Tailor made holidays to Ethiopia
| country: | Ethiopia |
| departures: | This trip can depart anytime between October and March and adapted to suit your requirements |
| price: | From £2650 (15 days) excluding international flights |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
the amazing things you'll be doing
Planning a honeymoon with a little added spice? Want to take the family on a journey of a lifetime? Or simply prefer to travel on your own, with a partner or a few close friends? Whatever the reason, Ethiopia is an exciting destination for the adventurous traveller. Home to the Ark of the Covenant, the spectacular Simien Mountains, the mind-blowing cave churches of Lalibela, the impressive castles of Gondar, the source of the Blue Nile and the tumultuous Blue Nile falls, Ethiopia is a land of constant surprises. The best time to go on this itinerary is October to March – avoiding the rains.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | Addis Ababa. Arrive Addis Ababa where you will be met and transferred to the Hilton Hotel. Today you can visit the National Museum, where Lucy – the 3.5 million year old humanoid – is found along with many other curious artefacts. After lunch in town you might like to visit the Trinity Cathedral and the Mercado, the biggest open-air market in Africa. You can then have an early dinner at an excellent local restaurant – the Habesha (ask your guide to book this) tasting traditional food and atmosphere. Accommodation - Hilton Hotel. |
| Day 2: | Addis Ababa – Bahir Dar. Up early for flight from Addis, fly to Bahir Dar, where you will check into your hotel. After a rest you will be able to visit the local market, take lunch, and then visit the famous Blue Nile Falls about 45 mins away. Here you can take a stroll down to the bottom of the falls and enjoy the scenery. Since a hydroelectric station was constructed near by, taking most of the water away, the falls are not as spectacular as they were, but it is still an impressive site, and well worth the trip. Dinner at hotel. Accommodation – Lake Tana Hotel |
| Day 3: | Bahir Dar – Gorgora. All day boat ride on Lake Tana from Bahir Dar to Gorgora. Travelling by chartered launch – nothing too fancy but great fun – you shall take a picnic lunch and visit a number of monasteries and churches along the way, including Ura Kidane Mehret, Mahal zeghie Gyiorgis, Asua Mariam and Narga Selassie or Kibran Gebriel. At around 1700 you will arrive on the far side of the lake and check into our hotel in Gorgora. Dinner at Gorgora Hotel. |
| Day 4: | Gorgora – Gondar. After breakfast and a look around the castle at Gorgora you will drive to Gondar, check into your hotel and visit the Debre Birhan Selassie church (Light of Trinity) with wonderful murals. After lunch you will visit Qusquam church, Mentuwab’s palace and the castle compound (UNESCO WHS) and then take dinner at the Abyssinian Café. After dinner we will visit one of the live singing bars for a beer or two. Accommodation: Goha Hotel. |
| Day 5: | Gonder – Simien National Park. Drive to the Simien Mountains, via Falasha Village. You can stop for a picnic lunch on the escarpment (please ask your guide to arrange this with the hotel). After this you will check into the Simien Eco Lodge, from where more local walks will be available. Accommodation – Simien Eco Lodge. |
| Day 6: | Simien National Park. This wonderful lodge, luxury by Ethiopian standards, which is very much involved in community care projects, will be the perfect place to stay, from where you can walk around the Simien Mountains, along the escarpment, admiring the wonderful views of the highest mountain chain in Africa. Here you should also see Lammergeyer vultures, Gelada Baboons and bushbuck. Accommodation – Simien Mountain Lodge. |
| Day 7: | Simien National Park - Axum. After breakfast you will be driven to Axum, where you will check into your hotel. This is a beautiful drive that will take most of the day. You will have a picnic lunch along the way. Relax on the terrace with a view of the famous stellae field. Dinner in hotel. Accommodation - Yeha Hotel. |
| Day 8: | Axum. Morning sight-seeing in Axum, a town steeped in more than 2500 years of history. From the palace and tomb of King Kaleb (6th C, AD), we will visit the extraordinary stellae field (WHS) and tomb of King Remhay (1st to 4th C, AD), followed by a trip to the church of St Mary of Tsion, (17th C, AD) in which is deposited the Ark of Covenant. Lunch back at hotel. We will then drive a few kilometres out of town and walk up to see the rock carved lion and the place from where the stellae were hewn – some still lie there, half finished. From here we shall visit the palace of the Queen of Sheba and a few more archaeological sights. You can then end the day’s wanderings at the small but excellent museum. Accommodation - Yeha Hotel. |
| Day 9: | Axum – Tigray. After breakfast we will drive to the wonderful Gheralta Lodge, stopping en route at the Yeha temple (also known as the temple of the Moon), (5th century BC) and then drive on to one of the oldest monasteries in Ethiopia, the spectacular cliff-top retreat of Debre Damo (6th century). Unfortunately, however, only men are allowed into the monastery and for them to reach it they must be hauled by rope up a 16-metre high wall! (Which is not, let me tell you, for the faint-hearted.) If you decide you do not want to do this, you can drive on and visit some other churches on this route – or indeed if you have two vehicles split up and go different ways. Accommodation – Gheralta Lodge. |
| Day 10: | Tigray. You have a full day to explore this rarely visited corner of Ethiopia. You can be as active or as relaxed as you like, enjoying the wonderful serenity of the Gheralta Lodge or out and about looking at the local rock churches. Accommodation – Gheralta Lodge. |
| Day 11: | Mekele – Lalibela. After breakfast, you will drive through some stunning countryside to Lalibela. This will take up most of the day so on arrival, check into your hotel and relax. Accommodation – Roha Hotel. |
| Day 12: | Lalibela. All day in Lalibela. This morning you will visit the first cluster of amazing rock-hewn churches – another UNESCO World Heritage Site – that will simply stagger you. After lunch, you might like to visit a local family for a traditional coffee ceremony where you will be able to see how a real Ethiopian family live. Accommodation – Roha Hotel |
| Day 13: | Lalibela. If you like you could take a morning mule ride up to the mountain monastery of Acheton Mariam. This 3-hour trek is a real highlight and should not be missed, although I would be a little concerned about Michael's knees as the last part of the trail the mules can't go and so you have to walk (If I’ve got that wrong I apologies!). But if you can make it the views from the ridge are simply breathtaking. After a late lunch at your hotel, you will visit the second cluster of churches, including the famous church of St. George, which is carved in the shape of a cross from the red basalt rock. Evening we would suggest a trip to a tej house to sample the local liquor, followed by dinner at a traditional restaurant. Accommodation – Roha Hotel. |
| Day 14: | Lalibela – Addis Ababa. After breakfast, transfer to the airport for your flight to Addis. From here you will be transferred to the hotel. Afternoon at leisure and dinner at traditional restaurant, with folk dancing. Accommodation – Hilton Hotel. |
| Day 15: | Addis Ababa. Transfer to the airport for your onward journey. |
how this holiday makes a difference
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Environment:
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. Community: 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 1000 youths with scholarships, 2 rural primary schools and 2 computer training centres. We have provided funds that have been used to buy desks, boards, pay staff salaries and much more. |
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