2020 GeoEx Catalog

Ethiopia

supposedly houses the Ark of the Covenant). Our time getting acquainted with the off-the-radar Gheralta region, with its ancient cave churches chiseled high into cliff faces, may be the highlight of the trip. Shifting gears, we fly to the south, stopping for a few days to bask in the lush Bale Mountains, habitat of the endangered Ethiopian wolf. We continue to Arba Minch and the utterly dissimilar world of Ethiopia’s Lower Omo Valley, where until relatively recently the very existence of a place called Ethiopia was a distant rumor. For the next several days we visit this entrancingly as-yet-undeveloped region and its bracingly handsome tribal peoples—the Hamar, Ari, Bena, and Mursi, among others—getting to know their ways and their huge, dry, and gorgeous land. For those wishing to venture further, we’re happy to arrange extensions to the holy city of Harar, the heart of Islamic culture and religion in the Horn of Africa. group trip from $11,200 estimated internal airfare $2580 oct. 5–20 also offered as custom trip year-round Day 1  arrive in Addis Ababa ✦  2  sightseeing in Addis ✦  3  fly and drive to Simien Mountains ✦  4  Simien wildlife viewing ✦  5  drive to Gondar ✦  6 & 7  fly to Lalibela, visit churches ✦  8  fly to Axum, drive to Gheralta ✦  9  Gheralta cave churches ✦  10  fly to Bale Mountains National Park ✦  11 & 12  Bale wildlife excursions ✦  13  fly to Omo Valley ✦  14 & 15  Omo region and tribes ✦  16  fly to Addis, depart.

THE ISLAND OF AFRICA

TOURING | 16 DAYS · GROUP AND CUSTOM

I n Travels in Ethiopia , David Buxton wrote that the coun- try rises up from equatorial Africa “like an island from the sea.” A particularly beautiful and unexpected island, in time as well as geography. Ethiopia’s history is immense and unique, spanning religions as diverse as Islam, Chris- tianity, and a host of philosophies we used to blithely call paganism. This trip takes us north and south, introducing us to the varied cultures, landscapes, and wildlife of this madly interesting, scenically booming country. We wander in Addis’ churches, museums, and galler- ies, then head north to the lofty ( just under 15,000 feet) Simiens, little-known and breathtakingly unusual moun- tains that are home to cavorting gelada baboons and walia ibex. Next we explore Lalibela, a mountain stronghold and pilgrimage site of 11 monolithic churches carved out of living, underground rock, before winging our way farther north to Axum, a major center of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church (its Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion

Nature will not be admired by proxy.

winston churchill

BELOW  An Ethiopian Orthodox Christian pilgrim standing outside an ancient church that was carved into a sheer cliff wall. Scaling the rock to reach these staggering places of worship in Ethiopia seems like an act of faith in and of itself.

DESIGN PICS / NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC IMAGE COLLECTION