While most countries in southern Africa are well developed and completely safe for tourism – as long as you don’t stray into townships, or walk around at night by yourself (which is obviously silly) – some central and northern African countries are a little more complicated or politically unstable. Your relevant government travel advisory warnings, guide books and trusty all-knowing Google are some of the best sources of information, while chatting with fellow travellers or expats gave us the most up-to-date, on-the-ground info as we needed it.