With a surprising altitude range of 2500 to 4300 meters (8300 to 14000 feet) in the south of Ethiopia, the circular assemblage of Bale Mountains encompasses diverse ecologies and wildlife. Along its sprawling lower valleys,…
The highlands of northern Ethiopia were the seat of empire in the Horn of Africa for nearly 3000 years, a crossroads for many cultures and far-flung trade routes. And the reputed home of the Ark…
The staple food of Ethiopia is a spongy, slightly sour or citrusy, flatbread called injera, a food dating back at least 6000 years. Tiny tef grains It’s made of the tiniest of grains, a superfood…
January’s cold nights and warm days at altitudes up to 4000 meters (13500 feet) characterized our trekking experience through these two spectacularly beautiful mountainous regions. Tigray The Tigray mountains in the north of Ethiopia offer…
Perhaps, we thought, as we caravanned for three days through the northern Afar region of Ethiopia, the intense religiosity of Coptic Christians here has been spurred by knowledge of the fiery, sulfurous features of the…
The ululating chant of the Coptic Christian priests begins early in the hilltop city of Lalibela, amplified through loudspeakers and echoing off the adjacent hills. Later services draw the devoted to the eleven churches carved…
Ethiopia has many rock cut Coptic churches that have been serving its adherents for centuries. Here we tell about two of them we labored to reach. Abuna Yemata Of all these, for us, the 1500…
The River Nile, the longest in the world, begins in the huge hollow (roughly 80 by 70 kilometers) of shallow Lake Tana in Ethiopia. Lake Tana, Ethiopia Fed by several rivers and rimmed by rushes,…
During our visit to Eritrea, we have had the opportunity to witness much of its people’s daily joys and difficulties, customs and attitudes. Here are some visual and verbal impressions. As Eritreans struggle to emerge…
In southern Eritrea, toward the still disputed border with Ethiopia, lies the domain of the ancient Axumite empire, which dominated the whole region roughly during the first millennium AD. This eventually became first Abyssinia and…