A trip to eastern Ethiopia is a journey that tickles the heart, boggles the mind and challenges the soul- no less than that. In stark contrast to the green, densely populated, Christian highlands, the east is largely arid, wild, low-lying and Muslim.

HIGHLIGHTS OF EASTERN ETHIOPIA
The park is found in the lowlands to the east, with total area of 827 square kilometers, it’s bounded with Awash River in the south. The Fantale volcano, where one can see the dark scar of the latest lava flow, is among the main features of the park.

The plains of the park are excellent for game viewing and admiring the spectacular Awash Gorge. Awash is home for numerous bird species and endemic animals like Swayne’s hartebeest.

AWASH LOWER VALLEY
The lower Valley of Awash is found in Afar Regional State at 11o1’ North and 40 o58’ East .This is a site of paleo-anthropological research. Tremendous findings are registered in the area contributing a lot in the search for human origin and evolution.

 

The most spectacular discovery of Lucy, Australopithecus Afarensis, a 3.2 million years old hominid in 1974, paved the way for more achievements in the study of human origin. The discoveries registered by the Middle Awash Research Project , an international, multi disciplinary scientific Study with the objective of establishing an accurate geological information for elucidating human origins and evolution, has established the region as one of the world’s most important paleontological sites with the discovery of the most ancient hominids dating between the time period of 5.3-3.9 million years. The recent achievement with the discovery of selam, a fossil that is the most complete and 150,000 years older than Lucy, is another testimony for the importance of the region for the study of human origin.

The lower Valley of Awash was included in the list of world heritage sites in 1980.

HARAR JUGOL, THE FORTIFIED HISTORICAL TOWN
Harar was major commercial and center of Islamic learning. Ahmed Ibn Ibrahim Al Ghazi also known as Ahmed Gragn (the left handed) who conquered the Christian highlands in the 16th century.

The wall was constructed to protect the city as its people from the possible attacks. It is 3.5 kilometer long wall with a height of nearly 4 meters. It has five gates and the wall is still intact and is a symbol of the town. The presence of 99 mosques made Harar to be considered as the fourth holiest city in Islam next to Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem. Harar is a symbol of tolerance and peaceful co-existence of peoples and religions. And also it’s known by the Hyena feeding man outside the walls.

In recognition of its cultural heritage, the Historic city of Harar (Jugol) was registered by UNESCO as world heritage site in 2006.