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Algeria

Driving through folds in the Sahara Desert, it is easy to lose any sense of scale and space. Part of an untamed region covering 90 per cent of Algeria, the Grand Erg dunes present some of Africa’s most dramatic sandscapes, too blisteringly hot to explore at other times of year. Elsewhere, absorb the sheer volume of history locked in Algeria’s sand and rocks. Use your imagination to fill gaps in Tindjillet ksar, a former fortified village and palm grove; admire ochre oasis Timimoun; and search for ancient petroglyphs and rock engravings in the caves of Taghit. Some of the best-preserved Roman cities can be found at Djemila, showcasing a collection of temples, basilicas and triumphal arches, while modern life unravels along the French-style boulevards and labyrinthine lanes of coastal capital city Algiers. Remains of a citadel, old mosques and Ottoman-style palaces make up the Kasbah, where people have lived for more than 2,600 years.

From £2,795 including all meals, but excluding flights. Departs Dec 5 (01273 823 700; responsibletravel.com)

Gabon

Sunseekers and hawkers are few and far between on the beaches of this complex Central African country in the Congo Basin. Instead, elephants have been spotted skirting the 560 miles of uninterrupted, virgin coastline and hippos occasionally roll in the surf. Infrastructure is limited, with barely any roads, but the reward for intrepid explorers is a rainforest paradise where holidaymakers rarely step. Navigate tropical rivers, trundle through the jungle on train tracks and hike through a mosaic of savannas, forest and mountains in Lope National Park. Colourful mandrills, black colobus satanas and the world’s only growing forest elephant population are an alternative to the Big Five of East Africa’s busier safari parks. Find mangroves, beaches, Congolese forest and tropical meadows in Loango National Park, where sitatungas and furry-eared red river hogs reside. Journeys can be tough and days long, but – with a population of only 1.5 million people – there is no better place to escape the crowds.

A 10-day trip costs from £5,845pp, excluding flights (00 34 9351 74917; middle-africa.com)

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2022-10-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

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https://dailytelegraph.pressreader.com/article/281513640035038

Daily Telegraph