环球之旅:神秘的石头城——埃塞俄比亚

Much of the fascination of Ethiopia lies in its myriad historical sites, the obelisks and stele of Axum, the churches and coptic monasteries in the Tigre, in the Lake Tana isles and in the Lalibela: the African Jerusalem with its monolithic churches. In Ethiopia there are also nine national parks, two of which include the mountain groups of the Simien and the Bale, while the others lie in the Rift Valley towards Kenya. The unforeseeable wild landscapes are surely the main attraction of these parks, where many of the animal species are protected, and some of them are endemic to the area. The proximity of Ethiopia to the Equator and the variety of its habitats make it one of the richest countries in Africa in wild bird life.

埃塞俄比亚这个国家最让人神往的便是它无数的历史古迹，方尖石塔，阿克苏姆（Axum）石碑，教堂，塔纳湖岛Tigre的科普特人修道院，以及拉利贝拉（Lalibela）的非洲耶路撒冷的岩石教堂。在埃塞俄比亚还有9个国家公园，其中两座公园包括塞米恩山（Simien）和贝尔山（Bale）山群，其他的则坐落在东非大裂谷接近肯尼亚。一望无际的土地就是这些公园吸引游客的地方，这里有很多被保护的动物物种，其中有些动物是这个地区特有的。埃塞俄比亚靠近赤道，它栖息地的各种各样使得这个国家成为南非野生鸟类最多的国家之一。

History and nature are not the only attractions of this surprising country. It is a unique experience to come into contact with its people, so deeply rooted in their traditional culture, to participate in religious rites in one of the many Coptic churches, to meet native populations like the Hamer, the Mursi, the Caro and the many others whose lifestyle is hard to imagine today, so far is it from our modern life.

当然，历史和文化还不是这个地方最引人注意的唯一事物，还有这里人们根深蒂固的独特的传统文化。这里科普特教会的宗教信仰，这里本地的人群，Hamer, Mursi, Caro以及其他一些，他们的生活方式是我们所无法想象的，离现代生活太遥远了。