MOTORCYCLE TRAVEL IN Ethiopia

Riding the Simien Mountains by motorcycle means covering Ethiopia's first UNESCO World Heritage Site, declared in 1978, and one of the most photographed landscapes in East Africa.

The gravel track leaves Debark, climbs the northern escarpment through more than 1,500 meters of elevation gain and crosses colonies of gelada monkeys -the only primates in the world that feed almost exclusively on grass- before reaching the Chennek viewpoint, with direct views of basalt cliffs formed by volcanic eruptions roughly 30 million years ago.

Further on, the gravel track continues to Bwahit Pass, at 4,430 meters: the highest point reachable by motorcycle in the entire park, a short trek away from Ras Dashen (4,550 masl), the roof of Ethiopia and Africa's fourth-highest peak.

Descending the Blue Nile Gorge by motorcycle means riding one of the deepest canyons in Africa, with more than 1,500 meters of elevation change between the highland rim and the river, as measured along the very A3 road that crosses it.

The road drops in tight switchbacks carved into granite, with pavement cracked and rippled by constant truck traffic: several riders who documented the crossing describe the descent as a permanent construction zone, with loose gravel right on the tightest curves.

The route is part of the A3, the road Ethiopia significantly upgraded between 1936 and 1940 during the Italian occupation, and that today connects Addis Ababa with Bahir Dar and Gondar: the historic corridor most motorcycle travelers follow heading north.

Crossing the Danakil Depression by motorcycle means riding through one of the lowest, hottest points on the planet, more than 100 meters below sea level, over the exact spot where the Nubian and Danakil tectonic plates have been pulling apart for roughly 11 million years.

The final destination is Erta Ale, an active 613-meter volcano holding one of only six permanent lava lakes on Earth. At night, the crater glows orange over the black desert, visible from base camp.

This is the only route in this entire Top 10 that requires traveling in a convoy with a mandatory armed escort: in January 2012, an armed attack near Erta Ale killed five foreign tourists, and since then the Ethiopian government has not allowed access without an authorized guide and escort.

Riding the Sanetti Plateau by motorcycle means climbing the highest paved, rideable road in all of Africa, up to Tullu Dimtu, one of Ethiopia's highest peaks, at 4,377 meters above sea level.

Up there, the landscape changes completely: treeless Afro-alpine grasslands, with below-freezing temperatures almost every night of the year.

This plateau protects the world's largest population of Ethiopian wolf (*Canis simensis*), the most endangered canid on the planet. It's common to cross paths with packs hunting rodents in the fog, just feet from the pavement.

Climbing to Lalibela by motorcycle on the last dirt stretch of the northern corridor is the direct approach to one of the most venerated sites in Orthodox Christianity: eleven churches carved out of a single block of solid volcanic rock, commissioned by King Lalibela in the late 12th century to build a new Jerusalem on Ethiopian soil.

The road climbs the escarpment above 2,500 meters of altitude through tight dirt switchbacks, while the rest of the Addis Ababa–Lalibela corridor is now almost entirely paved.

According to travelers who have documented the northern corridor, this stretch is the last unpaved section between the main historic cities of northern Ethiopia, which, paradoxically, makes it one of the most sought-after by motorcycle travelers looking for real dirt before it gets paved over too.

Riding through the Omo Valley by motorcycle means entering one of the most ethnically diverse regions on the planet: 16 distinct indigenous groups -Hamer, Karo, Mursi, Arbore, Dorze- who have kept ways of life largely unchanged, because Ethiopia is the only African country never colonized.

The route leaves Konso, a World Heritage Site known for centuries-old stone agricultural terraces, and drops into the Omo river valley on gravel tracks down to Turmi, the base town for visiting the Hamer.

Every village requires hiring a local guide before entering. It's not just tourist protocol: it's the actual condition for being allowed to photograph or even walk among the houses.

Riding the Gheralta Mountains by motorcycle brings you close to one of the largest concentrations of stone-carved churches in the entire Tigray region, gathered in this red sandstone massif, near the town of Hawzien.

The most famous, Abuna Yemata Guh, is carved into the top of a vertical sandstone pinnacle and can only be reached by climbing barefoot along a bare rock ledge with no ropes or harnesses, with drops of over 200 meters on either side.

The motorcycle road connects Mekele to the base of each church over dirt tracks between rock formations tens of millions of years old, through one of the least visited -and most authentic- corners of the northern historical circuit.

Riding the Great Rift Valley by motorcycle south from Addis Ababa means following the geological fault that runs through Ethiopia from north to south and that, according to the most accepted theory, will eventually split the African continent in two, millions of years from now.

The highway skirts a chain of volcanic lakes -Ziway, Langano, Awasa, Abaya- each with its own color and wildlife, down to Arba Minch, the gateway to Nech Sar National Park, where hippos and Nile crocodiles share Lake Chamo.

This is the connecting route most motorcycle travelers use to head south from the capital toward the Omo Valley, which also makes it one of the most traveled and best documented in the country.

Crossing the China Road by motorcycle -the name Ethiopians themselves gave the B22 because of the Chinese engineering firms that built it- means riding 294 km of highlands up to 3,551 meters, between Weldiya and the Lake Tana basin.

The original pavement cracked and disappeared in several stretches, leaving gravel, loose volcanic dust and sand that washes out with every rainy season. Naturally aspirated engines lose up to 35% of their power at the route's highest point, according to those who have documented the crossing.

It's the route that connects northern trucking logistics with the Lake Tana basin, and for the motorcycle traveler it works as a technical shortcut between the historical corridor and the Simien highlands.

Crossing Wolkefit Pass by motorcycle, at 2,905 meters, means riding the historical corridor that connects Gondar -the former imperial capital, with its 17th-century castles- with Axum, the city where, according to Ethiopian Orthodox tradition, the Ark of the Covenant rests.

The road climbs in tight switchbacks carved into the mountain, with open views over the valleys of northern Amhara, before descending toward the Tigray plateau.

It's the route most northern Ethiopia historical circuits follow -the one connecting Gondar, Axum and Lalibela- which also makes it one of the most traveled and best signposted stretches in the country.