Ethiopia is a land of a unique and diverse history,
present-day culture and environment. It offers sites that will
engage and intrigue travelers of all interests:
From world-renowned discoveries in physical anthropology, like
Lucy at the National Museum in Addis,
» to present-day churches of the ancient Ethiopian Orthodox church,
» to the breath-taking wildlife in the Simien Mountains, a UNESCO World Heritage Site,
» to Aksum ,center of the powerful ancient Aksumite kingdom (400BC-200AD), where pre-Christian tombs underlie splendid 1800-year-old stelae.
Christianity was introduced in Ethiopia as early as
the beginning of the 4th Century. The Ethiopian Orthodox church
possesses a set of unique rituals and iconography that reflect
an ongoing ancient practice. Travel north and visit the 12th-
and 13th-century rock-hewn churches in Lalibela, and the
17th-century castle ruins in Gonder.
The
natural beauty of Ethiopia amazes the first-time visitor.
Ethiopia is a land of rugged mountains (some 25 are over 4000
meters high) broad savannah, lakes and rivers. The unique Rift
Valley is a remarkable region of volcanic lakes, with their
famous collections of birdlife, great escarpments and stunning
vistas. Tisisat, the blue Nile falls, must rank as one of the
greatest natural spectacles in Africa today. With 14 major
wildlife reserves, Ethiopia provides a microcosm of the entire
subsaharan ecosystem. Birdlife abounds, and indigenous animals,
from the rare Walia ibex to the shy wild ass, roam free.
Ethiopia, after the rains, is a land decked with flowers and
with many more native plants than most countries in Africa.