Africa 'popular' with gap year flyers

Britons looking to spend time overseas as part of a gap year tend to flock to Africa, according to one expert.

Tom Griffiths, founder of gapyear.com, said that destinations such as Ghana and Kenya were particularly popular, partly due to the sheer number of projects - especially animal-related ones - available for gappers to work on.

He added that there is some interesting accommodation for those heading abroad on a gap year placement, including hostels that have been converted from prisons and, in Sydney, a railway station 'hotel' where travellers can sleep in carriages.

"There are hostels in the middle of the jungle where you can live in treehouses and sleep in hammocks," Mr Griffiths commented.

According to research from NatWest, nearly a quarter of those who applied for a place on a university course last year deferred entry in order to take advantage of a gap year.

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