Tourism
Ethiopia
has an unequaled range of natural habitats, ranging from the extraordinary
peaks and ambas (flat-topped summits) of the Simien Mountains at over 4,000
meters, to the Danakil Depression, 120 meters below sea-level, one of the
lowest points as well as the hottest place on Earth. There are Afro-Alpine
highlands, moors, and mountains, deep gorges, the Sof Omar caves (the most
extensive in Africa), the Great Rift Valley and its many lakes, tropical rain
forests, white-water rivers and rock climbing faces, savannahs, waterfalls,
volcanic hot springs and a volcano or two. These are supplemented by a wealth of historic, cultural, religious, archaeological and anthropological
sites, including the northern "historic route" which incorporates the
former capitals of Gondar (17and 18th centuries), Axum (1st-8th centuries), and
Lalibela (12th-13th centuries) with its spectacular rock-hewn churches, as well
as the monasteries on Lake Tana (and the Blue Nile falls), and the numerous
rock churches of Tigray region, many dating to the 14-16th centuries, or even
earlier.
The
National Museum of Ethiopia holds the earliest hominid skeletons of Lucy (3.4
million years old) and Ramidus (4.4 million years old), as well as jewelry,
costumes, paintings, and sculptures. The Ethnographic Museum of the Institute of
Ethiopian Studies is on the site of the former imperial palace of Emperor Haile
Selassie and now part of Addis Ababa University. The Zoological Natural History
Museum has displays of Ethiopia's wealth of wildlife, including many examples
of the country's endemic species of rodents, bats, carnivores, primates, birds,
snakes, lizards, amphibians, fishes, and invertebrates. There are a number of
church museums in the city with fascinating wall paintings. The Ethiopian Postal
Museum has a collection of the country's stamps, the Addis Ababa Museum
in the former palace of RasBiru built at the turn of the 19th century,
has a collection of photographs depicting the development of the city, and the
nearby Red Terror Museum contains details of the disastrous Red Terror 1977-78.
The city has a number of parks including the Lion Park with its rare
Black-maned Lions near the Addis Ababa University, the country's oldest
University at Sedist Kilo.
World Heritage
Sites
Ethiopia
now has nine UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the most recent of which is the
Konso Cultural Landscape, a 55 sq km area of stone-walled terraces and
fortified settlements in the Konso highlands of Ethiopia. It is a spectacular
example of a living cultural tradition stretching back 21 generations (more
than 400 years) adapted to a largely dry and hostile environment. It is
features anthropomorphic wooden statues, grouped to represent respected members
of their communities and heroic events, a testimony to funerary traditions that
are on the verge of disappearing. Stone steles in the towns express a complex
system of marking the passing of generations of leaders.
The other
sites:
Aksum:
The ruins of Aksum include monolithic obelisks, giant stelae, royal tombs and
the ruins of ancient buildings many dating from the greatest period of the Axumiteempire
between the 3rd and 7th centuries CE. (Listed in 1980)
The
fortress-city of FasilGhebbi at Gondar, started by the Emperor Fasilides in the
early 17th century, was the imperial center for two hundred and fifty years.
Surrounded by a 900 meter-long wall, the imperial enclosure and other buildings
in the vicinity include palaces, churches, monasteries and various public and
private buildings some showing Hindu and Arab influences, subsequently
transformed by the Baroque style brought to Gondar by the Jesuit missionaries
in the early 17th century. (Listed in 1979)
The walled and historic town of Harar is located in the eastern part of the
country. The walls surrounding this sacred Muslim city were built between the
13th and 16th centuries. HararJugol said to be the fourth holiest city of
Islam, holds 82 mosques, three of which date from the 10th century, and 102
shrines, but the townhouses with their exceptional interior design constitute
the most spectacular part of Harar's cultural heritage. (Listed in 2006)
The
Lower Valley of the Awash which contains one of the most important groupings of
palaeontological sites on the African continent. The remains found at the site,
the oldest of which date back at least 4 million years, provide important
evidence of human evolution. The most spectacular discovery came in 1974, when
52 fragments of a skeleton enabled ‘Lucy' to be reconstructed. (Listed in 1980)
The lower valley of the Omo, a collection of prehistoric sites near Lake Turkana,
has produced many fossils there, especially those of Homo gracilis, and is of
fundamental importance in the study of human evolution (Listed in 1980).
The
Rock-Hewn Churches of Lalibela, with 11 medieval monolithic cave churches in
this 13th century 'New Jerusalem', is situated in a mountainous region in the
heart of Ethiopia. A central site of Ethiopian Christianity remains a place
of pilgrimage and devotion. (Listed in 1978)
Tiya
is among the most important of about 160 archaeological sites discovered so far
in the Soddo region, south of Addis Ababa. The site contains 36 monuments,
including 32 carved stelae covered with symbols, most of which are difficult to
decipher. They are the remains of an ancient Ethiopian culture that has yet to
be dated or defined whose age has not yet been precisely determined. (Listed in
1980)
Simien
National Park - Massive erosion over the years on the Ethiopian plateau has
created one of the most spectacular landscapes in the world, with jagged
mountain peaks, deep valleys and sharp precipices dropping as much as 1500
meters. (Listed in 1978)
National Parks:
Awash
National Park is the oldest wildlife reserve in Ethiopia. It contains the
Fantalle Volcano, numerous mineral hot-springs and extraordinary volcanic
formations as well as the Awash River which has some spectacular waterfalls.
Less than three hours drive east of Addis Ababa it is 225 km from the city.
Within its 720 sq.km can be seen Oryx, Soemmerring's gazelle, bushbuck,
waterbuck, dik-dik, zebra, cheetah, serval and leopard, Anubis and hamadryas
baboons, colobus and green monkeys, lesser and greater kudu, giant tortoise,
hippopotamus, reedbuck, aardvark and caracal and klipspringer. Over four
hundred species of birds have been recorded in the park, ranging from ostrich
to Secretary Birds and Abyssinian Ground Hornbill, from Carmine Bee-eaters, and
Abyssinian Roller to Coucal, Turacos, Go-away Birds and a wide variety of birds
of prey and savannah species.
The
Bale Mountains Park is an area of high altitude plateau broken by numerous
spectacular volcanic plugs and peaks, beautiful alpine lakes and rushing
mountain streams. From the plateau rise several mountain peaks, including
TulluDeemtu the second-highest mountain in Ethiopia at 4,377 m above sea level.
It is the largest area of Afro-Alpine habitat in the whole of Africa, and
offers unsurpassed mountain walking, horse trekking, scenic driving and the
chance to view many of Ethiopia's endemic mammals, notably the Mountain Nyala,
Menelik's bushbuck and the Semien Fox. Endemic species of birds include the
thick-billed Raven, Wattled Ibis, Blue-winged Goose, and Rouget's Rail. Other
species include the Black-winged Love-bird and Yellow-fronted Parrot,
Abyssinian Catbird, Abyssinian Longclaw, Black-headed Siskin, Ruddy Shelduck,
Wattled Crane, Lammergeier and Steppe Eagle.