I have backpacked in Africa enough times to get a real flavour for this enormous continent. I normally visit Africa on short trips no longer than a month – it’s a cool way to do it in my opinion. This has also meant that I haven’t visited many African countries twice (except I can count three trips to South Africa, a brace to Senegal and a brace to Morocco). Overall though, there are over 55 countries in Africa to backpack and so far I’ve hit around 15 of them so merely I have scratched the African surface. I hope there will be more to come. Here are 5 top experiences in Africa for you today.

Top 5 Experiences in Africa

1.Feeding Hyenas in Ethiopia
At dusk I headed out of the city of Harar in Ethiopia to feed hyenas! It was so crazy, I was feeding them mouth to mouth. This was back in 2013 when I made the death bus trip to this city and fed those animals with a bite as big as a shark.

Hyena Feeding in Harar, Ethiopia

Jonny Blair feeding hyenas in Harar Ethiopia

2.Touching Crocodiles in The Gambia
Unsurprisingly animals feature quite a bit on this blog post, well it is Africa! When I backpacked in The Gambia in 2016, I was staying in Brufut which wasn’t far from Kachikally which is where you can find a crocodile centre and feed live crocodiles. I got to stroke a crocodile that was alive and awake in Kachikally.

3.Safari in Tanzania and Uganda
Now for a real treat. If you fancy seeing the “big five” in their morning glory and natural habitat, get booking a Safari in Uganda or a Tanzanian safari adventure (to the Serengeti for example). I toured the Serengeti and Tarangire National Park back in 2013 with Shadows of Africa. We had a great time. We saw giraffes, elephants, zebras, lions, leopards etc. We just missed on the elusive black rhino – one of the rarest animals to see.

Safari in Africa

4.Touring Grand Bassam in the Ivory Coast
My 2018 adventure to the Ivory Coast was a surprise lift for me in a life of depression. I toured the capital city, Abidjan as well as a day trip to Grand Bassam, a UNESCO listed World Heritage Site.

Touring Grand Bassam in the Ivory Coast

5.Staying in Soweto, South Africa
It was hard to choose the last one as I just have so many memories from Africa. Even my 100th country trip to Tunisia didn’t make the cut – I left it off and of course have no time for Algeria. Senegal was good but also didn’t make the list so I’ve gone for Soweto. The reason is that so much happened in Soweto – the entire Apartheid regime produced a few heroes from this estate alone. I visited the famous 8115 Vilakazi Street, former home of Winnie and Nelson Mandela. I also saw Desmond Tutu’s house, drank local beer, played football with kids and went on a cycling tour. Soweto was brilliant.

Nelson Mandela’s House in Soweto

I hope to get back to Africa real soon. It’s a continent of sheer diverse landscapes, many cultures, too much colonialism and brilliant footballers!