Gambia

Gambia is Africa's geographical punchline - a country so narrow that you can stand at one border and almost see the other side. Shaped like a crooked finger poking into Senegal, it's essentially the banks of the Gambia River plus a few kilometers on either side, stretching 450 kilometers inland but never wider than 50 kilometers. The borders were drawn by the British and French in a negotiation that basically said: "You take the river, we'll take everything else." The result is the smallest country in mainland Africa, entirely surrounded by Senegal except for a thin Atlantic coastline.

What Gambia lacks in size, it makes up for in character. Alex Haley traced his ancestry here for the book "Roots," and Jufureh village on the north bank became a pilgrimage site for the African diaspora. The river itself is a bird magnet - over 560 species have been recorded in this tiny country, making it one of the best birdwatching destinations in the world relative to its size. The Atlantic coast has proper tourist beaches and a vibrant scene around Kololi and Kotu. And the country's recent history has its own drama: Yahya Jammeh, the eccentric dictator who claimed he could cure AIDS with herbs and bananas, was finally voted out in 2016 but refused to leave, requiring a West African military intervention to escort him into exile.