ETHIOPIA TOURIST ATTRACTIONS
Ethiopia is a landlocked country which is divided by the Great Rift Valley. It’s one African country which was not colonised. Addis Ababa is its capital city. The regional languages are Afar, Amharic, Harari, Oromo, Tigrinya, Sidamo, Somali There is plenty to do while on tour in Ethiopia, so many places to visit.
Simien Mountain National Game Park
This game Park is one of Ethiopia’s eight world heritage sites, located in the northern part of Ethiopia. It’s made up of escarpments, deep valleys and high plateau geographically. It’s a habitat for Gelada and rare Walia ibex baboons, Ethiopian wolf, elusive leopards, hyenas, wild goats which are so rare in the world, caracal, different bird species like; bearded vulture and the lammergeyer. Several activities can be done while on tour to Simien Mountain national game park;
Trekking and hiking
Trek through the mountains to see the old paths that crisscross through the slopes and connect villages with pasture lands. The tourists can decide to choose between the easy hikes along the plateaus to full day excursions, the guided treks are more adventurous since these guides are experienced and know all the corners of the game park. This enables the trekkers to see and appreciate nature especially those in love with mountainous scenery, the bird lovers are able to watch the different birds’ species, large numbers of wild animals are also sighted. Apart from the sight of different animals and birds during the trek, the trekkers also get a chance to visit local villages especially those village communities neighbouring the park. Get a chance to visit the injera baking, taste local beer and coffee making.
Camping
Other adventurers enjoy camping around the edges of the plateaus which guarantees their exploring deeper into the park. Having short walks while camping guarantees the sight of gelada in vast numbers; enjoy their grooming and mating sessions at close range.
Awash National Park
Awash national park is situated in the southern part of Afar Region and northern corner of the Misraq Shewa zone of Oromia. The park mostly has acacia woodland and grassland environment. In the south of the park, there is Awash River which has amazing waterfalls. This is one of Ethiopia’s most visited parks due to the different bird species and its volcanic landscape. The presence of wild life like the East African Oryx, soemmerring’s gazelle, dikdik, kudus, fox, cheetah, lions, and so many others.
Game drives
Tourists come to enjoy the game drives through the park to adventure and see animals as well as the rich flora and fauna in the grassland savannas. While on tour, you can also visit the Awash River falls and part of the Great East African Rift valley. While on tour enjoy the stopover at the crater lakes of Bishofu.
Bird watching
Avid bird lovers have a chance to watch the different species of birds. The park is recorded to have about 453 charismatic species; Beisa Oryx, secretary birds, Abyssinian ground hornbill, carmine bee eater, Abyssinian Roller and riverside forest birds like Coucal, Turaco and many more that are endemic to Awash National Park.
Omo National Park
Omo Valley National park is located in the Southern region of Ethiopia. It is the largest park in the country covering about 4,068 square kilometers. This is a wild life sanctuary, rare animals like large herds of elands and buffalo, elephants, giraffe, cheetah, lions, leopards, zebras, wart dogs are also frequently sighted here plus the Nile Lechwe Gazelle. While on safari tour get a chance to enjoy Ethiopia by sighting these animals.
Cultural visit to the villages surrounding Omo national park in the Omo valley is also another tourist attraction here apart from the wild life. Come see the surma tribe women with labial and babies on the back. Meet tribes like Mursi, Bodi, Tsemay, Dassanetch, Kwegu and Dizi people. Tourists can enjoy their visit here by trying out the cultural wears of the people living there.
Enjoy the bird watching and the beautiful natural scenery in the sanctuary here especially for the bird and nature lovers. Different species of birds are sighted in the park like the Noisy Guinea Fowl always running ahead of your vehicles plus the vultures. While on safari tour to Omo Valley come see the desert Rose, Adenium obesum is a little tree whose trunk looks like a very small Baobab tree. The beautiful flowers of the desert rose varying from dark to light pink usually blossom in September. The red thistle flowers also blossom in September. The succulent milkweed is the darkest flower.
Take adventure tours to the water reserves in the park. The Omo River which flows southwards into Lake Turkana is a habitat of the hippopotamus. The park also has three hot springs and is crossed by a number of rivers. Blue breasted-kingfishers, Goliath herons white-cheeked turacos, emerald spotted wood doves and colourful birds are sighted on the river banks.
Enjoy the game drives in the park to get a chance to see all the wild animals most especially giraffes which are rare to sight.
Mago National Park
Mago national park is also located South of Addis Ababa and north of Omo River. The Park is divided by Mago River, a tributary of Omo River. The first part to the west is the Tama wildlife Reserve and the Tama River defining the boundary between the two. The second part to the south is the Murle controlled hunting area, which is renowned by Lake Dipa which extends along the left side of lower Omo.
While on tour, enjoy the beautiful scenery of the rivers and riverine forest, the wetlands along the lower Mago, the sight of large trees which are found in the riverine forest besides the Omo, Mago and Neri. Not forgetting the grasslands on the more level areas and scrubs on the sides of the hills.
The bird lovers are also catered for due to the various bird species in the area. Enjoy sighting the local bird life which includes the rare Turdoides tenebrosus mostly on Lake Dipa, the Estrilda troglodytes in the grass along streams and swamp edges.
When on safari, adventure through the village visits. Get a chance to see and interact with different ethnic groups including the Banna, Bongoso, Hamar, Aari and Mursi people. The Mursi people create a great attraction in this area due to their cultural practise of piercing their lips and placing them with disks made of clay.
Furthermore enjoy touring Mago Park through the game drives to sight different animals in the park like the lions which normally hide in the tall grasslands, African elephants, buffalos, leopards, different types of monkeys which hang in the large trees, gurezas.
Lake Tana
Lake Tana is located in Amhara Region in the north western Ethiopian highlands. Lake Tana is the largest lake in Ethiopia and the source of Blue Nile. It’s approximately 84 kilometres long and 66 kilometres wide with a depth of 15 meters maximum.
Adventure tour the lake when you go boat cruising. This is one of the activities performed by tourists to explore Lake Tana and enjoy the lake breeze and scenery, getting an opportunity to sight the different species of birds on the lake like the pelican birds. On addition to the boat ride tour, get a chance to explore the lake and see the source of the Blue Nile.
Lake Tana has got many small islands which are attractions on the lake. These islands are dedicated to the orthodox churches and monasteries though some monasteries are for males only hence the cruising must be guided by a game guide. While touring on the lake, get a chance to see these islands for great memories.
The Blue Nile Falls
The Blue Nile Falls are one of the Ethiopia’s great tourist attractions. These waterfalls are found on Blue Nile River in Ethiopian plateau, situated on the upper course of the river. They are also called Tis Abay in Amharic meaning “great smoke”.
They consist of four streams which only trickle during dry season and flow about 400meters in rainy seasons. While on tour, explore the impressive waterfalls and the beautiful surroundings by hiking . Hiking in the afternoons give better water flow scenery.
Erta Ale
Erta Ale is an active basaltic volcano in the Afar north-eastern Ethiopia. This is the most active volcano in Ethiopia. It is a badland desert area. The lava lake in this volcano is among the four living lava lakes in the world. It has been persistent for the past decades. This whole area is excessively hot due to the hot lava.
The castle of Gondar
Gondar is a city located in the semien Gondor Zone of the Amhara Region, south west of the Simien Mountains. It was founded by Emperor Fasilides. Gondar is surrounded by the Gondar Zuria woreda. This was a strong kingdom and worshipping centre for Christians for many years.
Gondar is a museum city holding the remains of several royal castles. It was a capital city of both Begemder province and the Ethiopian Empire. Many tourists while on cultural visits tend to visit Gondar to see; Debre Berhan Selassie Church, fasil Ghebbi(Royal enclosure), fasiladas Bath Timket, fasiladas palace. These places are historical grounds for Ethiopia.
Debre Berhan Selassie Church
It’s a church and monastery located in the northern Ethiopia in the town of Gondar. It is well known for its artistic interior and ceiling filled with outstanding examples of Ethiopian Christian Church art painted in the second Gondarine style. The paintings on the ceilings are applied in colourful hues which are red, blue and gold symbolising the holy trinity; God the father, God the son and God the Holy spirit. Its exterior is stone walled. Mostly this artistic interior is a massive attraction in Gondar.
Fasil Ghebbi
Fasil Ghebbi is also known as the Royal enclosure, located in the North Gondar zone, Amhara Region. It was founded in 17th century by Emperor Fasilides. This was a home for the Ethiopia’s emperors. Fasil Ghebbi was uniquely constructed in the way that it influences the Nubian styles which currently makes it a tourist attraction during a cultural tour.
Fasiladas Bath Timket
The fasiladas bath timket is located in the northwest of thr piazza. It has been attributed to the Fasiladas and the Iyasu i. This building surrounded by a pool of water was constructed for religious celebrations till today, this alone has contributed to religious and cultural tours in the area. Hence the Royals way back would inflate goat skin jackets and dip into the pool for refreshment. Once a year, the pool is filled with water for the Timket celebrations. The crowd would wait for the pool to be blessed by the bishop and they all dive in happily shouting and playfully, this is taken as a symbol of Christ’s baptism in River Jordan. This ritual was taken as faith renewing.
Fasiladas palace
This is the most magnificent and oldest building in Gondar city. It is made out of rough hewn stones. The main floor was used as the dining hall and reception. On the 1st floor was the Emperor’s prayer room which has four windows in four different directions each facing Gondor’s important churches. The architecture is a rare synthesis of Indian, Moorish Aksumite and Portuguese culture. Religious ceremonies were held on the roof of the palace. 2nd floor of the building above Fasiladas was the watch tower which gave a clear view straight to Lake Tana hence a beautiful scenery. This is a must see while on a cultural tour in Gondor city.
The rocky hewn churches of Tigray
The Tigray churches are the Abuna Yemata Guh, Mikael Debre Selam, Abuna Abraham,Abraha We Atsbeha, Maryam Korkor, Maryam Papaseit, Medhane Alem Kesho, Abuna Gebre Mikael, these are the top sights in the Tigray. They all consist of curved cliff faces made out of rocks and they are built on the existing caves. All these churches were attributes to king Lalibela. To get to these places is very adventurous though not for the faint hearted. These churches are situated in a mountainous area code in Ethiopia near a local traditional village with round shaped dwellings. These churches till present are places of pilgrimage worshipping and devotion centres.
