Gondar castle is improbable. It’s improbable in size, style and design, but mostly in location. After all, this is Ethiopia and if TIA is to be believed, we should be looking at desertscapes dotted with baobab trees, not a Camelot in the sun.

Gondar castle in the fortress city of Fasil Ghebbi indeed evokes legends of yore. This shouldn’t be such a surprise given the Great Mosque of Djenné and Africa’s other architectural wonders, but I find the evocation of medieval Europe astonishing, perhaps more so because as Ethiopians will tell you, theirs is one of only two African countries that were never colonised (the other being Liberia).