We all know Africa is massive (and is a continent, not a country). With this much vastness to discover, what are some vacation highlights to discover?
We’ve collected the current top 6 unique vacation ideas from across the continent for you to revisit (or discover for the first time) which sums in part the eclectic and diversity of this beautiful continent.
The first obvious choice is to visit the grandeur that is Victoria Falls. It is the most breathtaking thing to behold. There are Zambian guides who leads visitors our into the river on foot. Then, just a stone’s throw from the edge, one can peer down into the mighty, thundering abyss as the water crashing over the mile-wide length of the cascade. Both thrilling and terrifying, it is an experience worth having.
For the less daring, there is still a unique activity that remains exciting; visiting the local bars in Monrovia. The capital of Liberia can get quite warm, and there is nothing better than getting a cold drink with some kelewele — sweet fried plantain pieces bathed in ginger and salt. Let’s not forget some hot pepper chicken wings, Liberian style, which means flavored with habanero peppers.
Since we’re on the topic of food, let’s talk about the one unique thing every traveller cannot avoid while scouring the continent – ugali. A food based shared among herdsmen, refugees, businesspeople, and politicians alike, the food starch is a vital part of the vacation (or living) experience in any East African countries. If you come to East Africa and avoid ugali, you may very well have a wonderful visit. But it will not be an authentic one.
Ugali is to that part of the world what rice is to Asia. Not trying it would be as unfathomable as visiting Mexico without consuming tortillas, or forgoing pad thai in Thailand or arepas in Venezuela. Really “getting” a place means swallowing its delicacies, whether they are available for takeout back home or not.
In all of North Africa there is no more evocative name than that of Carthage, the ancient trading city founded by the Phoenician Queen Dido that dominated the western Mediterranean for centuries before and after the birth of Christ. For lovers of history, architecture, or simply those who revel in the discovery of new places, buildings, and sights, this is the ideal vacation idea.
Finally, there’s the wildlife of the Masai Mara Reserve. This is truly for the bold and adventurous; visiting the animals’ turf, on their terms. There’s no other place in the world that has such extraordinary wildlife, in such abundance, in such an unpolluted, wide-open landscape. It’s life-changing. But a safari does not have to be just about the animals. In Samburu, you can witness a vanishing culture where the guides at your lodge share stories of growing up battling lions and can take you back to their dung-hut villages.
These same men are also good on Facebook.
