Epic Ethiopia

By Daphne Nikolopoulos

There are many fine places in the world to have breakfast. On the plains of the Masai Mara after a predawn hot air balloon ride. On a balcony of the Plaza Athenée overlooking the Eiffel Tower. On a riverboat crossing the Chao Praya as the sun rises over gilded Thai temples.

But nothing—I mean nothing—comes close to this. We are flying in a Eurocopter AStar through the Simien Mountains in remotest Ethiopia, in and out of windswept gorges that make the Grand Canyon look like a gully. The pilot, Ben Simpson, a Briton living in Kenya who bears an uncanny resemblance to Robert Redford in Out of Africa, points to an insanely narrow outcropping and says, “How’s everybody feeling?” Read more Palm Beach Illustrated