8 Reasons to visit Kigali, Rwanda

Just an hour away from Rwanda’s famed gorilla trekking and nestled amongst inactive volcanoes lies a little-visited but spectacular sight: the country’s Twin Lakes. Early in the morning, small islands on Lake Burera and Lake Ruhondo glow white against velvety blue water as fishermen begin their day. Then, when the afternoon sun burns away the mist, verdant green hills appear.

The excitement started before I had even arrived in Gibraltar. As the plane steered towards the landing strip, the aircraft’s wing appeared to almost dip into the sea water. Shrieks of joy echoed around the cabin. “Dolphins, dolphins, look, there’s babies!”. All those without window seats on the right-hand side – including myself – were left feeling glum as we missed out on the preshow. But I wasn’t disappointed for too long. This 7-square-kilometre piece of land had plenty more surprises to come.

We’ve all waited in a cramped airport for hours because of a lengthy layover. But what if you could ditch the busy terminal to stretch your legs on an African safari? Kenya Airways is making that fantasy a reality by offering passengers a free safari during stopovers in Nairobi.

By all accounts, I am a nervous traveler and I never quite feel safe until I return home. 

Sierra Leone has everything adventurous travellers could want – exquisite, empty beaches fringed by palms, rainforest jungles with monkeys swinging through the trees, a fascinating heritage and warm, welcoming people. But its troubled history of civil war and Ebola means that few visitors actually make it here.

Sustainable tourism is about more than re-using your towels. To mark the UN’s Year of Sustainability in 2017, Keith Drew heads to Zimbabwe to see how a proper sustainable strategy can change people’s (and animals’) lives for the better.

Sri Lanka is emerging as one of the world's coolest destinations, with growing numbers flocking to hotspots like the southern port town of Galle, and the tea plantation-covered hills of Kandy. Our advice? Avoid the crowds and head for Sri Lanka's east coast — before the rest of the world does the same.

Northern Kenya is one of the world’s last great wildernesses. This rugged, dusty land is rich in history, cultural heritage and isolated appeal and offers the most epic of adventures for the wild at heart. Here, fiery desert plains give way to luscious jungles; bubbling oasis streams are set against imposing, glorious mountain ranges and black, volcanic lakeshores are trodden by some of the world’s most remote tribes.

Escaping music altogether isn’t really an option in Music City (and why would you want to?), but this is the closest you’ll get. Damien Gabet shares five very good alternative reasons to visit Nashville.

He has met cannibals in Papua New Guinea, played with mountain gorillas in Rwanda and has several flower and animal species named after him. In a career of more than sixty years, naturalist and broadcaster Sir David Attenborough’s name is synonymous with utterly absorbing wildlife documentaries, including 1979’s Life on Earth, which became a yardstick for quality wildlife show production.

Plovdiv, Bulgaria’s second city, is the oldest continually inhabited city in Europe. It's also one of the continent’s brightest upcoming stars, and will be a European Capital of Culture in 2019. As well as offering archaeological treasures by the barrow-load, it is one of the most culturally vibrant places in southeastern Europe, with enough cultural festivals, arty neighbourhoods and cool bars to keep today’s urban explorers more than happy.