Ethiopia wildlife & walking holiday
| country: | Ethiopia |
| trip type: | Moderate walking holidays |
| departures: | 2009: 13 Feb, 5 Dec |
| price: | From £1495 (10 days) excluding flights. Price includes twin share full board accommodation, transport, mineral water, and entrance fees. Single supplement £250. We can arrange flights from the UK. |
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the amazing things you'll be doing
The Simien Mountains of northern Ethiopia are quite simply among the most impressive sites the continent has to offer. Formed millions of years ago by river systems cutting through the sandstone rock, they are bounded on the north and east by a massive escarpment, in places over 1000 metres high, from which the views stretch endlessly over the vast plains towards Eritrea. At their foot are the remnants of ancient hills, now eroded into hundreds of pinnacles and buttresses.
Wildlife in the park is impressive, as are the villagers that live here. And because most of the walk is along the relatively flat escarpment, the trek – though thoroughly impressive – is not that hard. Add to this the cultural sites of Addis Ababa, Gonder and Lalibela (which makes 3 UNESCO World Heritage sites in a week) and this trip is perfect for anyone with a passion for walking, culture but are a little short on time.
Wildlife in the park is impressive, as are the villagers that live here. And because most of the walk is along the relatively flat escarpment, the trek – though thoroughly impressive – is not that hard. Add to this the cultural sites of Addis Ababa, Gonder and Lalibela (which makes 3 UNESCO World Heritage sites in a week) and this trip is perfect for anyone with a passion for walking, culture but are a little short on time.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | UK - Addis Ababa: Depart the UK |
| Day 2: | Addis Ababa: Arrive Addis Ababa and transfer to the Ghion Hotel. After rest we will have lunch in town before visiting the National Museum, where Lucy – the 3.5 million year old humanoid – is found along with many other curious artefacts followed by the Trinity Cathedral and the Mercado, the biggest open-air market in Africa. We’ll have an early dinner at an excellent local restaurant tasting traditional food and atmosphere. |
| Day 3: | Addis - Gondar: Fly to Gondar, check into Goha Hotel. After lunch visit the castle compound (UNESCO WHS), the Debre Birhan Selassie church (Light of Trinity) with wonderful murals and King Fasilidas Bath. Dinner is in the traditional Abyssinian Café beside the Gondar castle complex. |
| Day 4: | Gondar – Simien Mountains Camp: Drive to the Simien Mountains, via Falasha Village. Stop for picnic lunch on escarpment, admiring wonderful views of the highest chain in Africa where we should also see Lammergeyer vultures, Gelada Baboons and bushbuck. Overnight camp at Sankaber. |
| Day 5: | Simien National Park: Trek through the high Simiens to Geech Camp passing through Amhara villages, stopping to admire their way of life. Hopefully on the way we will see the Walya Ibex and the Gelada Baboons. Mules will carry our entire luggage – and those too tired to walk! – and our handlers will set up our tents and cook for us. |
| Day 6: | Simien National Park: Trek from Geech Camp to Chenek Camp along the edge of the escarpment. Camp at Chenek. |
| Day 7: | Simien Mountains – Maquet Maryam: Breakfast then drive to Maquet Maryam. This is a wonderful community based camp set up by Mark, our guide, and used by – among others Mr Brad Pitt. After an hour walk up to the camp there will be in plenty of time for a sundown drink, as the sun slips over the distant Mount Guna. The evening will bring a hot meal and a chance to talk to the local inhabitants. Accommodation will be in tukuls, the beautiful thatched roofs huts. |
| Day 8: | Maquet Maryam – Lalibela: After a hearty breakfast of fresh bread, honey and either tea or coffee, we will drive to Lalibela and check into Roha Hotel. Visit the first cluster of the amazing rock-hewn churches – another UNESCO World Heritage Site – that will simply stagger you. Lunch at hotel. PM We will visit a local family for a traditional coffee ceremony where you will be able to see how a real Ethiopian family live. Evening trip to a tej house to sample the local liquor, followed by dinner at a traditional restaurant. |
| Day 9: | Lalibela – Addis Ababa: Morning visit the second cluster of churches including the famous church of St. George, which is carved like a cross out of the red balsit rock. After early lunch, visit the cave church of Naktuleab on the way to the airport. 14.30 fly back to Addis and check into the Ghion Hotel. Dinner offered by our hosts at a traditional restaurant with folk dancing and singing of the different Ethiopian regions. |
| Day 10: | Addis Ababa - UK: After breakfast transfer to the airport for departure. |
travellers' tales
Ethiopia is a beautiful country and confounds every expectation. Having Live Aid so firmly etched in my mind, I went expecting to see abject poverty and desert but instead found myself overwhelmed by the majestic landscapes and besotted with the independence and pride of the Ethiopians. (more)
what this trip includes
Trips are on full board basis, and include international flights if mentioned in the price details, transport as outlined in itinerary, twin-share accommodation, mineral water and entrance fees. how this holiday makes a difference
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Life for the majority of Ethiopia’s 73 million people is harsh, even by the standards of Africa’s poorest nations. The average Ethiopian person earns less than $100 per year and will not live beyond 44 years of age. North Wollo is amongst the poorest areas of the country, depending largely on rain fed subsistence agriculture.
Our guide Mark established TESFA - a local charity organisation that was set up in 2003 with the specific aim of developing community-based tourism in Ethiopia WITH communities. By putting communities in charge of their own tourism resources, payment goes directly into the communities - 60% for the communities, 25% to a local guides service (that also transmits bookings to the communities), and 15% to cover administrative costs. After the communities have paid their staffing costs and for the consumables (food, toiletpaper, soap etc) the remainder is split between profit and a fund to allow for reinvestment and depreciation. The profit is then put into a community fund for the whole community to decide how it should be spent, such as the purchase of a community grain grinding mill. Our Ethiopia trips also fund A-Cet (African Childrens Education Trust) a small independent charity helping young Africans to achieve their maximum potential through education. A-Cet supports 1.000 youths with scholarships, 2 rural primary schools and 2 computer training centres.  When you take one of our trips, we make a contribution to “Climate Care” – an organisation devoted to ‘offsetting’ or ‘neutralising’ harmful greenhouse gas emissions caused by your flight. This is done by funding projects across the world that will reduce greenhouse gases on your behalf through sustainable energy or rainforest restoration.We also support several other NGOs around the world such as the Hope Foundation, Tibetan schools trust and Adopt-A-Minefield, which are all carefully selected to improve the standard of living for the communities we visit. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |