Visiting Ethiopia/Suggestions

This page was last updated on: September 15, 2008

Dawit and I really want you to have a wonderful holiday when you come to Ethiopia for our wedding, of course!
These are some ideas to help you plan your trip. You can see photos of some of these places on Terri's Flickr - use Flickr's search box to search within the photos for different places.

Ethiopia is a vast country, about 5 times the size of the UK, with a population of 80 million (and growing). It is very diverse in geography and in people - there are many different ethnic groups, particularly in the southern regions; they speak about 80 different languages.

You would need a few months to properly see all of the country but of course, you can pick and choose and visit the highlights. You can do it 'diy', booking your own lights and hiring cars while here, or you can use a travel agent. The latter will cost more but may be more convenient for you. However, it really depends on your budget and time. One more 'high end' tour operator is Ethiopian Quadrants, run by Tony Hickey, an Irishman who's lived here for many years, with vast experience of tourism in Ethiopia (we should add also that he's a personal friend!). You can also hire a freelance local tour guide while here, to show you around Addis and further afield. We can help arrange this with a tour-guide friend.

We can help by booking hotels in Addis and putting you in contact with local tour guides and car hire operators.

Short Trips from Addis (2-3 days)

South to Awassa, taking in Lake Langano

Bishangari Lodge is an eco-lodge on the east side of Lake Langano, in a really beautiful setting of an ancient forest right beside Lake Langano. A sunset swim and drink in the tree bar followed by dinner in the restaurant in the forest is just perfect! It's about US$90-100 for a room (for 1 or 2 people) B&B, well worth it for the sense of really being away from it all.

Langano is the only lake in which it's safe to swim in Ethiopia, and with a kind of beach on it, it's the place those who can afford it go to for their weekend breaks from the city.

Awassa is a nice town set on Lake Awassa. It's about a 4 hour drive from Addis. You can take a boat trip out on the lake to see hippos.

 

A good trip for 2-3 days is to drive south to Awassa and stay there for a night, stopping off at Langano for a swim and/or lunch. The drive is good because you get to see rural life, different styles of traditional houses along the road-side and in general get a sense of Ethiopia outside of the city. If you have 2 or 3 nights, consider going to Bishangari Lodge - it's a bit of a bumpy journey for about 20km after you leave the asphalt, but it's well worth it, believe me! There are other hotels/resorts on the lake, just off the asphalt, such as the Bekele Molla.

Not far from Awassa, on the way from Addis, is the town of Shashemene. This is the spiritual home for Rastafarians, as they were granted land there by the Emperor Haile Selassie (formerly Ras Tafari or Prince Tafari, before his coronation). The town itself is not worth stopping in but if you are interested, you may be able to visit a Rastafarian commune there.

Wondo Genet is a resort high up in green, forested hills. It has a swimming pool fed by natural hot springs and a hotel. It's all a bit rundown but worth the short detour from the main road for a swim and lunch.

Debre Zeit

Debre Zeit, home of the Donkey Sanctuary in Ethiopia, is known for its 7 or so lakes, all very picturesque.

Kuriftu Resort & Spa is very luxurious and very nice - set on a lake, with excellent accommodation and food, swimming pool and beauty spa (it's owned by the Boston Day Spa people). It is expensive - US$200 for a room (B&B) as of May 2008. It's only a couple of hours out of Addis so worth considering if you're short on time and feel like really treating yourself. You can also visit it for a day, at a cost of B200 per person for the day (this includes a 4 course lunch, kayaking on the lake and use of the swimming pool).

 

 

Suggested Itineraries for longer trips

You can do part of all of the 'northern circuit' - which is covered separately on the Northern Circuit page in this site.

North: Lalibela-Gondar-Bahir Dar

Lalibela - the rock churches, a must-see if you can at all.

Gondar - Dawit's birth-place and home still for some of his family; also has some fairy-tale-like castles in the Royal Enclosure, built by successive emperors and kings of Ethiopia.

Simien Mountains - from Gondar, you can go to the Simien Mountains, via Debark. A day- trip will give you some feel for the size and majesty of the range. If you enjoy hill-walking, you would really enjoy a couple of days' trekking in the Simiens. If you're feeling adventurous, you could set your sights on climbing Ras Dashen, the highest mountain in Ethiopia. Camping used to be the only option in the Simiens, but now there's a new lodge which gives the option of spending one night only and doing a couple of short treks.

Bahir Dar - Lake Tana has islands on which there are Orthodox Christian monasteries.

North: Mekelle-Axum

Mekelle is where Terri lived for 2 years as a VSO volunteer and where she and Dawit met!

The new Gheralta Lodge near Wukro, north of Mekelle, is in a beautiful setting around the rock churches on top of the Tigray mountains.

Axum has the stellae, standing stones, which are impressive to see.

(can put the above two togeher if you have more time)

Harar

Harar is a Muslim walled city in the south-east of Ethiopia. It reputedly has 99 mosques. The French poet Rimbaud spent some time here and there's a museum in his honour in an old house in the town. Famous also for Harar baskets - colourful, flat baskets that often decorate the walls of peoples' houses. Nice city to spend 2 days or so in.

South: Awassa- Arba Minch

Arba Minch is one of the main towns in the south of Ethiopia. The name means '40 springs' and you can visit those 40 hot springs. It's also close to Nechisar National Park, which is very beautiful, having Lakes Chamo and Abaya within it. There is some wildlife to see here, mainly zebra, various antelope and bird-life. There are apparently elephants and maybe some lions there also but I didn't see any on my trip to there.

It is worth the trip to see the lakes and the National Park.

Swayne's Lodge is very nice to stay in and there are also cheaper options such as the Bekele Molla Hotel.

Arba Minch is also a stopping-off point if you do the trip down to South Omo.

South: Trekking in the Bale Mountains

The Bale Mountains can be reached in less than a day's driving south from Addis. From the town of Dodola, there are trekking routes with simple chalets for accommodation. Bale National Park is another option but as of yet, it's only camping (and it's managed by a couple, one of whom is Irish and has cousins in Greystones!).

South: South Omo

The south-west part of Ethiopia is home to a number of different ethnic groups such as the Hamer and Karo people. Many of the people are living as they have for centuries and each of the ethnic groups has its own distinctive dress, house types and culture. It is an amazing trip to do, as you see an area that is still largely untouched by many aspects of modernity. There are probably more tourists going there over time and of course this brings more outside influences, as does progress in general. It may be inevitable that the old ways of life will start to change - so it's worth going to see it now before that happens!

Two of the main towns are Konso and Jinka, which can be reached with public transport (bus). To go beyond these, you need to go in a hired vehicle or rely on hitching lifts.

Ethiopan Airlines has regular flights to Jinka (the last time I was there, the airstrip was a field in the middle of the town!). Alternatively, you can hire a guide and vehicle and go by road from Addis, taking in Awassa and Arba Minch on the way. After a certain point, the accommodation goes from hotels to camping. A guide or tour operator in Addis can arrange an all-in package that includes hotels, meals, camping equipment and a cook for the camping part.