Ethiopia

Eleven monolithic churches carved directly from living red volcanic rock in the 12th century, Lalibela is considered the Jerusalem of Africa and remains an active pilgrimage site for Ethiopian Orthodox Christians. During Easter and Timkat, thousands of white-robed pilgrims fill the stone courtyards in ceremonies that have continued for 800 years.

The hottest permanently inhabited place on earth, the Danakil sits 116 metres below sea level in the Afar Triangle where three tectonic plates are pulling apart. The lava lake of Erta Ale — one of only five permanent lava lakes in the world — glows red in the darkness while Dallol's sulphur springs create a landscape of neon yellow, green, and orange that has no parallel anywhere on earth.

A UNESCO World Heritage site of jagged escarpments, deep valleys, and Afro-alpine moorland rising to 4,500 metres, the Simien Mountains are home to the endemic gelada baboon — found nowhere else on earth — in herds of several hundred. The Ethiopian wolf, Africa's rarest carnivore, also patrols the high moorland here.

Home to sixteen tribal groups including the Mursi, Hamer, Karo, and Daasanach, the lower Omo Valley preserves a way of life that has remained largely unchanged for centuries. Bull-jumping initiation ceremonies, elaborate body painting, and elaborate lip plates form part of living traditions that have no equivalent anywhere else in the world.

The capital of the ancient Aksumite Empire that once rivalled Rome and Persia, Aksum is home to towering stone obelisks up to 1,700 years old, royal tomb complexes, and the Church of St Mary of Zion, where Ethiopians believe the original Ark of the Covenant is kept. The city was the first in sub-Saharan Africa to adopt Christianity, in 330 AD.

The fourth holiest city in Islam and Africa's oldest Islamic city, Harar's ancient walled old town contains 82 mosques and 102 shrines crammed into a maze of narrow alleys. Each night, the 'hyena men' of Harar feed wild spotted hyenas by hand just outside the city walls, continuing a 500-year tradition that began as a way to protect the town from the animals.