Edition 48: Autumn 2009

My first footstep in Africa... Stepping onto the tarmac in Addis Ababa. I was excited, nervous and geared up for a fight with immigration and bus drivers, but I found it a friendly, frenetic city.

My favourite footstep in Africa... Not so much a footstep but the first push on the pedal of my bicycle at Victoria Falls, riding a stage of the Tour d’Afrique bike ride earlier this year. After all the training in the British winter I was finally there. The next minute I got a puncture.

My fab five... I like elephants, giraffes and wildebeest, like everyone else, but warthogs are fun to watch and underrated and Indri lemurs make an amazing noise that’s worth going to Madagascar just to hear.

I'm still hoping to see... A lion, or any big cat. I always seem to get somewhere just after everyone else has spotted a fantastic pride, a leopard in a tree or a cheetah playing the saxophone.

...is at the top of my African travel wishlist... Sudan. I studied the Fall of Khartoum at university and everything I’ve heard about the country since makes me determined to explore it, preferably arriving by ferry from Egypt.

My best cultural experience in Africa... The rock-hewn churches at Lalibela, Ethiopia. As much as the churches, the atmosphere of medieval pilgrimage is unforgettable.

My favourite activity in Africa... Running! Especially in east Africa everyone finds it hilarious that you’re going out for a jog. Drivers honk their horns, kids run alongside you and any barrier between you and local people is broken in an instant.