BY MULUGETA GUDETA
National Geographic is In 2020 Ethiopia made the National Geographic Travelers ‘Cool List’ of 20 must-see destinations. It was listed number 12 on the list and noted Ethiopia for “its new tours, improved safety, and a tourism trade that’s growing faster than anywhere else in Africa….green mountainous Ethiopia is one of the most exciting places to visit in Africa, if not the entire world.
A travel publisher and tailor-made trip provider, called Rough Guides said, “Ethiopia is utterly unique. The only country clinging to independence during the nineteenth century Scramble for Africa, its culture and traditions have remained virtually intact, What’s more, its history goes as far back as the beginning of human existence its age-old structures fiery cuisine, Amharic language and high latitude wildlife occur nowhere else in the world.”
Other African destinations included in the annual list included Namibia at number 1 and Cairo at number 13. The National Geographic recommendation is the second big international endorsement of Ethiopia as a tourist destination for 2020. In its citation National Geographic gave the reasons for Ethiopia’s selection as the 12th most important tourist destination. It said, “The ghosts of the Ethiopian famines of the 1980s haven’t been forgotten but they are not the fundamental part of the country’s make-up. The shadow of war with neighboring Eritrea has been lifted, too, and suddenly green mountainous Ethiopia is one of the most exciting places to visit in Africa if not in the entire world.”
The situation in Ethiopia is now bound to return to normal with the recent peace agreement signed between the government and the rebels in Tigray while there is a plan for the reconstruction of Tigray and adjacent regions that have been affected by the conflict. It would be legitimate here to go back to Ethiopia’s history of travels by the first foreigners, including James Bruce, the famous Scottish traveler who put Ethiopia on the global map of fascinating countries back in 1770 and put it in proper historical perspective for the first time.
James Bruce was a Scottish voyager and travel writer who confirmed the source of the Blue Nile. He spent more than a dozen years in North Africa and Ethiopia and became the first European to trace the origins of the Blue Nile from Egypt and Sudan. According to available sources, “James Bruce arrived at Alexandria in 1768 and then travelled to Massawa that was under Turkish control and continued to proceed to Gondar and reached the then capital of Ethiopia on 14 February 1770 where he was received by the Emperor Tekle Haimanot II, Ras Michael Sehul, the real ruler of the country…
“On 14 November 1770, he reached Gishe Abay, the source of the Lesser Abay. When they reached the springs at Gish, James Bruce celebrated his achievement by picking up half a coconut shell he used as a drinking cup, filling it from the spring…”
Upon finishing his travels, James Bruce set upon writing his multivolume travel book entitled, “Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile” that were published in 13 editions in the years 1768 to 1773. His journeys took him not only to Ethiopia but also to the Horn of Africa, “which includes an eyewitness account of Ethiopian history and culture, as well as description of that country…”
From James Bruce’s visit to the present, countless Western researchers, discoverers and visitors have entered Ethiopia from many directions; lured not only by Bruce’s accounts of his travels to Ethiopia he published in books, but also enthralled by their imaginations of a land filled with myths, legends and many wonders that are captivating the attention of the curious travelers for more than 200 years. Ethiopia was indeed long forgotten by the outside world as it had forgotten the world.
Fast forward to the present. In the 20th century, when Ethiopia emerged from its relative isolation, what emerged were the rich historical and cultural heritages and natural beauties of a land that remained hidden for two centuries started to emerge and astonish not only foreigners but also the people who have been sitting on natural treasures without realizing their significance. To foreigners, Ethiopia appeared as a long dormant land coming to life. That was a long dream comes true.
It became soon clear that from north to South and from east to west, Ethiopia was indeed dotted with different tourism sites and attractions particularly religious ones as one observer concluded, Ethiopia “the Holy Grail of Africa”.
In the north we have the ancient ruins of Aksum. “The major Aksumite monuments in the town are steles. These obelisks are around 1700 years old and have become the symbol of Ethiopian people’s identity.” Further in the south, the holy cities of Gondar and Lalibella are found. So much is written about them that it would be sheer repetition to further elaborate on their importance here. Suffice it to say in passing that “This rural town is known around the world for its churches carved from within the earth from “living rock” which play an important part in the history of rock-cut architecture.”
If you move further in eastern Ethiopia, you find the ancient historic walled city of Harar, which is regarded as ‘the holy city’ of Islam in Ethiopia. Besides the stone wall surrounding the city, the old town is home to 110 mosques and shrines center on Feres Megala square.”
Harar is fascinating for its diverse building architectures, walled compounds, the evening rituals of the hyena man feeding a group of hyenas by holding the meat with his teeth. “A longstanding tradition of feed meat to spotted hyenas evolved during the 1960s into an impressive night show for tourists.”
Arthur Rimbaud’s house is also a tourist site. where the romantic French poet spent a few years at the end of his life which cut short by cancer. Harar is often described a living tourist site because the residents’ lifestyles and day to day struggle rather look like stills from a long movie reel of history. Harar has not lost much of its charms after thousands of years of existence.
The southern parts of Ethiopia are endowed with archeological and architectural finds that testify to the unique endowment the country and its people are still proud of. A little further to the west of Harar is found the place called Hadar where it was confirmed that not only Ethiopian but also world history was started with the discovery of the remains of the oldest human remains with Lucy or the mother of all humanity leading the pack.
Go a little south of Afar, and you find the natural beauties of the Bale mountains and the caves of Sof Omar where underground lakes seem to have stopped counting the time and where the labyrinthine caves will usher you to a world of water and meandering tunnels with yellowed natural ceilings and walls through which you travel by foot stepping on the huge stones whose origin or destiny are unknown as if it has always kept its secrets to itself. If you are the religious type, you can go and see the famous Dire Sheikh Hussein shrine and pay tribute to the miraculous nature of the sheik who brought Islam to that particular place and whose ancient dwelling place has now become a destiny to thousands of Muslim pilgrims for a long time now.
“From an archeological perspective, Ethiopia has a number of fascinating finds. The Tiya Stones is a UNESCO World Heritage Site comprising 36 standing stones- a prehistoric burial ground of the ancient Ethiopians. The Lower Awash area is currently an archeological heritage site.”
According to Wikipedia, “Tiya is a town in central Ethiopia. It is situated in the Gurage zone of the Southern Nations, nationalities and Peoples Region south of Addis Ababa. It is also the location of the Tiya archeological site, famous for its unique stele.” Konso is also a town found in the same area. It is a town on the Sagan River in south western Ethiopia. “
The town and the surrounding villages were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2011 as cultural landscapes for its unique cultural traditions and importance for the Konso people.” There are so many discovered and undiscovered historical and archeological evidences that put Ethiopia on a par with any country in the world. That is why the National Geographic Traveler website is urging tourists to visit Ethiopia as a unique opportunity that provides them not only with many things to see but also reflect on the origin of humanity in the person of Lucy whose remains were found in Hadar, Afar region.
Putting aside Ethiopia’s already discovered perennial attractions, the country is in a way, a not fully explored mine of history and archeology that continues to attract not only researchers but also ordinary tourists who are fascinated by the past and eager to know what the future holds for the development of human knowledge the stretches millennia from Lucy, the mother of humanity, to the present.
The Ethiopian Herald January 21/2023
