A 13-month annual calendar, the world's best coffee, a plethora of subterranean rock carved churches, the world's oldest alphabet (Amharic) - these are just some of the things that make Ethiopia unique. But the main feather on its cap is that it's the only African country to have never been colonised, hence preserving its culture intact.
Hominid bones discovered in eastern Ethiopia dating back 4.4 million years make Ethiopia one of the oldest countries in the world. Ethiopia is also significant in religious history, being one of the first countries to adopt Christianity as the state religion in the 4th century AD, following its introduction by missionaries from Egypt and Syria. Following more than a century of conflict between pro- and anti-Catholic factions, bitter religious conflict contributed to the expulsion and hostility toward foreign Christians and Europeans, and was a factor in Ethiopia's isolation until the mid-19th century.
In the 20th century, Haile Selassie was crowned emperor and Ethiopia began to emerge from its medieval isolation. After successfully resisting invasions throughout the centuries, Ethiopia had been the only place on the African continent that was never properly colonized. Italy did manage to occupy it for a few years in 1936, then they decided that making pasta is easier than colonization. So by 1941, with help from the British, the Italians were pushed out. Liberated Ethiopia was returned to monarchic rule under the reinstated emperor Haile Selassie, who had been forced into exile in England. Eritrea, to the north was lumped together with Ethiopia by the UN shortly after the end of WWII.
Revolutionary resistance developed from the 1960s and in 1974 the monarchy was overthrown by the Derg ("committee"), a socialist-inspired paramilitary organization. It summarily executed members of the royal family while emperor Haile Selassie was strangled in the basement of his palace in 1975. The Derg proceeded to subject Ethiopia to a ruthless and deadly authoritarian regime under quasi-dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam. The regime had some support from the Soviets, but there was also lots of rebel resistance, especially in the northern region of Tigray. As if civil-war-like conflict wasn't enough, north-eastern Ethiopia was also hit by a devastating famine in 1985, in which around a million may have perished in it.
When the Soviet Union fell apart in 1991, the Derg found themselves without the support of its former socialist allies, and the regime quickly crumbled. Mengistu Haile Mariam fled in 1991 to Zimbabwe (where that country's dictator granted his buddy a safe exile). In Ethiopia a transitional government was formed, while Eritrea voted for independence and was granted full sovereignty in 1993. Yet that didn't mean the end of trouble, and border disputes between the two countries eventually led to full-on military conflict in the late 1990s. A ceasefire was brokered in 2000 and for the best part of two decades, relations between Eritrea and Ethiopia remained strained, and the border closed. In 2018, a newly elected government in Ethiopia initiated a thaw in relations with Eritrea, diplomatic contacts were resumed. So things looked very much on a solid road to peace. Yet, with the complex make-up of the population from over a dozen different ethnicities, there remain tensions. For Ethiopia, however, things have changed for the better in recent times. Economically Ethiopia has become a powerhouse with growth and rapid development. This is still ongoing, now with a lot of Chinese investment, for instance into the re-establishment of a railway line between Ethiopia and neighbouring Djibouti.
When I eventually made it to Ethiopia, it was politically relatively calm; but it's always a good idea to check what the current security situation is before planning a trip there. Getting to Ethiopia will usually mean flying in, and the national carrier Ethiopian Airlines is actually regarded as one of the best in Africa. If you fly in with them you are also eligible for big discounts on domestic flights, which can be useful, as the distances in this vast country can simply be too great for overland travel, unless you have a lot of time. Otherwise getting around is mostly by road. Some parts of the country can be done independently, but for a few destinations you will have to go on guided tours. The latter applies in particular to the north, especially the Danakil Depression and Erta Ale, which can only be visited on guided tours accompanied by armed guards.
Jinka
Jinka is a small town located in southern Ethiopia. The town serves as a gateway to the Omo Valley, a region renowned for its diverse ethnic groups, traditional lifestyles, and ancient customs. Visitors to Jinka usually come to interact with tribes such as the Mursi, Hamar, and Karo, who inhabit the surrounding areas. Jinka also plays a major role as a hub for anthropological research and study. The Omo Valley is home to some of the oldest human fossils and archaeological sites in the world, providing valuable insights into the origins of mankind.
Mursi tribe
The Mursi are one of the better-known tribes of the Omo Valley. They are semi-nomadic pastoralists, regularly moving around the region wherever water sources are most beneficial for the thousands of cattle they harvest throughout the year. They place considerable importance on cattle, the exchange of which marks most relationships, such as marriage, and their diets are also based around cattle. As water sources are scarce, especially during seasonal droughts, there can be occasional tensions with other tries. The Mursi are usually armed, mainly because many of their male leaders regularly carry AK-47s to fend off wild hyenas, boars, or cattle thieves.
The most distinctive and recognisable feature of the Mursi is their women wearing ornamental clay disks (debhinya) in their bottom lips as symbols of beauty and adulthood. When a girl is in her early teenage years, her bottom lip is cut and kept open with the clay disk until it heals. This cut is then progressively stretched over a series of months by inserting slightly larger clay disks each time, and each individual woman decides how far to stretch their lip. This visual alone is enough to attract many camera-wielding tourists to their territory each year. While lip plate gauges are absolutely a staple of Mursi culture, they are not worn at home unless there is a Mursi-specific ceremony or celebration. The truth is that the Mursi do not dress this way when they're at home and when no visitors are around. In fact, the majority of the Mursi live deep in the Ethiopian bush, busy raising cattle, yet neither know nor care about foreign visitors.
Another feature of the Mursi tribe is their ceremonial duelling. This is where teams of men within the population fight with 2m wooden poles (donga), which only ends when one man either falls to the floor or has to retreat due to injury. These contests usually take place over several days and are treated extremely seriously. The women also have a duelling ceremony involving iron bracelets which they strike each other with. It is said that the iron bracelet is a symbol of strength, and only the strongest women are worthy of wearing it. The Mursi are also known for their intricate body art and scarification patterns, which adorn their faces and bodies. These markings serve both aesthetic and cultural purposes, with each design holding personal and symbolic meaning for the individual.
Hamer tribe {aka Hamar}
The Hamer tribe is one of the most well known Omo Valley tribes. They are especially known for their unique rituals, including a 'bull jumping' ceremony that the young men have to undergo in order to reach adulthood and to marry. This is where a young man who wishes to marry must jump on top of a line of 10 to 30 bulls and run along their backs four times, completely nude and without falling, to prove their worth to the family of the woman they intend to marry. The entire ceremony can last up to three days. After this ceremony, the man is able to marry, own cattle, and have children.
The Hamer are highly superstitious people, and to this day they consider twins to be babies born outside of wedlock, while children whose upper milk teeth develop before their lower teeth are deemed to be 'evil' or 'unclean'. For this reason, such children are discarded in the bush and simply left to die, as they would rather lose a single child than inflict any disaster upon their community.
The Hamar people are also known for their ritual where women blow horns and shout taunts at male members of their family, who then whip them. The women allow themselves to be whipped until they bleed as a symbol of their devotion to the men. One of the most recognisable features of the Hamar women is their hair. They fix their hair in short, dense ringlets and mix in butterfat and red ochre to give it a characteristic dark red colour. Hamer women take great pride in their appearance and wear traditional dresses consisting of brown goatskin adorned with dense vertical rows of red and yellow beads, together with colourful bracelets are also worn around their waists and arms.The kind of bracelets will depend on their age, wealth and marital status.
Daasanech tribe
Dassanech, is varied in its spelling such as Daasanach, Dasenach and Dassanetch. They are a tribe found in the most southern part of the Omo Valley. 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, growing maize, beans, and pumpkins at the time of year when the delta floods. During dry seasons they rely on their cattle and goats for milk, meat, and hides. Their dome-shaped huts are typically covered in twigs, rope and corrugated iron. The huts have one entrance which is very small. They were originally designed this way to make sure unwelcome guests cannot easily enter without being noticed.
The chief of the village I visited has 7 wives. The amount of wives a man has depends on how much cattle he can afford to pay for a new bride as well as his preference. A mans first wife is chosen for him by his family with social and relationship benefits taken into consideration. Future wives he can choose, however every Dassanech wife must have their own hut for themselves and their young children. When a newborn is named 2-3 days after its birth the women chant and spit on the mother and child to bless it. The lower class of the tribe are called Dies, and are the people who have lost their cattle and hence their livelihoods. Rather than living with the rest of the tribe, they live near Lake Turkana and find food by fishing or hunting crocodiles. The Daasanach have developed an extremely unique way of making jewellery from items such as SIM cards, old digital watches, and bottle caps. In fact, their headdresses made from bottle caps are particularly recognisable. Women wear pleated cow skin skirts with many bracelets and necklaces, whilst men wear a cloth around their waist.
Kara tribe (Karo)
The Kara tribe, often confused with the Karo, is a semi-nomadic group inhabiting the Eastern bank of the Omo River. They are considered the smallest ethnic tribe in the Omo Valley. Historically, the Kara were closely associated with the Hamer tribe, but while the Hamer settled in the hills, the Kara migrated downstream to the Omo River for better grazing lands. Hence the Hamer are refered to as the "mountain dwellers", while The Kara earned the nickname "fish eaters" due to their reliance on fishing. They employ long sharp sticks to spear fish, showcasing their unique fishing techniques.
In the past, the Kara population suffered greatly from epidemics, leading to a decline in their numbers and decimation of their herds. Additionally, territorial conflicts with the Nyangatom, a larger and better-armed neighboring tribe, forced the Kara to abandon their settlements on the Western bank of the Omo River. Despite these challenges, the Kara have adapted their way of life, transitioning from pastoralism to fishing and agriculture. They cultivate crops such as sorghum, maize, beans, and pumpkins along the fertile banks of the Omo River. While they once relied on cattle, the Kara now primarily raise goats and sheep due to the threat of tsetse flies.
The Kara pay great attention to their body painting and scarification. On ceremonies, they paint their bodies using the white color. Scarification is still a widespread practice: for women it has an exclusively aesthetic value, to be more attractive to the eyes of men. While for men it increases their appeal, as scars can identify a man who killed an enemy or one of the huge crocodiles that populate the Omo River. The men always carry their faithful AK47 with them, in reality it is more a status symbol than a weapon; it is necessary to possess one to be able to marry, as it shows that, if necessary, the man is able to defend the village from rival tribes or dangerous animals, and the cattle from thieves.
Dallol {Danakil Depression}
The Danakil Depression is one of the most volcanically active parts of the Great Rift in Ethiopia. Dallol, in the northern part, is the result of an explosion when hot magma hits groundwater forming a so-called 'maar'. All this formed an otherworldly scenery with otherworldly colours of deep yellow sulphur mounds and green briny ponds amongst dark red salt crusts. Occasionally there have been ash plumes and gas venting but most of the time, there's only sputtering of hot water from fumaroles and constant low-level degassing from the main vent. This is in the lowest-lying part of the depression, between 100 to 150m below sea level. In fact, as the Danakil formed from three tectonic plates drifting apart there will one day come the time when the land bridge holding back the Red Sea will break and the Afar Depression will get flooded and become part of the sea. Most of the area is covered by salt flats and there are also salt lakes, such Lake Afrera and Lake Karum.
Typically, such a hostile environment would not be inhabitable, but in actual fact the local Afar people have long eked out a living by salt mining, living a nomadic lifestyle by setting up temporary camps with simple huts made from twigs and straw, which could be dismantled and loaded onto a camel's back for relocation with ease. Camel caravans would carry the mined salt up to the Tigrayan highlands where it would be sold. This is still going on, though these days transport is as often by truck as by camel. More recent dangers rather originate from the volatile political situation so close to the border with Eritrea, which had long been contested and was even the cause of a bloody war in the late 1990s. Definitely leep an eye out on the news, as conflicts can flare up in Tigray / Afar region.
Erta Ale volcano {Danakil Depression}
The Erta Ale volcano is the other main attraction in the Danakil Depression, and features one of the very few permanent lava lakes on Earth. At times it forms a pit crater, at others lava is breaching the rim, overflowing beyond the summit caldera. If the crater is venting too much steam and gas, the lava may not be visible, but under ideal conditions you can walk right to the crater rim and stare straight into the infernal spectacle of the ever-shifting lava and watch small explosions and splattering. No health-and-safety restrictions here.
Driving to the foot of the volcano takes a good couple of hours from Makele. The ascent to the summit is usually done in the afternoon, or even at dusk, so torches are required. The lava lake is most spectacular in the dark or just before nightfall or at sunrise. Hence the tour groups arrived in the evening and we camped overnight on the caldera rim. Camping at the volcano as well as at the rest camp is a bit rough, usually you sleep on simple matting under the stars, given the high temperatures even at night.
Simien Mountains National Park
Simien Mountains National Park in northern Ethiopia, is a spectacular landscape, where massive erosion over millions of years has created jagged mountain peaks, deep valleys and sharp precipices dropping some 1,500m. The park is of global significance for biodiversity conservation because it is home to globally threatened species, including the iconic Walia ibex, a wild mountain goat found nowhere else in the world, the Gelada baboon and the Ethiopian wolf.
Mekele
Mekele, located in the northern part of Ethiopia, is the capital city of the Tigray region. It holds great historical significance as it served as the capital of the Tigrayan Kingdom in the 19th century. The city is nestled amidst stunning mountainous landscapes, hence Mekele is the gateway to some of Ethiopia's most iconic natural wonders, including the Danakil Depression and the Gheralta Mountains.
Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa stands as one of the highest capital cities globally, nestled in the highlands at an altitude of over 2,300 meters. The name "Addis Ababa" translates to "new flower" in Amharic, reflecting the city's blossoming growth?
The first thing that hits you in Addis is the strong smell of diesel fumes belching out of the exhaust pipes of minibuses and taxis. The capital is a city of contrasts, think herds of goats beside skyscrapers, donkeys besides the trams etc. Having said that, Addis is a great place for amazing coffee, delicious food, and unexpectedly was one of the best places to party. Addis Ababa is also home to some iconic historical sites. The National Museum of Ethiopia, houses the famous hominid fossil "Lucy", dating back over three million years, which you might remember from your high school history book as the oldest human skeleton ever discovered.
