Bahir Dar & Lake Tana
Bahir Dar is one of the leading tourist destinations in Ethiopia, with a variety of attractions in its close surroundings. The city is located approximately 578 km (360 miles) north-northwest of Addis Ababa, at an elevation of 1’840 meters (6’036 feet) above sea level.
Bahir Dar is considered one of the most beautiful, well planned, and safest cities in Ethiopia. Visits to Lake Tana’s Island monasteries and to the nearby Blue Nile Falls form the main focus of activities
Rift Valley Lakes
Africa’s Great Rift Valley rips a great scar through the middle of Ethiopia; a giant valley where lakes have bubbled up and forests have sprung from the ground. The warmth and humidity are a welcome break from the harsh highlands, and journeys up and down the valley reveal a variety of cultures and traditions. Strung out in the area between Addis Ababa and Arba Minch, Ethiopia’s Rift Valley Lakes are a pleasant lowland area offering an ideal stopping point for travellers wanting to visit the South of the country The six principal lakes of the region are Abijatta, Langano, Shalla, Ziway and further to the South, Abaya and Chamo.
Danakil Depression
The Danakil Depression marks the northern end of the Great Rift Valley on the African mainland, the point where Earth’s forces are most actively tearing the continent apart. It is an extremely arid, hot desert area which stretches from the coastline of Eritrea through north-eastern Ethiopia and western parts of Djibouti. The Danakil is an area of outstanding geological interest, providing a unique window on the underlying processes which have created the Earth’s continents and land masses.
Erta Ale Volcano
Erta Ale volcano is a large basaltic shield volcano in the Erta Ale volcanic range in the central northern Danakil depression. It is famed for its persistent lava lake which has been active during most of the past decades since it was first discovered in the 1960s. Erta Ale is only 613 m high, but as typical for a shield volcano has a very gentle slopes and a large 40 km diameter base. The summit is truncated by a complex, elongated 1700 x 600 m wide caldera which contains vast lava flows and several larger and smaller pit craters, most notably the active north and south crater, which contains the lava lake at present.
Aledeghi Wildlife Reserve
Set in the southeast of Ethiopia, Aledeghi is a little-visited wildlife reserve which contains a reasonably good range of wildlife and offers some superb interaction with the local Afar tribespeople. Not a conventional safari location, but nonetheless one of our favourite ‘secret’ spots. Aledeghi is the large expanse of grassland plains one finds extending from the foothills of the Asebot Mountain to the Awash-Arba asphalt road.
