Crowned by high and magnificent mountains and watered by majestic lakes, Ethiopia is a land of 700-year-old churches carved entirely out of rock, towering obelisks and the Ark of the Covenant. It is a land that was Christian before much of Europe and yet unknown to Europe for 1,000 years. Accompanied by Addis Ababa University Professor, Zewdu Asrat, our trip begins in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s commercial heart of the country. Visit the Institute of Ethiopian Studies and enjoy tea in the home of Richard Pankhurst, Ethiopia’s most prominent social historian.
Fly to Dire Dawa and continue by road through fertile rolling hills to the walled city of Harar where one leaves ancient biblical Africa and enters a town of mosques, minarets and holy shrines. For centuries Harar was a major commercial center and a remarkable medieval town. It was also a great center of Islamic learning with its own language. From Bahar Dar explore the majestic and mysterious Lake Tana, the source of the Blue Nile. The Blue Nile begins its journey with a thundering fifty-meter cascade over Tissisat Falls. Cross Lake Tana by boat stopping at a number of the lake’s monasteries – their walls covered with paintings of archangels whose eyes are believed to follow the faithful as they come to prayer. Emperor Fasilides founded Gondar as his capital in 1636 and it is the site of numerous castle-like palaces; a fusion of different architectural influences. Visit the Church of Debre Birhan Selassie where the interior is covered with superbly painted frescoes that depict scenes from the life of Christ. Hundreds of smiling angels adorn the ceiling, each one painted with a subtly different expression.
Continue by road through the Simien Mountains, a rugged range of peaks and home to some of the rarest animals in the world. Grassy highlands are slashed by spectacular gorges falling sheer to jagged rocks thousands of feet below. This is a truly spectacular landscape offering vast emptiness and ageless lifestyles. Spend two days in Axum, Ethiopia’s most ancient city. It was to Axum that Christianity was brought in 340 A.D. by two Syrian Christians who arrived after their ship had been captured in the Red Sea. Many Ethiopians believe that the Treasury here houses the original Ark of the Convenant – the gold-leafed wooden box containing the actual stone tablets delivered by God to Moses. Axum is also known for its dozens of granite obelisks which date to the reign of the first Christian king, Ezana. These intricately carved pillars lie majestically on the ground – a symbol of the town’s aristocracy.
Fly south to Lalibela where King Lalibela built eleven rock-hewn churches to make his capital a place of pilgrimage. Each building is architecturally unique and beautifully carved. In this network of underground passages and chapels one senses the fervor and devotion of Ethiopians. As in Europe during the Middle Ages, one seventh of Lalibela’s inhabitants today are priests. Sitting in the cool darkness of a church one is surrounded by the sound of murmured prayers. Return home from Addis Ababa.
Group size is limited to 15 travelers.
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