Last updated on Oktober 22, 2023

[Artikel in Planung]

Which African countries do you recommend to visit and which are the safest to go to?

Depends on region and what you’d like to see. I have visited 30 African countries so if you have any specific wants let them known.

There are few that are outright dangerous (Libya, Somalia, CAR) and a few that have restrictions on tourists (Chad, South Sudan). Not sure what the situation in Ethiopia is like at the moment.

Apart from that, most countries are safe enough and every country can be done safely. Standard of living varies wildly though, and mild annoyances will abound everywhere, and if something does go wrong corruption can be an issue when dealing with the police.

The absolute safest on the mainland IMO is Botswana – with Namibia not far behind. Can have great safari in Botswana, visit a meerkat colony, check out the Kalahari, quad bike across salt pans etc. Namibia has decent safari and the amazing Namib desert.

If Safari is your main purpose I’d recommend Kenya, Tanzania or Botswana.

If you want some Arab culture or food – Morocco and Algeria are my favourites. Egypt of course for the pyramids and history on top of that.

Ethiopia is fantastic for food and coffee culture, and urban life as well as African culture and history of humanity.

For island life – I love Moheli in Comoros, but Mauritius and Seychelles are cleaner, more Mainstream options.

Great diving and pyramids in Sudan too – which is also safe. For a solid diving holiday I’d combine Mozambique and Malawi, with some Egypt thrown in.

For mountains, Lesotho is stunning if hard to to traverse without a car.

South Africa has a great cosmopolitan food and wine scene, plus animals to boot.

West Africa is where my heart is – Mauritania is my favourite country in the world but you have to be prepared to go without creature comforts for a few days there to see the most stunning nature. Ghana, Benin and Senegal would be the “safest” countries on that side of the continent I think though I’ve not felt in danger anywhere there.

The only place I’ve ever felt like something could go very badly for me was in Northern Mozambique. And I think I came close to being stabbed in one of the worst neighbourhoods of Johannesburg. Or not, the guy was drunk or high, it was more amusing to me.

Awasa, Ehtiopia

In Ethiopia I only was in Addis for a week or so. It was surprisingly cold (as it was in Antananarivo, Madagascar) – which shows that I know nothing about Africa.