28/09/2018
Excited to be heading off in a couple of days for another two tours of Ethiopia. Two groups, each with seven lucky Aussies get the chance to experience Ethiopia from the inside.
Tour to Ethiopia –
Extraordinary culture, history, landscape, wildlife – and a chance to be WITH the people and not just SEE the people and their beautiful country.
Macchiato please!!
Yes - that will set us back 6 birr (A$0.40) at the “mini café” in Ambo. Yes you will certainly be stared at. Yes a guy with a disability may give us a hard time, but the macchiato will be to die for.
So will be the stopover in Ambo – a village of 60,000 people – surely the only place in the world where you walk up the street on one side and down the street on the other side as this is the only way the footpaths can cope. A town of merchants, traders, drivers, farmers and incredibly 9000 university students!!!
Ambo will be our home for the night (at the Abebech Hotel) whilst we take the chance to see the western highlands of Ethiopia where the heavy rains of the wet season rush off to join the waters of the Blue Nile – and so on through Sudan and into the mighty Nile through Egypt. From here we will also get to spend some time at the Abebech Gobena farm where our guide Simon has lived and worked for two years.
This tour will be not just a chance to see some of the most amazing scenery and attractions of Ethiopia, but a chance to experience the ticking heart of Ethiopian society and culture. With over 85% of the population living in rural farms and villages, we need to get onto the farms and into the villages to discover the magic that is Ethiopia.
Simon has close connections with Ethiopian locals who will be assisting to ensure that we get the best possible experience within the country. The tour is designed to show off some of the extraordinary history and archeology of the country but also to step inside the open hearts of these beautiful people and to share in their culture. Outside the borders of Ethiopia few people know of the stunningly beautiful countryside in the western highlands,
- seriously rugged and steep mountains of the Simiens,
- nor the rare and endemic wildlife that inhabit the National Parks on the flatter, hotter areas of the country’s east.
We will see all those things and more.
After visiting the west of the country, and immersing ourselves in the life of typical Ethiopians on the Abebech Gobena farm, the group will head north to see the Simien Mountains and Lake Tana which many consider to be the source of the Nile river. Further on to the treasures of Gondar and then to the internationally acclaimed rock hewn churches of Lalibela.
Back to Addis Ababa and then East to the Awash National Park, an area of varied landscapes including the arid plains that we expect of Ethiopia. This area is named after the Awash River, a mighty river in the wet season that drains all of the eastern part of Ethiopia. But where does it go?? This question remained a mystery until the 1920’s when explorers discovered that it simply ended in a huge swamp. We will stay in a beautiful rustic lodge high up on the banks of the river with the roar of the Awash falls nearby. Our tour of the park will be as close as you can get to a wildlife safari in Ethiopia.
This will be a small group tour, using local drivers and guides and will coincide with the end of the wet season. If you expect the water to be hot in your hotel room every night, expect to find a lovely western style toilet at every stop, or have daily access to the internet, then this tour is not for you. Your patience may be tested, and rarely in Ethiopia does everything go according to plan, but equally you will have awakened every one of your senses and will feel deeply enriched by the experience.
Participants can organize their own flights to and from Addis Ababa, or we can book those flights.. Moderately priced flights are available from Ethiopia to Tanzania where African safaris can be booked. We can make recommendations for that activity if required.
Please send us a message if you would like to discuss the possibility of joining a 2019 tour.
