REASONS TO VISIT ETHIOPIA

There are plenty of reasons to consider Ethiopia when you choose your next holiday destination. If you're a culture lover you'll have planty of sites to visit in our country. From the famous churches of Lalibela, the historical sites of Gondar or Axum to the remote tribes in the Omo Valley. For nature lovers Simien Mountains and other national parks with their unique landscapes and endemic wildlife will not disappoint. And if you're a connoisseur of delicious food you'll be spoiled with our traditional dishes and we are sure the Ethiopian cuisine will become one of your favourites. We hope you'll visit Ethiopia soon so you can enjoy the wonders of our country and the well-known Ethiopian hospitality.

Ethiopia is well known for its spectacular scenery and a vast network of protected areas. It is a country at altitude both in its own and figuratively. From the unique landscapes of the Simien Mountains to Lake Tana, the primary source of the Blue Nile, through the dramatic Blue Nile Gorge to the active volcanoes of the Danakil with its bizarre lava lakes and culminating with the bare sandstone cliffs in eastern Tigray, Ethiopia displays a thruly authentic nature of unmatchable beauty. It shurely deserves to be regarded as a paradise for nature lovers.

Ethiopia's positioning in the heart of Africa makes it inevitably a prefered place for numerous wild species. Big African inhabitants like giraffes, elephants, lions can be found in Ethiopia but what makes Ethiopia a real attraction for wildlife lovers are its endemic species. The Ethiopian wolf is considered to be the rarest dog in the world therefore one must be quite lucky to spot an individual of this species. Another special appearance is Walia ibex, the only indigenous goat in Africa. It can be seen grazing on the dramatic cliffs in the Simien Mountains.
Those who love bird watching are truly spoiled in Ethiopia. The national checklist of 860 bird species includes 18 found nowhere else in the world, and many others are endemic to the region, their presence only extending into Somalia, Eritrea or South Sudan. Big birds are also a common presence in Ethiopia and one of the most famous is the Lagermeier vulture which is said to be feeding almost exclusevely on bone marrow.
In the city of Harar hyenas come every night and tourists can watch a hyena feeding show every evening.
But probably the most interesting, the most bizarre of all the wild species in Ethiopia is the Gelada monkey. Better known as the Gelada baboons, these wonderful creatures live in big groups of several hundreds individuals and they can be found in the Simien Mountains. Nowhere else in the world can they be seen. What is so special about them is that they feed almost entirely on grass spending most of the day grazing. Although they always roam around in big groups, they are very peaceful and tranquil. The Gelada are also very sociable beings, one can sit in the middle of a herd and watch them for hours while they carry on with their habits. It is definitely a unique and unforgetable experience.

Ethiopia is a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic country. There are around 80 tribes or ethnic groups in the country that speak at least 77 different indigenous languages. With such a diverse cultural environment it is not surprising that Ethiopia offers a wide range of cultural activities and traditions with influences from each tribe's customs, religion and natural habitat. A well known cultural activity is Eskista, a dance well known in central and northern Ethiopia. This dance is performed by men and women and is characterised by rolling the shoulder blades, bouncing the shoulders and tilting the chest. One of the best places to watch and engage in this kind of dance is the Atse Bekafa Cultural Club in Gondar.

Religion has a major influence in the life of Ethiopians. Nearly half the population belongs to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church but there is also a large segment of the population that follows Islam. There is an important number of people who adhere to an ancient form of Judaism while there are others who follow different forms of religion. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church is the most important religious institution in the country, it dominates the political, cultural, and social life in Ethiopia. It was the official religion in Ethiopia until Haile Selassie was deposed in 1974. The feast of the Epiphany (Timkat) is the largest festival of the year whilst the most important religious site in the country is Lalibela, a place famous for its churches carved in stone. It is known as the African Petra, the main difference is that the churches of Lalibela ar carved deep down (vertically) in the rock. There are 13 churches, the oldest was dated to the 12th century. The unique feature of these churches make the entire site extremely valuable for the entire world and Lalibela is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Ethiopia has a rich history. From its emergence as an empire from what is known today as Ethiopian highlands (initially called Abyssinia), to its current form as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, this country went through numerous challenges, political outrage, civil war, religious wars, famine and even genocide. There are many sites that still stand as a testimony over the centuries for Ethiopia's tumultuous past. Among the most famous ones are The Royal Enclosure in Gondar, the Temple in Yeha, King Ezana's Stele in Axum, the churches of Lalibela. Monuments and museums in Addis Ababa cover some more recent episodes from Ethiopia's history.

A skeleton of an early humanoid was discovered in 1974 near the village of Hadar in the Awash Valley in Ethiopia. It was dated to about 3.2 million years ago and it soon became famous as one of the oldest humanoids known to have ever lived on our planet. In other words it is the remnance of one of our oldest ancestors. When the skeleton was excavated the archeologists were entertaining themselves by playing repeatedly and loudly "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" by The Beatles. And as the specimen they were looking at was a female they decided to call her Lucy. Once the importance of their discovery was confirmed, Lucy became famous and captured much public interest. Visitors can see a replica of the fossil at The National Museum of Ethiopia in Addis Ababa. Another very old fossil that was discovered in Dikika, Ethiopia in 2000 further asserted Ethiopia's status as the cradle of humankind. For all these discoveries, the lower Awash and Omo valleys are now paleontological sites registered by UNESCO.

Many people from all over the world have a deep bond with a very special beverage which is very well known to everyone: coffee. And this is not surprising considering that both humans and coffee beans have their origin in the same part of Africa which is nowadays Ethiopia. Coffee holds a sacred place in Ethiopia - just the growing and picking process of coffee involves over 12 million Ethiopians and represents the main product of the country.
Sometimes we just quickly sip a coffee for the benefits it brings to our body but many times it is used as a pretext to socialize. And nowhere in the world the activity of drinking coffee is celebrated and respected like in Ethiopia. Like tea ceremonies throughout Asia, the traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony takes us back to a time when value was given to conversation and human relations and time was not a commodity. Perhaps an ancient proverb best describes the place of coffee in Ethiopian life - "Coffee is our bread".

Like the coffee ceremony, food is also a good reason to gather together with family, friends or neighbours. A very nice tradition is "gursha" which refers to feeding close friends and family a bite during the meal. Since food is generally eaten with the hands, this is a very intimate and loving gesture. One important thing for visitors to note is the calendar of fasting days which are observed pretty religiously everywhere in the country. On fasting days you'd only find vegan food unless the restaurant is frequented by foreign tourists.
There are many Ethiopian dishes that could spoil your apetite but none of them is so popular and so famous as injera. Injera is a spongy sourdough flatbread made with fermented teff, a tiny ancient grain (that it's claimed it was first cultivated in Ethiopia) high in protein, fiber, calcium, iron and vitamins. And it is naturally gluten-free. Injera is not considered a dish in its own right but it's the foundation for almost every single meal in Ethiopia. Many restaurants and hotels serve stir-fried injera, known as fir-fir, with even more injera on the side for breakfast. No cutlery is used when eating injera - only the hand - always the right hand. And so injera is used to scoop up whatever is served, from collard greens to lentils to pieces of meat. If you'd like to try injera served with various, delicious, colourful sides like the one in the image, ask for "beyaynetu".