Zambia

Zambia is where the walking safari was invented, and that tells you everything about the country's approach to wilderness. While neighboring countries built fences and tourist lodges, Zambia kept things raw. The South Luangwa Valley is one of the greatest wildlife areas in Africa, the Zambezi River carves through the landscape with a grandeur that climaxes at Victoria Falls, and the Bangweulu Wetlands hide the strange-looking shoebill stork in papyrus swamps that seem untouched since the Cretaceous.

The country itself is one of Africa's most peaceful, having avoided the wars and upheavals that scarred many of its neighbors. Zambians are famously friendly - the country's unofficial motto might as well be "one Zambia, one nation," a phrase that has held together over 70 ethnic groups since independence. Lusaka is a rapidly modernizing capital, copper still drives the economy from the mines of the Copperbelt, and the sunsets over the Zambezi are the kind of thing that makes you understand why people fall in love with Africa.