Unveiling Africa's gems: The world's greatest places for 2024
From groundbreaking sustainability initiatives to immersive cultural experiences, each destination sets a new standard for hospitality and exploration. That’s according to TIME Magazine following the release of its annual World’s Greatest Places List.
According to the publisher, it took nominations of places including hotels, cruises, restaurants, attractions, museums and parks from its international network of correspondents and contributors to compile the list.
“This year’s selection highlights 100 extraordinary destinations worldwide, categorized into places to stay and places to visit,” said the publisher.
South Africa’s Magugu House in Johannesburg and Grootbos Florilegium in Gaansbai are featured on the list of places to visit.
With a few destinations and experiences on the continent making it onto the list, here are some of Africa’s greatest places according to TIME.
Kamba African Rainforest Experiences - Odzala-Kokoua National Park, Republic of the Congo
Part of the larger Congo Basin, the 90-year-old Odzala-Kokoua National Park in the central African country of the Republic of the Congo (also known as Congo-Brazzaville) is an incredibly valuable habitat. Considered “the lungs of Africa,” this rainforest is the largest carbon sink in the world, absorbing more carbon than the Amazon.
The famously diverse area is home to more than 600 types of trees and 10,000 species of animals, including the endangered western lowland gorilla.
Kwetu Nairobi, Kenya
Kwetu Nairobi, Curio Collection by Hilton is within five minutes of Karura Forest, offering horse riding, birdwatching, jogging and cycling.
Westlands, the city’s entertainment and retail hub, is four kilometres away. The location is also less than eight kilometres from the city centre and 16 kilometres from both Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and Wilson Airport, from which many smaller airlines and light aircraft depart.
Travellers can enjoy forest views from their suites, an outdoor pool, and meeting space. The 102-key hotel opened in March and ideal for luxe longer stays or simply getting a good night’s rest before heading into the bush.
Kwetu means “our home” in Swahili and this is the first property from the upscale Curio Collection by Hilton portfolio in Kenya and its second on the African continent.
Hassan Fathy's New Gourna Village - Luxor, Egypt
Designed by a pioneer of sustainable architecture, Hassan Fathy, the village of New Gourna in Luxor, or ancient Thebes, was commissioned by the Egyptian Department of Antiquities in 1945.
The goal was to use local materials and techniques to relocate Old Gourna, a community of amateur archaeologists that had sprung up near the ancient sites, and in doing so, curtail damage and looting at nearby Pharaonic sites as well as facilitate tourism development.
New Gourna remains a dynamic living settlement, with housing and public facilities, though nearly 40 percent of the original buildings have been lost.
Angama Amboseli - Kimana Sanctuary, Kenya
Angama Amboseli is an intimate lodge in the heart of Kimana Sanctuary.
Kenya’s first community-owned conservancy, the Sanctuary is renowned for its lush landscape and remarkable density of wildlife along with its famed backdrop, Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa.
Set within a Fever Tree Forest where some of Africa’s last Super Tuskers roam, elephants with tusks so large they drag along the ground as they walk, Angama Amboseli is a gentle start or finish to any East African safari.
The lodge has 10 guest suites including two sets of family, or interconnected, suites. Angama Amboseli features incredible views, contemporary African design, intuitive guiding and warm Kenyan service.
Magugu House, Johannesburg
Johannesburg boasts a robust art and design scene and is a melting pot of different cultures and modernity making it the perfect home for Thebe Magugu’s design house.
Thebe Magugu, who has collaborated with Dior and shown collections at London and Paris Fashion Weeks, injected fresh confidence in the city with the opening of Magugu House in May.
The new retail space and showroom from a designer known for colorful storytelling is located in a 1930s heritage building in the leafy suburb of Dunkeld; it’s his first brick-and-mortar, complete with two micro galleries.
Grootbos Florilegium - Gaansbai, South Africa
Grootbos Private Nature Reserve protects 8 600 acres of “fynbos,” a carpet of endemic plants and flowers so multifarious that the UNESCO World Heritage Convention recognized the region as one of the most biodiverse in the world.
Owner Michael Lutzeyer wanted to amplify his conservation message beyond guests of the property’s 27 suites and two villas by creating a museum devoted to the small wonders of nature.
The resulting Hannarie Wenhold Botanical Art Gallery houses the Grootbos Florilegium, a collection of nearly 250 botanical illustrations and portraits of insects, butterflies, and other pollinators commissioned from 44 international artists.
Opened in September 2022 and continually growing, the museum aims to instil in its visitors a love of South African vegetation and the passion to protect it through public tours and by funding local school programmes with the sale of botanical prints.