Ethiopia - Prepare

Bring sunblock and a sweater for the high altitudes, sensible lightweight cotton clothes for the summer, and a readiness to be dazzled by Ethiopia's riches of civilisation.

Walk from church to church on Christmas Day in January, and two weeks later, catch the colourful processions during three days of Timket or Coptic Epiphany. Enjoy country-wide dancing and singing at Enkutatash or Ethiopian New Year, which celebrates the return of the Queen of Sheba (Sep). See in the New Year with bonfires and parties at Finding of the True Cross in September, marking the discovery of the cross on which Jesus was said to be crucified.

Ethiopian Christmas (7 Jan), Epiphany (19 Jan), Battle of Adowa (2 Mar), Prophet's Anniversary (Mar/Apr), Easter Friday (Mar/Apr), Labour Day (1 May), National Day (28 May), Ethiopian New Year (Sept), Finding of the True Cross (Sept), Eid al-Fitr, Muslim Festival of the Breaking of the Fast (Oct).

There are two basic seasons: dry (Oct-May) and rainy but mostly sunny (Jun-Sep). Climate varies greatly depending on altitude. The hilly and mountainous regions enjoy pleasant temperatures all year (max. 30°C), which plummet at night, while the lowlands to the east are dry and hot.

220V AC, 50Hz, three-pin round plugs are standard.

+251 (national).

Ethiopian birr (ETB) is the currency.

+ 3.

Ethiopia Tourism website

Much of Ethiopia is safe in the day-time, but stay put after dark and avoid the border areas with Eritrea, Somalia and Sudan. For an urban top-up after the wilderness, browse international newspapers at Addis Ababa's Tomoca café in the Piazza to the aroma of roasted Ethiopian coffee. After all, this is the land where coffee beans were first discovered by a goatherd 1,000 years ago before they flooded the rest of the world.