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| No, it’s not the Grand Canyon — it’s the Simien Mountains. |
The first
time I learnt about Ethiopia was when I watched the video to We Are The World,
as images of starving African children with distended bellies flashed across the television screen. And
it seems that Ethiopia is still haunted by those powerful images of famine and
poverty. The country isn’t exactly on everyone’s must-visit vacation list. To
top it off, the costly cocktail of vaccinations I needed — it’s compulsory to
be vaccinated against yellow fever, and my doctor advised me to get the
meningococcal vaccine and malaria pills — didn’t help put my mind at ease. At
first.
As I later
found out, giving the country a miss would be a huge pity. Ethiopia is eager to
exorcise the ghosts of its past. It wants to show off its beautiful scenery, otherworldly architecture
and gracious people. All you need to do is be there.
