Kelly
I think you first have to determine if you want a 1st world, 2nd world or 3rd world experience - ie how important is it to maintain a 1st world lifestyle for you? Or do you want to "go native" and move to a hut and live off the land? You said Africa - so I assume you're open to any country on the continent. If you need 1st world, I would suggest Cape Town - it is more similar to San Francisco than anywhere else, I think. If you're looking for a less europeanized part of Africa, consider Rwanda. The genocide was 10+ years ago, it's safer than Cape Town and the people are absolutely lovely. There's also Botswana, which has the highest GDP of any african country but is more "african" than South Africa (if you know what I mean). Do yourself a favour - if you can afford it, take a month or two flying between various African cities to get an idea of where you'd like to end up. Mozambique is also amazing, but desperately poor - but lovely ie tropical. Stay away from most major african cities unless you do like huge, sprawling cities with very large poor communities/townships. They can be very edgy, have a lot of excitement but are also the more dangerous/dirty places. Like I said, it all depends on what level of 1st vs 3rd world comfort you need (and the language you speak). Oh - also I head great things about Ghana, so check that out - along with Rwanda and Cape Town. Good luck!