vitaminJ

Very intriguied with visiting as many African countries as possible and would like to hear from you guys what have been your best experiences to help decide next destination (excluding South Africa).

Any tips and suggestion would be helpful and appreciative!

Jasper2009

It very much depends on a variety of factors incl.:

1) your desire to stay in a semi-Western country with good infrastructure, medical facilities etc.
2) your willingness to travel to countries with a higher risk of diseases such as malaria, yellow fever etc.
3) your budget
4) your interests (safaris, scenery, interaction with local communities etc.)
5) style of travel (self-guided, private tours, group tours etc.)

As a broad generalization I would recommend the following "order" for visiting Africa:

1) South Africa
2) South Africa + neighbouring countries incl. Lesotho, Namibia, Botswana, possibly Mozambique
3) Eastern Africa incl. Kenya, Tanzania, possibly Uganda and/or Rwanda

Anything else will require a good amount of research, planning and/or a very competent travel consultant.

(This list does not include Northern African countries such as Egypt, Marocco or Tunesia which are all very accessible, nor does it include island countries as the Seychelles or Mauritius which are also quite accessible).

RustyC

Read "Dark Star Safari" by Paul Theroux...Cairo to Cape Town overland.

My own Africa experience is limited to Cape Town and the Seychelles. Both were great (actually the best trips of their respective years) and both were on deals found in the Mileage Run Deals section.

vitaminJ

thanks for the suggestion. Will definitely check the book out!

DesertNomad

No question whatsoever: Sudan. We spent two weeks there and it is one of the most fun and interesting trips I have ever done (having been to 90+ countries). We got a car (pickup truck) and driver and wandered all over the north including camping wild in the Sahara. Wonderful people and country.

365RoadWarrior

I've been to/worked in 48 African countries over the course of 32 years. My high-level thought/advice:

I divide the continent into two parts: Africa and Disney Africa, the latter being the part designed and intended for the amusement of non-Africans: much of Morocco, Egypt, South Africa, Kenya, Madagascar, Seychelles, Tunisia. There isn't anything wrong with safaris and camel rides, gorilla watching, nature trekking and so forth, but they aren't activities that will bring you much interaction with the people of Africa, other than those in the tourist industry. This is true in many parts of the world, of course, but, in my opinion, even more pronounced in the African experience.

Other than the work portion of my visits, I travel solo, mostly by bicycle or taxi brousse. Some level of experience, fortitude and self-reliance is needed, so it may not be a good place to start...though going on guided tours isn't much preparation. Depending on how confident you are in your travel skills, you might want to consider independent travel, especially solo travel; it is immensely rewarding.

vitaminJ

interesting perspective! Maybe share your top 2 experience?

365RoadWarrior

I thought about this. Slept on it. Can't come up with an answer. I spend more time in the United States than in Africa. About equal time in Asia+Europe. But I guess that, cumulatively, 800 or so weeks in Africa have left me feeling like that continent is at least as much "home" as any now. So the answer to the question is just the people I have met and the friends I have made. These aren't people you'd meet on safari; I guess that's why I make the distinction between trips where people go to see animals or whatever (or, more properly, "to be shown animals") and trips where people experience the culture and people without intervention. The latter may not be for everyone. The former doesn't happen to be for me.

johan rebel

Pretty good chance we'll never meet in the flesh, then!

People can be found on just about every street corner in the world, often in large numbers. The fewer I encounter in the world's few remaining more or less natural environments, the better.

It's perfectly possible to do a safari without being shown the animals, by the way. It's called a self-drive.

Johan

jhartley15

I spent some time in Rwanda and by far its my favourite of my limited African destinations which include: Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya and South Africa.

I found Rwanda so clean and the people so friendly. With such a recent violent history, I was amazed at the country it is today. It is a beautiful country and i hope to go back!

365RoadWarrior

Rwanda, particularly Kigali, is somewhat interesting (to me), and it's very easy travel, with several big, Western "luxurious" hotels. Foreign money - no names please ;-) - has really transformed the place; it doesn't feel like most of Africa any more. I was there for the AU summit meeting at the glorious convention center, July 2016 (?)

jhartley15

I stayed in a few Air BnBs. Great experiences. A couple hosted by expats plus one a Rwandan. We also hired a couple of different Rwandan drivers. Really some amazing conversations on the genocide and the current state of government, which was discussed a little more on the hush hush side by some.

365RoadWarrior

And another round of presidential election on 4 August 2017. I think the outcome is pretty easily anticipated - I don't think there has been any call for outside observers - but I hope it is all smooth and peaceful.

Myyra

I still can't get my head around this post, especially from a person who travels all over Africa in taxi-brousse. Yes, there are ecolodges and safari rides in parts of Kenya and Madagascar. But these are limited to a relative handful of places on the tourist trail. All you have to do is get off the main road, or even get off the bus in a random town on the highway, and you will not see a single non-African for days. Kenya and Madagascar have a combined population of 90 million, I would be surprised if 1% of them earns their living by providing "amusement of non-Africans".

Even in countries like Egypt and Tunisia, things will be the same if you get away from resorts like Hurghada and Djerba.

365RoadWarrior

Thank you for your thoughts. I didn't mean to imply that all of any African country is completely given over to tourists. (I can assure you that Dadaab, a place where I spend a lot of time, isn't safari-land Kenya.) Some countries have established tourist routes and infrastructures. Some of those countries have formal or informal practices that guide visitors toward those paths, often because the infrastructure (including security) doesn't support wanderers.

What I like about many countries is that, as a visitor, there is neither temptation nor ability to isolate myself from the daily life of the residents. Immersion. This is also why I always travel alone, by bicycle or public transit or semi-public, like those taxis brousse. Sure, it makes travel more difficult, but also much more rewarding.