Tour Itinerary:
Day 1: Arrive in Addis Ababa
In Amharic, Addis Ababa means "new flower." Founded in 1886 by Menelik II, the city is located 2,500m above sea level in one of the highest parts of the Entoto mountain chain, which rises to 3,000m above sea level. It enjoys an excellent climate all year round, with an average temperature of 25C (77F). Addis Ababa is a pleasant city with wide avenues of jacarandas, interesting museums and one of the largest open air markets in Africa, known as the "Mercato." Afternoon city tour includes visit of the Trinity Cathedral (built 1941), Addis Ababa University campus and the Ethnological Museum in the same compound, the Mercato, Liberty Monument, Martyrs' Monument Square, Lion Cage and the Handicraft center in front of the Wabeshebelle.
Day 2: Awash National Park
A relaxing drive through the farmland and typical villages to Debre Zeit. The town, known in the local Oromo language as Bishoftu, is surrounded by crater lakes. Visit the lakes, explore the volcanic cone of Mt. Zuqualla, on a clear day the views from top are stunning. The monastery of Mt.Zuqualla is thought to be founded in 12th-13th century by the Ethiopian saint Gebre Manfus Kiddus. Continue to Awash National Park. We will be in the park for a late afternoon game drive. Ox, Greater and Lesser Cudu, Minilik Bush Buck, at times even lions; and small animals and plenty of bird life can be sighted.
Day 3: Awash National Park
Morning game drive in the park and after breakfast drive to a hot spring where you can see the Afars (an ethnic tribe) with their cattle and herds of camels. You could dip in the hot springs if you wish! We go to Mojjo town for lunch before returning to Addis.
Afternoon visit to the National Museum. Its collection is considered one of the most important in sub-Saharan Africa. View the palaeontology exhibit, including two remarkable casts of Lucy. The real bones are preserved in the archives of the museum.
Day 4: Bahir Dar
Flight to Bahir Dar. Bahir Dar is a pleasant city located on the shores of Lake Tana, the largest lake in Ethiopia. Upon arrival, we drive to the Blue Nile Falls, which is known locally as “Tissisat” (smoking water). The falls are 100m wide, and the water plunges for 45m, giving rise to mist clouds and rainbows. We climb down to the base of the falls for an up-close look and then ascend the other side. We cross the Blue Nile by boat and return to the point of departure.
Afternoon sight-seeing tour of Bahar Dar, including the market, one of the most colorful African markets. Then we visit the Bezawit Palace of the former Emperor Haile Selassie; and Woyito Village where craftsmen specialize in making fishing boats (called tank was) from papyrus reeds. Dinner with a performance of Amhara dancing.
Day 5: Gondar
Half day boat trip on Lake Tana to visit the monastery churches, including Ura Kidane Mihret on the Zeghie Peninsula. Ura Kidan Mihiret is the best known of the monasteries and has an important collection of religious icons from the 16th to18th centuries. Azoa Mariam is known for its paintings. We visit Debere Sina Church in Gorgora village before continuing by road to Gondar.
Day 6: Gondar
Gondar was the first capital city of the Ethiopian empire, which began in 1632 with the reign of King Fasilledes. In Gondar there are dozens of castles built by various emperors over the course of 236 years. The city is more European than African and has various Islamic influences.
Our visit includes the palaces, residences and open air baths of King Fasilledes; the monasteries of Qusquom, the church of Debre Berhan Sellassie with its 16th century paintings and frescoes, which is located at the summit of a hill and surrounded by fortified walls. Debre Berham Selassie is rumored to once have been the final resting-place of the Ark of the Covenant. We also visit the village of the Felasha (African Jews), famous for their ceramics.
Day 7: Lalibella
After arrival, a tour of the famous eleven rock-hewn churches of 12th century. The city contains 11 monolithic churches that were built in the 12th century and are carved out of the pink granite rock; they have been classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Each church (Bet) has a unique architectural style; all are superbly carved and most of them are decorated with well-preserved paintings. We spend the full day visiting the Northern Group of Churches. Bet Medihanialem is the largest, supported by 72 pillars and houses the 7kg (15 lbs) gold Lalibela Cross.
We go through a tunnel from Bet Medihanialem to Bet Mariam, in which there is a pillar that it is said Jesus Christ leaned against when he appeared in a vision to King Lalibela. Bet Mariam also contains fabulous carvings of various birds and animals. We also visit Bet Danaghel; a chapel built in honor of martyred nuns. Bet Golgotha and Bet Mikael are twin churches and many believe that a visit to Bet Golgotha alone can guarantee your place in heaven! The last church we visit is Bet Giyorgis, one of the more recent churches and best preserved.
Day 8: Axum
Flight to Axum - a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Axum is a holy city of Ethiopia, dating over 2000 years back and the cradle of Ethiopian civilization with the Axumite Kingdom. Famous long before the time of Christ, Axum was the capital of the long Axumite reign, one of the oldest African empires and represented a crucial connecting point between Africa and Asia for almost a thousand years. It is rumored that the son of the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon brought the Ark of the Covenant to Axum and it remains there to this day, preserved in a sanctuary. Upon arrival, we visit the Queen of Sheba’s Bath & Palace.
This large reservoir is an excellent place to observe the local women collecting water for washing. Both the reservoir and the palace post-date the Queen, but the names persist. The palace area has been fully excavated and worth a short look. Afterwards, a visit to the church of Saint Mary of Zion, which contains the crowns of various Ethiopian kings and other treasures. A chapel in the church is believed by many to contain The Ark of the Covenant. We culminate the day with a visit to the steles, granite monoliths dating from pre-Christian times and decorated with symbolic engravings.
Day 9: Addis Ababa
Morning visit to the Axumait Handicraft Center to observe local artists at work. Transfer to airport for a flight to Addis Ababa. The rest of day free until the transfer to airport for flight home. Those departing will have shared room for wash/change.
The South: Omo Valley
Day 10: Awassa
Morning drive to Awassa through the Rift Valley. The Rift Valley is a deep fission that extends for over 6,000 km from the Middle East to Mozambique- testimony to the massive shifting of the earth’s tectonic plates. The rift contains a marvelous series of lakes, which are teeming with fish and provide a habitat for hundreds of species of birds. On the way we pass four of the lakes. Awassa is located on the edge of Lake Awassa, surrounded by mountains.
Day 11: Arba Minch
We drive through one of the most colorful and scenic areas of Southern Ethiopia, a land that is inhabited by the people of the Sidamo, the Alaba, who were once nomads but are now farmers. A long section of the road offers magnificent views of lake Abaya, surrounded by mountains. The lake has volcanic origins and is almost pink in color.
Next we visit the Walayitas and the Dorzes up in the Chencha Mountains, two of the many small groups of southern Ethiopia. Once warriors, the Dorze have now turned to farming and weaving to earn a living. Their success in the field of weaving has been phenomenal and the Dorze name is synonymous with the best woven cotton cloth. The "elephant huts" of the Dorze are unique and worth seeing.
Day 12: Arba Minch
Visit to Nech Sar National Park, situated between Lakes Chamo and Abaya, to see Burchell's Zebra, Grant's Gazelle, the magnificent Greater Kudu, the miniscule Guenther's Dik-dik and the incredible variety of birds, including the Kori Bustard. The african hunting dog and the black-backed jackal can also be found here.
The landscape that divides the two lakes of Abaya and Chamo is quite breathtaking and has earned it the sobriquet of 'Bridge of Heaven'. The vivid contrasts of the Park are visually stunning - a swathe of white grass against a backdrop of deeply cut hills and mountains contrasts sharply with the clear blue waters of Lake Chamo and the startling dark-red, ferrous hydroxide surface of Lake Abaya.
The shores and islands of the two lakes are inhabited by the Guji farming community who have an ancient tradition of hippo hunting. The northern shores of Lake Chamo are famous for its large crocodiles, which can be seen in great numbers lounging in the heat. Both lakes offer opportunities to fish for Nile Perch and tiger fish, and the Guji tribe can be seen plying the waters in their elegantly carved ambatch boats (similar to those depicted on the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs). After lunch, enjoy a boat trip on Lake Chamo to see the enormous Nile Crocodiles resting at their own "crocodile market."
Day 13: Drive to Arba Minch / Jinka
Enjoy spectacular scenery as the road crosses soft rolling hills. We’ll pass through nomadic villages along the way.
Day 14: Jinka
We drive to Mago National Park, sitting on the eastern bank of the Omo River. Rising in the highlands south-west of Addis Ababa, the Omo River charts its course southwards for almost 1000 kms but never reaches the sea and instead pours into Lake Turkana, East Africa's fourth largest lake. Over millions of years its flood waters have cut deep gorges into the mountains, creating exciting opportunities for white-water rafting.
The park, together with its sister park, Omo National Park, are some of the least visited game parks in the world and what a joy it is not to see another vehicle in the vicinity. From here, visit the Mursi highlands where the most illustrious of Ethiopia's unique tribes lives. The Mursi are known all over the world, for their decorative lip plates that adorn the lower lips of the Mursi women. The plates stretch the lower lip and the women's beauty and desirability is determined in direct proportion to the size of the plate.
The various cultural aspects of the tribe will be explained and you will be able to take their photographs (not free) and interact with them. Today and the for next few days we enjoy some of the most magnificent sunsets from a special vantage point that overlooks the mountains of Kenya and Sudan.
Day 15: Turmi
We drive towards the Murulle area to see the Karo ethnic group, experts in body painting, using clay and locally available vegetable pigments to paint fantastic patterns on each other's faces, chests, arms and legs. Karo men also sculpt and shave their hair into extravagant shapes, with special ochre "caps" of hair usually containing several ostrich feathers.
Day 16: Turmi
This morning we will enjoy the weekly market of the Bena people. The Bena women wear their hair in dense ringlets smeared with mud and clarified butter and topped off with a head-dress made out of an oblong aluminum plate. Their necks and chests are adorned with string upon sting of cowrie shells and colorful beaded necklaces of varying lengths. The market is exciting and you may have the opportunity to buy some of the tribal regalia and artifacts.
Day 17: Yabelo
We return northward towards the lakes of the Rift Valley; additional cultural encounters with different tribes along the way. The Konso, a pagan people, erect eerie wooden totems (called waka) replete with phallic symbols over the graves of the dead and have numerous cults based around the breeding and veneration of serpents.
The cornerstone of Konso culture, however, is a highly specialized and successful agricultural economy that, through terracing buttressed with stone, enable these people to extract a productive living from the infertile hills and valleys that surround them.
Day 18: Wondo Genet
Visit Borena Oromo villages enroute to Wondo Genet. Then drive north to Wondo Genet, a mountain resort village surrounded by dense forest, birds and a variety of wildlife. There is also a natural hot springs reputed to have theraputic benefits.
Day 19: Addis Ababa
Morning independent time for a walk or soak in hot springs. Enjoy more of the Rift Valley Landscape on the drive back to Addis Ababa. We have the possibility of visiting the Ostrich farm at Abijata Shala National Park and enjoying the stunning views over the Lakes of Abijata and Shala. Transfer to airport for flight home.
Notes:
Airfare is not included in the tour price.
Price Includes: accommodations, daily breakfasts up to Abba Minch, all meals in Omo Valley, accompanying escort, land transport, four internal flights.
Price excludes: International flight, insurance, tips, visa fee, sleeping bag.
Also see tour packages in:
Africa
Ethiopia
Cultural Journey
Museum Tours
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