Why Ethiopia ?...A personal view by Sandra Larsen

The first thing that springs to mind is the terrible images of Famine but Ethiopia has much more to offer in terms of cultural, historical and scenic delights. It is not a destination for those who seek luxury but for the true traveller, it is a fascinating country. The people are very friendly and not yet spoilt by mass tourism with a good tourist infrastructure in place: excellent modern domestic airports and runways, hotels (albeit at best 3*); roads which, although extremely rocky and bumpy (apart from the excellent tarmac roads between the domestic airports and nearest towns) are, for the most part, crater free with good access to all the tourist sites.

Ethiopia has historical sites to rival anything to be found in countries like Egypt and Mexico but without the hordes of tourists that inevitably spoil some of these locations. In addition to all this culture and history, the scenery in the Simyan Mountains are spectacular (Grand Canyon eat your heart out!) and the bird-life a twitcher's paradise.

BAHIR DAH - Lake Tana - Ethiopia's largest lake dotted with islands many of which are the site of ancient churches and monasteries. Blue Nile Falls - Africa's second largest waterfalls (most spectacular during and after the rainy season from about June to January).

GONDER - The Imperial Compound, with the enchanting 14th& 15th century castles and the nearby the Bath of King Fasilidas, location of Timkat (Ethiopian Epiphany) a re-enactment of the baptism of Christ in the River Jordan.

SIMYEN MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK - some of the most dramatic scenery in Africa - great volcanic plugs, formed some 40 million years ago and eroded over the eons into fantastic crags, pinnacles and flat topped mountains.

LALIBELA - A series of 12th/13th century rock hewn churches, now rightly acknowledged as one of the wonders of the world. There are 13 churches connected by small passages and tunnels, the most amazing being the Bet Giorgis (Church of St. George) carved in the shape of a cross.

AXUM - From around 200 BC to 700 AD, Axum was the seat of an empire extend across the Red Sea to Arabia, it traded with India and China, had its own alphabet, constructed great engineering works and in the 4th century was one of the four great powers of the ancient world. Here one can see the remarkable stelae or obelisks, the largest single pieces of carved standing stones in the world. There are also tombs and castles of former monarchs, the Axum Museum and Mariamtsion Church, built on the site of Ethiopia's first church. Tsion Maryam Church - claiming to house the original Ark of the Covenant allegedly brought back from Jerusalem by the son of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba to protect it from the Babylonians who were ravaging Palestine at the time. The church displays a series of crowns dating from 9-16th centuries and a beautifully illustrated book.

Ethiopia - land of the Queen of Sheba, birthplace of the Nile and the 'Cradle of Mankind' - throw away your pre-conceptions and open your mind to a wonderful destination.

 

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