The Historic Ivory Coast
CHRISTINE HICKSUSTA Travel
Africa is a tough sell. It's a destination that intertwines traveler's trepidation with fascination. It's called the "dark continent," an arcane label for a place so varied. I had occasion to visit one small corner of the continent. It is a place of trepidation, to be sure. Its "secrets" make worthy research, though. It's not as far-fetched a destination as you might think.

My first reaction to Africa mimics the, er, primitive grade-school education we boomers received. Africa was far, big, full of countries that changed governments and names as quickly as we changed grades. In my mind, it was a tangle of outsized weeds, trampled by animals much larger than anything in my back yard. The natives wore feathery headdresses and little else. They lived in arid villages (away from the weedy tangle, evidently - the child's mind doesn't always tidy up such loose ends), and hunted with spears and persistence. They spoke a language consisting of clicks, and their songs were performed by tongues wagging a spirited chant that held no bearing for me. It was all just too foreign. It scared me.

So, what was I thinking when I went off to the Ivory Coast? Honestly, I wasn't thinking. Perhaps that's the blessed insanity, for an awakening took place on so many levels. The darkness of this continent parted, revealing to me the wonder of differences. And in that, I began to trace similarities. As strange as Africa was - and is - it's filled with people an awful lot like you and me.

I have recently run across articles in the New York Times and Travel + Leisure magazine detailing new initiatives by Ethiopia to entice travelers to their currently relatively quiet nation. Tour operators are escorting travelers through Ethiopia's most popular destinations. That may sound like an oxymoron, but it's time to open our brains to some truly spectacular places largely overlooked.

Places like Lalibela, Ethiopia...listed as one of the greatest historic sites in the world, I confess I had not heard of it until two weeks ago. The wonder of the buildings at Lalibela is testament to earnest third century Christian influence that extended into the region from the north. The churches at Lalibela are hewn from rock. There are 11 of them, their roofs at ground level. Worshipers and tourists alike make their way here to see what legend says was built with the help of angels. Ethiopia is home to "Lucy," the original visitor, at 3.5 million years old. Askum, littered with palaces, underground tombs and massive stelae, was the site of a large, wealthy civilization that traded with Egypt. Most of the Nile's waters originate here. The Queen of Sheba frequented these parts. It was ancient Abyssinia, after all. And Gonder city's ghosts loiter in castle battlements, awaiting visitors like you and me.

With historic pedigrees such as these, this nation - and those others that inhabit the confines of the Africa continent deserves some regard. It's way more than safaris and tent camps. And it's a lot less scary than I could ever have imagined.

(Christine Hicks-Usta has enjoyed more than 30 years of globetrotting as a member of the travel industry in various capacities. Direct questions to her at Bee Group Newspapers, P.O. Box 150, Buffalo, N.Y. 14231-0150.)