Afrinkong
Escarpment and Rift
The Rift Valley cuts the whole country in half, with highlands either side of it.
Photo Christian Alemu / Pexels
ETHIOPIA · Tourism
The Roof of Africa
The only African country never colonised, with its own alphabet, calendar and church — rock-hewn churches at Lalibela, the Simien escarpment above four thousand metres, and the Danakil below sea level.
East AfricaRegion
27Tourism experiences
The roof of AfricaKnown for
01
Featured destinations
Where the country actually takes you.
MountainsThe Simiens
Ras Dashen is 4,550 metres; the trek to it runs along the escarpment for days.
Photo Nandakumar R / Pexels
The Blue Nile Falls
Tis Issat — the water that smokes — where the Blue Nile leaves Lake Tana.
Photo Kalz📸🇺🇬 Michael / Pexels
Lake Tana
The source of the Blue Nile, with monasteries on its islands still in use.
No Coast, and No Loss
Landlocked since 1993 — the water here is the Rift lakes and the crater lakes of Bishoftu.
Photo Edu Raw / Pexels
Harenna and the Church Forests
Harenna's cloud forest in Bale, and the church forests that are the last woodland of the north.
02
Wildlife & safari
What lives here, and how you see it without disturbing it.
Wildlife
Gelada and Walia Ibex
The gelada lives nowhere else on earth, and grazes the Simien escarpment in troops of hundreds.
Photo Atypeek Dgn / Pexels
Bale and the Ethiopian Wolf
The Bale mountains hold the last five hundred Ethiopian wolves, on the Sanetti plateau.
Eco TourismCommunity Conservation
Guides and scouts drawn from the villages inside the parks, which is why the wolves are still there.
03
Culture & heritage
The part of a country you cannot photograph from a vehicle.
Culture
Its Own Everything
Its own alphabet, its own calendar with thirteen months, and its own church since the fourth century.
Omo Valley
The lower Omo holds sixteen peoples in one valley, and the visits should be arranged carefully.
Photo Sami Kofer / Pexels
Food & CuisineInjera and Doro Wat
Sourdough injera under everything, and fasting food that has made vegans of visitors.
Photo Christian Alemu / Pexels
Festivals & CelebrationsTimkat and Meskel
Timkat in January at Gondar, and Meskel bonfires across the country in September.
Photo Christian Alemu / Pexels
Weaving and Silver
Handwoven shemma cotton, and Coptic crosses in silver, each region with its own shape.
Photo Eden Kefale / Pexels
Lalibela
Eleven churches cut down into solid rock in the twelfth century, still in use every day.
Photo Estella / Pexels
Aksum and Gondar
The Aksumite stelae, and the seventeenth-century castles of Gondar built by Fasilides.
04
Cities & everyday life
Where people actually live between the landmarks.
Addis Ababa
Founded 1886, at 2,355 metres, and the diplomatic capital of the continent.
Photo Tsion Molla / Pexels
Round Houses and Rock Churches
The tukul, and the rock architecture of Tigray cut into cliff faces you have to climb.
Photo Sani Maikatanga / Pexels
Coffee, Properly
Coffee was found here, and it is still roasted, ground and poured in front of you.
Photo Ray Suarez / Pexels
Family & CommunityHighland Travel
Cool highland air, short flights between the historic sites, and no malaria at altitude.
Photo Fuad T Tiba / Pexels
05
Adventure & outdoors
For travellers who would rather walk it than watch it.
Adventure
Trekking Country
Multi-day treks in the Simiens and Bale, and the Danakil at a hundred metres below sea level.
Photo Atypeek Dgn / Pexels
Trek and Climb
The Simien traverse, Bale's plateau, and the Tigray churches that need a rope.
Photo Baraa Obied / Pexels
Luxury TravelLodges on the Escarpment
Limalimo and Bale Mountain Lodge — small, sited well, and built by people who stayed.
06
Travel inspiration
The frames people come home with.
Faces and Escarpments
The light at four thousand metres, and portraiture that has to be asked for properly.
Tigray
Rock churches in cliff faces reached by hand and foot, with almost nobody else there.
Photo Alex Moliski / Pexels
Why Visit This Country
Nothing Else Like It
No colonial period, its own script, its own calendar, and its own year that starts in September.
Nothing Else Like It
No colonial period, its own script, its own calendar, and its own year that starts in September.
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