STEPHANIE DRAX

When seen from space, the Okavango Delta bursts across 22,000 sq/km of Africa like a shimmering fountain flare, drenching the Kalahari Desert with ten billion cubic metres of fresh water. During the wet season, it trickles a thousand kilometres from the Cuito and Cubango rivers in Angola, gathering charge uninterrupted through Namibia before splaying itself across the swampland of Botswana after austral summer...

Beverly and Dereck Joubert, award-winning filmmakers and conservationists, have watched life and death on the open plains of Africa since the 1980s, highlighting predators and their plight. In 2006, they launched Great Plains, an iconic collection of safari properties across Botswana, Kenya and Zimbabwe.

From the air above the southern coastline of Sri Lanka, where the Indian Ocean meets the jungle, four giant paw prints appear to mark a leopard’s path from beach into bushland. Look more closely, and each ‘claw’ is a canvas cocoon tent, each ‘palm pad’ a pond of water. It’s a whimsical expression of an eco-safari resort’s genuine affinity with nature: Wild Coast Tented Lodge is designed to meld with its rugged landscape and welcome the wildlife that thrives there...

When Wild Coast Tented Lodge opened in an untamed corner of southern Sri Lanka, the eco-resort broke new ground with almost no physical impact on its environment. The site, on the fringes of Yala National Park, offered dense bushland that revealed golden beaches rippled with sand dunes, studded with colossal boulders and pummeled by strong surf. When the hotelier, Malik Fernando, first surveyed the scene for his new resort, it beguiled him...

The sensory feast begins with Croatian crème caramel at the summit of Mount Srd. Also served at the Panorama café: a vista filled by an azure Adriatic, scattered with the verdant island of Lokrum, the distant Elaphite Islands and a bijou walled city vivid with red rooftops. To the east looms Bosnia and Herzegovina, while Montenegro salutes from the south. It’s serene here, 412m above sea level, and the air is sweetened with wild sage and rosemary.

'Retreat' is a noun and a verb so I’m told during my first two-hour yoga practice of the weekend. It’s a bricks and mortar setting – in this case, simple slate-roofed farmhouses and a state-of-the-art studio perched on the rugged west coast of Ireland in County Clare – and also an invitation to withdraw into one’s deeper self.

The Alentejo in Portugal has long been a weekend escape for Lisbonites lucky enough to have farms there. A land of horses and cows, cork and olive trees - it's plains stretch under a vast blue sky. This is the Pampas of Europe.

Spa reviews of Hoshinoya Tokyo and Hotel Les Ottomans, Istanbul.

I recommend the best places to stay, eat, shop and explore on the Atlantic-coast island.

As we dine outside under a linden tree - feasting on fine wines paired with exceptional French food – and with a panorama of immaculate vineyards in view, I find myself casually learning all about taste and terroir. This is what student life is like on the Chȇne Bleu Extreme Wine Experience at Domaine de la Verrière in Provence. It is a class - with class.

Blood is throbbing at my temples, the air is rasping at my throat, and my brain is blaring Donna Summer’s “Hot Stuff” on repeat. This steep road before me won’t relent. Three hours ago I was in the concrete matrix of Tokyo, now I’m climbing through vibrant green forests of cedar and pine, having pedaled past glistening rice paddies, the occasional Shinto shrine and Buddhist temple.

Wyoming. The natural wonders of Wyoming have a habit of stopping traffic. I’m forced to pull over once more - not for bison, moose or bear this time, but to gasp at Mount Moran in Grand Teton National Park. From the viewpoint at Oxbow Bend, the golden aspen trees in autumn appear like flames, licking up the snow-capped mountain.

Vector Powerboats. Until four years ago, there was a gap in the marine performance market exactly the size of a Vector 40R. There was no superbrand, no aquatic powerhouse, no Ferrari on water. But the alliance of Malcolm Crease, a media-savvy entrepreneur, and Peter Dredge, a powerboat racing champion, changed everything.

BVI Spring Regatta & Sailing Festival. As if the mélange of azure waters, silken sand and sparkling sunshine weren’t enough to lure you to the British Virgin Islands, the aqua antics of the BVI Spring Regatta and Sailing Festival surely will.

Swedish Lapland. You'll need to able to read Turkish to understand this one!

Prague International Spring Music Festival. Prague is a multifaceted European city: hedonistic, whimsical and with a rich, storied past, this medieval gem gives Paris a run for its money.

Swedish Lapland. Before I had ever set foot in Swedish Lapland, the name conjured up ideas of snow, stars and the spectral wonder of the aurora borealis. During the 90-minute flight north from Stockholm to the region’s capital, Lulea, I am faced with another defining characteristic: space.

Lalique Crystal. The temptation to touch is overwhelming. Spun on the end of a gathering stick, a bulb of liquid crystal looks like golden candy. The viscid syrup requires skillful manipulation as it quickly cools and I prudently resist the urge to reach out: this “candy” is 2,100℉ (1,150℃).

Aeolian Islands. It’s a flight to Catania, a 90-minute drive to Milazzo, followed by a 90-minute hydrofoil ride before we ultimately land on Salina, but this is an island that can afford to play hard to get.

Restaurants with Rooms. For a wave of hotels across England, “hotel” is actually a misnomer: These emerging enterprises are not measured by the size and sumptuousness of their bedrooms, their linen threadcount or toiletries. For them, food is the focus.

Taj Lake Palace, Udaipur Among the world’s constellation of luxury hotels there is one that is - quite literally - set apart from the rest. The luminous Taj Lake Palace sits pretty in the centre of Lake Pichola in Udaipur, a vision of white sculpted marble encircled by water.

Chateau des Aspras, France. With fine features accented in butter yellow and pastel blue, Château des Aspras is a picture-perfect château framed by leafy plane trees, which provide a cool canopy for a game of boules on the gravel drive.

Graz, Austria’s second largest city, effortlessly blends classical epochs with bold modernity.

Saint Barthélemy. St Barths is glamorous even from the air. First glimpsed on the tiny propeller-plane transfer from St Maarten, the island’s slender frame is hugged by the electric blue waters of the Caribbean Sea.

Jawai Leopard Camp, Rajasthan, India. “Expect the unexpected,” I’m told as we approach a sacred mound in the rural Jawai region of Rajasthan, in western India. It’s 6 a.m. and the hill’s chunks of rock glow peach-coloured as they warm under the rising sun.

Molitor Pools, Paris. It’s impossible to miss the Molitor. Dipped in ‘Tango Yellow’, this mistress of reinvention occupies an entire block of Paris’s fashionable 16th arrondissement.

Hiiragiya Ryokan, Tokyo. Whether their power comes from the ritual itself, or the master practitioner behind it, ancient spa practices remain as popular as they have been for centuries. PORTER seeks out the global beauty traditions that deliver timeless results…

Aston Martin Road Trip, France. Stepping in from the brilliant Paris sunshine on a spring afternoon, the gilded interiors of Le Grand Véfour are equally luminous. One can almost hear the tuning of an orchestra: with it’s elaborate décor of painted columns, chandeliers and crimson seats occupied by eager patrons, the oldest gastronomic restaurant in the city promises a culinary performance…

The World Ship. It’s rare to meet a man of The World: a resident of the largest, privately owned yacht in existence.Though the highly exclusive residential ship – a floating city of luxury - launched amid a blaze of media curiosity in 2002, it promptly sailed off on the first of its frequent circumnavigations and out of public consciousness. Which is, of course, exactly how the residents prefer it…

Historic Hotels. I recommend six of the best historic hotels of the world: The Savoy, London; Hotel Mount Nelson, Cape Town; The Peninsula, Hong Kong; Hotel Plaza Athenee, Paris; The Taj Mahal Palais, Mumbai & The Waldorf Astoria, New York.

Tokyo City Guide. Tokyo is a city that can afford to play hard to get to. A vast sea of futuristic skyscrapers, illuminated billboards and 13 million residents, it can be an intoxicating experience for the uninitiated yet deeply fascinating for the adventurous.

Sabi Sabi Photography Safari, South Africa. The leopard is napping in the shade of the long grass, restless in the heat and unwilling to perform. The guides have recognised her as “Little Bush” – a small, shy eight-year-old mother of a recent litter. Twenty of us are heaped into three safari vehicles, all with lenses trained on the patch of vegetation obscuring her. The other tourists become impatient and their vehicles lumber off. We wait.

California Road Trip - En Famille. The San Francisco to Los Angeles coastal route has a well-established checklist of sights, and we have ten days to achieve it. But with a family of four decisive individuals onboard – my parents and sister – and a raft of tempting diversions, it’s going to be hard to stay focused. At least I’m in the driving seat. Literally.

Ryokan etiquette in Kyoto, Japan. It’s very hard not to feel humbled by Kyoto, Japan’s former capital and Imperial City for more than 1,000 years. The sense of cultural refinement runs deep despite the current swathe of karaoke bars and pachinko parlours.

Although it's Austria's second-largest city, mountain-cradled Graz is often overlooked. Sidelined by Salzburg, Vienna and a multitude of trendy Tyrolean ski resorts, this former European Capital of Culture is tucked into the pretty and largely pastoral province of Styria, but possesses plenty of distinctive qualities, with a ravishing old town and plenty of medieval and Renaissance corners....

The World Ship. Before boarding The World in Barcelona, I'd been reassured that it was nothing like a conventional cruise liner. Admittedly, there were advance clues: the complex confidentiality agreement, strict dress code and three security checkpoints on arrival were all signals that the largest luxury residential ship in the world is determinedly elite and exclusive.

Kyoto, Japan. As Japan’s former capital and Imperial city for over a thousand years, Kyoto has long been a hotbed of traditional high art forms. From calligraphy and ceramics to tea ceremonies and Geisha entertainment – these crafts and skills have been finessed using techniques honed by masters over generations…

A Guide to Drinking Sake. The natural landscape has been kind to Kyoto, a refined city that thrived as Japan’s capital and Imperial residence for over a millennium and persists today as the country’s cultural heart. The trio of mountains that surround it have provided both an epic backdrop and steady source of pure spring water, a crucial ingredient of sake, the quintessential Japanese drink…

A Guide to Rio de Janeiro. There is an innate rhythm to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil’s cultural and hedonistic heart. Revealed not only in the pervasive sounds of samba and the kaleidoscopic Carnival, it’s also found in the undulating topography of the city’s breathtaking granite and quartz peaks – a veritable heartbeat written in stone…

Sabi Sabi Game Reserve, South Africa. The epic landscape of the South African bushveld is abundant with exotic wildlife. In the luxury of Sabi Sabi’s Earth Lodge in the Sabi Sands Game Reserve, the individual suites are so artistically blended into the landscape that antelope will roam right up to your door.