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Itineraries | Country Highlights | Photos of Camps & Lodges
COUNTRY HIGHLIGHTS
Secluded by many deep and stupendous gorges, crowned by high and magnificent mountains, neck laced by a chain of lakes, watered by majestic rivers, studded with burning deserts and great escarpment that plunge down from its highland, Ethiopia remains a land of incomparable beauty and a land of adventure for those wishing to have the real outdoor sports: trekking, rafting, bird-watching, camel caravan, photo safari, cycling, paragliding, horse riding, caving, sunbathing and many more. Interact with unique and indigenous cultures that are not affected by modern civilizations, and yet are rich with traditions and values of life thousands of years old.
The suitable climatic conditions and landscape make Ethiopia a true Ornithological Paradise. There are 350 species of animals, out of which seven are indigenous. And, after the rains, Ethiopia is a land decked with flowers and with many more native plants than most countries in Africa. The vegetation is one of the most diverse and abundant in Africa, and many of its National Parks are recognized as some of the last remaining untouched wilderness of Africa.
Comparable to none, picturesque Ethiopia holds all combinations of peerless geological formations varying from 116 meters below sea level at the radiant sulfuric inferno Danakil depression in the Afar region to the alpine moorland peaks rise to 4620 meters at Ras Dejen in the ruggedly carved Simien mountains.
If you need to know proud cultures and respectful values of life, unaffected by modern civilizations, then you need to visit Ethiopia to meet some unique indigenous cultures.
WORLD HERITAGE SITES
Ethiopia has 8 World Heritage Sites, all but one are in the cultural category. Ethiopia also has another 3 sites on the World Heritage Tentative List.
Cultural Sites
- Rock-Hewn Churches, Lalibela
- Fasil Ghebbi, Gondar Region
- Axum
- Lower Valley of the Awash
- Lower Valley of the Omo
- Tiya
- Harar Jugol, the Fortified Historic Town
Natural Sites
- Simien Mountains National Park
SIMIEN MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK
Simien Mountains National Park is located in the Simien (North) Gondar Zone of the Amhara Region, its territory covers the Simien Mountains and includes Ras Dashan, the highest point in Ethiopia. It is home to a number of extremely rare species, including the Ethiopian wolf, Gelada Baboon, the Walia Ibex, and a wild goat found nowhere else in the world.
STELE PARK
As of April 2005, there is one more of the ancient obelisks on view, as Italy returned the Rome Stele taken from these fields in 1937. Due to the massive weight of the stele, it was cut into three 60-ton sections and flown to Axum in a Russian-built cargo plane, one of two in the world large enough to handle the job. The 24.6 meter (81-foot) Rome Stele is thought to be 2,000 years old, and is one of Ethiopia's national treasures. And there's more: Under a parking lot on what was the stele's original site, a vast funerary chamber was recently discovered, believed to be a royal necropolis. There are more than 120 stele in this, the largest of the Axum stele fields, located just north east of the town. All told, there are more than 176 stele, in three such parks. Axum's well-preserved stele are each carved from a single block of granite -- the finer the carving, the more elaborate the funerary chamber they are thought to mark.
ADDIS ABABA
With 4.5 million people, the city of Addis Ababa is located in the geographic center of the country. There are more than 120 international missions and embassies in Addis Ababa, making the city a hub for international diplomacy concerning Africa. The headquarters of the African Union and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa can both be found in the city.
Addis Ababa offers an international crowd with a diversity of shopping and restaurants. Traditionally Ethiopian cuisine can be found alongside Mexican, Asian, and western restaurants. This area also has a lively night life.
AXUM
Axum lies in the northern province of Tigre, the cradle of Ethiopian culture. Axum is the oldest city in Ethiopia (it was the ancient capital) and is the holiest city of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.
Most of Axum has yet to be examined by archaeologists, so there is likely much that has yet to be discovered in this ancient empire.
THE BLUE NILE FALLS
The power of the Blue Nile may best be appreciated just thirty kilometers downstream from the point where the river first leaves Lake Tana. There, a rumble of sound fills the air and the green fields and low hills on either bank tremble to the Blue Nile Falls. It is one of the most dramatic spectacles on either the White or Blue Niles, a vision of natural strength and grandeur. Four hundred meters wide in flood, the Blue Nile plunges forty-five meters down a sheer chasm to throw up a continuous mist that drenches the countryside up to a kilometer away. In turn, this gentle deluge produces rainbows that shimmer across the gorge under the changing arc of the sun - and a perennial rainforest. The pillar of cloud in the sky above, seen from afar, explains the local name for the falls, 'Tissisat', water that smokes.
The Blue Nile Falls is the second largest of its kind in Africa, and is one of the best sceneries in the entire continent.
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