Lalibela – Jerusalem in Africa – Jerusalem in Afrika

It was the village of Roha on an altitude of 2.630 m in the remote Lasta highland at the foot of 4.190 m high Mount Abune Yosef, that king Lalibela had chosen after a change of power at the end of the Aksumite rule to have his nowadays world famous rock-hewn churches being built. The […]

Lasta highland (A pilgrim’s journey to Lalibela) – Das Lasta-Bergland (Pilgerfahrt nach Lalibela)

Lasta is an ancient district in the northern parts of Ethiopia’s central highland. The highland surrounds Lalibela and reaches more than 4.000 m in altitude. In lower altitudes, the people grow Teff, maize and vegetables, but the barren plateaus are dominated by barley and livestock. They breed everything up there, from goats to cattle, from […]

Tigray & Mekele

The bizarre mountain landscape of Tigray is characterised and has been formed and shaped by the sheer tectonic forces of the Rift Valley, that starts in the neighbouring Danakil depression in the east. Coming from this starting point, the Horn of Africa, and East Africa in general are breaking off the continent. West to the […]

Gondar – City of palaces – Die Stadt der Paläste

The important imperial city of the 17th and the 18th centuries, Gondar, is a nice mixture of a modern-day town and its historic remains, among them the most famous palace area Gemp. Today’s Gondar has 600.000+ inhabitants and is located at 2.300 m in altitude near the Simien mountains and northeast of Lake Tana. Because […]

Bahir Dar & Lake Tana – Bahir Dar & Der Tanasee

The region around Bahir Dar (1.880m) at Lake Tana in Ethiopia´s northeast is referred to as “Tuscany of Ethiopia” because of the warm climate as well as its idyllic location at the southern end of the country’s largest lake. More than half a million people are living in Bahir Dar today, making their living with […]

Addis Ababa

Today, Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa is one of the fastest growing cities on earth with around 4.5 to 5 Million inhabitants. It has been Emperor Menelik II who had founded Addis Ababa in 1889 and made it the capital by moving from nearby Entoto hill down to the plains. But it was only after the […]