The more adventurous tourist will perhaps wish to move eastwards in this fascinating country. The Awash Valley is an extraordinary oasis of lush greenery and tumbling cascades, while the Bale National Park offers some very satisfying and unusual wildlife. Over in the extreme east lies the Muslim city of Harar, fourth holiest site in Islam, and an atmospheric focus for one’s journey.

The eastern Ethiopia touristic route will take through; the Crater Lakes of Debre Ziet (Lake Bishoftu Gudo, Lake Hora, and Lake Kuriftu), Lake Baska for wader birds, Awash National Park (known for its wildlife, for the Mount Fentale caldera and for the Filwoha Hot Springs), Yangudi Rassa National Park, and Babile Elephant Sanctuary, Harar (the Walled City of Harar, Arthur Rimbaud house, Harari cultural Museum, and man feeding Hyena), Dire Dawa, the Queen City of the desert.

Undoubtedly, the east’s pièce de résistance is the walled city of Harar. There’s still a patina of myth about this ancient town, handed down from the days when its markets served as the Horn’s commercial hub and attracted powerful merchants and Islamic scholars. The colonial-rural melange that is the modern city of Dire Dawa delights in its own odd way, while nature lovers can get their kicks at Babille Elephant Sanctuary and Awash National Park, where the volcanic landscape takes top billing over the wildlife. The truly intrepid can follow the seemingly endless ribbon of asphalt north to the desolate southern Danakil Desert, territory that remains virtually unexplored