Africa

There’s nowhere like it on the planet for wildlife, wild lands and rich traditions that endure. Prepare to fall in love.

ROAD TO HARAR

The road from Chiro to Harar offers a mixed landscape with some beautiful scenery, but it is also marked by rough, chaotic traffic in the smaller towns along the way. The tarmac was good, with a few short, damaged sections, so driving through the Ethiopian Highlands was not so bad, with...

ROAD TO CHIRO

We started early morning in Addis Ababa, took a highway (70 ETB), and continued on a pretty good tarmac road up to Awash National Park, where we made a half-day excursion with a local ranger (600 ETB), then continued through mountainous scenery to Chiro. It is a town and former...

AWASH NP

Awash National Park is located in central Ethiopia, situated in the Great Rift Valley between the Oromia and Afar regions, approximately 225 km from Addis Ababa. Geographically, it is characterised by a semi-arid climate, grasslands, savannas, and shrubs, with altitudes ranging from 712...

CATTLE MARKET

We drove to the Hargeisa livestock market, a major livestock trading hub located on the southeastern outskirts of the city. We found a local “strong and tough” woman, who was ready to guide us through and arrange some photos (10 USD) for us; otherwise, the locals would eat us...

GACAN LIBAAX

Today we did a rough off-road drive in a hired Toyota (200 USD) around the Gacan Libaax mountain range at 1,720 meters above sea level. The name “Gacan Libaax” translates to “The lion’s paw”. It is known for its unique juniper forests and ancient rock art...

SHEIKH MOUNTAINS

Later, we slowly drove on perfect tarmac through the Sheikh Mountains, a part of the Golis Mountains that form the rugged northern edge of the Somali plateau and run parallel to the Gulf of Aden. The mountains have a significant range in elevation, with the highest peak in Somaliland...