visitor

Brand South Africa's official website -http://www.southafrica.info/- posted record figures last month, achieving 2.5 million page impressions in March. And in another record, the number of unique visitors going to the site, which is managed by BigMedia, increased to a record 247 000 in March. 

The locals have long known it, and now UK visitors agree: South Africa is the most beautiful country on earth. In the 2006 Reader's Travel Awards by UK magazine Conde Nast Traveller, South Africa's scenery scored 97.8% - the highest in the world - with the country being voted the world's fifth-best tourist destination.

Barbara Ludman (re)learns how to live in the moment at South Africa's home of "ubuntu Buddhism", and one of the most beautiful spots on the planet: the laid back, but not disengaged, Buddhist Retreat Centre near the town of Ixopo in KwaZulu-Natal.

A cast of the world's most complete pre-human fossil, one of the most significant fossil finds ever made, can now be seen by visitors to the Maropeng visitor interpretation centre at South Africa's Cradle of Humankind world heritage site.

"Are we about to witness an ideological shift in the ANC? I don't think so." Sir Anthony O'Reilly, chief executive of Independent News & Media, explains why he regards South Africa as a modern-day miracle - and why he thinks the miracle isn't over.

The South African government has set aside R3.8-billion for public transport infrastructure for the 2010 Soccer World Cup, says Transport Minister Jeff Radebe.

Swedish entrepreneur Stephan Ekbergh has launched his latest venture, a one-stop travel portal, in SA and plans to move his headquarters to Cape Town. South Africa and his new business, he says, have a lot in common.

What's plastic, a metre long, brightly coloured and sounds like an elephant? It's the vuvuzela, the noise-making trumpet of South African football fans, and it's come to symbolise the sport in the country.

Describing South Africa as "a country enjoying the benefits of high commodity prices, solid growth and low interest rates", a special report by London's influential Financial Times has expressed qualified praise for SA's economic successes.

Region subtropicale, temperee par un ocean sur les trois cotes du pays et par l'altitude du plateau interieur, elle presente des conditions chaudes et temperees si typiques de l'Afrique du Sud et tellement appreciees des visiteurs etrangers.