Rwanda

Rwanda has built one of Africa’s most polished travel experiences around a small footprint: Volcanoes National Park is only about a two-and-a-half hour drive from Kigali, making it the most accessible gorilla trekking destination on the continent.

Kigali itself is worth a day — clean, safe, and home to the moving Kigali Genocide Memorial — before heading into the misty bamboo forests where Dian Fossey once worked.