7 Days Historic Route - North & South Ethiopia (From US$4,085 per person)

Adventure Safari, Kenya

7 Days Historic Route – North & South Ethiopia (From US$4,085 per person)

Highlights

Visit Addis Ababa city
Visit Bahir Dar for monasteries and blue Nile falls
Visit Gondar for ancient castles and churches

Day 1: Addis Ababa, Golden Tulip Hotel

Arrival in Addis Ababa. You will be met by our representative and transfer to the hotel. Early check in at the hotel. After a short break, start your visit to Addis Ababa, the third highest capital in the world.

The visit includes the Entoto Hills, the place from which King Menelik, the founder of Addis Ababa, descended to the plains. In Entoto, from where there is a wonderful panoramic view of the city, there are two churches built by Menelik, who was crowned in one of them.

Near this site is the ancient Menelik Palace, still intact and open to visitors. Inside it is possible to see some royal clothing, war artifacts, furniture and old books. After the visit of Entoto, we will have lunch in the city.

The city tour also includes the National Museum, one of the most important museums in sub-Saharan Africa. Here is the skeleton of Selam, found in December 2000 in Dikika, Afar region, in northern Ethiopia. Like Lucy, Selam is an Australopithecus Aphaeresis. However, there is an important difference between the two, since Selam lived more than 150,000 years before Lucy!

Day 2: Addis Ababa / Bahir Dar (Flight ET186 08:15-09:25), Sky Resort

After breakfast at the hotel, transfer to the airport to catch a flight to Bahir Dar, one of the most attractive cities in Ethiopia. Bahir Dar, with its wide avenues lined by rows of palm trees, is situated on the southern shore of Lake Tana, Ethiopia’s largest lake.

Bahir Dar is also the best base to visit some of the monasteries built on the islands. From the interior of Lake Tana, between the 12th and 18th centuries, as well as the sources of the Blue Nile River. As soon as you arrive drive to Blue Nile Falls. The volume of the river’s waters may vary depending on the season; however, the dramatic landscape and the picturesque villages built along its banks more than compensate.

Late Lunch at the hotel. Afternoon free to visit the city. Walk around or drive. Driver and guide at disposal. Dinner and accommodation at Sky Resort

Day 3: Bahir Dar (ET126 07:10-08:20 / Lake Tana / Gondar, Gondar Hills Resort

After an early breakfast at hotel boat ride on Lake Tana, where a visit to some of the ancient monasteries that were built around Lake Tana and many of the islands within it is scheduled, adding up to about 38 in total.

The list includes a visit to the Zeghe Peninsula, where you will visit the churches of Mariam Azewa, which were built at the end of the 13th and 14th centuries, respectively, and whose walls are covered with incredible murals from the 16th century. You will also visit the church of Narga Selassie. If time permits You will also visit the church of Dek Stefanos, with its valuable collection of icons, as well as the remains of various medieval emperors.

Picnic lunch on the boat.

Continue on the way to the town of Gorgora, where we visit Debreseina Mariam church. In Gorgora you pick up the cars and continue for 60 km to the city of Gondar, on the way visit Pedro Paez (Pero Pais) tomb, and the remains of the palace he built there.

Dinner and accommodation at Gondar Hills Resort

Day 4: Gondar, Gondar Hills Resort

Breakfast at the hotel, and start the visits in Gondar. The Emperor Fasiladas founded Gondar as his imperial seat in 1636 and, until the 19th century, the city was the capital and main commercial center of the region.

The visit the church of Debre Berhane Selassie (Since it is the annual Selassie attend the festival as well), the only church that was saved from the Mahdist invasion of the 1880s. According to legend, a swarm of bees drove away the invaders who were trying to loot the church. The walls and ceiling of this church are completely covered with murals – the faces of angels on the ceiling have become a common motif in Ethiopian design.

Lunch at the local Four Sisters restaurant.

Next, visit the Royal Enclosure, or Fasil Gibbi, and the six castles built by the various emperors who ruled Gondar. 2 km from the city center are the baths of King Fasilidas where, during Timkat (Epiphany in Ethiopia), a nearby river is diverted to fill an area the size of a small swimming pool. Faithful and pilgrims immerse themselves in the cold water in a reenactment of Christ’s baptism in the Jordan River.

Dinner and accommodation at Gondar Hills Resort

Day 5: Gonder / Lalibela (ET122. 09:50-10:20), Mezena Resort

Breakfast at the hotel and transfer to the airport for a flight to Lalibela.On arrival transfer to the lodge for check in. Lunch at hotel

In the afternoon, drive to the cave church of Yemrehene Christos, (40 KMs and 90 minutes-drive) built by the king of the same name before the reign of King Lalibela. The church is constructed inside a cave, with alternating levels of wood and stone. A 40-km trip from Lalibela followed by a 20-minute hike brings you to this beautiful church, the finest example of its kind in Ethiopia.

Second option, in case there is an issue to visit Yemrehene Christos.

In the afternoon drive to Genete Mariyam, 30 km northeast of the historic city of Lalibela is a small town known as Genete Mariam. No less historical, it is home to the famous Genete Mariam church, with wall writings indicating that King of Kings (Atse) Yikunnoamlak built it. The historical importance of this is in its potential to yield answers to various questions about the end of the so-called Zagwe and the emergence of the Solomonic dynasty.

Day 6: Lalibela, Mezena Resort

Breakfast at the hotel and early start of the visits in the town. Lalibela is the jewel in the crown of Ethiopia, the most famous churches and the scene of so many major religious ceremonies. The churches are carved below ground level and ringed by trenches and courtyards and are arguably Ethiopian’s top most attraction. They are connected to each other by a tangled maze of tunnels and passages.

Among the churches, today we will visit Bete Amanuel a 36-foot-high monolith considered by art historians to be the finest and most precisely worked church in Lalibela, possibly because it was the private church of the royal family. Bete Markorios a cave church originally used for secular purposes and thought to be around 1,400 years old and Bete Giorgis the most majestic and best preserved of all Lalibela’s churches.

First, we will visit the first group of six churches lye in rock cradles, one behind the other: Bet Golgotha, Bet Mikael, Bet Mariam, Bet Meskel, Bet Denagel, and Bet Medhane Alem. Bete Medhane Alem, the largest, which is built like a Greek temple. In a corner are three empty graves symbolically dug for biblical patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

After, we will visit the remaining churches, belonging to the 2nd group, south of the Jordan River, comprising Bete Emanuel, Bete Mercurios, Bete Abba Libanos and Bet Gabriel-Rufa’e. Bete Emanuel’s elaborate exterior is much praised by art historians.

Finally, we will visit Bet Giyorgis, possibly the most elegant of all the Lalibela churches, lies somewhat isolated in the southwest part of the village on a sloping rock terrace. It can only be reached through a tunnel.

Go back to the lodge for a late lunch and freshen up before heading back to the church to attend the festivity.

In the afternoon, we will visit Asheton Mariam church. The church was first begun to be hewn by King Lalibela, and for an unknown reason, he left it unfinished, and later it was completed during the reign of King Ne’akuto Le’ab (1215-1255) and shares similar features with rock-hewn churches of Lalibela for it was hewn from a single solid rock.

Finally, we will enjoy a traditional coffee ceremony in local house on our return to the city.

Day 7: Lalibela / Addis Ababa (ET121 12:00-13:15), Golden Hotel

After breakfast at the hotel drive to St. Michel church to attend the morning mass and the return of the Tabot to the church after it went out with the others for Timket.

Then drive to the airport to catch a flight to Addis Ababa. On arrival in Addis Ababa have lunch at a restaurant before heading to the hotel. check in at the hotel for a free afternoon.

Dinner & accommodation at Golden Hotel

Note: Driving hours are for reference, and will largely depend on the number and duration of stops requested by passengers during the route.

T.M.B.: TOYOTA MINI BUS

Supplements: Domestic Flights (Addis Ababa – Bahir Dar // Gonder – Lalibela – Addis Ababa – Arba Minch // Jinka – Addis Ababa):

($900) Prices of domestic flights applicable to those who do not fly the international segment with Ethiopian Airlines.
($750) Prices of domestic flights applicable to those who fly the international segment with Ethiopian Airlines.

– All airfares are subject to change by the airline without prior notice.

Itinerary inclusions:

2 nights in Golden Tulip Hotel, Addis Ababa
2 nights at Gondar Hills Resort, Gondar
1 night at Sky Resort, Bahir Dar
2 nights ay Mezena Lodge, Lalibela
Full board throughout the tour, from breakfast on day 1 until farewell dinner on day 7
Local English guide throughout the program, including domestic flights
Vehicle for the North
All tickets for visits
City tour in Addis Abeba
Local guides
Boat Crossing on Lake Tana
Coffee Ceremony in Lalibela
Mineral wáter in the vehicles (2 bottles per person per day)
All applicable taxes

Itinerary exclusions:

International or domestic flights
Ethiopian Visa
Alcoholic beverages and drinks outside of meals (tea, coffee, soft drinks)
Payment for the use of video cameras and photographs
Porters
Tips
Personal expenses
Any item not included in the list of included in the price.

Know your seasons

Regular

Jan

Regular

Feb

Regular

Mar

Green

Apr

Regular

May

Regular

Jun

Regular

Jul

Regular

Aug

Regular

Sep

Green

Oct

Green

Nov

Regular

Dec

The “regular” or “dry” safari season in East Africa generally offers optimal game viewing due to reduced rainfall and vegetation, making it easier to spot wildlife. These months offer a balance between lower prices, fewer tourists, and decent game viewing.

Animals are concentrated around water, vegetation is low and sparse, and predators are circling. But at this time of year, the famous wildebeest migration is in Tanzania’s Serengeti, moving southwards following the end of year rains. Witness the Serengeti dramatic birthing season: it’s one of the best times to watch predator/prey interaction.

It’s green because it’s wet. This is the time of the ‘Long Rains’ and some of the more remote and wild reserves in East Africa are worth avoiding; accommodations may be closed anyway. Gorilla trekking becomes more difficult, and in Kenya and Tanzania’s reserves, wildlife tends to disperse across wider areas, making animals more difficult to see.

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