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The Simien Mountains National Park is easily accessible and excellent for trekking, with stirring views and a large variety of wildlife. The mountains are home to three of Ethiopia's larger endemic mammals: the walia ibex, the gelada baboon and the elusive Ethiopian wolf. Other mammals sometimes seen are rock hyraxes, jackals, bushbucks and klipspringers.
Endemic bird species include the commonly seen thick-billed raven, and the less common black-headed siskin, white-collared pigeon, white-billed starling, wattled ibis, spot-breasted plover, white-backed black tit and Ankober seedeater or serin. Although common, one of the most memorable sights (and sounds!) is the huge lammergeyer, or bearded vulture, soaring low overhead.
To take in this beautiful landscape, you can arrange a guide, mules and a tent in Debark.
(N Ethiopia)
tel info 0581 113482
bus daily bus from Addis Ababa to Gonder (2 days)
bus daily from Gonder to Debark (4hrs)
| full | Ethiopian Birr 50.00 |
The Middle-East has Petra, Ethiopia has Lalibela. Its rock-hewn churches are arguably Ethiopia's top attraction, and they elicit an instinctive awe, whether you're a religious architecture buff or not.
Perched at an altitude of 2630m (8629ft), Lalibela also remains a very isolated place, and a centre of pilgrimage. More than anywhere else in the world, you'll get the impression you've landed in a kingdom at least seven centuries behind your own.
Lalibela's 11 churches are cut straight from the bedrock, so their roofs are at ground level. All 11 churches were built within one century; some, according to legend, with the help of angels. The churches have been kept alive by generations of priests who guard their treasures of ornamented crosses, illuminated Bibles and illustrated manuscripts.
(N Ethiopia)
bus from Addis Ababa
plane daily flights to and from Addis Ababa and Aksum from the airport 23km out of town
| full | Ethiopian Birr 100.00 |
Sprawling, dusty, and rural - Aksum is modest almost to a fault. On first sight, it's hard to imagine that the town was ever the site of a great civilisation. Yet Aksum is one of Ethiopia's star attractions.
Littered with massive teetering stelae, ruins of palaces, underground tombs (most still undiscovered) and inscriptions rivalling the Rosetta stone itself, the town once formed part of the Aksumite kingdom. It has a vibrancy, life and continuing national importance very rarely found at ancient sites. Pilgrims still journey to Aksum and the great majority of Ethiopians believe passionately that the Ark of the Covenant resides here.
Though no longer a wealthy metropolis, the town continues to flourish as a centre of local trade; life continues as it has for millennia. Around the crumbling palaces, farmers go on ploughing their land, women continue to wash their clothes in the Queen of Sheba's Bath, and marketgoers and their donkeys hurry past the towering stelae. You won't find pyramid-parking coaches or sound-and-light shows here. And inextricably interwoven with the archaeological evidence is the local tradition - the legends, myths and fables.
plane from Addis Ababa
bus from Gonder, Adwa, Adigrat or Mekele
| full | Ethiopian Birr 25.00 |
| family | Ethiopian Birr 50.00 |
The seven lakes of the Rift Valley sit in a wide, fertile valley between Addis Ababa and the Kenyan border, one of the best parts of Ethiopia for bird watching. Lakes Lagano, Abiata and Shala are perhaps the most popular of the seven - one lake is blue, one silver and one brown.
Lake Abiata is shallow, with heaps of birds, while Lake Shala sits at the bottom of a 250m (820ft) deep crater. Lagano is the only lake in Ethiopia which is bilharzia-free, so take a dip while you have the chance. It's also the only one of the three lakes with accommodation.
You can also swim at the hot springs at Wondo Genet, south of the three lakes. Towards the Kenyan border, Lakes Abaya and Chamo are thronging with wildlife, especially crocodiles so are best approached with care.
Of the 5 million people who live here, 3 million have arrived since the 1991 revolution. Founded in 1887, the city was almost abandoned due to lack of fuel until eucalypts were introduced to the area. A huge, sprawling place, it has very few street signs beyond the main strip, Churchill Ave.
The Ethnographic Museum is an ideal place to start learning about Ethiopia's rich ethnic diversity. The National Museum is much smaller, but it does have the fossils of 3.5-million-year-old 'Lucy', perhaps our earliest ancestor. It is ranked among the most important sub-Saharan museums in Africa.
Africa Hall, designed as a monument to African independence, is the HQ for the United Nations Ecomonic Commission for Africa. Its huge, richly coloured stained-glass windows, by Ethiopian artist Afewerk Tekle, portray the history and diversity of Africa's peoples. Addis Ababa's Mercato is the largest market in East Africa. It's a sprawling mess of open-air stalls, where you can buy everything from vegetables to gold jewellery - keep an eye out for pickpockets.
Although the Italians were only here five years, you'll find good Italian eateries all over the city.
