Sub-Saharan Africa

A true cradle of civilization and the only African nation never to be colonized, Ethiopia has fostered a long cultural and religious history. The country’s oldest city, Axum, was the seat of an empire that extended across the Red Sea to Arabia. Here, you can learn from scholarly guides about sites including obelisks, cathedrals, and ruins.

Further south, the town of Lalibela was a stronghold of Christianity that was cut off from the outside world for centuries. Walk among white-robed devotees through underground medieval churches, each of which was chiseled wholly from stone.

Travel to the Simien Mountains to stay in an architecturally designed lodge constructed from rammed earth, wood and thatch on the edge of a deep gorge. The property serves as a base for treks to observe the region’s varied fauna, including the gelada monkey, bearded vulture and horned walia ibex.

In the nation’s capital, Addis Ababa, you can visit national museums, taste true Ethiopian coffee, and experience the world’s most unique jazz scene.

Trek with porters and a ranger guide through a Jurassic forest of lobelia, bamboo and hagenia trees in the Volcanoes National Park for an up-close encounter with a family of gorillas.

Standing mere feet away, you’ll meet the gentle gaze of playful juveniles, mothers cradling their young, and austere silverback males—the largest primate on earth—experiencing the great humanity of these creatures who, until recently, faced extinction in the wake of rampant poaching, habitat loss and civil unrest.

After the trek, return to the Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge in the foothills of the jungle and stay in a terracotta-roofed cottage with balconies looking out to the peaks of surrounding volcanoes. The community-owned hotel helps drive social initiatives for nearby farmers and conservation efforts to protect the park and its gorillas.