6 Days North by Flight

Arrival to Addis Ababa and city tour of Addis

The National Museum

It is the repository of an assortment of archeological and cultural artifacts of the country. Here one can view Lucy (Dinknesh) 3.2 million years old, the most famous hominid skeleton, discovered in 1974 at the place called Hadar.

This was a discovery, which has given rise to the theory that Ethiopia is the Cradle of Humankind.

Ethnographic Museum

This is the museum where you will have the chance to see the traditional artifacts of various types that show the lifestyles of the different Ethiopian major ethnic groups. This is located in Addis Ababa University main campus and run by the Institute of Ethiopian studies.

The Natural History Museum

This is located in Addis Ababa University Arat Kilo campus. Here you will be able to see the wealth of flora and fauna of Ethiopia.

The other museum is the Addis Ababa city museum. Here the old and new Addis Ababa and its ups and downs are depicted at different sections in various and attractive ways.

Apart from these secular museums, there are plenty of museums owned by churches. Despite these, there is a lot to see while you are in Addis – many monuments that have great historical significance, churches, galleries and other place of interest. Addis Ababa is an eventful city where one should get around and see.

Trinity Cathedral

A beautiful church with a baroque style of European architecture, which is unique to both Ethiopia and Africa and is dedicated to the Holly Trinity. Here you will find scripts of the imperial families, statues done by a Greek sculpture, Stained glass window paintings from the Old and New Testament in the Bible and coffins of Emperor Haile Silassie-I; the founder of the church, and his wife.

Merkato

It is the largest open-air market in Africa. Here you will be presented with confusing, but fascinating, glimpse of the vast range of goods and artifacts available from all parts of the country and you will enjoy the Ethiopian trade exchange tradition in the open air, you can purchase anything you desire here.

Mount Entoto-Top View of Addis

It is the highest pick in Addis with an altitude of 3200 meters, which was the site for the first palace of Emperor Menelik-II, the founder of Addis Ababa. Here there is St. Mary church, where Emperor Menelik crowned as Emperor in it and you will admire the panoramic view of the city with its surrounding forests and the breath taking air.

Overnight Sidra Hotel.

Wake up early in the morning between 7:00am to 7:30am. The driving hour is bout 7-8 hours, so it is better to start morning. en route enjoys visiting the 13th century Debrelibanose monastery and the magnificent Blue Nile Gorge. After check in to the hotel, you can walk around the Lake City of Bahir Dar visit all worthy places in the City. Overnight Bete Daniel Hotel.

In the morning(after noon the tide makes the boat trip difficult), take a boat trip on Lake Tana to visit the island monasteries, , such as those on the Zege Peninsula and Kibran Gabriel (not allowed for women and many other thousand years monasteries- about 3-4 Churches on Lake Tana.

After lunch, start your tour with Blue Nile falls visit. About 30 km after Blue Nile falls exits Lake Tana, plunges over a 45 m high rock face to form one of Africa’s most spectacular waterfalls. Lake Tana , with the surface area of 3673 sq km, is the largest lake in Ethiopia . Besides being the source of the Blue Nile, Lake Tana is renowned for its varied birdlife as well as housing on its islands and peninsulas more than 20 monastic churches most of which were founded in or before the 15 the century, and are still in service today.

Overnight Bete Daniel Hotel.

Wake up morning at 7:00am, have breakfast and depart to Gondar at 8:00am. Driving to Gondar and the drive takes about 3 hours. Upon arrival, check-in to the hotel and start the day with the City tour of Gondar.

The city was founded by Emperor Fasilidas in the 17th century and remained the capital of Ethiopia for the next two centuries. It’s known for its many medieval castles and the design and decoration of its churches. Among the dozen edifices found on the precinct of the royal compound the earliest of the castles was created by Fasilidas himself and is still in such an excellent state of repair that it is still possible climb its stairs all the way to the roof which commands a breathtaking view over much of the city. The City tour of Gondar includes Debre Berehan selase, The Ethiopian Origin jewish Community Village The Fsail Spa,Gusquam and other worthy places in addition to the Fasildas Castel.

Overnight Florida Hotel.

We depart early from the historical town of Gondar and drive around 2.5 hours on a tarred, comfortable road to Debark where we get permission to enter Simien National Park at the park head office. We then drive 22km further to the Simien Lodge, within the national park. From here we walk about 2 or 3 hours, stopping often to admire the amazing views of the escarpment, take photos and see the friendly gelada baboons then drive back to Gondar.

Overnight Florida Hotel.

The flight takes only 30 minutes, after picked up from airport check-in to hotel and start the visit of Lalibela Churches. Have a excursion trip to the cave-built up church of Ne’akuto Le’ab (13th Century AD) which is famous for its wide collection of ancient crosses, manuscripts and icons. If this day is Saturday, spare some time at the interesting weekly market of Lalibela.

Overnight Lalibela Lodge

In the city of Lalibela you will see about Eleven Rock Churches organized in to groups of three.

• Biete Medhane Alem
• Biete Maryam
• Biete Golgotha Mikael
• Biete Maskal (House of the Cross)
• Biete Denagel (House of Virgins)
• Biete Giyorgis
• Biete Amanuel
• Biete Qeddus Mercoreus
• Biete Abba Libanos (House of Abbot Libanos)
• Biete Gabriel-Rufael
• Biete Lehem (Bethlehem Hebrew: בֵּית לֶחֶם, House of Holy Bread).