life began. 

Your African Experiences:  Visit lively Soweto, where the future feels bright: enterprising communities have transformed their townships with arts centers, theatres and hip new eateries, the streets lavished with murals as colorful as the jacaranda trees in spring

Set within the wild confines of Kruger National Park, Sabi Sand promises some of the finest wildlife-watching in South Africa. Seasoned safari-goers spend their days watching leopards snooze from the branches or waiting patiently for an elephant herd to trundle down to the riverbed, before returning to some of the most opulent lodges in the country, trading tales beneath immense, star-laden skies as the trilling, night-time melodies of the bush recommence.

Your A&K Experiences: Head out on twice-daily game drives through this wild paradise, looking out for the Big Five (lion, leopard, elephant, rhino and Cape buffalo) and a host of other species, including cheetahs, giraffes and endangered African wild dogs, before ending each day with sundowners around the fire pit.

The local Lozi name it the “Smoke that Thunders”: a wholly fitting epithet for Africa’s liquid marvel, where the Zambezi River roars 300ft down a chasm on its zigzagging course between Zambia and Zimbabwe. The world’s greatest sheet of falling water is an epic sight, its power and beauty unrivalled, a place rich in wildlife and geological history, where ancient basalt rock is drenched beneath those famous mists, curling up from the gorge like the soul of the river itself.

Your A&K Experiences: Set out on a privately guided walking tour of the Falls, taking in the magnificent rainbows and towers of mist as the Zambezi tumbles into the chasm below, before delving into the wildlife-rich forests of Zambezi National Park on a shared game drive.

Forever shapeshifting beneath the sun, the Okavango is Africa’s mercurial wonder, a flooded paradise where rivulets run like cheetahs, oxbow lakes lie still and serene, and islets come and go with the tides. Unlike most deltas, the waters of the Okavango never reach the sea, as if guarded jealously by the land. And what treasures it hoards: from prowling lions and vast herds of wildebeest to hundreds of species of birds, wading and watching from the water’s edge.

Your A&K Experiences: Heed the call of the Big Five with morning and evening game drives in a custom-built vehicle accompanied by an experienced A&K guide, before relaxing with a sundowner in the camp’s well-stocked library.

Stand atop Table Mountain and see fertile seams of natural beauty threading through the city below, from the fynbos-covered hills of Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens to the soul-melting sunsets of Lion’s Head and the sands of Boulders Beach, home to thousands of African penguins. Down by the docks, the chic V&A Waterfront is hosts the Zeitz MOCCA, the largest collection of contemporary African art in the world, while the food and wine across melting pot Bo-Kaap and trendy Woodstock are an artform themselves.

Your African Experiences: Explore the spectacular Cape Peninsula under your steam: stroll through the bohemian fishing community of Kalk Bay, famous for its art galleries and resident seals; meet the penguins of Simon’s Town with a local conservationist or take a hike within Table Mountain National Park, keeping your eyes peeled for ostriches, baboons and mountain zebras.