Africa

Mission of the Month: Mali has a vibrant history marred by trouble

A series of despatches by diplomats from British embassies and High Commissions around the world

Inside Africa

Roar terror: Beware of the lions in Zambia...

Saturday, 20 March 2010

Zambia possesses astonishing landscapes, luxurious lodges and wildlife in abundance

Wild waves in West Africa

Saturday, 20 March 2010

Emily Dugan dons her wetsuit and confronts her fears in the face of the Ngor 'right'

'You people cannot walk, you only move in cars'

Sunday, 14 March 2010

With the help of three guides, two donkeys and a cart, Jason Florio and his partner took a walk around The Gambia. That's 1,000km – give or take a few hundred metres

The natural world: Fossil hunting in South Africa

Saturday, 13 March 2010

I'm kneeling in a hole carved out of brick-red rock, my face a few inches from the floor. The sun is hot on my back and the sweat keeps running into my eyes. In front of me are the delicate, creamy-white and exquisitely delicate bones of a small, plant-eating dinosaur.

Traveller's Guide To: Namibia

Saturday, 13 March 2010

The incredible wildernesses of this vast south-west African country offer wildlife watching, adventure sports, ancient art and plenty more

Travel By Numbers: Mali

Saturday, 27 February 2010

A trip to the fabled city of Timbuktu really is possible, says Peter Harmer. And while you're at it, head into the Sahara for an overnight trek

Travel By Numbers: The Nile

Saturday, 20 February 2010

This great river charts its course through thousands of years of history. Peter Harmer adds it all up

WIN! A weekend for two in Marrakech

Sunday, 14 February 2010

We've teamed up with Hotels.com – the world's leading hotel booking website – to offer a weekend break for two in Marrakech, Morocco.

Best for getting lost: Fez

Saturday, 6 February 2010

Every great city is entirely itself and nowhere else. At the same time, they're all like ... somewhere. Somewhere that doesn't exist. A Platonic copy, perhaps; an embodiment of the idea of the city, whatever that may be. Morocco has several versions – all different – but in the end Tangier, Rabat and Marrakesh seem to me just rehearsals for the world's great masterpiece, Fez. In particular, the Bali Medina, the walled Old City, of Fez. The traditional Great City – traditional now, in our post-Enlightenment eyes – is a place of visual harmony, of vistas and prospects, squares, spires and domes. Old Fez is the exact opposite. The alleyways of the medina are so sinuous, straitened and overbuilt that there is, quite literally, no view. You never know what is around the next corner as it tilts down towards the river. You barely know where the next corner is. There is no angle that can lead the eye upwards more than 30ft. The rooflines are a mystery. The medina from the air reveals nothing about the medina on the ground. The eye is made useless.

Best for the wild at heart: South Africa

Saturday, 6 February 2010

I was expecting to see the wildlife, not eat it. Yet here it was in front of me – springbok shank, with mash, washed down with a fine Cape red. I'm not quite sure how this reconciles with the avowed "eco tourist" mission of Richard Branson's Ulusaba Private Game Reserve in South Africa, but I suppose my meat was free-range and organic. If you haven't tried it, the national animal is like lamb, only gamier – and surprisingly fatty.

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