ETHIOPIA 2016

In early 2016 a month free of all responsibilities stretched out in front of us.  We snatched the opportunity and embarked on a much awaited trip to the horn of Africa, to a country so evading our earnest gaze that most people's knowledge of this corner of the world is the famine of the 1980s.  It is so much more and more than I could ever have imagined.  Join us on a journey around this mysterious land through our eight part film series.

EPISODE 1 - Of Mountains And Monkeys

The Simien mountains in Ethiopia have some of the most incredible views on the continent. Rising up to over 4000m high they are also one of the few places on the continent that experience snow. This is episode one of our journey across Ethiopia, discovering an incredibly diverse and constantly surprising country.

EPISODE 2 - war

African history sits in our educational knowledge as a backwater; glossed over with some wars, a few genocides and little famine. I class myself as well traveled and well read, however I was soon to learn that there is all of this and a lot more in Ethiopian recent history than I could have ever have thought of... and a lot of it happened in my lifetime.

EPISODE 3 - buna

Take a coffee break today in the Simien mountains visiting a family living in an extremely remote location with a sad story to tell. Episode 3 of our Ethiopian travels.

EPISODE 4 - erta ale

In the far north eastern corner of Ethiopia in the hottest place on Earth lies Erta Ale, a mountain with an astonishing secret. Erta Ale remains the most incredible spectacle I have ever seen.

EPISODE 5 - the hottest place on earth

The Danakil desert in North Eastern Ethiopia is one of the hottest places on Earth.

EPISODE 6 - salt

In the hottest place on Earth the Afar people toil throughout the scorching day to harvest thousands of kilograms of 'White Gold'.

The Afar have evolved specially to be able to withstand and work in this hot, arid landscape with little or no water.

EPISODE 7 - of music and angels

Lalibela, Ethiopia's Jerusalem, a holder of faith unchanged for a thousand years. Episode 7 takes us into the realms of the rock hewn churches at the centre of Ethiopia's Christian faith, but first of all starts with a music video at the honey stall...

EPISODE 8 - in search of wildlife

For the last part of our journey we headed to southern Ethiopia famed, at least in Ethiopia, for it's wildlife. What we found though was the immense pressure that livestock agriculture was having on the environment.

But that didn't stop us from having the most unique safari experience ever.