Simien National Park -
The Simien Mountains Massif is one of the major highlands of Africa, rising to the highest point in Ethiopia, Ras Dejen (4,620m), which is the fourth highest peak in the continent.

Simien Landscape : The dramatic landscape of the Simien Mountains is the result of massive seismic activity in the area about 40 million years ago. Molten lava poured out of the Earth's core reaching a thickness of 3000m. Subsequent erosion over the millennia has left behind the jagged and spectacular landscape of the Simien Mountains: the gorges, chasms and precipices.
                     The Simiens are the most rugged mountains on the African continent, their natural beauty concurs the harts of every visitor to this remote and unique national park.

About the Park : The park is made up of a rocky massif, which slopes down to grasslands - the massif is cut by streams and gorges. The national park has three general botanical regions. The lower slopes have been cultivated and grazed, while the alpine regions (up to 3600m) are forested. The higher lands are mountain grasslands with fescue grasses as well as heathers, splendid Red Hot Pokers and Giant Lobelia. This park has spectacular views and a large variety of wildlife, including baboons, ibexes, Ethiopian wolves and birds of prey such as the rare lammergeyer, a huge vulture. The park is home to some extremely rare animals such as the Gelada baboon, the Simien fox and the Walia ibex, a goat found nowhere else in the world.Over 50 species of birds have been reported in the Simien mountains.

How to get there : Access to the park is from Debareq, 101km from Gondar, where riding and pack animals may be hired.

TIYA

Brief Description - Tiya is among the most important of the roughly 160 archaeological sites discovered so far in the Soddo region, south of Addis Ababa. A mere 100km by road from the capital Addis Ababa, and only 500m from a public transport route and local guest house, Tiya is the perfect example of the sort of accessible yet practically unvisited gem.

Symbolism of the Stelae fields - Marking the northern limit of a belt of engraved obelisks that stretches right across southern Ethiopia, the Tiya stelae field consists of roughly 40 stones which stand between one and two metres high. Recent excavations revealed that the stones mark mass graves of both males and females who died between the ages of 18 and 30 and were laid to rest in a foetal position. Three engraved symbols predominate: circles, swords, and what appear to be podgy leaves rising on a stem from a rectangular base.     
                      The circles might represent the sun or moon, the swords speak for themselves, while the twin-leaves look like so-called false bananas, a type of plantain grown widely in the area.

                      If the symbolism behind all this is open to speculation, so too is the nature of the people who erected the stelae. Local people associate the stones with the 15th Century Muslim leader Ahmed Gragn, but the non-Judaic symbols and greater age of the stones makes this unlikely. Like the much older and larger stelae at Axum; the only comparable constructions that I’m aware of in sub-Saharan Africa. The Tiya stelae appear to pre-date the local arrival of Christianity and to have been erected as grave markers. The southern stelae belt passes through the heart of the modern territory of the Gurage, whose language is closely affiliated to Tigrigna (the language spoken in Axum). This tempts one to ask whether these might be relics of a forgotten offshoot of the pre-Christian stelae-building tradition at Axum.

Places nearby - Only 30km north of Tiya lies the most southerly of Ethiopia’s rock-hewn churches, Adadi Maryam, a subterranean monolith excavated in the 13th Century at about the same time that Tiya’s stones must have been erected. Visiting the two sites in conjunction creates the strange feeling that one is crossing the medieval boundary between pagan and Christian Ethiopia. But where Adadi Maryam is very much an active site of worship, the stones of Tiya stand mute and mysterious, neither revered nor feared by the local children who treat the stelae field as a playground. These are simple constructions, it is true, and yet the repetitive intent that lies behind the crude engravings is deeply haunting.
                     The rock-hewn church of Adadi Maryam lies west of the Butajira road on a small hill five minutes walk from the village of Adadi. The important stone-age site, about a 20-minute walk from Melka Awash, is also of interest.
                     The Awash River gorge, with its three low, but powerful, waterfalls, is worth exploring if you have time.

How to get there -
A mere 100km by road from the capital Addis Ababa, and only 500m from a public transport route and local guest house, Tiya is the perfect example of the sort of accessible yet practically unvisited gem.
                   Tiya is about 30km from Melka Awash, a village 60km or more south of Addis Ababa. Cars can be hired (with drivers) in Addis but are expensive. There is direct public transport to Tiya. This leaves from the main Autobus Terra in Mercato before 9am. After that it is necessary to pay full fare on the Butajira bus and ask to be dropped off at Tiya.
                    The engraved stelae lie about 500m from Tiya. Coming from Addis Ababa the turn-off is on the left side near the telecommunication signpost. Follow this for about 200m, turn right. The stelae are enclosed behind a fence on the rise ahead.

Rift Valley Lakes

A scenic portrayal -
The Rift Valley lakes are a group of lakes formed by the Great Rift Valley of eastern Africa. These lakes include some of the oldest, largest and deepest lakes in the world, and are a freshwater ecoregion of great biodiversity. The Ethiopian Rift Valley lakes are the northernmost of the African Rift Valley lakes. In central Ethiopia the Great Rift Valley splits the Ethiopian highlands into northern and southern halves, and the Ethiopian Rift Valley lakes occupy the floor of the rift valley between the two highlands. Most of the Ethiopian Rift Valley lakes do not have an outlet, and most are alkaline.

                      The seven lakes of the Rift Valley sit in a wide, fertile valley which runs between Addis Ababa and the Kenyan border. Lakes Lagano, Abiata and Shala are perhaps the most popular of the seven - one lake is blue, one silver and one brown. Lake Abiata is shallow, with heaps of birds, while Lake Shala sits at the bottom of a 250m deep crater. Lagano is the only lake in Ethiopia which is bilharzia-free, so take a dip while you have the chance. You can also swim at the hot springs at Wondo Genet, south of the three lakes. Towards the Kenyan border, Lakes Abaya and Chamo are thronging with wildlife, especially crocodiles.

                      Most of the lakes are suitable and safe for swimming and other sports. The Rift Valley is also a site of numerous natural hot springs and the chemical contents of the hot springs are highly valued for their therapeutic purposes though at present they are not fully utilized. Each of the seven lakes has its own special life and character and provides ideal habitats for the exuberant variety of flora and fauna that make the region a beautiful and exotic destination for tourists.

Accommodation -
Closest accommodation is at Lake Langano where there is the Langano resort complex, Bekele Mola Hotel, which also allows camping, and Ghike guest house.


Fasil Ghebbi - Gondar

In Brief - In the 16th and 17th centuries, the fortress-city of Fasil Ghebbi was the residence of the Ethiopian emperor Fasilidas and his successors. Surrounded by a 900-m-long wall, the city contains palaces, churches, monasteries and unique public and private buildings marked by Hindu and Arab influences, subsequently transformed by the Baroque style brought to Gondar by the Jesuit missionaries.

Legend of Gondar -

Famous though Gondar may be, however, no one knows exactly why Fasilidas chose to establish his headquarters there. Some legends say an archangel prophesied that an Ethiopian capital would be built at a place with a name that began with the letter G. The legend led to a whole series of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century towns - Guzara, Gorgora and finally Gondar. Another legend claims that the city was built in a place chosen by God. Apparently, He pointed it out to Fasilidas who was on a hunting expedition and followed a buffalo to the spot.
                   The story of Gondar, however, amounts to a great deal more than the annals of the monarchs who ruled there or chronicles of their rivalries and intrigues.
                    While it remained the capital of Ethiopia until 1855, the city was a vigorous and vital center of religious learning and art. Painting and music, dance and poetry, together with skilled instruction in these and many other disciplines, thrived for more than two hundred years.
                    Gondars rise to prominence under Fasilidas occurred little less than a century after Ethiopian Christendom had come close to total destruction at the hands of the Islamic warlord, Ahmed Gragn, whose forces swept in from the east in 1528. The fighting only ended in 1543 when the Muslim commander was shot dead by a Portuguese musketeer - one of 400 who had been sent to reinforce the flagging armies of Emperor Galawdewos.

                     Narrating Gragn,s fate, the British traveler Sir Richard Burton wrote: Thus perished the African hero who dashed to pieces the structure of 2,500 years. It was no exaggeration. Gragn,s Jihad was a national catastrophe for Ethiopia. The Christian highlands, from Axum in the north to the shores of Lake Tana in the west, were almost completely overrun for more than a decade and much of the cultural legacy of previous centuries disappeared. In a sustained orgy of vandalism, hundreds of churches - great artistic treasure- houses - were looted and burnt and an immense booty carried away.

                    Gondar, beautiful from its beginnings, rose from the ashes of this smoldering backdrop of so recent and so traumatic a history. There can be little doubt that Fasilidas and his successors saw their elegant capital as a phoenix and so patronized the arts. They were doing nothing less than rebuilding their national heritage. In the process they built faithfully on the few solid foundations left from the past, rediscovered much that had been thought lost, and established a sense of purpose and a new direction for the future.