Ethiopia Attractions

Rift Valley Lakes

The seven lakes of the Rift Valley sit in a wide, fertile valley between Addis Ababa and the Kenyan border, one of the best parts of Ethiopia for bird watching. Lakes Lagano, Abiata and Shala are perhaps the most popular of the seven - one lake is blue, one silver and one brown.

Lake Abiata is shallow, with heaps of birds, while Lake Shala sits at the bottom of a 250m (820ft) deep crater. Lagano is the only lake in Ethiopia which is bilharzia-free, so take a dip while you have the chance. It's also the only one of the three lakes with accommodation.

Addis Ababa

Of the 5 million people who live here, 3 million have arrived since the 1991 revolution. Founded in 1887, the city was almost abandoned due to lack of fuel until eucalypts were introduced to the area. A huge, sprawling place, it has very few street signs beyond the main strip, Churchill Ave.

The Ethnographic Museum is an ideal place to start learning about Ethiopia's rich ethnic diversity. The National Museum is much smaller, but it does have the fossils of 3.5-million-year-old 'Lucy', perhaps our earliest ancestor. It is ranked among the most important sub-Saharan museums in Africa.