Ssese Islands

Twenty-nine islands scattered across a deep, still lake terraced to the waterline in the southwestern highlands. Bunyonyi means "place of many little birds" and it delivers on the name. There is no bilharzia and no crocodile or hippo, so it is one of the very few lakes in the region where swimming is safe. Dugout canoe between the islands, or simply stop moving for a few days after a gorilla trek.

Seventeen kilometres of white coral sand south of Mombasa, backed by palms and fronted by a reef that keeps the water flat and clear. Colobus monkeys move through the canopy behind the beach hotels. Kitesurfing, diving on the reef, dhow trips to Wasini Island and the Kisite Marine Park make it more than a place to lie down — though it is very good at that too.

Uganda's largest and oldest park, split by the Victoria Nile as it forces itself through a seven-metre gorge and detonates into the Rift Valley below. Game drives on the northern bank turn up elephant, giraffe, buffalo and lion across open savanna; the afternoon launch cruise runs to the foot of the falls past hippo pods and basking crocodile. The Delta stretch is one of the last reliable places on earth to see the shoebill.