Personally, all the African countries I want to visit, that I haven’t yet, are in North Africa or Indian Ocean islands.
Of the places I have visited (or currently live in) I’d say, in descending order of awesomeness:
South Africa - quite varied geography, great tourism industry, wildlife. Also, where I keep my stuff.
Namibia - desert + Fish River Canyon
Botswana - Okavango
Mauritius - lovely resorts, very touristy
Lesotho - mountains.
It’s not African, in any sense. And it’s very hard travel on a budget. They won’t let you off the plane unless you can prove you have $150 a day and booked (very dear) reservations. Not my kind of travel destination.
The only African country I’d be seriously interested in visiting is Libya. Plenty of Ancient Roman ruins, traditional bazaars with handmade goods and jewellery, some interesting modern history, and warm and sunny Mediterranean beaches. Unfortunately, the current political situation makes it unsafe to visit, though hopefully things will improve soon.
The other countries I could take or leave. I wouldn’t say no to a free trip, but I wouldn’t make any plans to visit on my own dime.
None, currently. I’d visit Madagascar’s Tsingy de Bemahara except it’s too inaccessible. I wouldn’t mind, although I wouldn’t insist either, on going to Egypt except it’s too unstable for me to feel comfortable in.
Everything else looks like it’s just as pleasurable to just see photos of as it is to experience up close, although obviously I couldn’t know without actually experiencing it. (Hijack: for example when I went to the Prado I was enthused about seeing Bosch, which was all that I expected in person, and Goya, which was unfortunately not better in person than just seeing him on Wikipedia for me. But their collection of El Grecos, which I knew about, but was not what made me make the Prado as a destination, amazed me when I saw it in person due to the vibrant colors. Also, it’s possible that he used colors that are not replicable on a computer screen and therefore there might be a technical reason it is better to see it in person than on Wikipedia.)
You can get all those things in Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria, too. Some seriously cool Roman ruins.
I’d love to visit Mali, especially the North. I find the architecture, landscapes and the music really distinctive and fascinating. Probably not a good idea at the moment, though. I also voted for Chad for similar reasons. That whole region is little-known and mysterious, which I guess is why I’m interested in it.
Madagascar has also been on my list for years but I really couldn’t tell you why. Perkaps it’s the Indian Ocean (I also picked Mozambique, Kenya and Tanzanania), or perhaps the linguist in me is intrigued by the idea of Austronesian languages so far away from their point of origin, the unlikely meeting of Far Eastern and African peoples.
Everything except “interesting modern history”. It’s hard to beat Gadaffi’s Libya for sheer despotic lunacy (though I doubt much in the way of Gadaffian monuments has survived the recent civil wars). For now there’s always Turkmenistan and North Korea.
We were able to visit both Djenne and the Dogon community at the Bandiagara escarpment when we lived in Mali. My wife visited Timbuktu. I agree about the music. We saw Ali Farka Toure perform in Bamako, and have been fans of west African music ever since.
Tough one to answer. I prefer vacationing on Caribbean beaches. I’ve turned down multiple chances to visit Europe (England, France, Germany, Iceland, etc) in favor of the Caribbean.
That said, I know a guy who was from Mali and has returned to live there. I’d visit him in Mali given the chance. And I met Cesária Évora once and her descriptions of home (Cape Verde) make me want to visit if the chance arose.
