Countries Visited
Ethiopia

Vehicle
Safari Vehicle

Malaria
Malaria prophylactics are required throughout the route.

Departure Point
8.00am from the Holiday Hotel, Haile Gebre Silasie Road Addis Ababa. Tel: +27 11 661 20 81 (no website available)

End Point
Holiday Hotel, Haile Gebre Silasie Road Addis Ababa. Tel: +27 11 661 20 81 (No website available)

What's included?
Meals as indicated on the itinerary, accommodation, registered guides, transport and selected activities as per itinerary.

What's excluded?
All items of a personal nature, alcohol, snacks, souvenirs, tips and optional activities (see list for an indication of prices).

Health
Please inform us of any pre-existing conditions such as diabetes or asthma and any prescription medicine you may be taking. We also need to know about any food allergies that you may have.

Visas
Please note that these are your responsibility. Most nationalities require visas for East African countries. See Pre Departure Booklet for more information.

Climate
The African sun is very strong. Please use a factor 30 sunscreen and wear a hat. You should drink at least 3 litres of water per day to avoid dehydration. East Africa experiences a very wet rainy season. Please bear this in mind during the summer months. Please see Pre Departure Booklet for detailed information.

Currency and Banking
USD (United States Dollars) is the best currency for East Africa. Travellers Cheques can take a long time to change into cash and often incur unreasonable charges. Credit Cards cannot always be processed - especially in remote areas. USD Notes printed before 2000 (i.e. the old style notes) will not be accepted and many places will not accept USD100 notes, so make sure to bring lots of $1, $5 and $10 notes for tips and craft markets. USD20 and USD50 notes are good to change in to local currency. Please see Pre Departure Booklet for detailed information on each country.

Vaccinations
A Yellow Fever Certificate is required for this tour. Please see the Pre Departure Information booklet for detailed information on vaccinations in Africa.

Onward Travel
To explore Ethiopia fully combine this tour with the NETHS - Historical tour to the Southern Tribes.

Pre and Post Tour Accommodation
If you require accommodation before or after your tour we can arrange this for you. We can also arrange airport transfers - contact your travel agent to make these bookings.

Arrival
Please be sure to arrive 1 day before your tour is due to depart. This will avoid any problems such as forgotten luggage, misplaced bags or any unpredictable problems such as airline strikes or delayed flight arrival.

Departure
Please book your flight to depart the day after the tour officially ends. This is to account for any delays that we may experience due to unpredictable road conditions.

Note: All information is subject to change without prior notice. Travel times can change depending on road or weather conditions, etc. These are used as a guideline only.

Note:
There are more optional activities being created every day - we have listed only the most popular. If there is something specific you would like to do then speak to your guide as they will be able to assist you. Please pre-book the scenic flight, or balloon trip in Serengeti with your guide on day of departure, these activities are subject to availability.

DAY 1 ADDIS ABABA to BAHIR DAR
After a short briefing we drive to Bahir Dar, the road takes a winding route over the Ethiopian Plateau towards Debre Libanso for lunch. After eating we continue to our campsite at Bahir Dar. Bahir Dar is a large town on the edge of Ethiopia's largest lake, the deep blue Lake Tana. Optional Activities: Lake Tana cruise. Blue Nile Falls

The group will meet at the Holiday Hotel. After a short briefing we'll drive up northeast towards Bahir Dar, this route takes the tour on a winding road over the Ethiopian Plateau (2,800m above sea level). The landscape of the plateau is dotted with villages and colourful markets. Along the roadside, myriad of people move on foot carrying hand crafted goods (grain, tobacco, fruits and weaved cotton) to be sold at the market in the nearest village. After 105 Km we reach the famous medieval Monastery (church) of Debre Libanso, the Monastery was founded in the 13th century in a magnificent 700m - high canyon. The canyon has a stream the runs down tumbling over several waterfalls and past the new church, built by Haile Selassie in the 1950's, to its derelict predecessor. On the opposite side of the stream to the main church, is the cave where Tekle Haymanot prayed until his death (at98yrs old), and is now maintained as a shrine. We'll stop here for a visit; the local priest will gladly bless visitors with holy water from the cave, that is provided you haven't eaten anything yet that day and we'll see some of the monks and nuns that live in the nearby caves. Then we're off again to Bahir Dar, crossing huge canyons, we come upon the curves of the Blue Nile Gorge. This magnificent Gorge is 1km deep and was once thought to be the deepest in Africa (a title now bestowed on the Fish River Canyon in Namibia). The gorge follows the river south of Lake Tana before it gushes out of Ethiopia to meet the White Nile at Khartoum in the Sudan. We pass though Dejen and we arrive to Debre Markos for lunch. After lunch we drive to Bahir Dar (245 km). We drive through very beautiful landscape roads to Bahir Dar; the road is a newly constructed asphalt road. We arrive in Bahir Dar towards the evening and spend the night camping.

DAY 2 BAHIR DAR
Bahir Dar is a large town on the edge of Lake Tana with a sticky tropical ambience, more similar to somewhere like Awassa in the Rift Valley. This is probably the most important commercial center today, with a population of 150, 000, it's the largest town in Ethiopia and the fastest growing as well.

The central market is one of the finest in the country and worth a few hours. You can pick up a goatskin injera, a holder used by herdsmen as a "picnic basket". There in a daily fish market on the shore of the lake about 500m from the Ghion Hotel. Here you can also see a great many papyrus tankwa boats, and a large numbers of pelicans.

The Lake is the largest in Ethiopia (with a surface area of 3, 673km2) and is the source of the Blue Nile. This explains many links between Ethiopia and the ancient world.

About 30km after the river exits the Lake, the Blue Nile plunges over a 45m high, 100m wide rock face to form one of Africa's most spectacular waterfalls (known to the locals as Tis Abay, meaning 'Smoke of the Nile') giving rise to steam clouds and rainbows. Those who wish may descend to the base of the falls, climb back up the other side and cross the Nile in a papyrus boat (traditionally known as a "Tankwa") in order to return to the point of departure.

In the afternoon the tour embarks on a boat trip exploring Lake Tana and its islands. There are 37 islands on Lake Tana and 30 of them have churches and monasteries of considerable historical and cultural interest. We visit the monastery churches of Ura Kidane Mihret and Azoa Mariam.

Ura Kidane Mihret is the best known of the monasteries, founded in the 14th century and set within bleak stone walls. The church has an important collection of religious icons from the 16th to 18th centuries A.D. which include old crowns of Ethiopian Kings, ancient leather bound bibles and other treasures. Azoa Mariam is known for its paintings and we also have time to visit the small museum.

DAY 3 BAHIR DAR to GONDER
In the morning we drive from Bahir Dar to Gonder, the tour arrives in the afternoon; here there’ll be a tour of Gonder. Gonder is the most immediately impressive of Ethiopia’s major cities, and was the first capital city of the Ethiopian Empire, which began in 1632 with the reign of Fasilidas.

In Gonder, there are a dozen castles built by various emperors over the course of 236 years. The city seems more European than African and also has Islamic influences. In the afternoon, we visit Fasilidas' castle, probably the most impressive of all the castles found in the area and the oldest one! Constructed in 1640 and re-stored some time in the mid-20th century.

Fasilidas castle is made of stone and shows a unique combination of Portuguese, Axumite and even Indian influences. The walls are decorated with a symbol similar to the Star of David, which became the emblem of the Ethiopian royal family after the Solomonic dynasty reclaimed the Throne in the 13th century.

We continue on to Quskuam Church and the Church Of Debre Berham Selassie ('Trinity of the Place of Light'). The original church was almost circular in shape, after a fire in 1707 it was restored to its circular form. The modern building is thought to have been built in the 18th century after a lightning strike, although no-one knows for sure. The interior of Debre Berham Selassie is decorated with beautiful frescos, cherubs and paintings. The much photographed ceiling, decorated with paintings of 80 cherubic faces. Debre Berham Selassie is rumored to once have been the proposed final resting-place of the Ark of the Covenant. Here the tour stays overnight in a Hotel.

DAY 4 GONDER to SIMIEN MOUNTAINS
4 km after leaving Gonder on our way to the Simien Mountain National Park, we visit the Woleka village. This village of the Felasha (African Jews) is famous for their (poor) ceramics made in the Felasha tradition. All but one of the Felasha occupants was airlifted to Israel during the last famine. The Felasha woman who remains is also trying to emigrate to Israel.

Than we head off to the Simien Mountains, one of Africa's largest mountain ranges (Simien National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site). The road passes over mountainous areas of wild beauty, drawing close to the Simien Massif (in Amharic, Simien means north). In the park, many of the mountain peaks exceed 4,000 m (13123 ft); the highest is Ras Dejen, at 4,543 m (1905 ft) above sea level is the highest point in Ethiopia and the 4th highest in Africa.

These mountains consist of volcanic masses that have been eroded away by centuries of rain. Today they have amethystcolored peaks and deep gullies, which have been further deepened by rivers. The crevices play host to the Walya, the ibex of the Simien Mountains. We'll have a two-hour hike around the park and then stay over night in one of the hotels.

DAY 5 SIMIEN MOUNTAINS to AXUM
The road passes over mountain regions of the National Park with all of its wild beauty, passing though the Limalimo Mountain, we traverse the Tekeze valley, with breath taking views all day we finely reach Axum. The legends narrated in the Kebre Nagast ('Book of Kings') recount how the city of Axum was as early as the 10th century B.C already the city in which the Queen of Sheba resided. It is recounted 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.

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. A visit is organised to the stelae: granite monoliths dating from pre-Christian times and decorated with symbolic engravings. In ancient times, there were seven large steles, now one of them is in Rome – Mussolini brought it there during Italy's occupation of Ethiopia.

We'll also visit the museum, next to the church of Tsion Maryam, build by Haile Selassie’s wife and contains the crowns of past Kings, ancient crosses and the supposed Ark of the Covenant. There is also a visit to the church of Tsion Maryam (St Mary of Zion), which contains the crowns of Ethiopian kings and other treasures, although entrance is forbidden to women. Then at night the tour stay’s in one of the hotel.

DAY 6 AXUM to MEKELE
By way of a beautiful panoramic roads, we drive to Yeha, the ruined city of Yeha dates back 2,700yrs. The cities most antiquityis a well-preserved 12m-high stone temple that is thought to be over 2, 500yrs old. Nobody knows what religion was practiced in the temple, but appearances suggest links with the pagan faith of the Sabaean civilization of South Arabia. A little further along the road we find the monastery of Debre Damo, the oldest church in Ethiopia (dating from the Axumite epoch). Only men are allowed to visit the church and it is necessary to climb up to it with the aid of a rope. From the 8th to the 15th century, in this region, hundreds of rock-hewn churches were carved and constructed out of one rock. Many of the churches are carved directly into the cliff walls of the 'Ambas': typical Ethiopian mountains with flat tops and almost vertical sides. Along the way, we visit some of the churches. Then its onward to Mekele for dinner.

Mekele is situated in a hill-ringed basin at roughly 2,000m, and is the capital of Tigray. This is a large city where flash modern mix with rustic stone architecture, a true city of contrast. The city does not have the history of alto of other smaller towns, and there is know mention of it in the old scripture or in the old maps of the area.

Mekele owes its success over the years to Emperor Yohannis IV, who believed he was conceived in the area. Yohanni IV founded a few church’s in the area during the early yrs of his reign. The Emperor built a large castle in 1882-84 to be his home in the latter yrs of him regin.

Mekele was in 1970 still considered a small rustic town, with a population of only 20,000, and didn’t even feature among the top ten towns in the 1984 census. Now Mekele is the 5th largest town in the country, with a population of over 130, 000.

DAY 7 MEKELE to LALIBELA
The whole day is required to cover this distance. The unpaved road climbs several times to heights of about 3,000 m and descends into valleys where powerful rivers run. The landscape is dry, but visually splendid. For a considerable stretch, the winding road follows the spectacular canyon of the river Tekeze, one of the principal rivers of Ethiopia. Just before Lalibela, is the beautiful rock hewn church of Genete Mariam. Afterwards we arrive to Lalibela in the evening; dinner and overnight in a hotel.

DAY 8 LALIBELA
This strange city in the mountains of Lasts is located at 2,600 m above sea level. Roha, as it was known back in the 10th century to the mid 13th century and was the capital of the Zagwe dynasty. Its modern name comes from the most famous of the Zagwe rulers, the 12th century King Lalibela.

It 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 one of the wonders of the world. Each church has a unique architectural style; all are superbly carved and most of them are decorated with well-preserved paintings. The entire city may be described as a sculpture dedicated to the glory of God. Legend has it that King Lalibela was instructed by angles to build the replica of a rock city he saw in a vision, other stories say he was in exile in Jerusalem and was inspired to create the 'new' Jerusalem in Roha. The day is dedicated to visiting the churches and exploring the city itself. Tonight we have dinner and stay in the same hotel as the previous night.

DAY 9 LALIBELA to KOMBOLCHA
The road runs through villages, cultivated plains and small passes. Here, we are close to the land occupied by the Afar shepherds, a Semi-nomadic people who live mainly in the deserts of Danakil depression. We encounter them on the road with their caravans of camels. Dinner and overnight in a hotel in Kombolcha.

DAY 10 KOMBOLCHA to ADDIS ABABA
The road crosses the Ethiopian plateaux, with its vast expanses of cultivated fields. In Senbete, on Sundays, there is an interesting market where the Afar, Oromo and Amhara peoples meet. We arrive in Addis Ababa in the evening. Your tour ends here.

TOUR ENDS
You can book an additional night at the Holiday Hotel (No website available). This needs to be pre-booked through your travel agent or AFTours.

TIPPING ON TOUR
East Africa: In general tipping in restaurants is expected and is around 10% for good service, more if you have received exceptional service, and, feel free not to tip at all if you received poor service. Tipping taxi drivers etc is really at your own discretion and not always expected. If in doubt please ask your guides. It is expected to tip Porters and Car-guards etc. Ask your guides how much is appropriate in local currency.