Heart of an Ancient Empire:

Once the hub of a great civilization that spread from East Africa, across the Red Sea, and into the Arabian Peninsula, Axum is home to some of the most significant archeological findings on the entire continent.  Ethiopian and foreign scholars working in the region believe they’ve only hit the tip of the iceberg of artifacts and ruins waiting to be discovered. The most obvious of Axum’s ancient wonders are the huge stelae erected over 1,700 years ago. These massive pieces of solid stone were hauled four kilometers from a quarry, carved into obelisks, and then raised upright.  How the Axumites were able to achieve such technological marvels remains a mystery.  The tallest stele is 23 meters (75 feet) high, while one which lays shattered is 33 meters in length and weighs a staggering 500 tons.  

Gondar, or Gonder, is a city in northern Ethiopia. It’s known for the walled Fasil Ghebbi fortress and palace compound, once the seat of Ethiopian emperors. Dominating it is the immense 17th-century castle of Emperor Fasilides, which combines Portuguese, Indian and local architectural styles. Outside the complex is Debre Berhan Selassie church, with an interior of elaborate murals, including a ceiling of faces. On the city’s outskirts, the mountainside Kuskuam Palace complex was built for Empress Mentewab in the 18th century. Nearby, the Bath of Fasilides is a rectangular pool overlooked by a 2-story building thought to have been a royal residence. North of the city is Woleka, a former Jewish village with craft stalls and a deserted synagogue. Farther northeast, hiking trails wind through Simien Mountains National Park, home to endangered Walia ibex goats, Gelada baboons and the Ras Dashen peak. Southwest of the city, birdwatchers are drawn to the town of Gorgora on the shores of vast Lake Tana.

Bale Mountains National Park is an area of high altitude plateau that is broken by numerous spectacular volcanic plugs and peaks, beautiful alpine lakes and rushing mountain streams that descend into deep rocky gorges on their way to the lowlands below. As you ascend into the mountains you will experience changes in the vegetation with altitude, from juniper forests to heather moorlands and alpine meadows, which at various times of year exhibit an abundance of colourful wildflowers.

Bale Mountains National Park is the largest area of Afro-Alpine habitat in the whole of the continent. It gives the visitor opportunities for unsurpassed mountain walking, horse trekking, scenic driving and the chances to view many of Ethiopia’s endemic mammals, in particular the Mountain Nyala and Semien Fox, and birds, such as the Thick-billed Raven, Wattled Ibis, Blue-winged Goose, and Rouget’s Rail.

The Danakil Depression, in the northeastern corner of Ethiopia, has the distinction of being the hottest place on earth, with recorded temperatures of 125 degrees. It’s sometimes called “the gateway to Hell.” The lava lake in the Erta Ale volcano is one of only 4 living lava lakes in the world.Danakil Depression: The Danakil Depression is a geological depression, near theHorn of Africa and is also a part of the Great Rift Valley. Afar is well known as one of the cradles of hominids, and contains the site of Hadar, where Lucy, the fossilized specimen of Australopithecus afarensis was found. The depression includes the lowest point in Africa, Lake Asal at 155m below sea level. The Awash River flows into the Danakil depression where is ends in a series of lakes. It is the only river to run its entire course within Ethiopia’s borders. The Danakil Depression has very low levels of rainfall and experiences very high temperatures, the cooler ‘rainy’ season running from September til March, and the dry season for the rest of the year when temperatures often reach the high 40s (Centigrade). Tigray: The northern most region of Ethiopia, the region is home to the Tigrayan people. With Eritrea bordering to the north

While many of the world’s hot spots are located in deserts, where temperature extremes between day and night are just as dramatic as the extreme temperatures experienced during either, Dallol has an average low temperature of 87°F, which is hotter than many places on Earth ever get.

Situated in the Great Rift Valley, only 200 kilometers (124 miles) south of Addis Ababa, and in the Lake Langano recreational areas, the Abijatta Shalla lakes National Park attracts numerous visitors. Using Lake Langano as your base, it is an easy trip to visit the National Park, which is 887 square kilometers in size, 482 of these being water. The altitude of the park ranges from 1540 to 2075 meters, the highest peak being mount Fike, situated between the two lakes. The network of tracks in this park is always developing. At present you can enter at four different points, three of which are inter connected. Approaching from Addis you first reach the Horakello entrance, where the small Horakello stream flows between lakes Langano and Abijatta. It was created primarily for its aquatic bird life, particularly those that feed and breed on lakes Abijatta and Shalla in Large numbers. The park compresses the two lakes, the isthmus between them and a thin strip of land along the shorelines of each.

Harar, with its 16th century walled “old city” of Jugal, is quite distinct from Ethiopia’s other historical sites with their strong connections to Orthodox Christianity.  While Christianity was introduced and accepted by the nation of Ethiopia very early, Islam also arrived at the outskirts of the Ethiopian Empire not long after Mohammed began spreading his faith on the nearby Arabian Peninsula.  At one time, non-Muslims were forbidden from the old city, but today, all visitors are most welcome to walk its alleyways with their unique homes, colorful markets, and numerous mosques. 

Feeding the Hyenas: Every night just beyond the old city’s walls, hyenas gather to be fed by a brave Harari.  While some tourists enjoy the show, the tradition actually has roots in an old belief that taking care of the hyenas would result in peace and prosperity for the city.

Located in the lowlands 225 km east of Addis Ababa, the south boundary of the park is formed by the Awash river which swings North soon after leaving the park and eventually disappears into the Afar (Danakil) region. The Park covers an area of 827 square kilometers, most of it lies at an altitude of 900 meters. In the middle of the park is the dormant volcano of Fantale, reaching a height of 2007 meters at its top. Temperatures in the park are hot and can reach as high as 42 degrees Celsius. Nights are cooler with temperatures between 10 and 22 degrees Celsius. Rain falls between February and August with an average of 619 mm. The terrain is mainly acacia woodland and grassland. The wildlife of Awash reflects its dry nature, at all places and all times it is possible to see its population of mammals such as the Beisa Oryx, Soemmerrings Gazelle and Wild Pigs are common. Slightly less frequent are the furry waterbuck which tend to appear near the river in the late afternoon. The tiny Salts Dik-Dik, not easy to spot

Gambella is a place reserved for true explorers. In a remote corner of southwestern Ethiopia, Gambella is only accessible via charter aircraft. Those that come exploring here will not be disappointed. Wildlife populations in Gambella are among the highest in all of Ethiopia, and exclusive tented camps and private aircraft make for a once-in-a-lifetime adventure at the frontier of what’s possible in East Africa. 

What makes Gambella special?

Gambella is unrivalled in Ethiopia for wildlife experiences. With population numbers challenging that of the large game reserves in Tanzania and Kenya, Gambella offers a unique safari opportunity in East Africa – the chance to journey into a remote and difficult to access wilderness, retreating to exclusive tented camps after a day’s adventuring. 

Huge migrating herds of antelope and buffalo can be found here, along with elephants, giraffes, warthogs, lions, warthog, hippo, cheetah, leopard, hyena, and more. 

A UNESCO world heritage site since 2011, the 23km2  Konso cultural landscape is named after it’s agriculturist inhabitants, who have moulded their Homeland of semi-arid hills into a productive network of flat terraced fields through the construction and maintenance of centuries-old dry-stone contour walls.it is these walls that maximise soil retention and the collection of precious rain water.The most striking feature of Konso cultural Landscape is its ancient hilltop paleta (terrace walled village)-strange  hobbit-warrens, towered over by generation poles felled from a sacred forest,and studded with curvaceous thatched community house-that arguable rank as the most beautiful traditional African settlements in sum Sahara Africa.The konso are renowned for their Waka grave-markers,anthropomorphic hardwood statues craved to mimic the decreased,and for their communally constructed harda reservoir, which are maintained by very specific social and cultural practice.situated in the far south of ethiopia,Konso is a fascinating destination in it’s own right, but more so perhaps when visited in combination with and contrasted against neighbouring south omo,a region that supports of the most staunchly traditional and pastoralist cultures remaining in Africa

An introduction to the rock churches of Tigray Ethiopia’s most northerly region, Tigray, is also among its least explored. The birthplace of the Axumite Empire, Ethiopia’s rich Christian tradition was formed in this region, whose oldest sites of worship predate even the famous monoliths of Lalibela (in some cases by several hundred years!) Tigray is a region of great natural beauty and rugged landscapes, but undoubtedly the region’s main attraction is its rock churches. There are thought to be as many as 200 of these unique sites, though only a handful are regularly visited. The Tigray churches differ greatly in design and structure, ranging from free-standing stone structures to hidden cave churches and striking monoliths carved directly from the earth. The oldest date back to at least the 6th or 7th centuries BC, pre dating the arrival of Christianity to Ethiopia, while the most recent were constructed in the last 200 years. Many of the churches are still active, and serve as vibrant places of worship that come alive during Ethiopia’s major religious festivals. 

The Blue Nile Falls are a waterfall on the Blue Nile river in Ethiopia. They are known as Tis Issat in Amharic, when translated, means “smoking water” They are situated on the upper course of the river, about 30 kilometers downstream from the town of Bahir Dar and Lake Tana. The falls are considered one of Ethiopia’s best known tourist attractions.

The falls are estimated to be between 37 and 45 meters high, consisting of four streams that originally varied from a trickle in the dry season to over 400 meters wide in the rainy season. Regulation of Lake Tana now reduces the variation somewhat, and since 2003 a hydro-electric station has taken much of the flow out of the falls except during the rainy season. However we were very lucky as the hydro-electric station had been partly shut down.

The Blue Nile Falls have isolated the ecology of Lake Tana from the ecology of the rest of the Nile, and this isolation has played a role in the evolution of the endemic fauna of the lake.