Abyssinia & the Blue Nile

Nothing quite prepares the traveller to Ethiopia for the breathtaking beauty of the country, its remarkable ancient history and its sheer diversity of peoples. A fiercelyindependent and highly idiosyncratic country, Ethiopia has never been successfully conquered or colonised and it boasted for a while the most powerful empire in Africa. Indeed, Ethiopia viewed itself as an empire until the second half of the 20th century when Emperor Haile Selassie claimed unbroken lineal descent from an alleged liaison between the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon.

Christianity, introduced as early as the 4th century, took strong root and still functions as a socially cohesive force in the Christian areas. Amongst its more dramatic achievements are
the eleven 12th-century rockhewn subterranean churches of Lalibela and the ancient monasteries of Debre Libanos and
Lake Tana. Its major claim to significance within the Christian world however, is its assertion that it holds the original Ark of the Covenant under guard and away from view at Axum. A
further Ethiopian architectural curiosity are the castles of Gondar, constructed during the 17th to 19th centuries.

Scenically, dramatic mountains and desert like wilderness
give way to Ethiopia’s largest lake, Tana, which feeds the Blue Nile. Ethiopia offers the more adventurous traveller an experience unlike any other and a welcome from generous and warm people.