I’ve just returned from a fabulous trip to northern Ethiopia and I loved every minute of it. With a population of nearly 100 million, the people are somewhat healthier and better cared for than they were in the 1980s and food is more readily available to all. That’s not to say there’s no poverty but the government is helping out those in need and the infrastructure is improving to welcome more tourists. I went in a group of eight and travelled around via Ethiopian Airlines and a small van which took us through some of the most beautiful countryside. The reason for starting our visit on January 19th was to experience Timkat in the capital Addis Ababa. This Ethiopian Epiphany is a colourful, Christian celebration lasting three days and is full of pomp and ceremony. We then went to Gondar, Aksum, the Simien National Park with its playful baboons and Lalibela with its rock hewn churches.

Ethiopia is a predominantly Christian country with one of the richest histories on the African continent and is full of remote and wild places and home to different cultures and friendly people who are descended from some of the world’s oldest civilisations.

It was all so wonderful I’ll let these pictures tell the story.