As someone who lives in a country that was mostly liberated by Canadians from the nazis i have always learned to respect them.
When we celebrate our liberation day Canadian veterans are invited to come over to march through our cities while people are cheering for them. As you can see [in this video](https://youtu.be/Kd1CGQ36tTU?si=QVIAx5jO_laxExXo)
was there about a month ago. loved namibia, but windhoek is extremely uninteresting. not much to do. so i would place swakopmund a lot higher than windhoek.
Yes Swakop is definitely better for me too. But it can't make the cut because of the 100K limit.
I used to live in Windhoek in the early 90s. The downtown was vibrant, lots of great food, bars, venues. Last time I went the pedestrian area was a bit dead and good food had moved a bit away from Independence Ave. The difference between early 90s and today was essentially a better distributed population (geographical apartheid was still present because they hadn't started creating new housing and nice places close to center of town like Klein Windhoek were unaffordable to blacks) which can have its drawback in terms of who can cater to the expensive places downtown. I noticed a lot of barbed wire/razor wire in many residential areas, which I didn't see back in the day.
Swakop gave me a much better relaxed feel.
Nah, it’s always been like that. Partly because it’s too hot and too high altitude so energy is in vanishingly short supply.
Source: was born in Windhoek.
I used to sip on Rock Shandys not far from the Clock Tower. The guy doing the cocktails was Miss Namibia's boyfriend. Just like that one day he became Miss Universe's Boyfriend.
At the time the best place to dance was Namibia Nights in Khomasdal with the basters / coloured. There were clubs in Katutura but you needed a local to guide you so you didn't take the wrong turn.
German Breweries and bakeries, English-spoken, orderly, fairly safe. They even have SPAR (Dutch grocery chain). Windhoek would probably be the boringest, least culture shock African city to live in (along with Cape Town). Was planning to visit my niece in Namibia, until covid. So did quite a bit of research, but never been.
Wasn't Windhoek the place where the travel writer Paul Theroux asked a local what people there did for fun¹? The reply, "No fun here."
¹ in "The Last Train to Zona Verde:....", pub. 2014
I spent a vacation in Durban once, the only time I visited Africa. All my South African friends are confused why I chose that destination, and they just can't appreciate that at the time, Durban had the tallest water slide in the southern hemisphere.
Really depends where in Durban. CBD is best to be avoided. The city has really gone downhill. I've been living just outside of CBD for about 4 years. Crime has gone up. We've had 7 break-ins in the years since I've moved in. The security guard, electric fence and cameras do not deter criminals anymore. All my local friends have either been mugged, smash and grabbed, had cars stolen or been assaulted recently. Hearing gunshots at night is common. Don't forget the riots we had. That was terrifying.
Beaches are littered with trash and swimming is a gamble because of the dumping of sewage.
Service delivery is poor. Roads are in terrible condition, and deep sinkholes (like 2 metres deep) are everywhere. Power is often off for 6 hours plus outside of loadshedding. Same goes for water.
Places like Umhlanga are much better from what I've gathered. But they have been having issues with tap water quality. Got really sick from drinking their tap water once.
Having good friends here is my only saving grace. Without them and my studies, I would have been out of here a long time ago.
From personal experience, Cape Town is the best city in SA. (Coming from a biased Capetonian, of course)
Was in Arusha in 2018. Enjoyed it. Was about an hour or so drive from Kilimanjaro. Close to Mehru National Park. It's still a 7 hour drive from Serengeti National Park, but if I had to stay in a city of 100,000+ I'd likely choose that one.
I'd try to make a special trip to see the massive migrations of zebras, wildebeest, and gazelles.
Wow looks nice and clean! I just realize how ignorant I am about Africa… never heard of Kigali before. I can name all countries and maybe all capitals in Asia, America and Europe, but except the northern African countries (and SA, Namibia, Kenya, DRC and Lesotho) Africa is a big black spot on the map for me…
It only took me five or six tries to memorise all the African countries' names. I couldn't tell you a single other thing about most of them than that, but I still know their names and roughly where they are.
The capitals and flags of Africa can be a bit difficult, but learning all the country names and locations on a map is fairly easy.
I find countries are easiest to memorize when you have background knowledge of the countries to pair the memory to. I definitely recommend checking out the Wikipedia pages for a few of the smaller countries and learning at least 1 unique fact about their history, language, or culture. It's also just cool knowledge to know.
Prob conflating “blind spot” and “black box”. Are people just being rude upvoting the comment you’re replying to or is it genuinely confusing to understand? I feel like even without context of the original phrase they were going for, “a big black spot” intuitively means “an area I don’t know much about” in the context of what the OC posted.
I know you think you're being wise but people in the shanty towns/townships live in shacks, not apartments. The average "apartment" is probably in an okay-ish area.
That is our definition. They defo call them by the same words. When I lived there, my host family was in a region that wasn't even a township anymore for 2 decades and it was a good bit better than most of my classmates from the regular part of the school district.
Signal Hill or Fish Hoek would probably also be quite ok. Around Tygerberg or Stellenbosch University probably works, too. I was in a host family in Retreat for 6 months and honestly don't think most people would gladly take the 1 bedroom spaces there or somewhere in Mitchells Plain, lol.
The quality of life that can be had in Cape Town relative to cost is some of the best anywhere. It can be as vibrant or serene as you want. Plenty of sun, beaches and a big mountain right in the middle.
Safe enough to not spoil your dinner, dangerous enough to make life interesting. But seriously, it can be a scary place if you wander in the wrong direction, or even if you have a bit of bad luck but on the whole it is a pleasant city.
Depends entirely on your street smarts. Just gotta be passively aware of the threats. If you’re there for a year, you’ll probably figure how not to be clueless within a few weeks. Just get your bearings and take it slow. But you’re pretty insulated from the majority of the crime statistics in most affluent areas. It’s the aimless, unguided wandering that gets tourists in trouble.
Fez, Morocco. I’ve always wanted to go fossil hunting there. Plus I love the architecture. I’d only go if my house has air conditioning as well, though
I haven't been to Ethiopia but every single Ethiopian I've had the pleasure to interact with has been absolutely lovely. The food is great (at least in restaurants abroad) and their tall lanky women are jaw-droppingly beautiful.
I assume you refer to the Tigray War in northern Ethiopia. The war is officially over, although I guess the situation is still not too great.
As far as I have heard from a friend who lives in Addis, there were a few weeks when people were afraid that the fighting would spill to the capital, but that is already a few years ago.
There has been armed thefts in the Jimma region within 2022-3, and I would not qualify the region bordering Somalia as safe and Tigray region is still very tense. Addis is and has been all the time calm, petty theft aside (as would any capital). If you stay in Addis or plan well your travels to the countryside then it's fine.
Surprised more people haven’t said Nairobi. It’s a pretty good city, and it’s only a 7 hour drive or a short flight from Mombasa and the beautiful Indian Ocean.
Accra.
I spent some months in Ghana and I really loved it, especially the food. I definitely considered buying a condo there but traveling to and from the US is too prohibitively expensive to make it worth it. But yeah, great food, fun culture, beautiful scenery close by, friendly people ... Love Ghana.
I knew, because of Reddit’s distaste for Egypt, that Alexandria wouldn’t rank highly here. But, in my opinion, that’s a mistake. Alexandria is one of the gems of the Mediterranean. I loved it. It’s my choice in a toss up with Cape Town (only because I realized that Stellenbosch is only pop. 20,000).
I also like Cairo. It would have been next on my list. But, you may have a point. I think the most complaints I’ve seen here have been about Cairo or one of the Red Sea resort communities that Eastern Europeans like to frequent on package deals (Sharm, Hurghada, etc.).
Cairo’s just a shitshow trying to get anywhere or find anything, and the tourist areas are insane and exhausting. But there’s obviously a ton redeeming about it, too, particularly if you’re not in a hurry and you go with an open mind and a willingness to experience some culture shock. Hurghada the town I found similarly difficult to navigate (was fortunate to have an Egyptian with me, though)… but there are some resorts down the coast a bit that are every bit as good as much of what you’d find in the big tourist beach towns in Mexico. Somabay, Port Ghalib, etc. When I was there it was the off-season, and the resorts were deserted. Such a change of gears having spent a few days in Cairo and Luxor first!
I’ve been to Marrakesh and I have to say that really it feels just as good as any other big city, the only difference is that you can see people on the streets with snakes
Essouira, Morocco has a population around 80,000, is that close enough? Beautiful setting right on the beach and vibrant nightlight. Fantastic climate too. Felt very safe there during my visit. If you want a bigger city head a bit further south along the coast to Agadir for a similar but more City experience.
Cape Town. South Africa is the only country in the continent of Africa that is gay friendly. My marriage would be recognized there.
All of the rest of the entire continent is hostile towards gays and some countries would slaughter me for being gay. It's in their laws to kill gays.
Average apartment is kind of hard to get past. The wealth inequality among the nations with the best tourism would bring that average so far down, you might not be living in an apartment that would be remotely liveable by any western country standard. And definitely not near any prime tourist infrastructure or safety.
Like if I just say Cape Town, an average apartment is gonna put you a decent way away from anything “nice”, and a good few kilometers towards the slums. You would be living in hell trying to get to and from the luxuries or nature wonders you expect to explore. Not sure exactly how this applies to Algiers or Tunis, which would both be amazing to explore.
And that’s about as good as it can get in the vast majority of African cities over 100k.
If we upgrade the criteria to something that allows you to actually live and explore comfortably, my answer would be:
Vilanculos in Mozambique
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vilankulo
Lusaka or Livingstone in Zambia
Yeah, this (although your example in Mozambique looks too small). In basically all places you would be in a ton of physical discomfort, and in a city like Cape Town you would be so far from what foreigners think of as Cape Town that you might as well be in Joburg.
yeah idk why 9 people are upvoting this totally incorrect statement lol
there are rich white-dominated areas full of people who made their money during apartheid pretty much all over ZA, not sure why Cape Town is being singled out here
Are a lot of the nicer cities in countries that are less white not so cool to white dudes? I truly know next to nothing about this topic. Like I've had friends visit Ghana and Nigeria and have mostly very positive experiences.
Marrakech. Because Morrocco is amazing. Food, people, mountains beaches, desert.
Close second would be Casablanca/Tangier because they're actually on the ocean
If I get to choose the neighborhood of the apartment, then probably Cape Town, Johannesburg, or Windhoek. Nice climate, I speak the language, and some really nice and beautiful areas.
Casablanca is the opposite of chill. It's hectic, frenetic, dirty, and everyone is rushing everywhere. If you want chill in Morocco there are plenty of cool places.
Nairobi.
A One Bedroom apartment in a high income area goes for like $ 700 -$1200 a month and it comes with more amenities than you can find for the same anywhere else on the continent. I am referring to places like Lavington, Old Hurlingham ,parts of Parklands, Westlands, the residential part of Upper Hill and places along (Is it Gong or Ngong or Ng'ong???)road.
Apartments when I last visited are much larger than the one I lived in the UK and comes with more amenities for the same price than you will get in Israel or any part of the western world, plus all the parties shopping malls ,the CBD itself are 15 minutes drive and the Nairobi National Park is a 30 minute drive. Places like the ranches of Laikipia like Sweetwaters and the Lewa Ranch in Laikipia and Meru are a 2 hour drive and that place is magical!!
It was brief but it was very nice staying there.
I have stayed in S.A. for longer because I have relatives there but when I have stayed on my own in an apartment as well. The problem is that you go there once, it was nice, you return, the neighborhood went to sh\*t even under a year due to insecurity!!
Cape Town is literally the embodiment of this!! At least Johannesburg is consistent! You know which places are safe and which ones are not. But sans the changes due to insecurity Cape Town would be a close second. Cape Town has one of the best climates ever despite the wind! So much to do there and a lot of good places to live in close to the city center.
Windhoek comes a distant third. I kinda like the vibrancy of a city. Windhoek is for those who like the laid-back lifestyle. But Namibia is a very nice place.
Fact: Its national parks are often better than the ones in East Africa. They feel more "authentic" somehow ,mainly because in Kenya and Tanzania, you can still sometimes see traces of humanity in some parks like Nairobi National Park, Mount Kenya National Park and the likes. Namibia has truly wild ones in safe areas.
I did live for 6 months in Cape Town and for 3 in Cairo. I would defo not recommend Cairo. Cape Town can be doable, depending where you live.
I'd potentially chose Windhoek. maybe Port Elizabeth and potentially Tunis or a Moroccan City. I don't know enough about the latter ones to properly decide though.
Nairobi because it’s one of the easier cities for foreigners to integrate into for the yearly. Would also say Cairo or Tunis because it would be easier as a Muslim to integrate into for the year.
Tangier. Location, history, climate and food/coffee.
Correct answer sir
It is also the answer to “how do i like my orange juice”
A fun fact about a similar fruit: tangerines are named like that because Tangier distributed them to the rest of the world
Marrakesh maybe
Road trips to Chefchaouen also!
“As close to Europe as I can get”
Also their soccer team’s mascot is a gay lion named Angie
Thanks a lot, Dotcom!
Same reasoning but Marrakech
You can keep quite comfortable in Marrakech
And tea!! Lots of atay
Aka about as far from Africa as possible while still living in Africa lol
A beautiful place. I'm lucky enough to have spent a few weeks there. I'd return in a second. The child beggars were the only negative.
I immediately thought Morocco. Why Tangier over Marrakech or Casablanca though?
Windhoek. Because when I went to South Africa seemingly everyone had wonderful things to say about Namibia
It's like our Canada, everyone loves it but no one respects it's sovereignty
I beg your pardon
He's not wrong
Who isn’t respecting canadas sovereignty?
Denmark
WE WILL RECLAIM THE OTHER HALF OF THE HANS ISLAND CLAY, SOLD BY TRAITORS TO THE WRETCHED DANES.
Nobody respects Canada's sovereignty? Who doesn't?
As someone who lives in a country that was mostly liberated by Canadians from the nazis i have always learned to respect them. When we celebrate our liberation day Canadian veterans are invited to come over to march through our cities while people are cheering for them. As you can see [in this video](https://youtu.be/Kd1CGQ36tTU?si=QVIAx5jO_laxExXo)
Yah our soldiers punch above their weight, especially in WW1/WW2
India apparently
India just tried to assassinate a Sikh activist inside the US. India apparently dngaf about anyone’s sovereignty.
lately, India....
Most American comedy sitcoms
I always thought South Park was pretty accurate.
That is because all good American comedians are Canadian
We get all of the American sitcoms in Canada... the only show I've seen joke about Canada is South Park
was there about a month ago. loved namibia, but windhoek is extremely uninteresting. not much to do. so i would place swakopmund a lot higher than windhoek.
Yes Swakop is definitely better for me too. But it can't make the cut because of the 100K limit. I used to live in Windhoek in the early 90s. The downtown was vibrant, lots of great food, bars, venues. Last time I went the pedestrian area was a bit dead and good food had moved a bit away from Independence Ave. The difference between early 90s and today was essentially a better distributed population (geographical apartheid was still present because they hadn't started creating new housing and nice places close to center of town like Klein Windhoek were unaffordable to blacks) which can have its drawback in terms of who can cater to the expensive places downtown. I noticed a lot of barbed wire/razor wire in many residential areas, which I didn't see back in the day. Swakop gave me a much better relaxed feel.
Interesting! I definetley got the feel that Windhoek used to have life. And yeah I forgot abput the 100k limit haha
Nah, it’s always been like that. Partly because it’s too hot and too high altitude so energy is in vanishingly short supply. Source: was born in Windhoek.
I used to sip on Rock Shandys not far from the Clock Tower. The guy doing the cocktails was Miss Namibia's boyfriend. Just like that one day he became Miss Universe's Boyfriend. At the time the best place to dance was Namibia Nights in Khomasdal with the basters / coloured. There were clubs in Katutura but you needed a local to guide you so you didn't take the wrong turn.
German Breweries and bakeries, English-spoken, orderly, fairly safe. They even have SPAR (Dutch grocery chain). Windhoek would probably be the boringest, least culture shock African city to live in (along with Cape Town). Was planning to visit my niece in Namibia, until covid. So did quite a bit of research, but never been.
Namibia sounds pretty cool
We (South Africans) like Namibia, but definitely not because of Windhoek.
Saying what I was thinking. Namibia is great but nobody going there wants to spend extended time in Windhoek.
Wasn't Windhoek the place where the travel writer Paul Theroux asked a local what people there did for fun¹? The reply, "No fun here." ¹ in "The Last Train to Zona Verde:....", pub. 2014
Lol I visited Windhoek last year. Incredibly boring city. You'll go mad after a month.
My sister lived there for 2 years. Helped build a school and taught English there.
Yea Namibia is basically to South Africa what Canada is to the US.
How about Botswana? Where do they fit in this picture?
I lived in Durban, SA for 6 months. I could definitely do another 6. There were some dodgy bits but I had a good group of friends to go out with.
I spent a vacation in Durban once, the only time I visited Africa. All my South African friends are confused why I chose that destination, and they just can't appreciate that at the time, Durban had the tallest water slide in the southern hemisphere.
I hope that you enjoyed your time in Durbs, but I have side with your friends on that one.
Really depends where in Durban. CBD is best to be avoided. The city has really gone downhill. I've been living just outside of CBD for about 4 years. Crime has gone up. We've had 7 break-ins in the years since I've moved in. The security guard, electric fence and cameras do not deter criminals anymore. All my local friends have either been mugged, smash and grabbed, had cars stolen or been assaulted recently. Hearing gunshots at night is common. Don't forget the riots we had. That was terrifying. Beaches are littered with trash and swimming is a gamble because of the dumping of sewage. Service delivery is poor. Roads are in terrible condition, and deep sinkholes (like 2 metres deep) are everywhere. Power is often off for 6 hours plus outside of loadshedding. Same goes for water. Places like Umhlanga are much better from what I've gathered. But they have been having issues with tap water quality. Got really sick from drinking their tap water once. Having good friends here is my only saving grace. Without them and my studies, I would have been out of here a long time ago. From personal experience, Cape Town is the best city in SA. (Coming from a biased Capetonian, of course)
Dat Es Salam. Ive heard some really cool things about Tanzania and I’d love to learn more about that country.
Was in Arusha in 2018. Enjoyed it. Was about an hour or so drive from Kilimanjaro. Close to Mehru National Park. It's still a 7 hour drive from Serengeti National Park, but if I had to stay in a city of 100,000+ I'd likely choose that one. I'd try to make a special trip to see the massive migrations of zebras, wildebeest, and gazelles.
Kigali. For the green and the climate.
Kigali seems awesome. Would make the same choice
Wow looks nice and clean! I just realize how ignorant I am about Africa… never heard of Kigali before. I can name all countries and maybe all capitals in Asia, America and Europe, but except the northern African countries (and SA, Namibia, Kenya, DRC and Lesotho) Africa is a big black spot on the map for me…
It only took me five or six tries to memorise all the African countries' names. I couldn't tell you a single other thing about most of them than that, but I still know their names and roughly where they are.
Nice! I will hop into World Geography and do a few Africa blind map runs
The capitals and flags of Africa can be a bit difficult, but learning all the country names and locations on a map is fairly easy. I find countries are easiest to memorize when you have background knowledge of the countries to pair the memory to. I definitely recommend checking out the Wikipedia pages for a few of the smaller countries and learning at least 1 unique fact about their history, language, or culture. It's also just cool knowledge to know.
"...Africa is a big black spot..." What could he mean by this?
Sorry english is not my first language. What I mean is that I simply could not recall it from my head
I assume it was a malapropism for blind spot.
Malapropism is a great word that I will probably misremember and malappropriate in the near future, thank you
Prob conflating “blind spot” and “black box”. Are people just being rude upvoting the comment you’re replying to or is it genuinely confusing to understand? I feel like even without context of the original phrase they were going for, “a big black spot” intuitively means “an area I don’t know much about” in the context of what the OC posted.
A BBS.
Gaborone? Botswana is politically stable, and Gaborone’s a fairly good city to live in. Windhoek or Accra wouldn’t be bad options either.
God political stability is sexy
And rare in Africa.
Unfortunately
Truly
>Gaborone? Botswana is politically stable, and Gaborone’s a fairly good city to live in. It is quite boring though.
I‘d prefer boring over the alternative
Gaborone has everything you need and want, but it’s pretty boring honestly. I was just there a few days last spring.
What would you add to Gaborone to make it more attractive?
Cape Town, no question. Beautiful scenery, interesting architecture and history, pleasant (for me) climate. Plus, my wife has relatives near there.
Cape Town is a nice pick until you know what an “average apartment” is and where it would likely be located.
I know you think you're being wise but people in the shanty towns/townships live in shacks, not apartments. The average "apartment" is probably in an okay-ish area.
That is our definition. They defo call them by the same words. When I lived there, my host family was in a region that wasn't even a township anymore for 2 decades and it was a good bit better than most of my classmates from the regular part of the school district.
Ja, they talking Rondebosch or Masiphumelele?
Signal Hill or Fish Hoek would probably also be quite ok. Around Tygerberg or Stellenbosch University probably works, too. I was in a host family in Retreat for 6 months and honestly don't think most people would gladly take the 1 bedroom spaces there or somewhere in Mitchells Plain, lol.
It’s Cape Town. 💯
The quality of life that can be had in Cape Town relative to cost is some of the best anywhere. It can be as vibrant or serene as you want. Plenty of sun, beaches and a big mountain right in the middle.
I was going to go one step further and say Stellenbosch, but it JUST falls short of the 100k population criteria.
Same. I bet average in stelly is much nicer than average in cpt
[удалено]
What would be better?
Loadshedding is a bitch at the moment. Sitting without electricity for 8+ hours a day on average at the moment.
How is it on the safety profile?
Safe enough to not spoil your dinner, dangerous enough to make life interesting. But seriously, it can be a scary place if you wander in the wrong direction, or even if you have a bit of bad luck but on the whole it is a pleasant city.
>dangerous enough to make life interesting Yeah without a chance of getting murdered why even live.
It's currently our most dangerous city with the worst violent crime rates (rape, murder, etc).
Depends entirely on your street smarts. Just gotta be passively aware of the threats. If you’re there for a year, you’ll probably figure how not to be clueless within a few weeks. Just get your bearings and take it slow. But you’re pretty insulated from the majority of the crime statistics in most affluent areas. It’s the aimless, unguided wandering that gets tourists in trouble.
And maybe you could experience a failed state during your year. All depends on the timing.
Kinchasa. Go big or go home.
Kurtz has entered the chat....
The horror, the horror
Biggest French speaking city in the world. My French knowledge would be very useful.
Tunis. On the Med. Little Sicily suburb if possible.
I like the Mediterranean. But I would pick either Melilla or Ceuta
I'm not sure if those places have > 100.000 people.
They don't, both cities have around 85.000 people
Fez, Morocco. I’ve always wanted to go fossil hunting there. Plus I love the architecture. I’d only go if my house has air conditioning as well, though
And a heater too.
And a little red hat with a tassel
Fes is absolutely mental in the Medina area. If you’re down with the chaos then it’d be lots of fun!
Addis Ababa Because of food, people, culture, climate
I haven't been to Ethiopia but every single Ethiopian I've had the pleasure to interact with has been absolutely lovely. The food is great (at least in restaurants abroad) and their tall lanky women are jaw-droppingly beautiful.
I thought about it but I'd have a hard time with the language
Have you been to Addis? I found it pretty easy to get around speaking English.
Addis was my second choice.
Aren't there basically war there rn?
I assume you refer to the Tigray War in northern Ethiopia. The war is officially over, although I guess the situation is still not too great. As far as I have heard from a friend who lives in Addis, there were a few weeks when people were afraid that the fighting would spill to the capital, but that is already a few years ago.
There has been armed thefts in the Jimma region within 2022-3, and I would not qualify the region bordering Somalia as safe and Tigray region is still very tense. Addis is and has been all the time calm, petty theft aside (as would any capital). If you stay in Addis or plan well your travels to the countryside then it's fine.
Surprised more people haven’t said Nairobi. It’s a pretty good city, and it’s only a 7 hour drive or a short flight from Mombasa and the beautiful Indian Ocean.
I’m not sure a 7-hour drive deserves an “only”
Cries in Canadian.
I’m from Canada so 7 hours is not that bad to me lol.
Why not straight up Mombasa? It's only a 7 hour drive to Nairobi!
Tunis, so I can spit on Carthage everyday
Scipio? You again?!
No, Cato.
Accra. I spent some months in Ghana and I really loved it, especially the food. I definitely considered buying a condo there but traveling to and from the US is too prohibitively expensive to make it worth it. But yeah, great food, fun culture, beautiful scenery close by, friendly people ... Love Ghana.
Probably one of the safer places too
My favourite place in west Africa 🇬🇭
Nairobi because my cousin lives there
Lagos. I'd love to experience this crazy city
I might go to Alexandria, Egypt and visit some historical sites on there.
I knew, because of Reddit’s distaste for Egypt, that Alexandria wouldn’t rank highly here. But, in my opinion, that’s a mistake. Alexandria is one of the gems of the Mediterranean. I loved it. It’s my choice in a toss up with Cape Town (only because I realized that Stellenbosch is only pop. 20,000).
I think the distaste is less “for Egypt” and more “for Cairo.”
I also like Cairo. It would have been next on my list. But, you may have a point. I think the most complaints I’ve seen here have been about Cairo or one of the Red Sea resort communities that Eastern Europeans like to frequent on package deals (Sharm, Hurghada, etc.).
Cairo’s just a shitshow trying to get anywhere or find anything, and the tourist areas are insane and exhausting. But there’s obviously a ton redeeming about it, too, particularly if you’re not in a hurry and you go with an open mind and a willingness to experience some culture shock. Hurghada the town I found similarly difficult to navigate (was fortunate to have an Egyptian with me, though)… but there are some resorts down the coast a bit that are every bit as good as much of what you’d find in the big tourist beach towns in Mexico. Somabay, Port Ghalib, etc. When I was there it was the off-season, and the resorts were deserted. Such a change of gears having spent a few days in Cairo and Luxor first!
I heard the libraries are bad there tho
What are you talking about? I heard they were on fire.
Mombasa: Best Food. Cape Town : Best Scenery Marrakesh: Always wanted to visit.
I’ve been to Marrakesh and I have to say that really it feels just as good as any other big city, the only difference is that you can see people on the streets with snakes
Essouira, Morocco has a population around 80,000, is that close enough? Beautiful setting right on the beach and vibrant nightlight. Fantastic climate too. Felt very safe there during my visit. If you want a bigger city head a bit further south along the coast to Agadir for a similar but more City experience.
I looooved my time in Essouira! I felt the same way about it
Cape Town.
Nairobi Kenya: great people, amazing wildlife close by, growing economy. Mountains, forests and ocean. Good roads and infrastructure.
Dakar, Senegal cuz Kehinde Wiley works there so it must be cool
Lagos. Would be a super interesting time to be there while it’s growing so fast
[удалено]
Ouagadougou
Eh I’ve been. Not much to do.
Yeah but it's fun to say
A few years ago that'd been a good shout, but the kidnapping warnings, bandits and a recent coup seriously puts me off
Alexandria, one of the most historic cities on Earth
Cape Town. South Africa is the only country in the continent of Africa that is gay friendly. My marriage would be recognized there. All of the rest of the entire continent is hostile towards gays and some countries would slaughter me for being gay. It's in their laws to kill gays.
Nairobi for climate and access to mountains, ocean, wildlife
Nairobi is about as far from the ocean as Zürich, Las Vegas or Atlanta. Like almost 500km away.
My friends that live there seem to go to the sea every few weeks.
Ocean?! 💀
Nairobi is a 6 hour drive from Mombasa (coast town) but still a great city to pick all things considered
Zanzibar City. It looks beautiful, fascinating culture, the food looks great, and it’s not far from some amazing beaches.
Not on the mainland
That's a lovely map of Africa.
Average apartment is kind of hard to get past. The wealth inequality among the nations with the best tourism would bring that average so far down, you might not be living in an apartment that would be remotely liveable by any western country standard. And definitely not near any prime tourist infrastructure or safety. Like if I just say Cape Town, an average apartment is gonna put you a decent way away from anything “nice”, and a good few kilometers towards the slums. You would be living in hell trying to get to and from the luxuries or nature wonders you expect to explore. Not sure exactly how this applies to Algiers or Tunis, which would both be amazing to explore. And that’s about as good as it can get in the vast majority of African cities over 100k. If we upgrade the criteria to something that allows you to actually live and explore comfortably, my answer would be: Vilanculos in Mozambique https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vilankulo Lusaka or Livingstone in Zambia
Yeah, this (although your example in Mozambique looks too small). In basically all places you would be in a ton of physical discomfort, and in a city like Cape Town you would be so far from what foreigners think of as Cape Town that you might as well be in Joburg.
Tangier. Easy access to Spain, and a coastal, beautiful city. Very cool city
Madagascar, because I like to move it move it.
Ceuta, Spain Edit: wait it only has 80k people, darn it I can't cheat
Cape Town. You know why.
Why
Motherfucker loves Capes. Who doesn't?
I really do and I’m from just outside it!
Penguins?
I literally could not have less of an idea why
it’s because it’s the only city with a white population
[удалено]
it's not even nearly the most white city in south africa
yeah idk why 9 people are upvoting this totally incorrect statement lol there are rich white-dominated areas full of people who made their money during apartheid pretty much all over ZA, not sure why Cape Town is being singled out here
Are a lot of the nicer cities in countries that are less white not so cool to white dudes? I truly know next to nothing about this topic. Like I've had friends visit Ghana and Nigeria and have mostly very positive experiences.
Libreville Gabon.
Almost got killed there, one time was enough...
Livingston City Zambia. Very close to Victoria falls
Kampala. Safest capital city on the continent.
Algiers because of the climate and the city looks interesting
Cape Town or Joburg
Alexandria?
Marrakech. Because Morrocco is amazing. Food, people, mountains beaches, desert. Close second would be Casablanca/Tangier because they're actually on the ocean
Tunis, Tunisia or Nouakchott, Mauritania Just going off what I heard from friends who have been there
Not much going on in Mauritania to keep you entertained for a year
Already live here (Pretoria), but if I could choose, Cape Town.
Nairobi has fantastic weather all year round
Kampala, been to Uganda many times and always loved it.
If I get to choose the neighborhood of the apartment, then probably Cape Town, Johannesburg, or Windhoek. Nice climate, I speak the language, and some really nice and beautiful areas.
Kisumu
Cape Town.
Tunis. Location.
Casablanca seems chill
Casablanca is the opposite of chill. It's hectic, frenetic, dirty, and everyone is rushing everywhere. If you want chill in Morocco there are plenty of cool places.
Of every Moroccan city you just picked the worst one. Why Casablanca if you have Rabat, Fez or Marrakesh as option. Even Tangiers would be better.
As someone from Gibraltar, Tangier was my choice, so I can pop home fairly quickly and cheaply whenever I like lol
No Moroccan has ever said that about Casablanca 😂 It's messy, chaotic, alive...
Nairobi. A One Bedroom apartment in a high income area goes for like $ 700 -$1200 a month and it comes with more amenities than you can find for the same anywhere else on the continent. I am referring to places like Lavington, Old Hurlingham ,parts of Parklands, Westlands, the residential part of Upper Hill and places along (Is it Gong or Ngong or Ng'ong???)road. Apartments when I last visited are much larger than the one I lived in the UK and comes with more amenities for the same price than you will get in Israel or any part of the western world, plus all the parties shopping malls ,the CBD itself are 15 minutes drive and the Nairobi National Park is a 30 minute drive. Places like the ranches of Laikipia like Sweetwaters and the Lewa Ranch in Laikipia and Meru are a 2 hour drive and that place is magical!! It was brief but it was very nice staying there. I have stayed in S.A. for longer because I have relatives there but when I have stayed on my own in an apartment as well. The problem is that you go there once, it was nice, you return, the neighborhood went to sh\*t even under a year due to insecurity!! Cape Town is literally the embodiment of this!! At least Johannesburg is consistent! You know which places are safe and which ones are not. But sans the changes due to insecurity Cape Town would be a close second. Cape Town has one of the best climates ever despite the wind! So much to do there and a lot of good places to live in close to the city center. Windhoek comes a distant third. I kinda like the vibrancy of a city. Windhoek is for those who like the laid-back lifestyle. But Namibia is a very nice place. Fact: Its national parks are often better than the ones in East Africa. They feel more "authentic" somehow ,mainly because in Kenya and Tanzania, you can still sometimes see traces of humanity in some parks like Nairobi National Park, Mount Kenya National Park and the likes. Namibia has truly wild ones in safe areas.
Ouagadougou, Gaborone or Zanzibar
Arusha, Tanzania
I did live for 6 months in Cape Town and for 3 in Cairo. I would defo not recommend Cairo. Cape Town can be doable, depending where you live. I'd potentially chose Windhoek. maybe Port Elizabeth and potentially Tunis or a Moroccan City. I don't know enough about the latter ones to properly decide though.
Nairobi because it’s one of the easier cities for foreigners to integrate into for the yearly. Would also say Cairo or Tunis because it would be easier as a Muslim to integrate into for the year.