Rumbling 4X4s and rattling jeepneys kick up the dust clouds in Jimma, a city steeped in lively bazaars, folksy shops and traditional East African eateries some 210 miles out of Addis Ababa. More than anything, Ethiopia's sixth-largest town is a prime transport hub for adventurers on an odyssey out west, to where the legendary Omo Valley and the plains of the Gambella National Park await.

Still in the city, a local Jimma tour guide may not have much to showcase other than the aged Aba Jifar Palace, a half-crumbled remnant of the time when Jimma was the kingpin of the whole Jimma Kingdom, and an important trading outpost on the Oromian caravan routes to boot. Beyond that, head to nearby Bonga, which is hailed by caffeine lovers the world over as the birthplace of the much-loved Arabica coffee bean.