There’s a region in Ethiopia called Guassa, which means ‘grass’ in the Amharic language. There are many reasons that it is worth visiting and I’d like to tell you a few.
At the end of last year, my family, friends and I spent some time in this beautiful place. Our trip was challenging but exciting. It took five hours to get there by car from our home in Addis Ababa and the last part of our trip was the most scenic. It was getting dark and the sky was so full of stars it felt like we were in outer space. In the morning, I woke up early and the fields were covered with frost. It didn’t look like Ethiopia at all.
Hiking in Guassa is awesome. It’s over 3000m above sea level, and it feels as if you’re walking above the clouds. The altitude makes the air cold but it means that mosquitoes won’t bother you. Breathing becomes difficult, which is why Ethiopians are the world’s best long-distance runners as they are used to training with so little oxygen.