Mauritius
Protecting a 400-year-old forest, this reserve is an important habitat for the Mauritius kestrel, one of the world's most endangered raptors, and a visit…
Must-see attractions in Africa
Cairo
Sharia Al Muizz, as it’s usually called, named after the Fatimid caliph who conquered Cairo in AD 969, was Cairo's grand thoroughfare, once chock-a-block…
Northern Tanzania
Lake-filled Empakaai Crater, 23km northeast of Olmoti Crater, may not be as famous as Ngorongoro, but many travellers consider it to be its match in…
Lake Victoria
Rubondo Island National Park, alluring for its tranquillity and sublime lakeshore scenery, is one of Tanzania’s best-kept secrets and there may be days…
Lamu Island
The best museum in town (and the second best in Kenya) is housed in a grand Swahili warehouse on the waterfront. This is as good a gateway as you’ll get…
Antananarivo
Tana’s rova (fortified palace), known as Manjakamiadana (A Fine Place to Rule), is the imposing structure that crowns the city's highest hill. Gutted in a…
Aswan
The little-visited Nubia Museum, opposite Basma Hotel, is a treat, a showcase of the history, art and culture of Nubia. Established in 1997 in cooperation…
Cairo
This museum, founded in 1908, houses Coptic art from the earliest days of Christianity in Egypt right through to early Islam. It is a beautiful place, as…
Parc National Masoala-Nosy Mangabe
Eastern Madagascar
This 2100-sq-km national park contains one of the best primary rainforests in the country. It is famous for its vegetation, which includes rare hardwoods,…
Mouassine & Central Souqs
The foundations of this historic riad are more than 400 years old, and it was once owned by powerful qaid (local chief) U-Bihi. Here, though, it's not the…
Winelands
This 2.5-sq-km wine and fruit farm is on the north slope of the Simonsberg mountain between Klapmuts and Paarl. Its highlight is an 800-sq-metre, formally…
Simon's Town & Southern Peninsula
This picturesque area, with enormous boulders dividing small, sandy coves, is home to a colony of some 3000 delightful African penguins. A boardwalk runs…
iSimangaliso Wetland Park
Just south of the border of Mozambique is Kosi Bay, located within the iSimangaliso Wetland Park. The coastal lakes and estuary that make up the area are…
Port Louis
Although dedicated to the world-famous Mauritian one-penny and two-pence stamps of 1847, the Blue Penny Museum is far more wide-ranging than its name…
Pemba
Surrounded by crystal waters and stunning coral reefs, Misali offers some of the best diving in East Africa, while snorkelling is spectacular and easily…
Kenya
Running through the heart of the park and marking the northernmost point in the park that most visitors are allowed to visit, the Galana River, which…
Zimbabwe
One of the 10 largest national parks in Africa, and the largest in Zimbabwe, at 14,651 sq km, Hwange National Park, pronounced ‘Wang-ee’, has a ridiculous…
Mauritius
If you're only going to visit one attraction related to Mauritius' rich colonial history, choose Eureka. This perfectly preserved Creole mansion was built…
'Red Terror' Martyrs Memorial Museum
Addis Ababa
‘As if I bore them all in one night, they slew them in a single night.’ These were the words spoken by the mother of four teenage children all killed on…
Northern Nile Valley
The Red Monastery, 4km southeast of the White Monastery and hidden at the rear of a village, is one of the most remarkable Christian buildings in Egypt…
Luxor
These tombs are some of the best least-visited attractions on the west bank. Nestled in the foothills opposite the Ramesseum are more than 400 tombs…
Zimbabwe
Home to some of the most majestic granite scenery in the world, the Matobo National Park is one of the unsung highlights of Zimbabwe. This Unesco World…
Western Desert
It may not look like much from afar, but this necropolis is one of the earliest surviving and best-preserved Christian cemeteries in the world. About 1km…
Tunisia
There's hardly a souvenir shop in sight within the monumental medieval walls of Sfax's Unesco-listed medina. The narrow thoroughfares are crowded with…
Cairo Outskirts & the Nile Delta
The Mastaba of Ti was discovered by Auguste Mariette in 1865. This grand and detailed private tomb is not only Old Kingdom art at its best but also one of…
Kâat Ben Nahid & Bab Debbagh
The Musée de Marrakech exhibits a collection of Moroccan art forms within the decadent salons of the Mnebhi Palace. The central internal courtyard, with…
The Gambia
Abuko is rare among African wildlife reserves: it's tiny, it's easy to reach and you don't need a car to go in. With amazing diversity of vegetation and…
Eastern Madagascar
This is the most popular park within Parc National Andasibe Mantadia. The real draw of this reserve is the rare indri, Madagascar’s largest lemur, whose…
Uganda
Once described as the most spectacular thing to happen to the Nile along its 6700km length, the 50m wide Victoria Nile is squeezed here through a 6m gap…
Aswan
Kitchener’s Island, to the west of Elephantine Island, was given to Lord Horatio Kitchener in the 1890s when he was commander of the Egyptian army…
Port Louis
The shrine of French Catholic priest and missionary Père Jacques-Désiré Laval is something of a Lourdes of the Indian Ocean, with many miracles attributed…
Siwa Oasis
Central Siwa is dominated by the spectacular organic shapes of the remains of this 13th-century mud-brick fortress. Built from kershef (chunks of salt…
Cairo
The skinny lanes of Khan Al Khalili are basically a medieval-style mall. This agglomeration of shops – many arranged around small courtyards – stocks…
Malawi
With its lodges and safari activities, Liwonde is the closest thing Malawi has to a traditional wildlife park. Dominating the west, the Shire River…
Zimbabwe
This magnificent 2200-sq-km national park is a Unesco World Heritage–listed site and its magic stems from its remoteness and pervading sense of the wild…
Cairo Outskirts & the Nile Delta
In the complex at the entrance to the Saqqara site is this beautiful collection of some of the best finds from Saqqara, and one of the finest small…
Algeria
This central museum is one of the better museums in Algeria and it alone justifies a stop in Sétif. Displays are well laid out, lit and labelled (in…
Rwanda
Volcanoes National Park, which runs along the border with the DRC and Uganda, is home to the Rwandan section of the Virungas. Comprising five volcanoes,…
Mosque-Madrassa of Sultan Hassan
Cairo
Massive yet elegant, this grand structure is regarded as the finest piece of early Mamluk architecture in Cairo. It was built between 1356 and 1363 by…
Rwanda
Nyungwe Forest National Park is Rwanda’s most important area of biodiversity and has been rated the highest priority for forest conservation in Africa…
