“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” These stirring words, by American author Mark Twain, have always made me want to pack my trusty backpack immediately and set off on another journey — particularly when it’s the start of a new year and I’m busy fending off the January blues by plotting adventures.
To help you with your plans for 2016, we have compiled the first adventure themed issue of Travel Africa, which we hope will inspire you to do something new and challenging this year, such as paddling the Zambezi (page 74), cycling in Malawi (page 104), driving across Namibia and Botswana (page 58), scuba-diving off South Africa’s Elephant Coast (page 66) or conquering Kilimanjaro, the continent’s highest peak (page 94).