You will fly to Addis Ababa. Our guides and drivers will pick you up from the airport and transfer you to the hotel. Upon arrival, you will check in at the hotel and then make an excursion to visit part of the sightseeing of Addis Ababa including Merkato the biggest open market in Africa, and the hill of Addis Ababa Entoto mountains.

Main Destination: Addis Ababa (City)

Accommodation: Bluebird

Mid-range hotel

Meals & Drinks: Breakfast (Lunch & dinner not included)

 

In the morning, you will fly from Addis to Mekele and start the 3-day Danakil tour of Mekelle Volcano. You will drive from Mekelle to Dodom. You will start an early drive to Dodom (at the base of Erta Ale). You will leave after an early breakfast, possibly at 07:30 a.m. This may be one of the worst roads in the world. The 70km distance may take about 5 hours to pass through a changing landscape of solidified lava, rock, sand, and occasional palm-lined oasis.

You will have an early dinner around 5:00 p.m. and trek up to ErtaAle at 8:00 p.m. Camels transport all the camping materials and some food (sleeping materials like light mattresses and mats and water) to the rim of the volcano, where you’ll spend the night watching the action of the boiling lava. It is a shield volcano with a base diameter of 30 km and a 1km square caldera at its summit. ErtaAle contains the world’s only permanent lava lake. ErtaAle is 613 meters, with a lava lake, one of only five in the world, at the summit.

Main Destination: Danakil Depression (Highlight)

Accommodation: Budget camping

Meals & Drinks: All meals included

 

You will wake up early ErtaAle –Dodom and leave for Dodom you will reach the latest at 8.00 pm at the camp. After breakfast, you will have time to relax. Then, you will drive to HamadEla 100km. You will have a picnic lunch on the way to the shed of palm trees. You will reach HamadEla at 4:30 p.m., a better village with a total population of about 500 people. You will see lots of camel caravans and you will experience a sunset from the very shallow salt lake Assale.

Main Destination: Hamad Ela (Village)

Accommodation: Budget camping

Meals & Drinks: All meals included

 

You will enjoy a morning tour drive to Ragad (Asebo), the place where the locals are mining salt. 1,200 km2 (460 sq mi) the Afar Depression is covered by salt, and you will observe the breaking of the salt from the ground. Local people cut them into rectangular pieces and load them on camels. You will drive ahead to Dallol and visit the different landscapes formed by volcanic activity; Dallol + Lake Assale + salt Canon, camel caravans. You will follow up with camel caravans. You will drive back to Hamad Ela for lunch and proceed to Gheralta.

Main Destination: Danakil Depression (Highlight)

Accommodation: Gheralta Lodge

Mid-range lodge located in Tigray

Meals & Drinks: All meals included

 

You will drive andtTrek to Abune Yemata. Abune Yemata is a 4 km drive from Megab and a further 30 minutes’ walk will bring you to the foot of the perpendicular rock mountains of Guh. The scenery is breathtaking and the mountains resemble pillars reaching to the sky. The challenging and the only way to the church is footholds and handgrips in the rock face. Just before the entrance to the church, there is a narrow ledge carved into the cliff from which one can view a sheer drop of approximately 250m to 300m. In the afternoon, you will visit Mariam Korkoer and Daniel Koror churches and drive to Mekele for an overnight stay.

Main Destination: Gheralta Mountains (Mountain Range)

Accommodation: Axum Hotel

Mid-range hotel located in Addis Ababa (City)

Meals & Drinks: All meals included

 

In the morning after breakfast, you will fly to Lalibela at 10:00 a.m. Before the flight, you will visit Axum for 2 hours to see the obelisks, then fly to Labella. After arrival, you will start your tour of the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela, visiting the northwestern cluster of churches – Bet Medhane Alem, Bet Maryam, Bet Meskel, Bet Danaghel, Bet Mikael, and Bet Golgotha (entry not permitted for women). After lunch, you will continue with the southeastern cluster of churches – Bet Gabriel-Rufael, Bet Merkorios, Bet Amanual, and Bet Abba Libanos. Finally, you will visit the most famous of all the churches – Bet Giyorgis, constructed in honor of the patron saint of Ethiopia – Saint George.

Main Destination: Lalibela (Town)

Accommodation: Cliff Edge Hotel

Budget hotel located in Lalibela (Town)

Meals & Drinks: All meals included

 

After briefly settling in your hotel, you will explore the sites of Gondar, including a visit to the Royal Enclosure, with six castles and several other buildings. Additionally, you will visit Fasilidas’s Pool, still used for Timket celebrations today, Ras Gimb Palace Museum, and the Debre Birhan Selassie church, with the most famous ceiling in Ethiopia.

Main Destination: Gondar (City)

Accommodation: Gondar Plaza Hotel

Mid-range hotel located in Gondar (City)

Meals & Drinks: All meals included

Drinking water (Other drinks not included)

After your morning breakfast, you will drive to the Simien National Park. Spending one day in the Simien Mountains allows you to witness amazing views of the landscape, and potentially the opportunity to view the endemic Gelada baboons or the “bleeding heart baboon”. From Gondar, you will take a drive into Debark, pay park entry fees, and head straight into the park. The car will drop you off in Sankaber where you will take an easy kike to see Geech Abyss. Here you will find a spectacular waterfall, Jinbar Waterfall. After lunch, you will drive back to Gondar.

Main Destination: Simien Mountains National Park

Accommodation: Gondar Plaza Hotel

Mid-range hotel located 1-2hr drive from Simien Mountains NP

Meals & Drinks: All meals included

 

After breakfast, you will drive from Gondar to Baheradr which is around a 2-hours drive. After arrival, you will take a boat trip on Lake Tana to visit a selection of monasteries hidden on the islands and shores of this sacred lake. You will visit the Zege Peninsula, the monasteries of Azuwa Maryam and Ura Kidane Mehret, and the island monastery of Debre Maryam near the outlet of the Blue Nile River. In the afternoon, you will drive out to the Blue Nile Falls for a short hike in the area. You will finish the day with the sunset over the lake.

Main Destination: Bahir Dar (City)

Accommodation: Delano Hotel

Mid-range hotel located in Bahir Dar (City)

Meals & Drinks: All meals included

 

After the morning breakfast, you will fly to Addis, and in the afternoon, you will fly to Arba Minch to start the Omo Valley tour. Upon your arrival, you will be picked up from the airport and checked into the hotel. Then, you will start driving to Dorze village. You will drive from the fertile soils, across the dry plains until reaching Abra Minch known for its Ensete (false) bananas Arba Minch, meaning Forty Springs. It is a fertile fruit-producing valley. You will drive into the Chencha Mountains to visit a Dorze village. They are known for their fine weaving in wool and cotton (great shopping).

Main Destination: Arba Minch (City)

Accommodation: Paradise Lodge

Mid-range lodge located in Arba Minch (City)

Meals & Drinks: All meals included

 

In the morning, you will depart from Arba Minch to Turmi. On the way, you will pass through the village of Weyto (market day Saturday), which is home to the Tsemai tribe. Finally, you will proceed to Turmi, home of the Hamer tribe. In the afternoon, you will visit the Hamer village. At night, you can see the traditional night dancing of the Hamer tribe, known as evangelic.

Main Destination: Turmi (Lower Omo Valley)

Accommodation: Emerald Resort Arbaminch

Mid-range resort located in Arba Minch (City)

 

Meals & Drinks: All meals included

Drinking water (Other drinks not included)

On this day, you will travel out to the Dasanech people crossing the Omo River to visit the Dasanch trip. This evening, you will visit a Hamer Village near to our accommodation. The Hamer are fine-looking people taking great pride in their appearance. You will be driving across dry sandy plains to Key Afar then into more fertile rolling hills to the small town of Jinka. You will visit a small museum which gives valuable insight into some tribal customs then take an optional walk down to the town meeting the people on the way, before driving out to your accommodation.

Main Destination: Jinka (Lower Omo Valley)

Accommodation: Eco Omo Lodge

Mid-range lodge located in Jinka (Lower Omo Valley)

Meals & Drinks: All meals included

 

In the morning, you will drive through the Mago National Park to a local village of the Mursi tribe. The Mursi are known for their lower lip and earlobe plates. In the afternoon, after returning to Jinka, you will visit the South Omo Museum & Research Center to learn more about the local tribes. Alternatively, you can take a hike in the surrounding hills to visit a local Ari village.

Main Destination: Jinka (Lower Omo Valley)

Accommodation: Eco Omo Lodge

Mid-range lodge located in Jinka (Lower Omo Valley)

Meals & Drinks: All meals included

Drinking water (Other drinks not included)

After breakfast, you will depart from Jinka to Arba Minch via Key Afar and Konso. Thursday is market day in Key Afar, where you will see the Benna and Tsemai tribes trading goods. This is another very popular market in the region. After the visit, you will proceed to Konso (market days are Mondays and Thursdays). The Konso people are known for their wooden statues, known as wakas, which are erected in honor of dead heroes as well as their innovative agricultural terracing. Today you will have a brief opportunity to visit a local village and the cultural museum displaying many waka statues. After the visit, you will proceed to drive to Arba Minch.

Main Destination: Arba Minch (City)

Accommodation: Paradise Lodge

Mid-range lodge located in Arba Minch (City)

Meals & Drinks: All meals included

Drinking water (Other drinks not included)

In the morning, you will take a boat trip to Lake Chamo to visit the crocodiles and hippos. Lake Chamo is a lake in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Region of southern Ethiopia. Located in the Main Ethiopian Rift, it is at an elevation of 1,110 meters. The Chamo Lake is just to the south of Lake Abaya and the city of Arba Minch, east of the Guge Mountains, and west of the Amaro Mountains. After lunch, you will be transferred to the airport and for a flight back to Addis Ababa.

Main Destination: Addis Ababa (City)

Accommodation: No accommodation

End of 15 Days Ethiopia Safari