There are some places you visit because you want a holiday. And then there is Africa — a continent so enormous and wildly different from one border to the next that trying to describe it as a single destination feels slightly ridiculous.
Africa can be waking before sunrise because something considerably bigger than you has just made a noise outside your tent. It can be watching elephants wander towards a watering hole while you're still holding your morning coffee, standing beneath the red dunes of Namibia, hearing Victoria Falls before you've even properly seen it, wandering amongst ancient Egyptian temples, getting completely lost in a Moroccan medina or recovering from all of the above on a beach beside the Indian Ocean.
And yes, it is safari. Safari is a very good reason to go. I personally consider seeing a giraffe wandering past breakfast a perfectly acceptable reason to cross a continent.
But Africa is so much more than safari.
With 54 countries stretching from the Mediterranean all the way towards the meeting point of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, there isn't really one version of Africa. You could spend one trip tracking the Great Migration across Kenya and Tanzania, another driving through Namibia beneath ridiculously enormous skies, another eating and drinking your way around South Africa and another doing absolutely nothing beside the Indian Ocean while insisting that lying underneath a palm tree is an important cultural experience.
And you still wouldn't have scratched the surface.
So I'm not going to pretend this is a guide to doing Africa. You can't. We'd be here until next Tuesday and I'd probably accidentally start writing another ebook.
Instead, consider this your starting map. These are some of Africa's most popular destinations alongside a few of its greatest bucket-list adventures: what you can see, what makes each place different and, most importantly, which version of Africa might be yours?
🇰🇪 Kenya: The Africa You Imagined — And Then Some
Best for: Classic safari, the Maasai Mara, the Great Migration and safari-and-beach combinations.
If someone says safari and your brain immediately produces golden grasslands, acacia trees and a lion staring dramatically into the distance like it knows David Attenborough should be narrating somewhere nearby, there is a good chance you're imagining Kenya.
The Maasai Mara is one of the world's legendary wildlife destinations, home to lions, elephants, cheetahs, giraffes, buffalo and leopards. It's also part of the wider Serengeti-Mara ecosystem through which enormous herds of wildebeest and zebra move during the Great Migration.
But Kenya isn't just about ticking animals off a list. Part of the magic is where you stay. Tented camps and safari lodges can put you right amongst the wilderness, with canvas walls, decks overlooking the bush and breakfasts where something with four legs may casually wander into view and completely ruin your ability to care about the toast.
It's basically camping for people who like the idea of camping but would also quite like a proper bed, someone else to cook dinner and a trained professional making sure nothing eats them.
And after several mornings of waking at an hour normally reserved for airport departures, Kenya has another trick: the coast. Places such as Diani Beach offer white sand and warm Indian Ocean water, making safari followed by beach one of the easiest combinations in Africa.
Kenya understands that after all that lion spotting, you've earned a lie-down.
Why choose Kenya? If you've never been on safari before and want that classic “I am actually in Africa!” moment, Kenya is one of the strongest places to start.
🇹🇿 Tanzania: Apparently One Bucket-List Experience Wasn't Enough
Best for: Serengeti safari, Ngorongoro Crater, Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar.
Tanzania could quite easily have stopped at the Serengeti and still been showing off. Vast plains, predators and one of Earth's greatest wildlife spectacles would have been plenty.
But apparently not.
It also has Ngorongoro Crater, an enormous volcanic caldera containing an extraordinary concentration of wildlife, and Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa, casually rising above everything as though Tanzania hadn't already made its point.
And then someone points towards the Indian Ocean.
Because just offshore is Zanzibar.
Suddenly the safari boots come off and you're surrounded by white sand, coral reefs, warm water, spice farms and the winding historic streets of Stone Town. You can spend your mornings searching the Serengeti for lions and finish the same holiday deciding whether moving from the beach to the pool counts as sufficient exercise.
This is why Tanzania's classic bush-and-beach combination is so tempting. Adventure first. Horizontal recovery period afterwards.
Excellent planning.
Why choose Tanzania? If you want one enormous bucket-list holiday combining world-class safari with a tropical island, Tanzania makes a ridiculously convincing argument.
🇿🇦 South Africa: Safari, Wine and… Penguins?
Best for: First-time visitors who want wildlife, cities, road trips, food, wine and coast.
South Africa feels like several holidays got bundled together because nobody could decide which one to sell.
Safari? Yes.
Mountains? Yes.
Beaches? Obviously.
Wine? Plenty.
Road trips? Absolutely.
Penguins?
...also yes.
Cape Town alone could happily fill several days, sitting beneath Table Mountain with the ocean wrapped around the peninsula. From here you can explore the dramatic Cape coastline, head into the Cape Winelands, travel towards the Cape of Good Hope and visit Boulders Beach, where African penguins wander around looking like they haven't realised they're supposed to live somewhere cold.
Then there is Kruger National Park, one of Africa's most famous safari areas and home to the Big Five. Add the Garden Route and suddenly you could spend weeks travelling around South Africa without the trip ever feeling like you're doing the same thing twice.
That's South Africa's biggest strength. You don't have to choose between a city break, safari, food trip, road trip, mountains or beach.
You can behave greedily and have a bit of everything.
Why choose South Africa? If you're interested in Africa but don't want your entire holiday to revolve around safari, this is a fantastic place to start.
🇧🇼 Botswana: Where the Elephants Clearly Run the Place
Best for: Wild, remote and more exclusive safari experiences.
Botswana feels different. The Okavango Delta spreads across the landscape in a maze of channels, lagoons and islands, creating one of Africa's most unusual safari environments. Instead of only searching for animals from a vehicle, parts of the delta can be explored aboard a traditional-style mokoro, quietly gliding through waterways surrounded by an enormous wilderness.
Then there is Chobe National Park.
Chobe is famous for elephants.
And when I say elephants, I don't mean perhaps we'll get lucky and spot one somewhere in the distance.
There are a lot of elephants.
River safaris can bring you remarkably close to herds gathering beside the water to drink, bathe and generally behave as though the entire national park belongs to them.
Which, to be fair, it probably does.
Botswana tends to sit towards the more expensive end of African safari travel, but what you're paying for is access to extraordinary wilderness and, in many areas, a lower-volume style of tourism.
Why choose Botswana? If safari itself is the main event rather than simply one part of your holiday, Botswana belongs very high on the list.
🇳🇦 Namibia: Africa Goes to Another Planet
Best for: Road trips, deserts, photography, wildlife and ridiculously enormous landscapes.
Namibia looks like the sort of place where you'd pull the car over every twenty minutes because surely that can't actually be real.
Towering red dunes rise around Sossusvlei, while ancient dead trees stand across the white clay pan of Deadvlei. Long empty roads disappear towards horizons that seem to have forgotten to end, and eventually the Namib Desert reaches the Atlantic.
Then you find the Skeleton Coast, where desert, ocean, fog and shipwrecks combine to create enough end-of-the-world atmosphere to make you wonder whether you've accidentally driven straight out of civilisation.
For anyone who loves a road trip, Namibia is dangerous territory. You'll start off sensibly driving towards your next stop and within an hour you'll be staring dramatically through the windscreen pretending you're in a film about abandoning modern society.
Namibia also refuses to let the classic safari countries have all the animals. Etosha National Park is famous for its waterholes, where wildlife gathers against pale, dusty landscapes that feel completely different from the golden plains of East Africa.
Basically Mars.
But with elephants.
Why choose Namibia? If landscapes excite you just as much as wildlife and you love the freedom of a road trip, Namibia is going to cause serious problems for your bucket list.
🇿🇲 Zambia & 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe: Follow the Thunder
Best for: Victoria Falls, the Zambezi and combining several African countries.
There are waterfalls.
And then there is Victoria Falls.
Sitting along the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe, the Zambezi River suddenly plunges into a vast gorge, creating one of the world's great natural spectacles. Depending on water levels, enormous clouds of spray rise above the falls, and you can sometimes hear the roar before you've properly seen what is causing it.
Walking the viewpoints would already be enough. But naturally, humans looked at one of the world's largest waterfalls and thought:
Could we also fly over it?
So you can.
Helicopter flights reveal the scale of Victoria Falls and the Zambezi twisting through the landscape, while sunset cruises offer a considerably calmer way to experience the river.
This is also where a sensible Africa itinerary starts getting dangerous. You're already at Victoria Falls. Botswana isn't far away. Chobe is right there. Perhaps you could add a safari. And if you're doing that, maybe you should stay a little longer…
Congratulations.
Your holiday has reproduced.
Why choose Zambia or Zimbabwe? If you want one enormous natural wonder to build a wider African adventure around, Victoria Falls is an incredible starting point.
🇷🇼 Rwanda & 🇺🇬 Uganda: Into the Forest
Best for: Mountain gorillas and wildlife beyond the traditional safari.
Not every great African wildlife encounter happens across an open savannah. In Rwanda and Uganda, some of the continent's most extraordinary animals are hidden amongst mountains and thick forest.
Mountain gorilla trekking is completely different from a traditional game drive. You trek into the forest with experienced guides, following signs through the vegetation until — if everything goes to plan — you find a gorilla family.
And then you're standing near a mountain gorilla.
A real one.
At which point I imagine every piece of safety advice you've been given suddenly becomes incredibly easy to remember.
There's something particularly powerful about having to work for the encounter. The walking, searching and anticipation become part of the experience, and visitor numbers are carefully controlled to help protect the gorillas and their habitat.
Rwanda is often chosen for a more straightforward gorilla-focused trip, while Uganda makes it easier to combine trekking with a wider wildlife itinerary.
Either way, when a silverback is involved, I think we can all agree that he gets the final say on house rules.
Why choose Rwanda or Uganda? If the wildlife encounter matters more to you than the classic safari landscape, gorilla trekking could easily become the experience you talk about for the rest of your life.
🇲🇦 Morocco: Wait, We're Still on the Same Continent?
Best for: Culture, cities, food, architecture, mountains and the Sahara.
Morocco is where any remaining idea of Africa having one particular "look" completely falls apart.
Suddenly there are medinas, tiled courtyards, rooftop terraces, Atlas Mountain roads, ancient kasbahs and the Sahara stretching towards the horizon. Marrakech throws colour, noise, food, markets and winding streets at you all at once, while beautiful riads hide behind doors that can look suspiciously ordinary from outside.
It's a country that rewards nosiness.
Then you leave the cities and everything changes again. Roads climb through the Atlas Mountains, villages cling to the landscape and eventually the greenery starts disappearing until the Sahara takes over.
And yes, you can sleep in the desert.
There are camps amongst the dunes where evenings mean sunset, dinner and skies filled with stars rather than scrolling through Netflix trying to decide what to watch.
Although I would still want Wi-Fi.
I know myself.
Morocco is exactly why saying “I want to visit Africa” is a bit like saying “I fancy some food.”
Wonderful.
Could you narrow that down slightly?
Why choose Morocco? If culture, architecture, food and adventure appeal to you more than traditional safari, Morocco offers a completely different African journey — and it's relatively easy to reach from the UK.
🇪🇬 Egypt: Because Apparently Africa Needed Pyramids Too
Best for: Ancient history, Nile cruises and combining culture with the Red Sea.
And then there is Egypt. Because apparently Africa wasn't content with lions, gorillas, enormous waterfalls, tropical islands and some of the greatest landscapes on Earth — it also needed the Pyramids of Giza.
Egypt is one of those places we've seen so many times in books, films, documentaries and questionable school history projects that it's easy to forget you can actually go there. You can stand beneath monuments built more than 4,500 years ago, see the Great Sphinx and attempt to comprehend just how much human history has unfolded since those stones were put into place.
But reducing Egypt to the pyramids would be like seeing Big Ben and declaring you've completed England. Follow the Nile south and you reach Luxor, Karnak Temple and the Valley of the Kings, where pharaohs including Tutankhamun were buried amongst the desert mountains. A Nile cruise between Luxor and Aswan takes you past palm-lined riverbanks, villages and temples while the desert stretches away behind them — probably one of the few holidays where casually sailing past several thousand years of history becomes part of your morning.
Then there is Aswan and Abu Simbel, before Egypt changes personality yet again along the Red Sea. Around Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh, ancient temples give way to beaches, coral reefs, diving and snorkelling.
So yes, you can spend one half of your holiday staring at something built by an ancient pharaoh and the other floating around in the sea.
Very balanced.
Very educational.
Why choose Egypt? If history is what makes you travel, few destinations can compete — and being able to add a Red Sea beach holiday afterwards feels almost unfair.
🇲🇺 Mauritius: More Than Somewhere to Lie on a Beach
Best for: Tropical beaches, romance, waterfalls, hiking and a little bit of everything.
Mauritius is proof that an African adventure doesn't necessarily require binoculars.
Sitting in the Indian Ocean, the island has the white beaches and turquoise water you'd expect from a tropical escape, but there's much more hiding behind the resorts. The interior is mountainous and green, with waterfalls, forests, hiking trails and viewpoints across the island.
You can explore Black River Gorges National Park, discover the landscapes around Chamarel, head out onto the water or spend an entire afternoon lying beside a lagoon and refusing to participate in anything remotely productive.
Both approaches are valid.
That's what makes Mauritius particularly good for couples or honeymooners where one person dreams about lying beside the pool and the other starts getting restless approximately seventeen minutes after sitting down.
You can do both.
Why choose Mauritius? If you want tropical paradise without spending the entire holiday attached to a sun lounger, Mauritius gives you plenty to explore.
🇸🇨 Seychelles: The "Is This Even Real?" Beaches
Best for: Beaches, romance, island hopping, snorkelling and giant tortoises.
There are beautiful beaches.
And then there are Seychelles beaches.
White sand, enormous granite boulders, tropical greenery and water in shades of blue that look suspiciously edited even when they aren't. The Seychelles is scattered across the Indian Ocean and made for island hopping, snorkelling, diving and repeatedly taking photographs of essentially the same beach because this angle looks slightly more ridiculous than the last one.
Mahé, Praslin and La Digue are amongst the best-known islands, each offering something slightly different. Then there are giant tortoises, providing perhaps the most relaxed wildlife encounter you'll have anywhere on the continent.
No chasing.
No hiding.
Just enormous tortoises slowly getting on with their day.
Honestly, relatable.
Why choose the Seychelles? If your dream Africa involves romance, ridiculous beaches and island hopping rather than game drives, this is the continent showing off its tropical side.
🇲🇬 Madagascar: When Even the Wildlife Gets Weird
Best for: Unique wildlife, lemurs, unusual landscapes and something completely different.
And then there's Madagascar, sitting off Africa's eastern coast having apparently ignored what everyone else was doing and evolved its own collection of animals instead.
Madagascar's long isolation means an extraordinary amount of its wildlife is found nowhere else on Earth. Lemurs are the obvious celebrities, but there are also chameleons, unusual birds, bizarre plants and ecosystems that can change dramatically as you travel around the island.
Then there are the landscapes. The Avenue of the Baobabs is probably Madagascar's most recognisable view, with enormous baobab trees lining the road like something from another world. Elsewhere you'll find rainforest, beaches, limestone formations and national parks that look nothing like the Africa you might have imagined at the beginning of this blog.
Madagascar isn't necessarily the easiest African destination to travel around, and that's part of why it tends to appeal to people who want a proper adventure rather than a straightforward resort holiday.
Also, yes.
You will probably spend at least part of the trip singing I Like to Move It.
There is no point pretending otherwise.
Why choose Madagascar? If you've already decided normal wildlife isn't interesting enough and would like nature to get considerably stranger, Madagascar has you covered.
And Then There Are the Places We Haven't Even Started On…
This is the problem with writing about Africa.
Every time you think you've covered the big ones, another part of the map starts waving at you.
There's Ghana, with its history, culture and Atlantic coastline. Senegal, combining West African city life, music and beaches. Tunisia, where Mediterranean coast meets Roman ruins and Sahara landscapes. Ethiopia, with ancient churches, dramatic highlands and a history unlike anywhere else on the continent.
Then there are places such as Malawi, famous for its enormous lake; Mozambique, with a spectacular Indian Ocean coastline; and Eswatini and Lesotho, two much smaller countries surrounded by the giants of southern Africa but offering completely different landscapes and experiences of their own.
We could keep going.
And going.
Which is rather the point.
Safari Doesn't Have to Mean Roughing It
One of the biggest misconceptions about safari is that camp automatically means sleeping bags, questionable toilet arrangements and attempting to cook something from a tin over a fire.
Thankfully, Africa has other ideas.
Some safari camps are absolutely gorgeous. Think proper beds beneath canvas, outdoor showers overlooking the bush, private decks, pools, beautiful food and watering holes where the wildlife provides considerably better entertainment than anything a hotel could put on television.
There are treehouses, lodges built above rivers and tented suites where you can fall asleep listening to the wilderness outside. You get that wonderful feeling of being immersed in nature without having to personally test whether you'd survive an episode of Bear Grylls.
The important bit, of course, is remembering that this isn't a theme park. The animals wandering around outside are genuinely wild, and good camps take that very seriously. Guides, escorts and rules about moving around after dark are there for a reason.
If somebody who lives and works in lion country tells me not to walk back to my room alone, there will be absolutely no argument from me.
You will never see a woman follow instructions faster.
So… Which Africa Is Yours?
That's the question, really.
If you've always dreamed about your first classic safari, look towards Kenya.
For Serengeti followed by Zanzibar, Tanzania is practically begging you to come.
If you want safari, cities, food, wine and coast, South Africa is waving rather enthusiastically.
For wild and luxurious safari, Botswana.
For the road trip of a lifetime, Namibia.
For culture, markets, mountains and desert, Morocco.
For ancient history, Egypt doesn't exactly have much competition.
For gorillas, Rwanda or Uganda.
For Victoria Falls and a multi-country adventure, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
For tropical paradise, Mauritius or the Seychelles.
And if you'd quite like your wildlife to look as though evolution was given creative freedom for the afternoon, Madagascar.
But perhaps the biggest mistake we make when dreaming about Africa is thinking there is one version of it. There isn't.
Kenya doesn't feel like Morocco. Namibia doesn't look like Uganda. Egypt isn't Botswana. Cape Town and Zanzibar could give you two completely different holidays without ever leaving the continent.
Africa can be wild and luxurious, ancient and modern, chaotic and peaceful. It has rainforests and vineyards, coral reefs and deserts, mountains and tropical islands, ancient cities and enormous wildernesses where humans suddenly feel very small.
You might arrive for lions and discover you love the landscapes. You might book Egypt for the pyramids and realise you want to cruise the Nile. You might plan a Tanzanian safari and somehow find yourself barefoot in Zanzibar four days later. You might start researching Victoria Falls and accidentally create an itinerary involving three countries.
Africa is very good at doing that.
Because Africa isn't one trip.
It isn't even one bucket list.
The difficult part isn't deciding whether Africa is worth visiting. It's looking at this enormous, ridiculous, beautiful continent and deciding where on Earth you're going to start.
Quills and Crossings — Maps, Myths & Memories
0 comments