Africa’s “most beautiful” a reminder of the continent’s rich endowment

Three of Africa’s most naturally stunning and well-endowed countries beat most of the rest of the world in terms of stunning natural endowments – like volcanoes, mountain ranges, coral reefs, protected areas, coastline, rainforests – and glaciers.

By Conrad Onyango, bird story agency

Three African countries have scooped top slots in a global ranking of countries with the most and best tourist-pulling natural beauty spots.

From land to the sea, Tanzania, Kenya and Comoros are among the world’s 10 most beautiful countries, according to a UK’s comparison service site, Money.co.uk global report titled ‘Natural Beauty.’

Tanzania ranked fourth globally, tops the continent with a natural beauty score of 6.98 out of ten supported by among others a huge forest cover, high number of prominent mountains and a longer coastline.

The country with the Highest Mountain in Africa-Mount Kilimanjaro, boasts of eleven ultra-prominent mountains, three volcanoes and 3,580 square kilometres of coral reefs area.

With 1,424 kilometres of coastline length, the East African nation also has 387,944 square kilometres of tropical forest area, it also has a total of 836 protected areas and 75 glaciers.

“From magnificent mountains to colourful coral reefs, the world’s natural marvels are a huge draw for travelers,” said the report.

Kenya ranked sixth globally with a 6.7 rating comes second in the continent- it also has the second highest mountain in Africa-Mount Kenya.

From the report, the largest economy in East Africa has five ultra-prominent mountains, 630 square kilometres of coral reefs area and 170,887 square kilometres of tropical forest area.

It also boasts of a total 411 protected areas, 536 kilometres coastline length, eight volcanoes and 28 Glaciers.

Comoros, a volcanic archipelago off Africa’s east coast, closed in the tenth best slot in the world and the third most beautiful place in Africa, with its “perfumed islands” loved by tourists for their great scenic beauty and flagrant plant life.

Kenya’s pre-pandemic international tourism arrivals were the highest in East Africa pegged at 2 million in 2019, Tanzania recorded 1.5 million, while the number of arrivals for Comoros was 45,100 during the period.

While the ranking did not concentrate on quality of beauty, it ranked countries based on the number of natural features like volcanoes, coral reefs, tropical rainforests and glaciers per 100,000 square kilometres.

“While beauty is ultimately subjective, it’s clear that these countries have a lot to offer visitors, whether you prefer adventuring in the mountains or relaxing by the coast,” according to the authors of the report.

The three African nations toppled some key first world countries such as France, the United States of America, Japan and Australia, which placed eighth, twelfth, and fourteenth positions respectively.

Not even the UK came close: the country did not appear in the top 50 list.

Indonesia’s popular natural attractions, including the tropical forests on Sumatra and Kalimantan and a number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, such as the Komodo National Park, propelled the nation to the top of the global ranking with a score of 7.77.

Mexico (6.96), India (6.54), France (6.51) and Papua New Guinea (6.39) settled for fifth, seventh, eighth and ninth positions respectively.

bird story agency