Tour Guide, Jimma, Ethiopia
| 3 mins read
Welcome to Ethiopia, a land with diverse opportunities. The majestic natural beauties and wonders of the land, culture and history merge to form a timeless appeal. In Ethiopia, the range of fauna and flora, the wild animals, the multifarious cultural colors and the history of the Ethiopian people, their wisdom, tolerance and hospitality all have made the Ethiopian breathtakingly beautiful.
Ethiopia is truly a land of contrasts and extremes, a land of remote and wild places, and of spectacular alpine terrain - including the Semien Mountains National Park with it's 4261 meters peak at Ras Dashen one of the nine UNESCO world heritage sites; and at the other end of the spectrum, the Danakil depression 121 meters below sea level is among the lowest places on earth and extremely hot. The latter depicts a fascinating sulphur fumaroles and a lunar like landscape. Moreover, one cannot forget the world’s biggest and marvelous caves of Sof Umar, the biggest and wonderful alpine park of Africa – Bale’ Mountains National Park, the paradise of birds and of their watchers-the Rift Valley lakes region.
This was the cradle of humankind where humans first began to walk upright, including our celebrated ancestors - Lucy (3.4 million years old), Salam, (3.5.million years old) and Ardi (4.4. million years old) that are among Ethiopia’s rich prehistoric and paleo-archeological heritage things. So Ethiopia is our common ancestral home on our beautiful planet! Welcome therefore to Ethiopia to walk on the foot prints of your ancestors!
In terms of history, Ethiopia is old; old beyond imaginations going back to over 3000 years. Starting from the Axumite kingdom, one of the great civilizations of the ancient world to great religious civilization that flourished in Lalibela, and then on to the Gonderian period. The 1000 years old Walled City of Harar (Jugol) makes Ethiopia one of the four ancient Islamic cities in the world. Then, the 17th century castles found in Gondar also speak of the same legacy.
Moving on, the Konso cultural landscapes are one of the few living testimonies of ancient agricultural terracing and environmental protection here. Together with Tiya stele in the central part of Ethiopia, the lower Omo and the Middle Awash valleys of archaeology, Ethiopia is home to 9 UNESCO World heritage sites and 12 world literary and manuscript heritages.
In short, Ethiopia is a land of ethnic diversity. More than 80 nations and nationalities with their own unique languages, cultures and traditions live in peace together. A Land of ancient civilization and the famous democratic Gada system of the Oromo culture…these and many other attractions make Ethiopia one of the most preferred tourist destination in the world.
It is indeed of great honor and privilege, amidst all this background, to cordially invite you to Ethiopia to see a part of our planet where it all began!