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The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (የኢትዮጵያ ፌዴራላዊ ዲሞክራሲያዊ ሪፐብሊክ), is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north and northeast, Djibouti and Somalia to the east, Sudan and South Sudan to the west, and Kenya to the south. With nearly 100 million inhabitants, Ethiopia is the most populous landlocked country in the world, as well as the second-most populous nation on the African continent after Nigeria. It occupies a total area of 1,100,000 km² (420,000 sq mi), and its capital and largest city is Addis Ababa. (Source: Wikipedia)
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During my 1.000 km pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago in northern Spain last summer I named the five countries which are most important to me in the near future. I picked one from each continent except Europe. Ethiopia represented Africa and so I went there during their Christmas and New Years festive season in January this year.
Ethiopia is like nowhere else on the planet
It was quite a painful struggle to accumulate to this corner of the world which finally led to a deep passion for a nation proud as black as the country of origin of the roasted bean and parts of humanity possibly can be. Ethiopia is different, poor & happy, rough & friendly, dusty & colorful. Ethiopia has been richly blessed by Mother Nature and was able to preserve its unique culture. The deep Orthodox land-locked country is seven and a half years and always eight days back in the calendar and even the watches set zero at 6am/pm. The year counts 13 months here, packed with traditional festivals, daily life and a lot of sunshine. In the high altitudes of the north with an average over 2.000 meters you can find traces of history, wars and old civilizations. Ethiopia is the only country never colonized and next to the tiny Lesotho the highest country in Africa. But also houses the lowest point of the continent which seems to be from another world. Besides all this it’s the people with their curious eyes and friendly smiles what makes this country at the Horn of Africa so impressive. About 90 million of them are only interested in your well-being and are happy about the presence of "Farangis". Welcome here is more than a gesture, it is the true expression of joy and equality.
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The frenetic energy of the happening capital Addis Ababa is best felt at the bustling markets which are amongst the biggest on the globe.
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The most of the well-paved main roads are leading smoothly through the country which is three times as large as Germany. The public government buses are packed with people and luggage which eventually leads to several brake(downs).
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Erta Ale is one of the few places on earth where you can get that close to an active volcano and boiling hot lava lake. Standing as close as three meters to the rim and be able to feel the energy and heat of the cracked earth was absolutely staggering.
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The cities (if you could even call them this) are in poor condition. The main streets might be paved but the rest often is not much more than a bumpy gravel road.
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People are different here. Not always open, sometimes even closed. It's an ongoing up and down between effusive happiness and unpredictable aggression. But the smiles of the children are worth the effort of not giving up and coming closer.
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Salt is still a big business in Ethiopia and it gets harvested by the strong people of the Afar region in the far north-east. After the salt is cut in transportable pieces it gets then transported over the salt lake on the back of thousands of camels.
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The dried out salt lake is enormous. Until the horizon you can't see anything but a flat surface with a thick and very hard crust of salt which only gets scattered by occasionally camel trains.
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The lowest point on the African continent, the Denakil depression is part of the Denakil desert. The spectacular colors of 'Dalol' with its sulfur lakes and minerals forming these outer worldly scenery was an absolute highlight of not only this journey.
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The legendary rock-hewn churches of Lalibela are of course listed as an world heritage but also as one of the 'eight wonders of the world'. For sure they are impressive but after having seen and experienced other world wonders like Petra in Jordan, the Taj Mahal in India or Angkor Wat in Cambodia, these churches unfortunately couldn't excite me as much as the advertisement of the Ethiopian tourism bureau fueled the expectations. But without a doubt it was still a wonderful experience to walk around the ruins and stand inside these accessible stone churches.
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Timkat, the fest of Epiphany, celebrates the baptism of Christ. The hundreds of people in the processions behind regalia-draped priests are a both exciting and colorful event and just the start for the three-day festival which is celebrated all over the country.
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Each meal is eaten with and on top of injera, a thick and huge pancakes made from fermented teff flour. There is just no way to get around this staple food.
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