When it comes to diversity South Africa could be said to have produced the gold standard. In terms of cultural, bio and landscape diversity you would have to travel a long way to find a country that can match South Africa. If you're in the country you don't have to travel far to meet with diversity in every sense of the word.

Thanks to its amazing range of habitats, landscapes and climate South Africa has been popular with the human race right from the start, in fact from before the start. Some of the earliest proto-mammal fossils have been discovered in the Karoo region of the country, suggesting that the region was popular with our (and everyone else's) earliest ancestors. Thanks to abundant sunshine, water and habitats that include grasslands, bush, wetlands, sub-tropical forests, deserts and mountainous regions, it remained popular and provided early and late humans with the perfect place to settle. Today the Biltong region remains fertile and diverse in the bio sense, with over 9600 species of plant, 70% of which have found conditions so favourable that they've never developed anywhere else in the world.

Culturally South Africa has always been a bit of a melting pot. The latest settlers included European ones - and like all culturally diverse regions the heritage shows through in the splendid cuisine of the region. Influenced by millennia of practical solutions to a lot of potential four legged protein and no refrigeration, the region developed 'Biltong' a dry cure process for preserving plentiful meat. The name itself originates from early European settlers but the process has been used in the region for considerably longer. South Africa also is home to the oldest wine production regions outside of Europe - another tradition encouraged by European settlers. Cape wines based on classic Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are amongst some of the cheapest and yet most palatable in the world.

The range of landscape in South Africa is stunning. Table Mountain that towers above Cape Town is believed to be the oldest mountain in the world, the region also has the oldest known meteor scar and the ancient geology of the country contains some of the richest sources of the most precious metals and gems in the world. The largest diamond, the Cullinan was mined in South Africa in 1905. This diamond was given to Edward VII and was cut to create the Great Star of Africa, The Lesser Star of Africa which can now be found in the British Crown Jewels. Security concerns in transporting this diamond saw an elaborate, heavily guarded decoy ship employed, while the diamond was actually shipped to Britain by registered parcel post, ensuring that one of the king's 'favourite things' were very definitely brown paper parcels tied up with string.

While South Africa's abundant wildlife has contributed to national dishes like biltong, the South Africans have a healthy respect for the animals that have contributed so selflessly to the country's growth. The state boasts a mass of wildlife reserves and national parks, and this century it has joined forces with Zimbabwe and Mozambique to develop the Great Limpopo Park - a trans-national park of 13,500 which allows the wildlife to roam freely regardless of lines drawn on landscapes. Whatever you are looking for, South Africa will almost certainly be able to provide it.