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Africa’s TOP 20A SHOWCASE OF WHAT MAKES IT SO SPECIAL

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Travel Africa magazine | www.travelafricamag.com | September 2015 |

If you could choose just one experience, one special moment, one sound, in Africa, what would it be?

Tricky question, isn’t it? So imagine the head-scratching, floor-pacing and heated debate that went into Travel Africa’s ultimate Top 20. From the shores of the Mediterranean to the snows of Kilimanjaro; from mountain gorillas to Indri lemurs, and

from Timbuktu to a souk, we’ve sifted the highlights of this extraordinarily rich and diverse continent to bring you the best of the best.

And if that wasn’t enough of a challenge, we’ve also graded them. (Plus there are 30 more at www.travelafricamag.com/africastop50)

Controversial? We hope so. Part of the magic of Africa is that it stirs such strong

emotions - so let us know what your No. 1 is.

Are we way off the mark?

What’s on your African dream list?

Let us know by emailing us at [email protected]

Africa’s TOP 20


Take a bush showerSafari is a dirty business. Some trips coat you in fine powdered earth; on others, desert grit

scours every inch of your skin. So I savour a G&T in the sunset, doze while a spring hare

proves to be the star of the night drive and finally, with relief, reach camp. Dinner looms,

but I escape for the most invigorating elixir of the day. I peel off my khaki and step outside

into the shower. Hot water steams in the cool evening air. Warming rivulets soap away the

remains of the day, layer by layer. This is bliss. It’s very cathartic. Moonlit bats flit between

clear stars and leafy outlines of nearby trees. I don’t want to leave. Nothing can tempt

me out. Then, without warning, the torrent wanes. It splutters, reducing to a dribble. My

skin prickles in the cool night air as reality dawns: the bucket is empty.

CHRIS MCINTYRE

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02 DawnbreakfromMt Sinai

Africa is renowned for stunning sunsets, but this is a place for “sunuppers”- not sundowners. It is a place where an African dawn is nothing short of magical. Camel owners wait along the path to offer their services to pilgrims and travellers alike, to help them up the switchback trail to the summit of Mt Sinai, where Moses received the Ten Commandments. It is a small mountain, 2285m high, crowned with an unimposing chapel. I have spent many a night atop this mountain. It is cold until the morning sun picks out the range of peaks. The rocks, poking up from a cotton-wool carpet of cloud below, glow with orange and golden hues. Long shadows are cast before me and long spiritual thoughts are cast into the recesses of my mind. GUY MARKS


MT SINAI2285MWHERE AFRICAN DAWN IS NOTHING SHORT OF MAGICAL!

03 Forage with Bushmen

Go walking with Bushmen in the Kalahari: their

amazing bush skills surpass those of the most

famous safari guides. They’re born in the bush and grow up with

it. It’s their nursery and classroom; no wonder they know so

much. I set off with Kgao and Nqeisi briskly walking ahead, a little

apart, as they chatted in the melodious clicks of the Ju/’honasi

language. Berries were collected and eaten, and exploding seed

heads found for entertainment, before Kgao spotted a small,

green shoot at thirty paces. Minutes later he’d dug up a water-

filled tuber the size of a basketball. Shortly Nqeisi found a spring

hare’s hole and eventually fished the unlucky creature out with a

long, flexible pole. Occasionally I stopped to ask about plants, only

to be told more than I could possibly remember. If you want to

find Africa’s best guides, look no further.

CHRIS MCINTYRE

sundowners. It is a place where an African

03Forage with Bushmen

Take a trip to TimbuktuBecause it’s there? Because of the singular sense of absenteeism its

name evokes? I say yes, others would differ - a few years ago, Bob Geldof dropped in, took a quick look around and asked: “Is that it?” Yet the old town’s 13th century mosques retain the organic beauty characteristic

of the West Sudanese style.. And a camelback ride with the Tuareg into the surrounding Sahara - which stretches northward like a sandy ocean all the way to the Mediterranean - brings with it the realisation that what

Timbuktu is figuratively today, so was it literally in medieval times. To the Arabian trade caravans of that era, the phrase “going to Timbuktu”

would have implied crossing the Sahara to the very end of the world as they knew it. PHILIP BRIGGS

Stroll around a soukTo lose yourself in the souks of Marrakech is to find yourself in a city with a heart. The lifeblood of daily trade pumps through the alleyways. It is vibrant, exciting, sensuous. It is thronging, scented, noisy and strangely exotic for all its mundaneness. There are stalls selling fresh oranges, dates and piles of roasted almonds. I love the sight and sound of the haggling vendors, selling everything from household goods to leather poufs, kitchenware and tourist kitsch. And every now and then in this extraordinary profusion, I come across a gem of Moroccan architecture - an open doorway leading to a quiet courtyard decorated with beautiful tilework, a drinking fountain or a mosque adorned with arabesque calligraphy. Yes, this is the place to lose yourself. GUY MARKS


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Take a trip to TimbuktuBecause it’s there? Because of the singular sense of absenteeism its

name evokes? I say yes, others would differ - a few years ago, Bob Geldof dropped in, took a quick look around and asked: “Is that it?” Yet the old town’s 13th century mosques retain the organic beauty characteristic

of the West Sudanese style.. And a camelback ride with the Tuareg into the surrounding Sahara - which stretches northward like a sandy ocean all the way to the Mediterranean - brings with it the realisation that what

Timbuktu is figuratively today, so was it literally in medieval times. To the Arabian trade caravans of that era, the phrase “going to Timbuktu”

would have implied crossing the Sahara to the very end of the world as PHILIP BRIGGS

To lose yourself in the souks of Marrakech is to find yourself in a city with a heart. The lifeblood of daily trade pumps through the alleyways. It is vibrant, exciting, sensuous. It is thronging, scented, noisy and strangely exotic for all its mundaneness. There are stalls selling fresh oranges, dates and piles of roasted almonds. I love the sight and sound of the haggling vendors, selling everything from household goods to leather poufs, kitchenware and tourist kitsch. And every now and then in this extraordinary profusion, I come across a gem of Moroccan architecture - an open doorway leading to a quiet courtyard decorated with beautiful tilework, a drinking fountain or a mosque adorned with arabesque calligraphy. Yes, this is the place

www.travelafricamag.com | September 2015 | Page 5

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Spot a rare shoebillAt a small fishing village on the southern

shore of Uganda’s Lake Albert, a crowd has gathered to watch us launch our skiff.

Children run barefoot through drifts of silver fish scales, clambering onto wooden

dugouts for a better view. In a few minutes, we are afloat and nosing through rafts of floating hyacinth towards a quiet corner

of the lake. In the space of an hour we spot not one, but two shoebills (imagine

a cross between a dodo and a heron) - steely blue against a curtain of shoreline papyrus. It’s more of a

“clog” than a “shoe”; an enormous beak that makes short work of the

African lungfish (by no means a tiddler itself). We paddle slowly

to within a dozen yards of one of the birds - a beautiful, elegant creature despite its

massive conk. Neither of the shoebills do much, but

then animals as rare as this don’t have to. It’s enough

just to glimpse them, to savour the memory of a

privileged encounter.WILLIAM GRAY


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Stare in awe at Ramses IIThere were only ten passengers on the boat for

our sunset cruise to the Great Temple of Ramses II. Dwarfed figuratively and physically by the spectacle

in front of us, few spoke as the final rays of light played on the colossal statues of the great pharaoh.

Then, when the sun finally sank, a guard appeared with a huge brass key and let us wander inside. By

torchlight I saw the famous reliefs and then the sanctuary where Ramses’ statue sits among the

gods, lit by the rising sun’s rays every 21st February and 21st October. Back outside, our little group stood

uncertainly in the shadow of the facade. After three thousand years, Ramses still demands awe.

SIONA JENKINS

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4000 SPECIESDIFFERENT PLANT TYPES BUT THE DAISIES STEAL THE SHOW!


Witness the desert in flowerFrom a pass high in the Kamiesberg mountains there was a brief, tantalizing view of the Atlantic Ocean - searing blue against the tawny haze of Africa. But I didn’t stop. My sights were set on the road’s edge and beyond, into the fields and arid plains of Namaqualand, where swathes of copper-coloured daisies glowed like fresh magma. I was driving through one of the world’s greatest wildflower spectacles, where each spring (following good rains), the bleached desert turns technicolour. Over 4000 species join the floral riot - from ground-hugging, fleshy-leaved succulents to the dramatic, metre-tall flowering spikes of the yellow katsterte, each one glowing like the trail of a firework rocket. But the show-stealers were the daisies - each one a mini-miracle, enduring summer’s torment as dormant seeds, germinating after winter rains and then flowering and setting seed in spring before wilting and dying. WILLIAM GRAY


10 Stand on top of Table MountainIt’s impossible to decide which is better: the imposing profile of Table Mountain cradling South Africa’s “Mother City” or the exquisite wrap-around views from its summit. Throughout Cape Town, the

mountain exerts a perpetual pull - regardless of how often you’ve climbed it (a thigh-crunching two-hour walk) or caught your breath in the vertiginous, rotating cable car. Beyond the crowded cable station, the Tabletop offers peace and solitude. Rock hyrax hop among the fynbos, while the city glimmers far below. At sunset, the sky blazes crimson behind Robben Island, reddening the magnificent rock buttresses of the Twelve Apostles. STEPHANIE DEBERE

Visit the ruins of

Great ZimbabweGreat Zimbabwe, which supported some 20,000 souls

in the years 1100-1500, is unequivocally the most

impressive indigenous ruin in sub-equatorial Africa.

The architectural highlight is the magnificent Great

Enclosure. Measuring some 250m in circumference and

hemmed in by a 5m-thick granite wall, this intriguing

structure (thought to have once housed the king’s

wives and mother) is dominated by a 10m-high conical

tower. The latter is said variously to represent a phallus,

a granary, a rainmaking shrine or none of these things.

Although its contemporary name goes unrecorded,

the city of Great Zimbabwe was of enormous

significance as the ultimate source of the gold traded

out of the Swahili port of Kilwa to ships from Arabia

and Asia. Architectural and historical importance

notwithstanding, the most compelling thing about

Great Zimbabwe is its abiding aura of mystery. You

only have to wander around in the half-light of dusk,

when the old stone ruins are free of tourists, and

the impassive stones of the abandoned city can feel

positively haunted. PHILIP BRIGGS

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11Get lost in Stone TownThe historical port and former slaving centre of Zanzibar Island’s Stone Town is renowned for its labyrinthine street plan

- perfect for losing yourself in. As you dodge donkeys, market traders, craftsmen and robed Muslim women, look out for Stone Town’s rich architectural blend of African, Arabic, Indian and European influences. Beautifully-carved wooden doors are a speciality - some are studded with brass spikes, a throwback to an Indian tradition when doors needed protection from elephants. Elsewhere, you’ll double-take at unexpected disparities - the internet café next to the traditional spice store or the minaret of a mosque rising above rooftops studded with satellite dishes. WILLIAM GRAY


Hear the song of the IndriHow often have I done this - stood under a tree in

Andasibe National Park, eyes upward, neck aching, clothes damp from the morning mist? Over a dozen

times, at least, and yet when the first “whoooooop!” shatters the silence, I am grinning from ear to ear like the other tourists. There are a lot of lemurs in

Madagascar - at least 50 species - but none has the tingle factor of the indri when it greets the

first touch of the sun in its rainforest home. This is a large animal on an island of miniatures and

its voice is colossal. Imagine the song of a whale, amplified, and add the urgency of a police siren. All this from a black-and-white teddy bear with funny

stuck-on ears and round yellow eyesHILARY BRADT

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Island hop through the SeychellesDecisions, decisions. Will you be tempted by Praslin’s “Garden of Eden” or a castaway beach on La Digue? Or will you opt for escapism on the desert island hideaway of Alphonse? Perhaps Bird Island’s avian spectacle of a million sooty terns is your idea of paradise? Or will you simply island-hop and do all four? The truth is, that with over 100 irresistible tropical islands, the Seychelles are almost too much of a good thing. But spare a thought (and a gap in your itinerary) for Mahé. Although it’s the largest, most populated and developed of the islands, it still has everything you’d expect from one of the world’s most exotic and desirable holiday destinations. And, what’s more, it has a depth of culture, history and diversity that is unmatched in the Indian Ocean archipelago. WILLIAM GRAY

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100 ISLANDSIRRESISTIBLE! CULTURE, HISTORY AND DIVERSITY ABOUND


14Stake out a waterhole

All day long the elephants march in to drink their fill and then disperse again to forage where they can in

the drought-stricken bush. In their regular comings and goings, their giant feet have trodden down a network of trails - and all of them lead to the waterhole. In the dry season, water is life, and to this place among the stricken camelthorns comes all the wildlife for miles

around. From dawn to dusk it is a theatre in the round, a natural arena for moments of high drama and

unforgettable beauty. Sit here long enough and you’ll see it all. Flights of sandgrouse, flocks of doves, nervous impala, skittish zebra. And, with luck, the local lion pride,

waiting in ambush or slaking their thirst after a kill. BRIAN JACKMAN


Make eye contact with a gorillaOur eyes met. This is a mammal thing, the direct stare. With predators such as lions it sends a chill down your spine, with prey animals you feel protective, but with a gorilla you are dealing with an equal; intelligence meets intelligence. There is no wildlife experience like it - believe me. Evolution has enabled us to read faces as well as words. We look into a stranger’s eyes to judge whether he is friendly or hostile. And what do we read in a gorilla’s eyes? Trust, mainly; curiosity and sometimes nonchalance, but not hostility. A male silverback gorilla is built like a killer; he can weigh 200kg, yet here he is squatting on his haunches eating wild celery or playing with his youngsters. What a shame mankind continued to evolve. HILARY BRADT

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16Stand on the Roof of AfricaThe sound of crystalline snow crunching beneath your boots seems slightly surreal when you consider you are just a short distance south of the Equator. Lean forward, make that final ef-fort and drag your weary body up the final slope to the Roof of Africa. Climbing Mt Kilimanjaro

is a slog by anyone’s standards, but the panorama from Uhuru Peak, at 5896m, the highest point in Africa, justifies every effort. You are standing on the rim of a volcanic crater; peering over the edge of a precipice. A thousand feet below, the crater floor is coated in rime ice. Behind this great white plain, stepped tiers of ice cascade towards the inner cone of the Reusch Crater. Looking outwards, you can see to infinity. Many thousands of feet below on the African plains, safari-goers will be framing photographs of elephant and giraffe against the huge domed mountain on whose summit you are standing. The ascent from arid plains through humid forest and alpine meadows to this icy wasteland takes you on an extraordinary journey: fascinating flora, arduous trekking, extravagant scenery - utterly rewarding. JOHN WARBURTON-LEE

5896m UHURU PEAKHIGHEST POINT IN AFRICA, JUST SOUTH OF THE EQUATOR


Spot a leopard at nightNight drives in search of nocturnal creatures are always exciting, but if there’s one animal that sets my pulse racing, it’s the leopard. The golden, spotted cats are the most beautiful of Africa’s animals, and to see them on the move, hunting by the moon when they are so obviously at their most lethal and effective, is simply awesome. I’ve been fortunate to track leopards in many corners of Africa, though the Sabi Sand Game Reserve reigns supreme. Both of my “best leopard days” - seven different leopards in a drive - have been here. DARYL BALFOUR

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See Djenne MosqueNot even the sweaty confines of a Malian bush taxi could diminish my awed reaction on first arriving in Djenne. I’d seen pictures of the Grand Mosque before, but none that prepared me for the actuality of standing before the world’s largest adobe building - a profoundly asymmetric and thrillingly curvaceous sandcastle, set at the heart of a maze of multi-storey dwellings that share its warm mud-and-wood aesthetic. Djenne is perhaps Africa’s most visually harmonious settlement. And on Mondays it gains an extra dimension, as thousands of brightly robed Peul villagers - the women decorated with heavy nose rings, purple lip tattoos and pendulous gold earrings - flock into the market square, at the base of the surreal mosque, to trade kola nuts, camels, cloths, whatever. PHILIP BRIGGS

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19Dive the reefs of the Red SeaRas Mohammed seems like just another bit of desert until I bail off the back of a dive boat into the cobalt-blue offshore. The vista before me stretches left and right while I dangle,

suspended in hundreds of feet of clear blue nothing. Barracuda circle below while I cruise past coral outcrops, reef walls, the remains of a wreck and an anemone city with hordes of emerging clownfish. In one dive, the smorgasbord of what the underwater world offers is laid out before me in all its glory, from giant Napoleon wrasse to tiny sea slugs. Diving in the Red Sea is like opening a gift: I’m never sure what I’ll get but I’m always smiling when I’m done. ANDREW WOODBURN



Experience the Great MigrationThe Serengeti is quintessential Africa: big skies, rolling

plains, prolific wildlife. Out here in this vast wilderness, roughly the size of Ireland, you can see for miles in any direction. But what really elevates the Serengeti above any other African highlight is the annual migration. Between May and June, over one million wildebeest and 200,000 zebra trek north towards Kenya. It is a breathtaking spectacle - a free-spirit-ed celebration of a bygone Africa; a place and time devoid of human barriers. Driven by deep-rooted instinct, the herds darken the boundless plains of the Serengeti, spreading across the savannah like shadows of passing clouds. Predators are never far behind. Lion, hyena and wild dog pick off the stragglers and the weak - and when the migration is forced to cross the Grumeti River, many more will fall prey to crocodiles. Yet despite all the hardships the wildebeest and zebra must face, there is nothing more reliable - or reassuring - than the Serengeti migration. It is the living, breathing, pulsing icon of Africa. WILLIAM GRAY & DAVID ROGERS


So...Did we get it right? What did we leave out?

The sound of a thunder storm? The smell of rain hitting bone-dry sand? The cry of a fish eagle? Having a conversation about conservation with a local guide? Trying to sleep

through lions roaring in the night (although, why would you?) Bungee jumping off the Vic Falls bridge? Chatting around the campfire? Coming in to land at a bush airstrip?

What would be in your top 20? Write and tell us at [email protected]

Inspired? We hope so. We hope we’ve inspired you to play around with ideas for your next adventure to the world’s

most exciting continent! For more stories, and a regular fix of Africa, why not subscribe to Travel Africa magazine right now, and we’ll bring Africa to your door every three months!

Browse our subscription and gift selections at www.travelafricamag.com

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Africa’s TOP 20

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