We are always taken aback by how beautiful South Africa is, and Outdoor SA started as a way to share that — the well-known places, and the hidden gems that nobody has got round to telling you about yet. Time in the bush restores the soul, and we reckon more people should know just how much of it is right here on our doorstep.

It started with bush trips, and the bush will always come first in our hearts. But these days you are just as likely to find us checking into a boutique guest house, wandering a wine estate, hunting down a proper cup of coffee or lingering over a dinner that deserves to be written about. The common thread is a weakness for the finer things — and the firm belief that a bit of luxury doesn't have to cost a fortune.

Every review comes from a visit we actually made. We arrive, we take far too many photos, and then we write the whole thing up — the welcome, the room, the food, the game drives, and most importantly whether we would go back. If something wasn't great, we say so.

Every now and then a special trip takes us across a border, and when it does we write that up too. But our heart is here at home, and that is where you will find us most weekends.

How we score

We score every place we visit on the same three things, out of 100. Keeping them the same is what lets you compare a tented camp in Zululand with a wine estate or a little coffee spot and have the numbers mean something.

• Service
• Value for money
• Would we go back

The last one is the question we ask ourselves at the end of every trip anyway, so we thought we may as well put a number on it. The overall figure on each review is simply the average of the three — truth be told, the write-up is the real review, and the scores are there for a quick comparison.