Um, hi Outlander. It's really nice to have you back and ... Lord Almighty!

Starz's series, which is entering its third season next month, is going to make some major leaps in the story this year -- most notably to a much warmer locale. Though we will of course be traveling back and forth through time, as Claire (Caitriona Balfe) and Jamie (Sam Heughan) have once again been separated by the stones -- this time for several decades -- we'll also be traveling to the Caribbean during the second half of the season.

While the first half remains in Scotland (bless), the story will take the two on a tropical adventure (for those who haven't read the books, like myself, I won't spoil the particulars). The production, however, took place in South Africa, where Starz's series Black Sails also filmed.

Today, EW has released a slew of new photos from a cover shoot of the two leads having fun in the sun. Lots of sexy, sexy fun. The images not only show off the sunny locale, but also the tweaks in some of the costuming to reflect shores much different from those of the British Isles. Did I mention they're also super steamy? Yeah. Yeah.

Caitriona Balfe said of the experience of filming in South Africa:

“I loved it. I think it was definitely tough sometimes just because it was hot and that’s something we’re not always used to. And the scripts were quite physically intensive. Either you’re out on the beaches all day or traipsing through a jungle. But I relished the chance to get down and dirty. So it’s good.”

Last fall, I was fortunate enough to visit the set of Outlander in Scotland, and was able to speak with the leads (including Tobias Menzies) and several supporting cast members about what fans can expect in the upcoming season. Stay tuned in the next few weeks for video interviews and more info I gathered from the excursion (which was amazing, and if you have the means to take an Outlander-themed tour of Scotland I highly, highly recommend it). For now, enjoy these new images ... (you can see even more over at EW).

Outlander returns to Starz for Season 3 on September 10th.