Here are the best places to visit in African Union member countries

The general idea is that the modern-day African is not very versed in travel or does not like travelling outside their comfort zone.

But if you are looking forward to experiencing the best that the beautiful African continent has to offer, we have selected some of the best places you should start ticking off (or putting on) your travel bucket list.

1. Notre-Dame d'Afrique in Algeria

Notre Dame d'Afrique (Our Lady of Africa) is a Roman Catholic basilica in Algiers, Algeria.

2. Fortress of São Miguel in Angola

Fortaleza de São Miguel or Saint Michael Fortress was a Portuguese fortress built in Luanda, Angola. São Miguel fort was built in 1576 by Paulo Dias de Novais.

3. Royal Palaces of Abomey in Benin

The Royal Palaces of Abomey are 12 palaces spread over a 40 hectares area at the heart of the Abomey town in Benin, formerly the capital of the West African Kingdom of Dahomey

4. Okavango Delta in Botswana

The Okavango Delta is a vast inland river delta in northern Botswana. It's known for its sprawling grassy plains, which flood seasonally, becoming a lush animal habitat. The Moremi Game Reserve occupies the east and central areas of the region. Here, dugout canoes are used to navigate past hippos, elephants and crocodiles. On dry land, wildlife includes lions, leopards, giraffes and rhinos.

5. Lake Tengrela in Burkina Faso

Lake Tengrela is a small lake near Banfora in Burkina Faso. It is known for its hippopotamuses. Locals believe that these hippopotamuses do not attack humans because they are sacred hippopotamuses. Crocodiles are almost never seen in this lake.

6. Rusizi Nature Reserve in Burundi

Rusizi Nature Reserve is a nature reserve in Burundi, next to the Rusizi River. It is 15 km north of the city of Bujumbura and home to hippopotamuses and sitatungas. Gustave, a Nile crocodile rumored to have killed 300 people lives here.

7. Mount Cameroon in Cameroon

Mount Cameroon is an active volcano in Cameroon near the Gulf of Guinea. Mount Cameroon is also known as Cameroon Mountain or Fako or by its native name Mongo ma Ndemi.

8. Palácio do Povo in Cape Verde

The Palácio do Povo, also the Palácio do Mindelo, formerly the Palácio do Governador is a building located near a small mountain in east Mindelo in Cape Verde. Its area is by 50 by 100 meter.

9. Dzanga-Sangha Special Reserve in Central African Republic

The Dzanga-Sangha Special Reserve is a protected reserve of southwestern Central African Republic. It was established in 1990 and covers 6865.54 km².

10. Zakouma National Park in Chad

Zakouma National Park is a national park, located between Sarh and Am Timan, in the south of Chad. Created in 1963, it was Chad's first national park, and has an area of almost 3,000 square kilometres.

11. Moheli Marine Park in Comoros

Moheli Marine Park is the first protected area in the Comoros. It was established on 19 April 2001.

12. Lake Kivu in Democratic Republic of Congo

13. Moucha Island in Djibouti

Moucha Island is a small coral island off the coast of Djibouti. It is located at the center of the Gulf of Tadjour.

14. Great Sphinx of Giza in Egypt

The Great Sphinx of Giza, commonly referred to as the Sphinx of Giza or just the Sphinx, is a limestone statue of a reclining sphinx, a mythical creature with the body of a lion and the head of a human.

15. St. Elizabeth's Cathedral in Equatorial Guinea

The St. Elizabeth's Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral located on Independencia Avenue in the city of Malabo the capital of Equatorial Guinea, home of the Archdiocese of Malabo. It is considered the largest Christian church in the nation.

16. Matara in Eritrea

Matara is an archaeological site in Eritrea. Situated a few kilometers south of Senafe, it was a major city in the Dʿmt and Aksumite kingdoms.

17. Sof Omar Caves in Ethiopia

Sof Omar Cave is the longest cave in Ethiopia at 15.1 kilometres long; sources claim it is the longest system of caves in Africa.

18. Lopé National Park in Gabon

Lopé National Park is a national park in central Gabon. Although the terrain is mostly rain forest, in the north the park contains the last remnants of grass savannas created in Central Africa during the last Ice Age, 15,000 years ago.

19. Kachikally Museum and Crocodile Pool in Gambia

The Kachikally crocodile pool is located in the heart of Bakau, Gambia, about 10 miles from the capital Banjul. It is one of three sacred crocodile pools used as sites for fertility rituals.

20. Mole National Park in Ghana

Mole National Park is Ghana's largest wildlife refuge. The park is located in northwest Ghana on grassland savanna and riparian ecosystems at an elevation of 150 m, with sharp escarpment forming the southern boundary of the park.

21. Îles de Los in Guinea

Îles de Los are an island group lying off Conakry in Guinea. Their name is derived from the Portuguese: Ilhas dos Ídolos, "Island of the Idols". They are located about 2 km off the headland limiting the southern side of Sangareya Bay.

22. Orango Islands National Park in Guinea-Bassau

The Orango Islands National Park is found in Guinea-Bissau. It was established on 1 December 2000. This site is 1582 km² and 94,235.00 km².

23. Maasai Mara in Kenya

Maasai Mara National Reserve is an area of preserved savannah wilderness in southwestern Kenya, along the Tanzanian border.

25. Maletsunyane Falls in Lesotho

Maletsunyane Falls is a 192-metre-high waterfall in the Southern African country Lesotho. It is located near the town of Semonkong, which also is named after the falls.

26. Liberian National Museum in Liberia

The National Museum of Liberia is a national museum in Monrovia, Liberia. Initially housed in the First Executive Mansion on Ashmun Street of the city which is now used as a library.

27. Tadrart Acacus in Libya

The Acacus Mountains or Tadrart Akakus form a mountain range in the desert of the Ghat District in western Libya, part of the Sahara. They are situated east of the city of Ghat, Libya and stretch north from the Algerian border about 100 kilometres.

28. Avenue of the Baobabs in Madagascar

The Avenue or Alley of the Baobabs is a prominent group of baobab trees lining the dirt road between Morondava and Belon'i Tsiribihina in the Menabe region in western Madagascar.

29. Chongoni Rock Art Area in Malawi

Chongoni Rock Art Area is located in the Central Region of Malawi consisting of 127 sites in the forested hills of the Malawi plateau with depictions of rock art and paintings of the farmer community of the Late Stone Age and the Iron Age period.

30. Djenné-Djenno in Mali

Djenné-Djenno is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in the Niger River Valley in the country of Mali

31. Galerie Zeinart in Mauritania

This is a place of art collections.

32. Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Botanical Garden in Mauritius

The Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Botanical Garden, commonly known as the Pamplemousses Botanical Garden, is a popular tourist attraction in Pamplemousses, near Port Louis, Mauritius, and the oldest botanical garden in the Southern Hemisphere.

33. Hassan II Mosque in Morocco

The Hassan II Mosque or Grande Mosquée Hassan II is a mosque in Casablanca, Morocco. It is the largest mosque in Morocco and the 13th largest in the world. Its minaret is the world's tallest at 210 metres (689 ft).

34. Island of Mozambique in Mozambique

The Island of Mozambique sits off Mozambique's north coast. It's connected to the mainland by a bridge. Portuguese colonial structures in Stone Town, the northern half of the island, include the Chapel of Nossa Senhora de Baluarte.

35. Etosha National Park in Namibia

Etosha National Park is a protected area in northern Namibia. Lions, elephants, black rhinos and giraffes gather at waterholes such as Halali, Okondeka and the floodlit Okaukuejo.

36. Agadez Mosque in Niger

Agadez Mosque is a prominent mosque in Agadez, Niger. Made of clay, it was originally built in 1515 and restored in 1844.

37. Yankari National Park in Nigeria

Yankari National Park is a large wildlife park located in the south-central part of Bauchi State, in northeastern Nigeria.

38. Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda

Volcanoes National Park lies in northwestern Rwanda and borders Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda. The national park is known as a haven for the mountain gorilla.

39. Ilhéu das Rolas in São Tomé and Príncipe

Ilhéu das Rolas is an islet in São Tomé and Príncipe, in Africa. The island lies on the equator, off the southern tip of São Tomé Island. It is in the Caué District of São Tomé Province. The island is home to a small resort, the Pestana Equador.

40. House of Slaves in Senegal

The House of Slaves and its Door of No Return is a museum and memorial to the Atlantic slave trade on Gorée Island, 3 km off the coast of the city of Dakar, Senegal.

41. Curieuse Island in Seychelles

Curieuse Island is a small granitic island 1.13 sq mi in the Seychelles close to the north coast of the island of Praslin.

42. Outamba-Kilimi National Park in Sierra Leone

Outamba-Kilimi National Park is located in northwest Sierra Leone near the border with the Republic of Guinea. The park is divided into two areas, Outamba and Kilimi.

43. Laas Geel in Somalia

Laas Geel, also spelled Laas Gaal, are cave formations on the rural outskirts of Hargeisa, Somaliland. They contain some of the earliest known cave paintings in the Horn of Africa.

44. Apartheid Museum in South Africa

The Apartheid Museum is a museum complex in Johannesburg, South Africa illustrating apartheid and the 20th century history of South Africa. The complex, owned by Gold Reef City Casino, was opened in November 2001.

45. Boma National Park in South Sudan

Boma National Park is a protected area in eastern South Sudan near the Ethiopian border. It was established in 1986 and covers 22,800 km² of grasslands and floodplains.

46. Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary in Swaziland

Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary is in the Ezulwini Valley of central Swaziland, south of the city of Mbabane. Its grassy southern plains are home to animals such as antelopes and zebras, as well as many birds.

47. Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania

Mount Kilimanjaro, with its three volcanic cones, "Kibo", "Mawenzi", and "Shira", is a dormant volcano in Tanzania.

48. Koutammakou in Togo

Koutammakou, the Land of the Batammariba is a cultural landscape designated in 2004 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in northern Togo. The area features traditional mud tower-houses which remain the preferred style of living.

49. Great Mosque of Kairouan in Tunisia

The Great Mosque of Kairouan, also known as the Mosque of Uqba, is one of the most important mosques in Tunisia, situated in the UNESCO World Heritage town of Kairouan.

50. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda

The Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is a biodiverse, mountainous area in southwest Uganda. It's home to many of the world’s remaining mountain gorillas, who feed on roots, leaves and fruits from the park’s many tree and fern species.

51. Victoria Falls in Zambia

This falls found between Zambia and Zimbabwe has several names depending on the conquering force.

52. Matobo National Park in Zimbabwe

Matobo National Park is in southwest Zimbabwe. It’s known for the Matobo Hills, a range of balancing rock formations created by erosion of the granite plateau.

53. Parc national de la Salonga in Republic of Congo

Salonga National Park is a national park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo located in the Congo River basin. It is Africa's largest tropical rainforest reserve covering about 36,000 km² or 3,600,000 hectares.

54. Laayoune in Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic

Laayoune is the largest city of the disputed territory of Western Sahara. The modern city is thought to have been founded by the Spanish colonizer Antonio de Oro in 1938.

55. Basilica of Our Lady of Peace in Côte d’Ivoire

The Basilica of Our Lady of Peace is a Catholic minor basilica dedicated to Our Lady of Peace in Yamoussoukro, the administrative capital of Côte d'Ivoire.