Gonder Things to Do

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Now, it is possible to go hiking for several days in the National Park.

However, if you want to see the mountains and the baboons without such a trek, you can do.

Find a guide and driver in the town (but see my warnings section).

They will take you up to 'The National Park. In reality, they take you up into the mountains for about 45 mins drive. This is mountains, but not the Nat Park despite what they tell you. They tell you this so they can charge the 'entry fee'.

They take you on a 2 hour walk along some pretty scary drops. In pouring rain, we finally got to see monkeys and baboons from a distance. The scenery was amazing and the trip was well worth it

The unique thing here was the local farmers. Working the land, they came over to follow our 2 hour trek.

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A few hundred metres away form the centre of town is a walled complex. This is the Royal Enclosure.

Entry is 100 Birr. They ask you to pay more for video camera, but once inside, nobody would know if you had one so don't pay extra.

You can pick up a guide at the gate, but we didn't bother.

Inside you will find several castles of varying size and condition. Watch your step as many drops exist with no safety rails or warnings.

The main castle is pretty impressive. you can go inside, but not onto the roof (or not the day we visited which was a shame).

With so many castles in England, you may not be too impressed with this complex. Still, I thought it was ok, but no more than a couple of hours worth at a push.

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Gonder was founded by Emperor Fasilides around the year 1635. Previously the Emperors of Ethiopia usually had no fixed capital. They lived in tents in temporary royal camps and moved around their lands nomadically. Fasilides commissioned the massive walls and watch towers. This fixed fortification protected the city which was the 2nd largest city in the world at his death. Inside you will find Palaces built by Fasilides, his son Yohannes I (1667-1682), grandson Iyasu I the Great (1682-1706) and another descendent Dawit III (1716-1721). Also there is a banqueting hall, baths, lion cages, stables auditorium, kitchen, wells and storage facilities. A very amazing place.

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Debre Berhan Selassie Church originally started as a stone church built in the 1690’s by Emperor Iyasu. It evolved into a heavily defended walled compound. Inside the church are some amazing murals on the walls and ceilings. The most predominate are the 104 winged Ethiopian Cherubs. It seems like there is a lot more than that, but they have been counted. The paintings also include depictions of Hell and the Prophet Mohammed on a camel led by the devil. Real fire and brimstone stuff.

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You may think that you are looking at a fortress with towers and impossibly thick defensive walls when you first arrive at this church. You are. The church is surrounded by 12 rounded towers complete with holes to shoot weapons from. These towers represent the 12 Apostles but were built for military purposes. The entrance, or 13th tower, is shaped like the Lion of Judea.

So why the need for all these defence? The Priest explained to me that there used to be over 100 such churches like this. Now there are only a dozen. Over the centuries Muslim raiders from Sudan has attacked and burned these brightly painted churches, so defences were necessary. Fortunately this jewel remains.

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3The entrance price for the Royal Enclosure includes a guide! Now that’s service. The guides are knowledgeable and helpful. They can explain the different building periods of the enclosure. You may want to just roam around by yourself and join another tour group here and there to give you some flexibility.

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You can do this in a couple of hours. You don't need a guide but for a couple of bucks why not.
As some Italian tourists in front of me found out..please don't climb around on things unless it is marked to do so.

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The original ‘Lion Houses’ were built inside the Royal Enclosure by Emperor Dawit (1721-1730). All the subsequent rulers of Ethiopia kept Abyssinian Lions inside the enclosure until 1991! Emperor Haile Selassie had the more modern cages built, pictured here. Even the communists government, the Derg, that overthrew him kept the lions on. When the Derg was forced to flee the city during a rebel onslaught they abandoned the lions to die. The successful rebels managed to save two of them, and sent them to a zoo in Addis Ababa.!