Africa isn’t a place you want to take chances in. There’s so much to see, and that’s putting it mildly. For starters, there are 50-something different countries. Unless you’re about to devote a large part of your life to the place, you haven’t got time to see it all, so you want to see the best of it; right?
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Chances are this will involve animals – preferably in their natural habitat. I’ve got a friend who's seen the gorillas in Rwanda, lucky thing. And another who spent ages watching meerkats, and another who did a safari up a hippo-infested river. And yet another who says he climbed Kilimanjaro, though I'm not sure I believe him. Anyway, all four of them rave about these experiences, and it's easy to understand why. But, harking back to my original theme: when it comes to somewhere as vast and varied as Africa, how on earth do you know where you should go? There's one way of finding out, and that's via the "best-of" lists. I love these things. You don't have to agree with them, but they're always food for thought. For example, here's one man's take on the best game parks in East Africa:
Obviously, there are more to the Dark Continent than game parks, so here's a general "best of" list, for top 10 destinations in Africa on About.com. This should give you plenty to go on, and might save you a heap of frustrating research.
Finally, here’s the game park man again, writing about unique African travel experiences on Gadling. You’ll be doing well if you manage to achieve all of these, but why not have a go at some? My personal pick is Timbuktu. It sounds and looks amazing, though something tells me I’d rather not find myself there alone. So, group outings to Timbuktu or Timbouctou or even Tombouctou, here I come…
Photo by rightee