Thinking of travelling to Africa? Good idea; here's why...

Africa is a continent of beauty and excitement, fuelled by a history of diaspora and colonisation, of gold rushes and frontier wars. It is not a place easy to define - forests grow arrogantly alongside semi-desert, sub-tropical plantations lie insolently below bushveld escarpments, sprawling conurbations hum an hour from plains of wildlife. It is truly like the world scaled down into one land mass.

The misconception of "darkest Africa", where lions and giraffes roam the streets, is just that, a misconception, but the reality for the nature-lover jaded with the out-hunted, over-developed European landscape is that there is a relatively untouched wildness here found nowhere else.

In certain areas, of course, you'll be forgiven for thinking you're still in Europe, but that is part of the diversity of Africa: a dizzying mix of colonial influence and traditional practice. Within this 400-year-old melée, you'll genuinely feel you're at the heart of time. Whether it is the form of Stone Age San rock artwork or legends spun in the oratory of African poetry, this is unmistakably the Mother Continent.

Africa's contrasts are evident in its people. Races, languages and tribes create a unique culture sometimes at odds with itself, but few inhabitants are as likely to be as friendly.

It is a hospitality not a so much a product of kindness but of neccessity: those born into the unforgiving history of Africa understand that to help another is to do so in the knowledge that one day you, too, may need help. A bonus for the independent traveller must be the favourable exchange rate one can get. But don't be fooled: Africa may be cheap but it is also poor, so basic necessities may cost as much as luxuries.

Zimbabwe will thrill you with splendid views of the Victoria Falls, one of the seven natural wonders of the world, while Zambia's great wilderness bristles with the sticky history of the sub-Saharan tropics. From the rust-coloured deserts of Namibia to diamond-rich Botswana, to the stunning beauty of the Cape at its southern tip, you won't be disappointed for having chosen Africa as your holiday or adventure destination.

Unfortunately, when people think of the Middle East they think of war zones. There is no doubt that the region often hits the headlines for all the wrong reasons, but there is a lot more to this fascinating area than exploding bombs.

The Middle East has a history and culture that is unrivalled anywhere in the world. And as the potential for peace in Israel, Syria and Lebanon increases, more and more people are heading to region.

And with former international pariah Iran opening its borders, the chance to explore the Middle East and soak up the atmosphere has never been better or more rewarding.

One of the wonders of the Middle East is Petra in Jordan. A gigantic and delicately craved city hidden in the rocks, it was lost for hundreds of years before being re-discovered in 1812. From Petra you can make trips into the desert to stay with Bedouin tribes.

After floating on The Dead Sea, which separates Jordan and the West Bank, you can make the short trip into Jerusalem, one of the world’s most revered cities.

The Bible comes to life in Jerusalem – Jericho, Bethlehem, Nazareth and the Tomb of David.

Not everything in the region is religious, however, so if it’s seaside resorts and an underwater paradise that you are looking for, you can’t go past Eilat.

Turkey, the gateway between east and west offers its own variety of delights and attractions. From the Blue Mosque, the only mosque in the world with six minarets, St Sophia, the Byzantine cathedral and the noisy, bustling markets of Istanbul to the stunning Aegean coast and the towns of Ephesus, Kusadasi, Bodrum and Pamukkale.

Or you can head inland to the rugged mountains and the coast along the Black Sea.

Don’t be put off by news reports, the Middle East welcomes visitors with open arms and is one of those rare regions where life continues as it has for centuries.

'Darkest' Africa - with a gigantic mountain rising way above the clouds, Kilimanjaro! Despite its long colonial history and new metropolises, Africa still has much of the old fierce mystery and magic. Traditional kings. The beat of drums. Witchdoctors. Impenetrable jungles and shifting sanddunes. Lions, snakes and crocodiles. And areas where only the most intrepid wanderers - hardly to be called tourists - would go: famine and soldiers. Decaying infrastructures and shops stocked only with bananas and sardines. And yet... Africa has so many secrets the West has lost.

Despite what we would call poverty, there is among most ordinary African people a perennial sunniness. Today is for laughing. Today is for singing! Music at the roots of our jazz, blues and rock n roll, sometimes deep and forgotten roots ! Even at the depths of apartheid, black people who had got up from small poor homes at ungodly hours to commute in from Soweto, the black ghetto, to Johannesburg, were still flashing white smiles around the bleak chasms of that mini New York. Singing in road gangs in time to their shovels. Grinning as they gambled on the pavement in the lunchbreaks, with far more fire than the rich and the winning ever mustered in Monte Carlo!

Of course, some countries draw tourists to well-developed infrastructures including Game (animal) Reserves that are just as serene as they are wild and savage. Though animal life and death parade themselves across the plains of Serengeti or the Kruger Park, you are safe enough.

When it comes to snakes? There are more deaths in Africa from hippos (yes, those cute 'little' hippos!). Coming on land at night, hippos don't like to find people wandering in the dark between them and the water. You are certain to be in your lodge or camp at night, safe and happy. But of course, if you are wandering over the continent, follow the news reports on coups and conflicts!

Africa is sliced by the equator in the middle, the zone of the tropical rainforests, tapering out into semi-desert and vast savannahs. The climate of the northern Mediterranean coast is repeated again at the Southern tip around Cape Town - with long dry summers and mild wet winters, and heathlands with an amazing variety of flowering plants. There are also temperate grasslands, gnawed by semi-desert and, of course, the fabled sandy deserts of the Sahara in north Africa and the Namib in southern Africa. Africa has magnificent mountains where under hot days and cool nights temperate vegetation grows immense and lush!