Get Ready To
Explore Ethiopia
Ethiopia is a safari destination that offers incredible natural beauty, soul-stirring cultural encounters, sensational game viewing and, of course, the thrills and spills of the Wildebeest Migration. No wonder it’s the birthplace of safari travel!
Our Top Picks
Simien Mountains National Park
No matter how you look at it, the UNESCO World Heritage–listed Simien Mountains National Park is one of Africa’s most beautiful ranges. This massive plateau, riven with gullies and pinnacles, offers tough but immensely rewarding trekking along the ridge that falls sheer to the plains far below. It’s not just the scenery (and altitude) that will leave you speechless, but also the excitement of sitting among a group of gelada monkeys or watching magnificent walia ibex joust on rock ledges.
The Mursi Tribe
Adorned with a fascinating array of lip plates, body paint and intricate beaded jewelry, the Mursi tribe is just one piece in Ethiopia’s complex and richly varied cultural jigsaw which spans 70 languages, ancient Orthodox Christianity and a uniquely Ethiopian calendar of time and date. The lip plates are linked to beauty and fertility and thus play a major role in the tribe’s culture.
Bet Giyorgis
When you think of Lalibela, you’re thinking of Bet Giyorgis. Resting off on its own, St George’s Church is Lalibela’s masterpiece. Representing the apogee of the rock-hewn tradition, it’s the most visually perfect church of all, a 15m-high three-tiered plinth in the shape of a Greek cross – a perfectly proportioned shape that required no internal pillars. Due to its exceptional preservation, it also lacks the obtrusive roofing seen over the other churches.
