Africa

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

CHANIA & THIKA FALLS

On our way to Aberdare NP, after a one-and-a-half-hour drive from Nairobi, we made a lunch stop at the Blue Post Hotel, just off the A2 near Thika. Hotel was built in 1908 by Captain Ward and originally served as a post office for farmers. It has a long colonial history, is famously...

AKSUM (ኣኽሱም)

The history of Aksum centres on a powerful kingdom in modern-day Ethiopia and Eritrea that flourished from approximately the 1st to the 8th centuries AD. Aksum was a central commercial hub controlling trade routes connecting the Roman Empire, India, and the Red Sea, and its port of Adulis...

TEMPLE OF YEHA

We took a branch road to reach an ancient pre-Aksumite temple dedicated to the South Arabian moon god Almaqah. The temple dates to around the 7th century BC and is known for its remarkably well-preserved, mortise-and-tenon construction using dressed stone blocks without mortar. The temple...

ROAD TO AKSUM

Early in the morning, we drove from Hawzen towards Aksum, mostly on tarmac, with a few photo stops and a visit to the Temple of the Moon in Yeha. The road is marked by dramatic, breathtaking scenery of rugged mountains, deep valleys, and expansive green landscapes, contrasted by the...

MARYAM PAPASETTI

After challenging climbing in the morning, we visited the Maryam Papasetti Church in a valley south of Hawzen, in a serene spot below the cliff, surrounded by greenery. It is a semi-monolithic church (meaning the “Holy of Holies” is hewn from the rock, while the main sanctuary...

ABUNE YEMATA GUH

Abune Yemata Guh is a 5th-century rock-hewn church in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, famous for its perilous, steep climb up a cliff face and its well-preserved 5th-century frescoes and murals. These paintings depict religious scenes, saints, and biblical imagery, with colours that...