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Castle in Ethiopia

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Ethiopia weather, climate and geography

Weather & climate

Best time to visit: 

Sunshine is virtually guaranteed. There is a rainy season between the middle of June and the end of September, but for the rest of the year clear skies reign, with temperatures never generally rising above the late twenties. Only on the hot and humid lowland edges of western, eastern and southern Ethiopia do temperatures creep above 30°C.

Required clothing: 

The lightest possible clothing in lowland areas; medium- or lightweight in the hill country. Warm clothing may be needed at night to cope with the dramatic temperature change.

Geography

Ethiopia is situated in northeast Africa, bordered by Eritrea, Sudan, Kenya, Somalia and Djibouti. It is about twice the size of France. The central area is a vast highland region of volcanic rock forming a watered, temperate zone surrounded by hot, arid, inhospitable desert. The Great Rift Valley, which starts in Palestine, runs down the Red Sea and diagonally southwest through Ethiopia, Kenya and Malawi. The escarpments on either side of the country are steepest in the north where the terrain is very rugged. To the south, the landscape is generally flatter and more suited to agriculture.

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