Ethiopia, once called Abyssinia, is the oldest independent country in Sub Saharan Africa. Ethiopia is old beyond imaginings and arguably one of the world’s most interesting destinations that very few people ever visit. The earliest evidence of Ethiopian history was in around 1000BC when the Queen of Sheba visited King Solomon. Unique among African countries, the Ethiopian monarchy maintained its freedom from colonial rule. It has a written history of over 3000 years and far earlier than that we find proof that ‘Lucy’ or Dinknesh, the oldest hominid, whose remains were found in Ethiopia’s Great Rift Valley, lived here.

Much of the fascination of Ethiopia lies in the myriad historical sites, the obelisks and stele of Axum, the churches and Coptic monasteries in the Tigria area, the ancient monasteries in Lake Tana, the monolithic churches of Lalibela, the royal enclosure in Gondar, the walls of Harar, and so forth.