Physical geography Ethiopia is on the Horn of Africa and borders Eritrea, Dijbouti, Somalia, Somaliland, Kenya and Sudan. Now I'd seen Ethiopia on the TV and so was expecting hot desert, so I was quite surprised to feel cold. The climate of Ethiopia varies, you see, depending on where you are in the country. In the centre there's highlands over 2,000m and it can get pretty nippy up there I can tell you. Some peaks even reach over 4,000m! Down the middle of Ethiopia you get this huge crack called the Rift Valley, and at the bottom of this it gets quite hot. There are some deserts but these are found at the edges of the country at the bottom of the mountains. Did you know that about 90% of the water in the river Nile in Egypt came from Ethiopia? I considered getting a boat until someone told me about the rapids. I met an old man who told me he could remember "when all this was forests." Looking around at all the dry land and serious lack of trees I found it hard to believe him so I did some checking. Apparently at the start of the 20th century 40% of the highlands were forested, but it's only 4% today. Most of these trees have gone up in flames to help people cook and keep warm.