Notes from the road to Ethiopia

Ethiopia's grandest trekking region — pick a route, learn the altitude game and know exactly what a day on the escarpment feels like.

From monolithic churches carved out of the rock to the castles of Gondar and the island monasteries of Lake Tana — the northern circuit done properly.

Salt flats below sea level, a bubbling lava lake, and technicolour sulphur springs — the Danakil is like no place else on Earth.

Ethiopia is a biodiversity powerhouse, with mammals and birds found nowhere else on Earth. Here's where to meet them.

Along the Omo valley, dozens of peoples still live by seasons, cattle and ceremony. A thoughtful visit is a window into another world.

Licensing, guides, vehicles and honest pricing — the practical checklist that separates a great Ethiopia safari operator from a gamble.

An ancient empire, monoliths that toppled the sky, and a living claim to the Ark of the Covenant — the deepest layer of the northern circuit.

Seventeenth-century castles in the highlands, an eighteenth-century bath still used for Timket, and painted ceilings that stop you mid-sentence.

Ethiopia's largest lake hides centuries-old monasteries on its islands, and its overflow becomes the thunder of the Blue Nile Falls.