Landscape

All countries are beautiful, but Ethiopia is especially so. Traversed by the Rift Valley, which runs diagonally from the Red Sea through central Ethiopia and out into northern Kenya and Uganda, it possesses a topography dominated by a high central plateau, which sits either side of the rift, and is surrounded - to the north, to the east, and to the west - by desert.

This mix of high plateau, rift and desert makes for an extraordinarily varied landscape. Both Simien and Bale mountain ranges are large enough to possess their own microclimates. The central plateau is source of a network of rivers, including the Blue Nile. Well-watered, the southern and western highlands are marked by indigenous forest, the central plateau by montane grasslands and woodlands. Vegetation thins out to the north of the plateau, and to the east.

Away from its highlands, Ethiopia possesses its own savannahs. The acacia dotted grasslands of the Rift Valley are reminiscent of those in Kenya. The xeric grass and shrublands of the north-east are a place of very little rain, of extreme heat, and high in tectonic activity - hence marvels like the Danakil Depression, volcanic Erta Ale, and the salt flats of Dallol.

Ethiopia is a staggeringly beautiful country. Having spent years working championing low volume, high impact travel, Wild Expeditions has the knowhow with which to host trips to some of its remotest and most beautiful parts.