Northern Ethiopia

Northern Ethiopia is not one experience. Lalibela gives you rock-hewn churches, Gheralta cliffs and hidden churches, Axum ancient history, Afar desert and volcanic country, the Simien high mountains, and Gondar and Lake Tana royal and monastic Ethiopia.

Lake Tana, Ethiopia’s largest lake and the source of the Blue Nile, has monasteries on around twenty of its islands and peninsulas, many of them 400 to 800 years old; Ura Kidane Mehret on the Zege Peninsula is known for its painted walls. The lake became a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 2014, and the Blue Nile Falls, Tis Issat ("smoking water"), are about 30 km from Bahir Dar.

From there, Gondar, the Simien, Axum, Gheralta and Lalibela follow, with the Danakil as the other world below sea level. We can build it around history, culture, mountains, desert, photography, faith, food, people or geology, using domestic flights where they save days on the road.

Moving between the Danakil and the Simien takes you from heat and dehydration to altitude and cold within days, so we plan rest and pacing as carefully as the route.