With the desert boasting some of the Sahara’s most beautiful dunes, the stark splendour of the Aïr Mountains & Ténéré Desert being one of West Africa’s most spectacular sights, and the intriguing, ancient trans-Saharan trade-route towns of Agadez and Zinder playing home to magnificent mazes of mudbrick architecture and fascinating locals, the international appeal of Niger as a destination is undeniable.
Uganda is Africa condensed, with the best of everything the continent has to offer packed into one small but stunning destination. Uganda is home to the highest mountain range in Africa, the Mountains of the Moon in the Rwenzori National Park. It is the source of the mighty Nile, and around Jinja offers the best white-water rafting in the world. It has the highest concentration of primates on earth, including the majestic mountain gorilla, one of the rarest animals on the planet. Head to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park for a chance to get close to these great apes.
Beautiful Burundi has been blighted by a generation of ethnic conflict, but with the advent of peace, this charming country may at long last be able to put its dark past to rest. A tiny little nation of soaring mountains and languid lakeside communities, Burundi is sandwiched between the African giants of Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Tanzania. The scenery is stunning and the welcome warm, and it may once again begin to receive a trickle of travellers as the word gets out that the war is over.
In Ghana life is public. People evacuate their homes and apartments every day to escape the stifling heat. And much like the patterned cloth worn by market women, the disparate parts and peoples somehow mix and weave together into a cohesive whole. Ghana is home to a number of diverse peoples and cultures, all finding ways to coexist in a rapidly modernising country. You’ll see men and women in traditional clothes text messaging friends and suited businessmen taking offerings to tribal chiefs.
We shouldn’t beat about the bush: Nigeria has an image problem. It dominates West Africa economically and politically, and has produced music and literature whose influence spreads far beyond the continent. But for all this clout, mention the country’s name to the person on the street and they’re more likely to come up with a litany of woe: corruption, ethnic violence and email scams. As a travel destination, Nigeria seems more a place to avoid than to book a flight to.
If you’re out to experience the ‘real’ Africa, Zambia is that diamond in the rough. The country boasts some of the continent’s best wildlife parks, and shares (with Zimbabwe) some of the region’s major highlights: Victoria Falls in Southwestern Zambia, Lake Kariba as well as Lower Zambezi National Park in Southeastern Zambia. It is also an angler’s dream, as fishermen hail from all over the world to try their luck on the mighty Zambezi River with the hopes of landing a toothy tigerfish or the rare, giant vundu. Avid birders also flock to Zambia to glimpse its fabulous diversity of birds, most notably Chaplin’s barbets.
Cameroon’s tourist industry is a victim of geography. It sits in a tough neighbourhood, bordered by some problematic countries. But this shouldn’t put you off, as Cameroon really has just about everything a traveller could want. One of the most culturally diverse countries on the continent, its people include ancient tribal kingdoms, Muslim pastoralists and forest-dwelling pygmies.
Guinea’s landscape is spectacular. The country has some of the world’s few remaining tropical dry forests, and the rainforests that remain in the south are lush and verdant and full of wildlife. The waterfall-rich Fouta Djalon Plateau in the west has breathtaking scenery and some of the best hiking in West Africa. Guinea is not well endowed with beaches, but those it has are superb; and often empty. It’s capital, Conarky, while not heavy on the must-sees, has a vibrant nightlife and is safer than most other West African capitals.
Oh la la! After a long-haul flight, you step off the plane and you’re greeted with a bonjour. Then you breakfast on croissants and chocolat chaud (hot chocolate). At first glance, Réunion is like a chunk of France teleported to the tropics. But beyond the Gallic panache, you’ll soon realise it’s a resplendent tapestry, which also blends Indian, African and Chinese influences.
Zimbabwe continues to make headlines for all the wrong reasons. Elections in 2008 saw the Opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) win the majority in parliament and then, in September, successfully negotiate a power-sharing arrangement between President Mugabe and MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai. Sadly, since then, this agreement has constantly teetered on the brink of collapse. The ‘breadbasket of Africa’ is fast becoming a failed state. Millions of people are dependent on food aid, unemployment hovers around 80%, the inflation rate now stands at over 200,000,000% and many Zimbabweans, often the better educated, have been forced to flee. As if life couldn’t get any more difficult, a cholera outbreak that began in late 2008 has claimed thousands of victims and continues to worsen, spreading into surrounding countries.