After our visit in Bahir Dar, we spent a few days in Gondar, known as the “Camelot of Africa” because of its medieval castles and churches. In 1636 Emperor Fasilides declared Gondar the capital of Ethiopia. Over the next 250 years the small town developed into an imperial city and the country’s center for politics, culture, and religion. 

Zewdu, our guide, showed us the most impressive parts of Gondar’s Fasil Ghebbi, the 70,000 square-meter compound of castles, palaces, and other miscellaneous royal buildings built between the 15th and 20th centuries. Many of the structures combined architectural elements of Baroque, Moorish, and Axumite styles. And some included decorative Ethiopian details of monkey-head gargoyles and friezes with local flora and fauna. Builders added strength to the structures by mixing lime mortar with animal hair. 

Emperor Fasilides built his impressive bath complex a short distance from Fasil Ghebbi. The pool, fed by a nearby river, provided leisure for royals and their guests, plus continues to be a site for religious ceremonies. The Epiphany Celebration, which celebrates Christ’s baptism and is part of the annual Timkat Festival, occurs here each January. 

In the 17th century Emperor Iyasu I commissioned the construction of the Debre Birhan Selassi Church. The name translates as Trinity and Mountain of Light. Gondarine artists, using the Ethiopian Orthodox style, covered the interior walls with detailed, colorful murals. The paintings display biblical scenes, saints and historical events. About 135 angel faces adorn the church ceiling, with each visage displaying a unique expression. It’s unclear who nicknamed the church “Heaven of Ethiopia” because of its angelic ceiling. 

Mese drove us and our guide Zewdu to Simien Mountains National Park, about two hours from Gondar and one of our favorite destinations during our time in Ethiopia. The law requires park visitors to have both a guide and an armed scout, so Ager joined us just before entering. The park’s most famous mountain, Ras Dashen, stands at 4500 meters tall, making it the highest mountain in Ethiopia and the 5th tallest in all of Africa. This national park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979, is one of the few places on the continent with regular snowfall. We were the only guests at Simien Lodge and the chef prepared a wonderful dinner, served by the large, round fireplace.

Scenery of Simien Mountains National Park

We hiked to Jin Bahir Falls to see the cascade and the somewhat rare lammergeier, also known as the bearded vulture. The unique diet of this large bird of prey consists of 70 to 90% bone. The lammergeiers flew through the high-walled canyon multiple times during our birdwatching stop. 

The highlight of our SMNP visit was watching the gelada baboons, the only grass-eating primate and found nowhere else in the world. Nicknamed the bleeding-heart baboons because of the red patch on their chests, these creatures often live at elevations above 2,000 meters.  We saw them grazing on the high-altitude grasslands, which is not surprising since more than 90% of their diet consists of grass blades and seeds. Over 30 minutes they moved closer and closer,  eventually eating their way past us within one meter. They seemed unperturbed by our presence. 

Other wildlife in the national park