Addis Ababa is a booming, cosmopolitan city in the heart of a poor, rural country, writes Ellie O’Byrne for IE.

In the Bole area of Addis Ababa, gorgeous young women take selfies at a trendy juice bar on their iPads.

By Phil Marty | Chicago Tribune

Intrepid travelers tired of the same old, same old can cross an off-the-radar destination off their list with the Isolated Tribes of Ethiopia trip from Adventure Life. The trip focuses on the Omo Valley, which is in the southwestern part of the landlocked country in the Horn of Africa.

By Don Mankin

The chanting of the two boys sitting under the tree reminded me of my Bar Mitzvah class over 60 years ago. The language was different - Amharic, not Hebrew - as was the religion - Ethiopian Orthodox, not Jewish - and the boys bore little resemblance to the pudgy, pasty pre-adolescent friends of my youth, but the sounds were eerily similar.

By Damien Enright

There are 862 bird species in Ethiopia: we have approx 300 in Ireland and Britain. I’ve seen about 30 of them, but will see more when I go to Lake Tana in the mountains but will steer clear of bad-humoured hippos, the most dangerous animals in Africa.

By Damien Enright

As I write outdoors in this extensive hotel garden (€30 double b&b) my companions are two Colobus monkeys perched on a tree 30ft above me and a dozen yards away. They are big monkeys, and have vivid black and white coats which flow behind them as they swing from tree to tree.