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IF YOU GO

Bale Park Lodge prices start at US$190 per person single, including all meals, local beverages including wine and beer, and at least one daily guided activity.

Other upcountry lodges and hotels, $30-$60 per person single, including breakfast. Ethiopian Impressions, Toyota Land Cruiser with driver/ guide Tesfaye Gebreselassie, $150/day

MOVING BEYOND THE LEGACY OF FAMINE

Ethiopians are intensely proud of their status as a nation that was never colonized. And the country is working hard to shed its reputation from the 1970s and 1980s when widespread starvation was broadcast around the world. While the droughtinduced famines are undeniable, a visit to the sombre but compelling Red Terror Martyrs’ Memorial Museum in Addis Ababa reveals that the horrific death tolls were partly the result of political machinations.

The 1973 famine was largely ignored by Emperor Haile Selassie because the drought was mainly in areas that were revolting against his rule. When a BBC documentary aired footage of starving Ethiopians juxtaposed with images of Selassie feeding his pet lions and dogs large steaks, the die was cast. Selassie was overthrown by the military the following year. Our guide at the museum supported the emperor’s overthrow. But he notes that “the revolution quickly ate its own.” After executing dozens of high-ranking officials of the previous government, a brutal power struggle took place within the pro-Soviet junta. Soon, Mengistu Haile Mariam emerged as the leader. A “Red Terror” ensued in which at least 50,000 Ethiopians were slaughtered, according to Amnesty International. Other reports suggest the toll was exponentially higher.

Our guide’s voice quivers as he describes the tortures, the targeting of children at anti-government demonstrations by sharpshooters, their parents not allowed to collect their bodies for days, and then charged for the bullet that killed them. It’s now widely acknowledged that when drought hit Ethiopia again in 1985, Mengistu ordered that anti-government areas would receive no aid. One million starved. When the Soviet Union imploded in the early 1990s, so did Mengistu’s rule and he fled to Zimbabwe where he still lives.