If I haven’t already communicated this fact sufficiently well, I’m going to use this post to highlight the point further. Ethiopia is just an amazing country to visit, particularly for its cultural diversity. The north is dominated by the Amhara people who predominantly practice christianity. The south and southwest is simply an ethnically diverse hotspot. The people of the Lower Omo Valley are predominantly animist in their beliefs. Meanwhile, the eastern part of Ethiopia (in the area known as the Horn of Africa) is heavily influenced by the religion and culture of the Arabian Peninsula. It is for this reason, therefore, that the people who live in the historic walled city of Harar are predominantly Muslim. Christi and I plan to get off our lazy butts and visit Harar tomorrow.
Beyond the immense cultural variety that I’ve already mentioned above there is also the Oromo people who inhabit large swathes of the center of the country and are equally split between Christianity and Islam, while the far north (an arid, desolate area around the Danakil Depression often regarded as one of the most inhospitable regions on earth) is home to the ferocious nomadic Afar people who eke out a living mining salt and bringing it to market in camel trains. And if culture is not your thing, Ethiopia is also blessed with amazing trekking in the Simien mountains in the north, the Bale mountains in the south and desert safaris to the east. Ethiopia is a birdwatchers’ paradise and there are a dozen national parks / wildlife sanctuaries. The wildlife is not as prolific as East Africa, but some of it is unique and indigenous to Ethiopia. I don’t know if I’m convincing you to visit Ethiopia, but I think I may have convinced myself to come back. I would very much like to see the famous Ertale volcano and its lava lakes in the Danakil Depression. Extreme conditions; extreme adventure; I just love it. And while we’re on the subject of cool places to visit, another that gnaws at me is trekking the Wakhan Corridor. I think this is a remote area of great beauty and ethnic diversity, which was created out of political expediency as a buffer zone between the Russian Empire and British India. I’ll just have to add it to my bucket list.
So most of these thoughts are whizzing through my mind as I sit by the pool at the Hilton hotel, indulging shamelessly in the luxury on offer. Christi is beginning to feel a little better after her latest brush of vomiting and diarrhea. Thank goodness for ciprofloxacin. Don’t leave home without it if you plan to visit Africa and intend to get off the beaten track. It should be in every traveler’s box of pharmaceuticals! In the meantime here are a few reminders of the people we have met so far in Ethiopia. I think of them all fondly as I succumb to a massage in the Hilton Spa. Well, traveling is very hard work…
Blog post by Roderick Phillips, author of Weary Heart – a gut-wrenching tale of love and test tubes
Speak Your Mind