Ethiopia, with its capital, Addis Ababa, doesn’t have much of a tourism reputation, but the landscape is quite wonderful, the people are welcoming and the sense of history is all around. Situated in the northern Horn of Africa, equidistant from the equator and the Tropic of Capricorn, Ethiopia is the oldest nation in Africa. Ethiopia is also one of Africa’s leading coffee producers.
Africa’s Oldest Nation
There’s some truth in the old Ethiopian Tourism Commission slogan 13 Months of Sunshine because this is a warm, friendly country. Ethiopia is also a country of great antiquity with a culture and traditions dating back more than 3,000 years. There are many tour companies and travel agents operating in and around Addis, but visitors will find that some variation of “The Historic Route”consisting of the Blue Nile Falls, Lake Tana, Gondar, Lalibela and Axum is one of the more popular tours.
Addis Ababa, Capital of Ethiopia
Like any other capital in the world, there is more than enough for anybody to do in Addis. There are numerous restaurants offering various exotic dishes; places to visit and buildings that reflect a mixture of influences from high rises to luxury hotels, right alongside traditional structures and activities.
There are many opportunities to experience Ethiopian music, song and dance, to visit museums and to see the city sights. The Horticultural Society and Ethiopian Wildlife and Natural History Society both organize visits to local gardens and trips out into the countryside.
The Ethnographic Museum in Addis Ababa is an ideal place to start learning about Ethiopia’s rich ethnic diversity. The National Museum, ranked among the most important sub-Saharan museums in Africa, is much smaller, but it does have the fossils of 3.5-million-year-old ‘Lucy’, perhaps our earliest ancestor.
Rift Valley Lakes
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 (which sits at the bottom of a 250m (820ft) deep crater) are perhaps the most popular of the seven.
