Mention the words “Ethiopia” and “adventure holiday” in the same breath and people will think you’re crazy. Ethiopia is, after all, a land of desert and famine. Why would you go there? The question is a good one, and I decided to answer it by going there myself because I had also heard that Ethiopia is a beautiful country, filled with lush, mountainous scenery, wildlife and a rich history. How, I asked myself, could two such contrasting views exist in this modern age of information? 

I was able to visit Ethiopia while traveling with Dragoman Adventure Tours on a journey that had started in the UK and was now taking me south across Africa to Cape Town. My question about the country was quickly answered: Ethiopia is a jewel. With an average altitude of 2,500 meters (about 8,000 feet), going up to 4,500 meters (almost 15,000 feet), Ethiopia’s central plateau is a lush, fertile area that boasts some of the most breathtaking scenery you are likely to see in Africa. Yes, the desert is there, but the reality is that it is very thinly populated. To all intents and purposes the central plateau is where Ethiopians live. Add to the beauty of the place a history that stretches back over 3,000 years, and there is more than enough to satisfy the most avid of travelers.

It’s difficult to know where to begin when trying to do this often misjudged country justice. Do I start by mentioning the fantastic medieval castles of Gonder, from where legend says that the pope, then in residence in the French city of Avignon, was secretly controlled from thousands of miles away? Or do I start with Lalibela, the center of the Coptic Christian faith? What a place!  Imagine solid rock that has been dug out and hewn over the centuries, seemingly effortlessly, to create 13 churches, all linked by underground tunnels. How the builders performed this is still a mystery and fantastic to see. Then there are the books, scripts and paintings inside the churches, some dating back more than a thousand years.  

Maybe it would be better to start by mentioning Axum, home to the queen of Sheba and the largest stone stellae in the world, not to mention the legendary final resting place of the Ark of the Covenant. Then, of course, there is Lake Tana, not only the source of the Blue Nile but also the site of numerous island monasteries dating back centuries. Of course one must not forget the walled city of Harare in the east, considered by many Muslims to be the fourth holiest site in the world.

We were traveling through Ethiopia in our own specially built overland vehicle, which was a great means of travel as it gave us the opportunity to move around hassle-free,  when and where we wanted, making the most out of the time we had. The vehicle was fully lockable and so we could leave all our valuables on board while off exploring the various sights. Dragoman organized all of our guides, booked all accommodations and planned the route to maximum effect.

Because we were carrying full camping gear on the truck, we could also take advantage of the fantastic scenery in the Bale and Simien mountains, where we not only could go walking but also seize the chance to view game and ride horses. As I mentioned before, the scenery here really is some of the most breathtaking you will see anywhere in the world, with shear 1,000-foot drops and gorges wending through the landscape, not to mention mountains and thick forests.

Among all its other historical claims, Ethiopia is also the birthplace of coffee. We were treated to the traditional coffee ceremony and experienced hospitality everywhere we went. The two leaders on our trip had very good local knowledge.  

Charlie Jaques spent more than seven years running Dragoman trips in Africa, Asia and the Americas. Dragoman itself is a 19-year-old company that runs everything from two to 37-week journeys throughout Africa, Asia, India, the Middle East and the Americas.