National Geographic Ethiopia | Natgeo Ethiopia

Visiting Ethiopia is a true adventure. Historic churches and monuments, ancient traditions and tribal communities, colourful festivals, sweeping views, extraordinary bio-diversity, and the best coffee you'll ever taste. Totally different from its more popular East African neighbours, it's a wild, wonderful, unpredictable land.

Historic Monuments
Ethiopia's cultural heritage is all around you - from the statues and monuments, to the ancient buildings and traditions. It's the only African nation never to be colonised by a European empire (although it was briefly occupied by Mussolini - Ethiopians still use 'ciao' as their goodbye!).

Ethiopia's rich history is best understood by visiting the country and seeing the ancient monuments - stood firm for centuries - towering above. The famous rock-hewn churches of Lalibela, centuries-old and still in use today, are one of Ethiopia's most cultural and historically important sites.

Continue exploring to find the Fasil Ghebbi fortress complex in Gonder, and the ancient towering Obelisks in the old capital of Axum. Keep going and you'll find Harar, with her maze of cobbled streets and stone walls, mosques, and hyenas!
Beautiful Landscapes
Ethiopia has some of the most staggering vistas anywhere on the continent. The Ethiopian highlands are famous for being one of the largest areas of continuous highlands anywhere on the continent - and over 60% of all of East Africa's highlands are found in Ethiopia.

The Simien Mountains National Park are one of the country's most spectacular mountain ranges, and if you head south, the Bale Mountains National Park are one of the country's best wildlife destinations and the best place to find the endemic Ethiopian Wolf.

A short excursion from the picturesque lakeside town of Bahir Dar is the Blue Nile Falls, one of Africa’s most impressive waterfalls.
Biodiversity
There is plenty of wildlife to be found in Ethiopia, and the country has an impressive number of endemic species. The iconic and endangered Ethiopian Wolf can only be found here, and it remains the rarest canid in the world, but sightings are common in the Bale Mountains.

In the Simien Mountains, you'll find other endemics like the Walia Ibex - giant mountain goats with massive horns - black-maned lions (rarely seen) and mountain nyala. Most famous of all is the Gelada Monkey, or 'bleeding heart monkey'. This iconic animal is found only in Ethiopia, and you'll see them in large troops playing on the fields in the Simiens.

If you head to Gambella National Park, you'll find savannah-roaming species like elephants, zebra, wildebeests, buffalo, and giraffes. In Harar, you can feed the hyenas that roam outside the city walls.

In the lakes of Ethiopia, you'll find crocodiles, hippos, and pelicans - and a diversity of birdlife, including the white-cheeked Turaco, the blue-winged Goose and the Rouget's Rail. The Cradle of Humanity
Lucy (known locally as Dinknesh), the skeleton of an early hominin species dating back more than 3.2 million years, was discovered in Ethiopia in 1974, and she wasn't the first of her kind to be found in the country.

This has led many to believe that humanity first evolved from our primate ancestors in ancient Ethiopia. The Awash Valley and Omo Valley are deemed important palaeontological sites by UNESCO, and a replica of ‘Lucy’ can be seen in the country’s National Museum. Festivals & Celebrations
Ethiopia has a vibrant festival calendar. The most famous celebrations are Ethiopian Christmas (also known as Leddet or Genna) on the 7th January every year, and the Timket festival (also known as Epiphany) on the 19th January. In September, there are the festivals of Enkutatash (Ethiopian new year) on 11th September, and Meskel (finding of the true cross) on 27th September.

The country really comes alive during these festivals, and if you're lucky enough to be in Addis, Gonder, or Lalibela during these events, you'll be part of a lucky few who have experienced first-hand a central tenant of Ethiopian culture.

The Adwa celebrations every year commemorate the anniversary of Ethiopia’s successful defeat of invading Italian forces in 1896 and involve men dressed in traditional costumes of lion mane collars and warriors’ headdresses dancing in main city squares. Coffee Ceremonies
Coffee ceremonies, a tradition passed down through centuries, are famous in Ethiopia. The country is the birthplace of coffee, and they make it better than anyone.

Mursi tribe Omo Valley Ethiopia

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