ancestors. In 1974, the 3.8 million year old remains of the ancestral Australopithecus Afarensis were found in the Afar( Hadar )area of Ethiopia, and nicknamed “Lusy”. This is only one of the many major scientific discoveries in the area: 20 years later, in 1994, scientists dug up the fossilized remains of a chimpanzee-sized ape from 4.4 million at a site 75 kilometers (45 miles) south of where “Lusy” was found.

The discovery chalked yet another first for the country which gave the world coffee, pioneered growing teff, and the “false banana” enset. It was also the first place in Africa to make Christianity a stat religion.

Religion has always been a major influence in Ethiopia. Certainly no country in sub-Sahara Africa can trace its origins as far back. Ethiopia is mentioned thirty-three times in the Bible and many times in the Qur’an. Perhaps this is the reason why so many visitors retrace the “historic route”, drawn by colorful stories and fantastic tales to the land once known as Abyssinia.