Dubbed the ‘Roof of Africa,’ Ethiopia has the highest total portion of landmass on the continent, and with mountains reaching 4,620 meters, the Simiens are the pinnacle of Ethiopia’s peaks and it makes you breathless by its magnificent landscapes. The Simen Mountains National Park is a world full of dramatic scenery and color where massive erosion over millions of years has created jagged mountain peaks, deep valleys and sharp precipices dropping some 1,500 m. The sharp cliffs and canyons meander through the ground like a jagged scar on the landscape and one can find stunning panoramas that can stretch the views over the valleys to up top 100 kilometers. Hiking around the park is quite incredible just for these moments and if you get to see the endemic species too. The park is inscribed as a Natural World Heritage Site in 1979, whereupon UNESCO lauded it as “one of the world’s most spectacular landscapes, with jagged mountain peaks deep valleys and sharp precipices dropping some 1,500m”. In addition to the splendid scenery and hiking opportunities, the Afro-montane meadows and moorlands of the upper Simiens also form one of Ethiopia’s most important biodiversity hotspots, populated by an alluring wealth of endemic plants and animals including Walia Ibex, Gelada Baboon and Ethiopian Wolf. ‘Ras Dashen’ the highest point in Ethiopia, with 4,620m, is found here.