by:Jeremy Hart Are you game? Safe as gabled houses The road to Windhoek Dune it right Diamonds aren't forever

Saying that Namibia is the safest country in southern Africa is like saying a certain lion is less dangerous than the others in a pride. Zimbabwe is a cauldron right now. The former Portuguese colonies of Angola and Mozambique have suffered from a flood of arms and water respectively. And South Africa is in the public eye more for its rampant crime and endemic AIDS than its game reserves and sugar-white beaches.

"Botswana and Zambia are still safe and a lot of people who want to see game and have doubts about going to Zimbabwe or South Africa because of the crime or unrest are going there in search of the 'Big Five' (lion, leopard, elephant, rhino and buffalo)," says Chris McIntyre, of African specialists Sunvil Discovery. "But the fastest-growing market is now Namibia. And much of that is down to security.

Purple sunset for the convoy

"Namibia is safer than anywhere else I know of on the continent. Out of a thousand clients sent there, we have had just a couple of incidents. One where some property was stolen and another when two young women out alone at night were attacked. That could happen in Oxford or York. In fact , going on our experiences, Namibia is safer than Italy."