I realize South Africa would come with a huge asterisk if it were on this list - though the image at the top of the post is from there (Blyde Canyon)....
I spent a college semester abroad in Madagascar in 1998 and I'd agree that (at least at that time...things might be changing now) the relative safety despite a lot of poverty and dysfunction is noteworthy. Compared to the mainland it's relatively ethnically homogenous, one factor that of course doesn't necessarily lead to wealth but it does tend to mean more stability.
I actually expected South Africa is be on this list! I even ran it by the World Bank's numbers. I've never been (unfortunately) but it always felt like the place in Africa most travelers land when they head to the continent, at least the southern end.
Yeah just I figured that apartheid must have complicated the picture in a way that makes it "ineligible" - but I still assumed that even compared to say, Egypt, it would qualify. I was lucky to visit a few years ago, but contrary to the trend I'd made it to 4 other African countries first....
South Africa is very much an in-between country...at one with the fully Western/developed countries in North America, Western Europe, and Australia/New Zealand (plus non-Western but developed countries like Japan, S. Korea, Taiwan, etc.), but also at one with the other sub-Saharan countries. And its per capita income level, inequity, and public safety (or lack thereof, more accurately) are akin to much of Latin America.
I've lived in Gabon twice (1990s and 2010s) and also visited frequently for work between 1987 and 2020. It's a lovely country, very safe and with reasonably good and improving infrastructure. Great people. Nice to see it on this list!
I realize South Africa would come with a huge asterisk if it were on this list - though the image at the top of the post is from there (Blyde Canyon)....
I spent a college semester abroad in Madagascar in 1998 and I'd agree that (at least at that time...things might be changing now) the relative safety despite a lot of poverty and dysfunction is noteworthy. Compared to the mainland it's relatively ethnically homogenous, one factor that of course doesn't necessarily lead to wealth but it does tend to mean more stability.
I actually expected South Africa is be on this list! I even ran it by the World Bank's numbers. I've never been (unfortunately) but it always felt like the place in Africa most travelers land when they head to the continent, at least the southern end.
Yeah just I figured that apartheid must have complicated the picture in a way that makes it "ineligible" - but I still assumed that even compared to say, Egypt, it would qualify. I was lucky to visit a few years ago, but contrary to the trend I'd made it to 4 other African countries first....
South Africa is very much an in-between country...at one with the fully Western/developed countries in North America, Western Europe, and Australia/New Zealand (plus non-Western but developed countries like Japan, S. Korea, Taiwan, etc.), but also at one with the other sub-Saharan countries. And its per capita income level, inequity, and public safety (or lack thereof, more accurately) are akin to much of Latin America.
I've lived in Gabon twice (1990s and 2010s) and also visited frequently for work between 1987 and 2020. It's a lovely country, very safe and with reasonably good and improving infrastructure. Great people. Nice to see it on this list!