Ethiopia

Archaelology     Birding     Photography     Painting     Rambling     Wildlife

ETHIOPIA - is a diverse and starkly dramatic country. It is Africa's oldest country and one that has, unusually for Africa, never been colonised. (Italy under Mussolini occupied Ethiopia for five years but it was never really a colony). It is also perhaps Africa's poorest country with two thirds of the population illiterate and a nation with a chequered political history and a turbulent geography. Prey to drought and famine it has had an Emperor, Haile Selassie, and a Marxist regime, before achieving relative political stabilty in the 1990s which has in turn been marred by incessant border disputes with neighbouring Eritrea.

What saves the country for the visitor are firstly, the dramatic landscape, the greenery of the Central highlands, the drama of the Rift Valley; Lake Tana and the Blue Nile; the Simien mountains; and in the south the Omo region and secondly the complexity of the people, their religions and their costumes.

The Coptic religion that pervades so much of the history of Ethiopia and provides the inspiration for the rock cut churches of the north attracts our ARCHAEOLOGICAL  groups, whilst the lanscape makes the country a natural for our PHOTOGRAPHIC  and PAINTING groups. RAMBLING groups will find much of appeal along the tracks of the Simien mountains, whilst our BIRDING & WILDLIFE groups will head for the Rift Valley and the south of the country, down towards the Omo region.

We have over 60 years experience in worldwide group travel. If we've whet your appetite, and you would like to make an enquiry, please contact us on 0208 504 2672