Africa travel guide
Think Africa, think golden sunsets silhouetting the long necks of giraffes picking leaves from trees, and wild landscapes extending as far as the eye can see. As much as this is Africa, today’s Africa is so much more, and is a continent undergoing a huge transition: local people – both in terms of the centuries old tribes that live their lives steeped in tradition and of those who live more modern lives in the cities, now play as much a part in African tourism as its extraordinary world of wildlife.
No one can return from the Serengeti unchanged; for tawny lions will forever prowl our memory and great herds throng our imagination.
– George Schaller, US conservationist and author
From the exotic madness of Morocco’s souks, to the ancient wonders of Egypt, the endless rippling dunes of the Sahara, or your first eye-to-eye sighting of a gorilla in Uganda, Africa is an intoxicating melting pot of experiences. While the past is very present in the lives of many Africans, a visit to South Africa’s modern cities will show that many are embracing the future too; whatever you choose to discover, arrive with an open mind and you will leave with an unforgettable memory of just how amazing Africa can be.
Read more about Africa’s diverse holiday options in our Africa travel guide
Read more about Africa’s diverse holiday options in our Africa travel guide
Africa
Is/Isn't
Is/Isn't
Africa is…
a truly special place of unparalleled nature and of welcoming people, but is a much more modern and forward-thinking continent than many might first think.
Africa isn't...
an unhappy continent blighted by famine and drought.
Our Africa Holidays
Uganda wildlife and activity holiday
Experience the Pearl of Africa...true African adventure!
From
US $4550
15 days
ex flights
Namibia small group guided holiday and safari
A fabulous small group guided trip in Nambia
From
£2935 to £3300
13 days
ex flights
Uganda gorilla tracking and wildlife safari holiday
A wonderful gorilla and wild life experience in Uganda
From
£1500
10 days
ex flights
Sao Tome discovery tour
Explore the tropical paradise island of Sao Tomé
From
£1175
8 days
ex flights
South Africa safari holiday, 14 days
Award winning safari in South Africa
From
£3720
14 days
ex flights
Ten day wildlife safari, South Africa
Award winning wildlife safaris in South Africa
From
£2270 to £2670
10 days
ex flights
Madagascar North Coast adventure holiday
Action packed expedition through wild north east Madagascar
From
£2795
14 days
ex flights
Luxury trekking holiday in the Atlas Mountains
Stay at the Kasbah du Toubkal and trek in style
From
€957
6 days
ex flights
Namibia and Botswana camping safari
Camping safari to Namib desert, Caprivi, Etosha & Okavango
From
€2180 to €2480
21 days
ex flights
Tanzania Selous safari holiday & Zanzibar
Tailor-made, authentic, remote safari and islands
From
£1900 to £3850
11 days
ex flights
Bwindi mountain gorilla tracking, Uganda
Fly to Bwindi Forest and Trek Uganda's Mountain Gorillas
From
US $2239
4 days
ex flights
Swaziland wildife and culture tour
Explore Swaziland, one of the smallest countries in Africa
From
£3345
12 days
ex flights
Botswana camping safaris
Botswana's premier game parks, Okavango Moremi Savuti Chobe
From
€1850 to €1890
14 days
ex flights
Ethiopia holiday, tailormade
Discover the people, places and wildlife of Ethiopia
From
£2483
17 days
ex flights
Namibia and Botswana safari holiday
Namibia & Botswana lodge safari Caprivi Etosha Okavango
From
€3220 to €3480
21 days
ex flights
Complete Uganda holiday, tailor made
Gorillas, Chimpanzees, 6 National Parks and Jinja Adventure
From
US $6696
16 days
ex flights
Namibia self drive holiday, big cat conservation
Self drive trip taking in Namibia's highlights
From
£2000 to £4000
14 days
ex flights
Cape Town to Victoria Falls holiday in South Africa
A spectacular and diverse African journey
From
£2699 to £4449
22 days
inc UK flights
Classic South Africa self drive holiday
Ideally suited for the first-time visitor to South Africa
From
£4110
16 days
inc UK flights
Self drive South Africa holiday
Explore Cape Town, the Winelands and the Garden Route
From
£2300 to £4500
15 days
inc UK flights
Tanzania safari and Zanzibar beach holiday, tailor made
Your tailor-made Tanzania Safari & Zanzibar Beach holiday!
From
£3495 to £5950
13 days
ex flights
Gorilla Safari & the Masai Mara
Superb safari and trip to see gorillas
From
£3599 to £5499
18 days
inc UK flights
Small group holidays to Madagascar
Experience the best of this enigmatic island continent
From
£2595 to £2965
17 days
ex flights
Tanzania wildlife, people and beach holiday
Best wildlife viewing in north Tanzania plus Fanjove Island.
From
£4625 to £5735
13 days
ex flights
Madagascar in depth, small group tour
Madagascar's unique wildlife and off the beaten track gems
From
£2975
21 days
ex flights
Botswana safari and Victoria Falls
An unforgettable wildlife and scenery experience
From
US $3853
11 days
ex flights
Morocco cultural tour
Come and see Morocco's kaleidoscope of colours
From
£706 to £990
15 days
ex flights
Ivory Coast small group tour
Explore the little known but welcoming Ivory Coast
From
£2449
11 days
ex flights
Morocco holiday, Marrakech to the Sahara
Marrakech and Sahara - stay in a Riad, sleep under the stars
From
£625 to £695
7 days
ex flights
Serengeti Trail, Kenya & Tanzania safari
Overland truck safari
From
£1120 to £1410
8 days
ex flights
What we rate & what we don't
Underrated
Selous Game Reserve
A remote and expansive slice of East Africa, Tanzania's Selous is larger than Switzerland, dwarfing its Serengeti counterpart yet receiving far fewer visitors. Animals far outnumber tourists here and the reserve’s geographical location means both Southern and Eastern African game roam its grasslands, lured to the peaceful waters of its rivers and lakes where elephants and hippos bathe.
Harar, Ethiopia
Measuring in at just one square kilometre of eastern Ethiopia, Harar is a walled citadel packed to bursting with colourful mosques and labyrinthine alleyways dating back hundreds of years. Islam’s fourth holiest city, it is an intriguing place of elegant Islamic architecture and ancient markets, which have done very little in the way of changing as time has ticked on.
Cycling in Morocco & beyond
You don’t instantly pair Africa’s vast terrains with two wheels, but Morocco’s combination of mountains and desert dirt roads make it a playground for mountain bikers and thanks to a better network and tarmacking, road cycling there is on the up. Cycling safaris are now a thing in Kenya too, increasing the chances of an up-close wildlife experience and covering more ground than you can on two feet.
Living Culture Museums
A series of five “museums” across Namibia, these fantastic culture centres are where indigenous San, Mafwe, Kavango and Damara communities recreate traditional villages. You can learn how to hunt, fish, dance and weave with the locals using age-old methods, plus the tours and lessons contribute to local incomes and community projects, so your money is reinvested wisely.
Rated
Okavango Delta
Originating in the highlands of Angola and shaped over thousands of years, the Okavango Delta is a waterhole of epic proportions that floods life into Botswana. Flowing through sands, swamps and forested islands, the Delta is a lifeline for huge herds of elephant, plus 121 other mammals including lions, antelope, buffalo. Over 440 species of bird also flock there to fish, nest and breed.
The Masai Mara
Synonymous with one of wildlife’s greatest annual spectacles and indigenous Maasai tribes, the Mara stages the most nail-biting section of the Great Migration from Jun-Oct, when some two million wildebeest and zebra each attempt to survive the risky Mara River crossing – packed with Nile crocodiles. The surrounding Maasai conservancies give you the opportunity to bushwalk with the fascinating local people.
Gorilla safaris
The biggest and most powerful of the great apes, when viewing a gorilla you are only granted a one hour sitting with them, certainly In Uganda and Rwanda, where primate permits are like gold dust. During this hour though, you’re able to get very close to this fascinating creature, an experience that will leave you with a profound understanding of what it means to be a part of the primate family.
Local culture
Whether it’s through hiring a local guide – the people with the most accurate and enthusiastic knowledge about their country; staying at a Maasai-owned camp in Kenya; sampling street food in South Africa; or learning the history and taboos of ‘fady’ in Madagascar, getting under the skin of African culture doesn’t just mean taking a tour; the options are as endless as they are enriching.
Overrated
Canned hunting
A particularly nasty hunting practice, canned hunting is a prevalent problem in South Africa. Organisers breed lions to be sold on to canned hunting farms – tourist facilities where the rich can come in, shoot themselves a lion, and keep the pelt and an offensive picture as a souvenir. It’s an expensive, distasteful and disgusting way to guarantee a dead lion.
Super luxury lodges
As tempting as it may sound to choose your feather count from a comfort menu, by staying in a super luxury lodge in Africa (we’re talking gold taps and grand pianos…), all you’re doing is cutting yourself off from what is really special about your surroundings. You’ll have a far more memorable experience if you swap your flatscreen TV for a spectacular sweeping view across the open wilderness.
The Nosy Be bubble
There’s no denying Nosy Be is a beautiful tropical island – it’s widely considered the ‘capital’ of Madagascan holidays, but its jumble of all-inclusive resorts, expensive yacht trips and flashy restaurants have little or no local identity. Step away from your sun lounger and branch out and you’ll get to know the landscapes, cuisine and local culture that make this country so enriched.
Tunisia resorts
Off-the-beaten-track Tunisia can be staggeringly beautiful and its reinvented dars and vibrant souks are pretty cool too. However, so much of Tunisia is packed with all-inclusive resorts that many people going wouldn’t know a Berber village or an ancient medina if it jumped up and bit them – the resort beaches are a sea of plastic loungers so thick you can barely lay a beach towel. Not fun.
Food, shopping & people
Eating & drinking
Tanzania’s cuisine varies with its culture and landscape. The Asian influence is strong on the coast, with curry, coconut and delicious seafood featuring highly.Bobotie is a typical Asian-influenced South African dish of curried, minced meat, dried fruit and an egg topping.
Namibians have inherited beer, bread and cakes from Germany. They also snack on mopane caterpillars, fried and heavily spiced.
Southern Africa's San (also known as Bushmen) are believed to be the ancestors of all the world's human beings, due to their high genetic diversity.
Our top Africa Holiday
Swaziland wildife and culture tour
Explore Swaziland, one of the smallest countries in Africa
From
£3345
12 days
ex flights
Small group travel:
2019: 13 Apr, 27 Jul, 28 Sep
2019: 13 Apr, 27 Jul, 28 Sep
Helpdesk
Hello. If you'd like to chat about Africa or need help finding a holiday to suit you we're very happy to help. Rosy & team.
People & language
Africa is a place of huge linguistic diversity – there are an estimated 2,000 languages spoken across the continent, which are divided into four large language families: Afroasiatic, which spreads throughout the Middle East, North Africa, and the Horn of Africa; Niger-Congo, which is spoken in West, Central, Southeast and Southern Africa; Nilo-Saharan and Khoisan – southern African languages famous for their clicks.
Around 100 of Africa’s languages are used for inter-ethnic communication and include Arabic, Berber and Swahili. There are more than 90 million French speakers in Africa, 100 million Swahili and 170 million Arabic speakers;
English takes pole position with over 700 million speakers.
Around 100 of Africa’s languages are used for inter-ethnic communication and include Arabic, Berber and Swahili. There are more than 90 million French speakers in Africa, 100 million Swahili and 170 million Arabic speakers;
English takes pole position with over 700 million speakers.
Gifts & shopping
Apparently, our hair, skin and nails are nothing without Argan oil. ‘Versions’ of it are everywhere now in Europe, but you can buy the real deal in Morocco’s marvellous souksBombolulu in Mombasa works with over 100 craftspeople – many of whom have disabilities. Their gorgeous products include bags, jewellery and wood carvings.
Tanzania’s beautiful, bright Tingatinga paintings were originally created using bicycle paint, which was cheaper than traditional art materials. The paintings depict stylised wildlife and local flora in a burst of African colour.
One capital city was not enough for South Africa;
it has three: Pretoria (executive), Bloemfontein (judicial) and Cape Town (legislative).
How much does it cost?
Dinner for two at an upmarket restaurant: £10 (Kenya)
Local beer in a bar: £1.15 (Tanzania)
One-way train ticket Tangiers to Fez: £9 (Morocco)
Six local oysters: £5 (Namibia)
Cup of rooibos tea: 95p (South Africa)
More about Africa
The best time to visit Africa tends to depend on wildlife - with May to October being popular months in the game-rich plains of East and Southern Africa.
Deciding where to go in Africa is not an easy task, but our handpicked highlights and interactive map will help you get started.
An African safari is the Holy Grail of wildlife travel - whether that's witnessing the Big Five in the Ngorongoro Crater, watching the Wildebeest Migration or canoeing past elephants in the Okavango Delta.
Africa is not only home to a huge variety of animals, it can also serve up some unforgettable wildlife spectacles, from the Great Migration, to some lesser known but thrilling gatherings.
There is a huge difference between legal game meat and illegally hunted bushmeat in Africa, and this is the difference between a sustainable landscape – and pushing species closer to extinction.
Canoe, hike and dive your way through some of Africa’s most special places, where wild adventures and iconic wildlife are guaranteed, and thousands of tourists are not.
Family holidays in Africa may be a daunting prospect for all but the most laid back travellers, but as long as you choose wisely, this could be the trip of a lifetime.
Travel experts from across the continent have shared their Africa travel advice with us - on where to track gorillas, what to wear on safari, experiencing local life and how to pack for your holiday.
Responsible tourism in Africa may seem like to big of an issue to even begin to tackle - but there are so many incredible success stories here that there is plenty of hope for areas which aren't faring as well.
All our Africa guides. Find all of our Africa guides in one place, including guides on Botswana, Chad, the Serengeti and so much more.
Why book with Responsible Travel
Photo credits: [Page banner: Dave3006] [Is/Isn't: Annie Spratt]
[Underrated: Rob]
[Rated: Wynand Uys]
[Overrated: Randy Fath]
[People & language: bill wegener]
[How much does it cost?: Michael Pollak]
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