Southern Africa
Still on the bucket list, especially for wildlife observation
Southern Africa is the southernmost region of Africa. While there is no universally accepted definition, various classifications exist, including the United Nations scheme, the intergovernmental Southern African Development Community designation, and a geographical definition that focuses on the physical attributes of the land.
According to the United Nations there are 5 countries in this region: Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa.
I have not visited any of them, therefore I can only present some commonly known facts and my plans to travel around the region in the future.
By far the largest and most important country in the region is South Africa. An economic super power, which gained worldwide fame by apartheid, efforts of anti-apartheid activist and politician Nelson Mandela and unique experience of wildlife observation in many national parks. Botswana, with its extensive Okavango Delta, the biggest population of elephants in the world and almost 40% of its land allocated to national parks is also a leading and even more exclusive safari destination.
Desert, canyons, cheetahs and vast land with extremely low people density, beside Himba ethnic group, could be the main reasons to visit Namibia. Eswatini and Lesotho are significantly smaller and less frequented by tourists.
I am planning to visit the whole region of Southern Africa until 2026.
