Dubai

Dubai is a stirring alchemy of profound traditions and ambitious futuristic vision wrapped into starkly evocative desert splendour.

It's hard not to admire Dubai for its indefatigable verve, ambition and ability to dream up and realise projects that elsewhere would never get off the drawing board. This is a superlative-craving society that has birthed audaciously high buildings and palm-shaped islands.

This diversity expresses itself in the culinary landscape, fashion, music and performance. Although rooted in Islamic tradition, this is an open society where it’s easy for newcomers and visitors to connect with myriad experiences, be it eating like a Bedouin, dancing on the beach, shopping for local art or riding a camel in the desert. Dubai is a fertile environment conducive to breaking down cultural barriers and preconceptions.

Dubai دبي‎, - Capital Dubai - Area 4114 km2 - Population 3,400,800 - Attractions The creek, Burj Khalifa, Shopping, Dune Bashing, Hatta Hiking, The Palm, Burj Al Arab, Golden Beaches, Golf

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Namibia

If Namibia is 'Africa for beginners', as is often said, what a wonderful place to start.

Few countries in Africa can match Namibia's sheer natural beauty. The country's name derives from its (and the world's) oldest desert, the Namib, and there are few more stirring desert realms on the planet, from the sand sea and perfect dead-tree valleys at Sossusvlei to the otherworldliness of sand dunes plunging down to the sea at Sandwich Harbour and the Skeleton Coast. Inland, running through the heart of the country, a spine of mountains creates glorious scenery – the Naukluft Mountains, the Brandberg, Spitzkoppe, Damaraland and the jaw-dropping Fish River Canyon.

Make no mistake: Namibia is one of Southern Africa's best places to watch wildlife, at least in the country's north. Etosha National Park belongs in the elite wildlife-watching destinations – big cats, elephants, black rhinos and plains game in abundance.

Namibia's human story is every bit as interesting as that written in the rocks, soil and sand of the country. Through their architecture and museums, Lüderitz, Swakopmund and Windhoek tell a complicated story of colonial settlement and oppression, while elsewhere the chance to interact with the many traditional people who call Namibia home will likely provide you with some of your most memorable moments. The Himba, in the country's far northwest, and the San in the east, in particular are soulful people with whom an encounter carries an older, deeper wisdom.

Namibia Namibië - Capital Windhoek - Area 825,615 km2 - Population 2,746,745 - Attractions Namib desert, Sossusvlei, Skeleton coast, Etosha national park, Windhoek, Himba tribes

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