It was very special this year as Ethiopian Pilgrims celebrated Gena -Ethiopian Christmas- in Lalibela, a town which was taken by the TPF several times in recent months. Lalibela is the most holy place to celebrate Gena in all of Ethiopia, the new Jerusalem, built by the Saint King Lalibela at the end of the 12th century as an alternative for Ethiopians from making the dangerous journey to Jerusalem for Christmas. Each year thousands of pilgrims walk across country to celebrate Gena in a special ceremony above the churches
Lalibela, with its labyrinth of churches hewn out of the bedrock in the 12th century, has become the flagship of Ethiopian Tourism, and is often described as the 8th wonder of the world.
We hope that this celebration at the beginning of 2022 will be the beginning of Tourism restarting in Ethiopia. Near to Lalibela, in the mountains a little to the south are a series of community owned guest houses were tourists have been trekking in the beautiful countryside for the last 10 years or more. I will be able to find out in the coming days when we can restart this community trekking.