Ethiopia holiday, tailormade
| country: | Ethiopia |
| departures: | This trip can be tailor made at a time to suit you and can be adapted to suit your interests, budget and requirements as necessary. Minimum 2 people |
| price: | From £1520 (17 days) excluding flights. Price based on two people sharing |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
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the amazing things you'll be doing
A trip to Ethiopia provides the visitor a tremendous insight into Ethiopian history, religion, geography and culture. Bear witness to the incredible stories of ancient civilizations, extravagant courts and marvelous buildings.
The northern historical route takes the visitor to Ethiopia's most famous monuments, including the millennia old ancient Stelae of Aksum, the medieval rock-hewn churches of Tigray and Lalibela, and the 16th century castles of Gondar. Visit the cultural and wildlife sanctuaries of south Ethiopia particularly Netch-Sar, and Omo - the astonishing parts of this tour. The wild, undisturbed and little visited parks boast not only remarkable wildlife, but also remarkable people.
The northern historical route takes the visitor to Ethiopia's most famous monuments, including the millennia old ancient Stelae of Aksum, the medieval rock-hewn churches of Tigray and Lalibela, and the 16th century castles of Gondar. Visit the cultural and wildlife sanctuaries of south Ethiopia particularly Netch-Sar, and Omo - the astonishing parts of this tour. The wild, undisturbed and little visited parks boast not only remarkable wildlife, but also remarkable people.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | Arrive Addis Ababa. A welcoming reception and transfer to your accommodation. |
| Day 2: | City tour. Visit Addis Ababa the friendly and amazingly safe, colorful and cheerful city. With plenty of cultural experiences, folk dancing, singing, restaurants, night clubs - traditional & modern. Wander through Merkato one of the largest outdoor markets on the continent and visit the museums, among the most important in sub Saharan Africa. |
| Day 3: | Fly to Bahirdar. Bahirdar is very beautiful and one of Ethiopia's most attractive towns. Bahirdar makes a pleasant base to explore the Blue Nile falls and the island monasteries of Lake Tana. The Blue Nile Falls described by James Bruce the 18th century Scottish traveler as "A magnificent sight...it struck me with a kind of stupor, and a total oblivion of where I was and of every other sublunary concern". Then proceed to woyto village 2km west of the town, where the people are known for their production of tankwa (papyrus) boats. |
| Day 4: | Fly to Gondar. This very likeable friendly town is the medieval Ethiopian capital. One of the most impressive cities for preserved castles and other buildings. Fasiladas's palace is the oldest and most impressive of the castles. Also visit one of the country's most famous churches Debre Birhan Selassie elaborately decorated and highlighting Gondar. |
| Day 5: | Fly to Lalibela. To the center of pilgrimage 'Lalibela' also known as Africa's Petra. Churches are hewn out of a single rock with exceptional masonry skills. They are not carved into the rock, but freed entirely from it. In existence since the 12th century, Lalibela ranks among the greatest historical sites not only on the African continent, but in the Christian world. The buildings are refined and many of them are within a short distance of one another. |
| Day 6: | Fly to Aksum. King Ezana's 4th century park, queen of Sheba's palace, bath and palace of King Kaleb. King Ezana's inscription, St Mary of Zion churches and Aksum's astonishing Stelae strike you for their huge size. Incredible for their pristine state of preservation and for their curiously modern look. Superbly sculpted from single pieces of granite to look like multi-storied buildings, it’s hard to imagine them to be 2000 year old obelisks. |
| Day 7: | Fly to Addis Ababa. Return to Addis for over night stay in hotel. |
| Day 8: | Drive to Arbaminch. En route see the beautiful scenery. Visit the Dorze people who are known for their huge famous bee hive huts. |
| Day 9: | Drive to Netch Sar Park, Lake Abaya, Tchamo. Arbaminch boasts a lovely position and is a pleasant and friendly place. From here you will travel to the beautiful Netch Sar Park which ranks among the most scenic and beautiful game reserves, yet the least visited in east Africa. Lake Abaya is the largest of the rift valley lakes and Lake Tchamo lies to the south. A ridge of land dividing the two lakes is known as the 'Bridge of God'. You will also enjoy the spectacular view of Tchamo's huge crocodiles. |
| Day 10: | Drive to Jinka. En route visit, Woito, and Keyafar. You could also visit the large and colorful Saturday market where you can expect to see different ethnic groups, among them the Ari, Hammer, Bena, Karo, koygu and bodi. |
| Day 11: | Drive to Mago, Mursi, and Murle. Visit the Mursi one of the most famous tribes. Known for their traditions including the lip plate worn by the women, and the fierce stick fighting between the men. |
| Day 12-13: | Drive to camp at Turmi. Turmi is the main town of the Hamer. Here the people are known for fine pottery and remarkable hair styling. You can also see their body decoration and the adorning women with their bead necklaces, iron coils around their arms and skins decorated with crocowry shells. |
| Day 14: | Drive to Yabelo. On our way back to Addis, we visit Yabelo wildlife sanctuary. With over 194 species of birds, including one of Africa's rarest birds the prince ruspoli turaco. You can also see some of the 25 species of mammal including burchell's zebra and the greater and lesser kudus. |
| Day 15: | Drive to Langano or Wondogenet. Enjoy the hot spring resort "Wondo genet" where you can relax, swim, hot water bath and view birds like the yellow fronted parrot, Hemprichs, lesser honey guide, crowned hornbills and others. |
| Day 16: | Drive to Addis. See the lakes of the Great Rift Valley rich in water birds. Langano lakes, park of Shala and abyata, Lake Zewai and Debrezeit's crater lakes + a farewell dinner. |
| Day 17: | Departure. Transfer to the airport |
If you want a customized itinerary, quotation, or any other tour information about this trip we are very happy to help.
travellers' tales
The two places that stood out were Lalibela and the Simien Mountains. The rock-hewn churches around Lalibela are not only outstandingly beautiful but a stunning human achievement which has stood the test of time. (more)
travelling with a local operator
This holiday is operated by a company based in the holiday destination and they will be able to provide expert local knowledge. They will be able to tailor make your holiday to suit your requirements not only concerning the dates of travel but also typically the standard of accommodation, and thus price. It is rare for local operators to be able to help with the booking of your flights.how this holiday makes a difference
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If you book this trip you will give many local people a chance to support themselves and their family dependants. Our guides are locals and well trained in all disciplines and the scouts are hired from the parks. You will also be staying in locally owned accommodations which have a direct impact on the communities their respective environment. They will get most of their material and man-power needs from the local markets and resources. The income they will earn as a result of your booking will support many grass-root economies. As we also purchase most of the necessities for the trip like food, water, coffee, soft papers etc. from locally owned shops and restaurants; they will be benefited.
Accommodations have put in place policies of environmental conservation, water and energy usage. They also have economic policies to employ their staff from the local communities and to use the local resources and markets for the services they provide. For you to have better knowledge of the trip we will provide you an accurate pre-trip information before the start of the tour. And in order for you to have a good understanding of the places, the environment, and the local community we will supply you with our Travelers' Code of Conduct which is also supplied to our staff and local suppliers. As part of environmental conservation efforts, almost all of our destination suppliers are actively involved in initiatives like '2 trees for 2000'. It is a campaign against Ethiopia's environmental hazard caused by deforestation and is mainly sponsored by the Millennium Secretariat. Also as an effort to reduce pollution, accommodations help protect the environment by giving away some materials like plastic bags to recycling agencies. After completing the cultural tour and if time allows, we will arrange a short trip to visit an initiative in Yabello-Borena which works on improving the livelihood of the pastoral and agro-pastoral communities. Much of the country was devastated by both man-made and natural disasters. An increased demand for fuel has resulted in the practice of reckless tree felling. Also at Borena, large areas are inhabited by nomadic pastoralists who move over large expanses of land with large herds of livestock. Environmental degradation in this area has caused serious hardship to these pastoralist groups. You may wish to exchange ideas with the community on issues like the use of natural resources, spring development, land rehabilitation, and irrigation works which would be of great importance. |
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. |