An Afrinkong collection of places worth crossing a continent to see
Some places don’t need explaining. You just need to stand there.
From waterfalls that disappear into the earth to deserts with no end to them, from cities carved out of rock to forests where the last of something still lives — Africa holds places that change the scale of what you thought the world was.
23 places, and the list is ours — there is no
official ranking of African wonders and this is not pretending to be one.
15 of them are photographed. The other 8 are numbered instead, because a photograph under a place name is a claim that the photograph is of that place — and we would rather show you a number than something that is somewhere else.
Earth 5 places Mountains, deserts, waterfalls, and the geology that made them. Wildlife 7 places Migration, gorillas, elephants, predators, and species that live nowhere else. Civilisations 6 places Ancient cities, kingdoms, archaeology, and architecture built to last. Ocean 2 places Islands, reefs, and the water between them. Human culture 3 places Living traditions, food, music, craft, and the communities that keep them.
The strands
Earth5 Wildlife7 Civilisations6 Ocean2 Human culture3
5 in this strand
Earth Mountains, deserts, waterfalls, and the geology that made them.
01 Victoria Falls Zambia · Zimbabwe
The river does not simply fall. It disappears into the earth.
02 Kilimanjaro Tanzania
Africa’s highest point, and you walk up it.
03 The Namib and Sossusvlei Namibia
The oldest desert on earth, and it is still moving.
05 Table Mountain South Africa
A city built at the foot of a mountain that is flat on top.
7 in this strand
Wildlife Migration, gorillas, elephants, predators, and species that live nowhere else.
06 The Serengeti Tanzania
Where the horizon moves.
07 The Okavango Delta Botswana
A river that never reaches the sea.
08 Bwindi Uganda
Forest, mist, and one of the rarest encounters left.
09 The Ngorongoro Crater Tanzania
A collapsed volcano with its own weather and its own animals.
10 The Virunga Mountains Rwanda · Uganda · DR Congo
Three countries, one range, and the mountain gorillas between them.
11 Madagascar Madagascar
Eighty-eight million years alone, and it shows.
12 Gorongosa Mozambique
A park that was emptied by a war and is filling again.
6 in this strand
Civilisations Ancient cities, kingdoms, archaeology, and architecture built to last.
13 The Pyramids of Giza Egypt
Four thousand years later, still standing where they were put.
14 Lalibela Ethiopia
Eleven churches, cut downward into solid rock.
15 Great Zimbabwe Zimbabwe
A city of dry stone, built without mortar, that gave a country its name.
16 Timbuktu Mali
A byword for the ends of the earth, and a library long before that.
17 Djenné Mali
The largest mud-brick building in the world, replastered every year by the town.
18 The Valley of the Kings Egypt
Sixty-odd tombs cut into a dry valley, and they are still finding them.
2 in this strand
Ocean Islands, reefs, and the water between them.
19 The Bazaruto Archipelago Mozambique
Dunes in the sea, and dugongs in the channel.
20 The Granite Islands Seychelles
Boulders older than the ocean around them.
3 in this strand
Human culture Living traditions, food, music, craft, and the communities that keep them.
21 The Omo Valley Ethiopia
Where more languages are spoken than in most countries.
22 Cape Coast and Elmina Ghana
Two castles on a shoreline, and the doors that faced the sea.
23 Robben Island South Africa
A prison, a quarry, and a man who came out and forgave it.
Any of them can be the reason for the journey.
Name one and we will build the days around it —
what it costs, what else is near it, and when it is worth going.
Afrinkong
