The 2010 World Cup put South Africa on the map for travelers in a major way, and a South Africa safari is a wonderful way to visit the country. The opportunity to see lions, giraffes, elephants, and dozens of other animals close up in their natural habitat is a special experience. "Going on safari," Rudy Maxa says, "always reminds me where I rank in the food chain. And it removes a traveler completely from his or her everyday world." This brilliantly shot episode by award-winning wildlife photographer Joe Pontecorvo brings the excitement of the wild into the homes of viewers.

"Rudy Maxa's World' timed the shooting of this episode with the Edinburgh International Festival, a madcap and colorful, three-week event that says "theater" in every sense of the world. The world's largest arts festival features theater, comedy, dance, music, operas, street performances, and the famous Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, a stunning evening performance of martial music and precision marching performed by military bands from around the world in the city's 1,400-year-old Edinburgh Castle. A trip north to the Highlands includes a ride on the so-called "Harry Potter Train," as well as a look at the wild beauty of the Isle of Skye and a side serving of the local delicacy, haggis.

Roam what Rudy Maxa calls the "best market visitors rarely see in London," the Borough Market where locals gather Thursday, Friday, and Saturday mornings to shop among pyramids of cheese, baskets of oysters, and other displays of fresh fish, game, and pastries. There's been a market on the site since the 1st century AD, when the Romans tied on the feedbag there while sacking the city. This episode features a look at London that goes beyond the postcard city, with visits to the ethnic neighborhood of Spitalfields, a speedboat ride along the Thames, and bar hopping in Soho and Camden Town.

Roam what Rudy Maxa calls the "best market visitors rarely see in London," the Borough Market where locals gather Thursday, Friday, and Saturday mornings to shop among pyramids of cheese, baskets of oysters, and other displays of fresh fish, game, and pastries. There's been a market on the site since the 1st century AD, when the Romans tied on the feedbag there while sacking the city. This episode features a look at London that goes beyond the postcard city, with visits to the ethnic neighborhood of Spitalfields, a speedboat ride along the Thames, and bar hopping in Soho and Camden Town.

In what is perhaps the series' most colorful and exotic episode, Rudy Maxa takes viewers along the Silk Road in this country that's an emerging economy in Central Asia. Marvel at eye-popping mosques built centuries ago and impeccably restored during Soviet occupation of the country. Rudy joins friends for the preparation of the national dish, plov, and visit the simple yurt of a young family living on an isolated desert plain. Explore trade-route cities whose names summon images of ancient times: Samarkand, Khiva, and Bukhara. This is a front-row seat on a country trying to balance Islam with modern society, an autocratic government with democratic demands.

Cape Town is a nexus of cultures in a setting so stunning, it's called the "new California" or "Africa's Riviera." Where else in the world can you wake up in a cosmopolitan city, spend the afternoon with penguins, ride a funicular to the edge of a continent, and watch the sun set from a beach with a glass of local wine in hand? From the dizzying heights of the city's iconic symbol, Table Mountain, to the rugged cliffs and wild flowers of the Cape Peninsula, this episode captures the natural wonders that surround this city where an urbane waterfront contrasts with the nearby townships where most of Cape Town's three million residents live. This is an intimate look at a city reinventing itself as residents and government work to put the injustice of apartheid behind them.

Cape Town is a nexus of cultures in a setting so stunning, it's called the "new California" or "Africa's Riviera." Where else in the world can you wake up in a cosmopolitan city, spend the afternoon with penguins, ride a funicular to the edge of a continent, and watch the sun set from a beach with a glass of local wine in hand? From the dizzying heights of the city's iconic symbol, Table Mountain, to the rugged cliffs and wild flowers of the Cape Peninsula, this episode captures the natural wonders that surround this city where an urbane waterfront contrasts with the nearby townships where most of Cape Town's three million residents live. This is an intimate look at a city reinventing itself as residents and government work to put the injustice of apartheid behind them.

Surely one of the world's most beautiful drives, the Garden Route has nothing to do with gardens and everything to do with a wild, rugged, gorgeous coastline. Its name comes from the astounding variety of plant species found here, many indigenous only to the region. Surfers brave enormous waves, exotic birds watch visitors climb serpentine paths that rise above the coast, and charming, seaside resort towns accommodate guests. Shot during whale season, this episode stars 50-ton Right Whales performing their mating dances. And capping this visually stunning episode is a visit to heart South Africa's lush wine country, the village of Franschhoek.

With their misty mountain temples and uber-modern cities, Koreans mix an abiding sense of history and tradition with a zeal to achieve global success in technology and other industries. (Remember when the American public sneered at Kias?) Rudy samples both the delights of cosmopolitan Seoul as well as the tranquility of temples tucked into lush mountains where monks invite guests to stay overnight and give evidence of the country's other name: The Land of the Morning Calm. And, yes, there's a healthy serving of Korean barbeque and kimchi.

With their misty mountain temples and uber-modern cities, Koreans mix an abiding sense of history and tradition with a zeal to achieve global success in technology and other industries. (Remember when the American public sneered at Kias?) Rudy samples both the delights of cosmopolitan Seoul as well as the tranquility of temples tucked into lush mountains where monks invite guests to stay overnight and give evidence of the country's other name: The Land of the Morning Calm. And, yes, there's a healthy serving of Korean barbeque and kimchi.

For sheer tropical splendor, the islands of Tahiti and Bora Bora stand alone. Hyper blue lagoons, white-sand beaches, fish of every shape, size and color, as well as a generous and welcoming people make these islands favorite destinations for travelers from around the world. Lush aerial photography is a highlight of this episode.

French Polynesia's far-flung collection of about 130 islands range from lagoon-ringed islands with green volcanic spires to low, coral atolls with very little land, to heavily forested, rugged beauties. This is a place of dreams, a culturally rich, geologically fascinating group of islands surrounded by azure waters teeming with marine life, as lavish underwriter photography illustrates.

French Polynesia's far-flung collection of about 130 islands range from lagoon-ringed islands with green volcanic spires to low, coral atolls with very little land, to heavily forested, rugged beauties. This is a place of dreams, a culturally rich, geologically fascinating group of islands surrounded by azure waters teeming with marine life, as lavish underwriter photography illustrates.

Two of the most unique and appealing cities in the world are just north of New England. You'll find brie, pate, jewel box-patisseries, and "s'il vous plait" right along with bagels, maple syrup, hockey, delis, and bocce ball. A modern skyscraper might be cheek-by-jowl with a 17th century, stone nunnery. The people who forged Montreal and Quebec City 400 years ago braved frigid winters, wars and famine to make these beautiful, multi-cultural cities of the world.

From the charming fishing towns of Nova Scotia to the vast wilderness of Newfoundland, these are the last great. open spaces of Eastern North America. A touch of New England, a dash of Germany, here a British fort, there an Irish brogue, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland are mixed-up worlds peopled by the descendants of hardy colonists who came to fish and trade fur. Lighthouses sweep the skies, the seas are littered with shipwrecks whales cruise the coastline in the summer, storms rage in the winter, but the warmth of the hardy people who live in these two provinces makes the lonely landscape beautiful rather than forbidding.