The hardest thing about planning your trip is also the best thing about it. Abundant choice. Diversity. Africa has so much to offer, so it helps to start with a few basic questions such as: How long do I have to travel? What is my budget? What do I want to experience? What do I want to see? A brief description of each country considered follows, linked to more detailed information, if so required.
Botswana has ensured that its spectacular Delta region has been well-developed for tourism, with its impressive lagoons crammed with hovering birdlife, and elephants, giraffes and other exotic animals that happily amble through its vast grass flats. Incidentally, this is the largest inland delta in the world, which explains its wealth of wildlife. It is almost enough to make you forget that most of Botswana is given over to desert.
Today, Kenya, regarded by many as the ‘jewel of East Africa', has some of the continent's finest beaches, most magnificent wildlife and scenery and an incredibly sophisticated tourism infrastructure. It is a startlingly beautiful land, from the coral reefs and white sand beaches of the coast to the summit of Mount Kenya, crowned with clouds and bejewelled by strange giant alpine plants. Above all, Kenya is a place for safaris. Between these two extremes is the rolling savannah that is home to game parks such as Amboseli, the Masai Mara, Samburu and Tsavo; the lush, agricultural highlands with their sleek green coat of coffee and tea plantations; and the most spectacular stretch of the Great Rift Valley, the giant scar across the face of Africa.
Essentially a desert country, Namibia offers contrasting landscapes. The Namib Desert is a vast swathe of high dunes and desolate plains with an awe-inspiring sense of space. The thorn bush savannah and rugged mountains of the central plateau give way to the majestic Fish River Canyon in the south. In the north of the country, landscapes range from the dense bush and open plains of the great Etosha Pan, to woodland savannah and lush vegetation. Etosha National Park, the third largest in Africa, owes its unique landscape to the Etosha Pan, a vast shallow depression edged by waterholes to the south which guarantee rewarding game viewing.
Tanzania's popularity is not surprising for a country that boasts Kilimanjaro, the Serengeti, the Ngorongoro Crater and Zanzibar. Tanzania is definitely a country to be recognized both in terms of wildlife and beauty. For many, it is the ultimate safari destination. With national parks extending over some 33,660 sq km (13,000 sq miles), Tanzania has more land devoted to national parks and game reserves than any other wildlife destination in the world. Everything from pristine coral reefs to the Crater Highlands, remote game reserves and the famous national parks, is protected by government law.
Ecologically, Uganda is where the East African savannah meets the West African jungle. Abundant wildlife (including the famous mountain gorillas) and an excellent climate contribute to the attractions here and, although visitor facilities cannot yet compete with those of neighbouring Kenya, the annual number of tourists to Uganda is rising steadily.