There are two distinct groups within the Nyangatom tribe; the eastern group near the banks of the Omo River who have developed agricultural systems and permanent settlements, and the western group near the Kibish Basin who focus mainly on herding, although some...
The Banna tribe are a semi-nomadic pastoral population of around 10,000 living near the Kenyan border. Their history is linked to that of the Hamar tribe as well, leading to a similar language and culture. Their livelihoods are centred around breeding cattle, sheep,...
The Kara are a semi-nomadic tribe, and one of the smallest ethnic groups in the Omo Valley with a population between 1,000 and 3,000. They are found on the eastern shore of the Omo River and are related to the Hamar tribe. It is thought that previously the Kara and...
The Daasanach tribe are found in the most southern part of the Omo Valley and have a population of around 20,000. They live at the point where the Omo River delta enters Lake Turkana, in fact their name means ‘People of the Delta’. They are primarily pastoral people,...
The Hamar tribe live in an area east of the Omo River and have villages in Turmi and Dimeka. Their huts are made up of wood, straw, and mud with sloping roofs. The Hamar people are best known for their ritual where women blow horns and shout taunts at male members of...
The Suri are a traditionally pastoral tribe on the west bank of the Omo River, with a culture centred around cattle. However, in recent times the Suri are relatively settled and also carry out agriculture and cultivation of grains. Cattle bring status to Suri people,...
The Bodi tribe are neighbours with the Mursi tribe, and the two groups frequently trade. They are pastoralist people who place a lot of importance on cattle and do not typically take part in cultivation practices, preferring instead to trade for maize and other...
The Mursi are one of the better-known tribes of the Omo Valley, with a population of around 8,000. They are described as being a traditionally migratory community, although in reality they only move from the banks of the Omo in the dry season to the grasslands during...
The Ashenda Festival is an annual cultural celebration associated with northern Ethiopia especially the Tigray and Amhara regional states. The girls and young women who the festival is for, adorn themselves in dresses called ‘tilfi’ which is a cotton dress ornamented...
Ethiopia follows the Julian calendar with 12 months of 30 days each and a 13th month of 5 days (6 in a leap year). It’s for this reason that Ethiopia has been nick-named ‘the country with 13 months of sunshine’. The Ethiopian New Year, which is eight years behind the...
Genna (also called Liddet) is the Ethiopian equivalent of Christmas, celebrated on the 7th of January every year. The actual Genna celebration is preceded by a night long Vigil following 40 days of fasting where meat, egg and dairy products are forbidden. During...
Meskel is one of the biggest religious festivals among Ethiopian Orthodox followers that commemorates a fourth century event where Empress Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, discovered the True Cross on which Christ was crucified. This festival is also...
The Timket Festival – celebrating the epiphany – is one of the grandest occasions amongst Ethiopia’s Orthodox Christians. The celebration occurs on the 19 of January and commemorates the baptism of Christ. The event comes 12 days after the Ethiopian Christmas (also...
Abijatta-Shalla National Park is a national park in Ethiopia. It is located in the Oromia Region and the Ethiopian Highlands region, 200 kilometers south of Addis Ababa, and east of the Batu–Shashamane highway. Although its intent was to protect wildlife, few wild...
Nechisar National Park (or Nech Sar National Park) is a national park in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Region (SNNPR) of Ethiopia. It is in the Great Rift Valley, within the southwestern Ethiopian Highlands. The 750-square-kilometre (190,000-acre)...
Gambella National Park, also spelled Gambela National Park, is a 5,016 km2 (1,937 sq mi) large national park in Ethiopia. It is the nation’s largest national park and is located several hundred kilometers from Addis Ababa. It was established in 1974, but is not fully...
Omo National Park is a national park in Ethiopia founded in 1980. Located in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Region on the west bank of the Omo River, the park covers approximately 4,068 square kilometers, about 870 kilometers southwest of Addis...
Mago National Park is a national park in Ethiopia located in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Region about 782 kilometers south of Addis Ababa and north of a large 90° bend in the Omo River, the 2162 square kilometers of this park are divided by the...
Located 400km southeast of Addis Ababa, Bale Mountains National Park contains a spectacularly diverse landscape. The high altitude, afro-montane Sanetti Plateau rises to over 4,000m and includes the highest peak in the southern Ethiopia highlands. This undulating...
The scenery in the Simiens is some of the most spectacular in the world. The natural beauties of this region have always filled visitors from around the world with awe. Gentle highland ridges at altitudes above 3’600 meters above sea level, covered with grasses,...
The Awash National Park is located in the lowlands at the heart of the rift valley, east of Addis Ababa (approx. 250 km) adjacent to the Awash River. It is one of the finest nature reserves in Ethiopia. The Awash River is one of the major rivers of the Horn of Africa...
Set in the southeast of Ethiopia, Aledeghi is a little-visited wildlife reserve which contains a reasonably good range of wildlife and offers some superb interaction with the local Afar tribespeople. Not a conventional safari location, but nonetheless one of our...
Africa’s Great Rift Valley rips a great scar through the middle of Ethiopia; a giant valley where lakes have bubbled up and forests have sprung from the ground. The warmth and humidity are a welcome break from the harsh highlands, and journeys up and down the valley...
Bahir Dar is one of the leading tourist destinations in Ethiopia, with a variety of attractions in its close surroundings. The city is located approximately 578 km (360 miles) north-northwest of Addis Ababa, at an elevation of 1’840 meters (6’036 feet) above sea...
The Danakil Depression marks the northern end of the Great Rift Valley on the African mainland, the point where Earth’s forces are most actively tearing the continent apart. It is an extremely arid, hot desert area which stretches from the coastline of Eritrea through...
There’s something intensely wonderful and spiritual about Lalibela, a truly amazing town located in the northern region of Ethiopia. This small village is a World Heritage site – acclaimed for its rock-hewn churches, stunning rural landscape, and devout Christianity....
Gondar was Ethiopia’s capital between 1632 and 1855, and it remains one of the country’s richest areas in terms of history, culture and natural beauty. Gondar is a land of medieval mystery and the center of an important trading empire. The city holds the remains of...
Aksum (also spelt Axum) stands at the epicentre of Ethiopian history. In ancient times, it served as the economic hub of the Aksumite Empire, which lasted for some nine hundred years from the second to the tenth centuries, and as the capital of a ruling dynasty...
Meskel Square (Amharic: መስቀል አደባባይ, romanized: mesik’el ādebabay, lit. ’Cross Square’) is a public square in the city of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It is often a site for public gatherings or for demonstrations and festivals, notably, the Meskel Festival from which it...
Addis Mercato or simply known as Mercato ( Amharic: መርካቶ; Italian: “market”) is a large open-air marketplace in the Addis Ketema, district of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and the name refers to the neighborhood in which it is located. Mercato is the largest open-air market...
Attractions in Ethiopia[dipi_blog_slider posts_number="100" include_categories="144" show_author="off" show_date="off" show_excerpt="off" space_between="30" autoplay="on" pause_on_hover="off" autoplay_speed="4000" navigation="on" navigation_on_hover="on"...
The “Red Terror” Martyrs’ Memorial Museum in Addis Ababa was established in 2010 as a memorial to those who died during the Red Terror under the Derg government. The museum has displays of torture instruments, skulls, and bones, coffins, bloody clothes, and...
Saint George’s Cathedral is an Ethiopian Orthodox church in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The cathedral is noted for its distinctive octagonal form. It is located at the northern end of Churchill Road in the city. The new church was built on the ruins of an older church from...
The Ethnological Museum, Addis Ababa, in Ethiopia, is a public institution dedicated to ethnology and culture. The Ethnological Museum houses anthropological, musicological, and cultural objects. The Ethnological Museum is the first university museum in Ethiopia. The...
Unity Park is an amusement park located in the Arat Kilo district of Addis Ababa, in the compound of the National Palace. Established in October 2019 with a total of 20 hectares inside the palace compound, it features a zoo and historical artifacts with entrance by...
Holy Trinity Cathedral, also known in Amharic as Kidist Selassie, is the highest-ranking Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo cathedral in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It was built to commemorate the Ethiopian victory over Italian occupation and is an important place of worship in...
The museum houses Ethiopia’s artistic treasures. It contains many precious local archaeological finds such as the fossilized remains of early hominids, the most famous of which is “Lucy,” the partial skeleton of a specimen of Australopithecus afarensis. Recently added...
Erta Ale volcano is a large basaltic shield volcano in the Erta Ale volcanic range in the central northern Danakil depression. It is famed for its persistent lava lake which has been active during most of the past decades since it was first discovered in the 1960s....