Ethiopia is possibly better known for its ancient culture and religion than for its wildlife, but both are equally good reasons to visit.  There’s little doubt that the culture is intriguing and a touch bizarre.  The Rastafarian movement traces its routes here, and yet the country is also home to white robed orthodox Christians whose chants echo from the walls of the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela, and to the tribes people of the Omo Valley in the south who are still found wearing very little except intricate body-art in white clay and sometimes a pottery lip-plate.  It’s fascinating that all these emanate from the same country.  The blend of cultures gives rise to unique cuisine and huge lively markets where bright textiles are sold - a generally fascinating anthropological journey through time.  Notably, Ethiopia is also the home of coffee, which is still made, literally, with ceremony to this day, and tastes fantastic.

Ethiopia is a large country with an impressively varied landscape that includes arid lowlands in the Omo Valley and productive farmland and also the largest tract of Afro-Alpine moorland remaining on the continent.  This is not the place to come for elephant and lion, but it is an exceptional treat of rare and endemic species such as the Simien wolf and the wild-maned, huge fanged and entirely affable Gelada baboons, both of which are found only here.  Ethiopia is not sophisticated in terms of tourism infrastructure so it is sometimes necessary to compromise on one or two niceties in order to see the best areas, but the rewards are worth it (and make for great dinner party stories!).