Landscapes
Amazing vistas
In a country as large as Ethiopia, it is not surprising to find a diversity of terrain. However, you will be amazed, not just at how varied the countryside is, but also by the sheer scale of the different landscapes.
The varied landscapes
From close to the lowest point on the planet, 116 metres below sea level, in the Northern Danakil depression, to the roof of Africa with over 15 mountains all above 4000 metres high. Broken river gorges plunge hundreds of metres through dry northern country while beautiful waterfalls fill the evergreen tropical forests of the South West.
An ancient land
Rivers pour off the highlands, some never destined to reach the sea, but instead seep into the desert in a series of lakes. The Rift Valley, full of extinct and active volcanoes and hot springs, slices the country in two and has left a legacy of lakes filled with life on its floor
The Danakil Desert
Reputedly the hottest place on earth, the Danakil Desert continues to fascinate and amaze travellers with its raw beauty and harsh conditions.
The Afar have lived here for millennia and they continue to eke out a living in this inhospitable land.
Summer daytime temperatures reach into the fifties Celsius, but during the winter months it is a more comfortable time to visit.
The volcanoes of the Danakil
You can see an active volcano with a bubbling lava pit, a sulphur spring which has built up into a small hill, a salt lake that sits more than a hundred metres below sea level and salt harvesters who continue with the tradition of camel caravan convoys and load up with salt to take it to markets in the distant highlands.
The Afar, once nomadic, have established a few settlements in the desert now and visitors are welcome. Dorcas gazelle, desert foxes, hyaena and the occasional Somali ostrich live on the fringes of these vast salt plains.
The Bale Mountains
The Bale Mountains are the rooftop of Africa. With several mountains and the Sanetti Plateau all sitting over 4000 metres above sea level, it can feel distinctly alpine!
This is fantastic hiking country, with small mountain tarns and beautiful alpine meadows. There are also deep forests and open grasslands, which make the Bale Mountains quite unique.
Trout-filled streams cascade off the mountain tops, creating picturesque beauty in every direction. It is also home to a healthy population of Ethiopian wolves as well as hosting many other mammals only found here. This area is a bird watchers’ paradise, with a number of endemic species.
The Simien Mountains
The Simien Mountains are all about amazing scenery with one of the world’s most incredible escarpments and offer unique wildlife experiences. Up here you find Gelada monkeys, Walia ibex and Ethiopian wolves, which are all endemic to Ethiopia.
The scenic splendour is a big enough attraction on its own, but the experience of sitting within a troop of Gelada monkeys is without doubt one of the finest wildlife experiences to be had in Africa.
Off the beaten track
Ethiopia has so many places to explore, where tourists seldom go, and life is untouched.
There are forest reserves with plantations of wild coffee. There are endless waterfalls of stunning beauty and wildlife lands that, while battling to find their relevance under pressure from an ever-growing human population, are a delight to explore. Rivers flow through caves deep underground and salt ponds are hidden in extinct volcanoes.
The continent’s most northerly herd of elephant travel back and forth between Ethiopia and Eritrea and there are historical sites yet to be explored on the Northern border.
Most fascinating of all is to be able to travel the country and meet the diversity of interesting and friendly people that call this country home.
