Ethiopia North and South Combined- Everything between these extrems

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.

The Red Terror Museum is on Bole Road, right before Meskel Square. It was finished early last year (2010) and contains some pretty horrible but very interesting artifacts from the communist Derg regime which lasted from 1974 to 1991. There’s no entrance fee, but there is a donation box as you leave. Guides who wander throughout the museum provide insight and are awesome at answering any questions you have. Unlike the other museums they are not students who hound you for a tip at the end, rather they are older men who are proficient in English and it feels like they are really there to explain things to you, not for money.

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 7:00amm, 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.

Drive from Gondar to Debark. Here we obtain a permit from the Park headquarters and collect our obligatory scout before continuing to Sankabar (3250m ASL) for the first overnight camp. An early start is needed as the drive from Gondar takes a 2-3 hours. The trek begins at Buytras (Simien Lodge), taking about 3 – 4 hours to walk to the Sankabar campsite is usually possible. During the walk there’s a good chance of seeing your first Gelada baboons.

In the morning of day 2, we will walk to Geech via the spectacular Jinbar waterfall. The trek will take approximately 5 – 7 hours. After descending down to the Jinbar Wenz (which feeds the waterfall) a short ascent remains to Geech village. A short distance beyond Geech village is the camp site. The camp site has great views of the mountains and is characterized by giant lobelia plants. The nearby Kedadit summit provides one of the best places to see the sun set. The camp site is situated at 3600m ASL.

We trek from Geech to the Imet Gogo promontory, for one of the most spectacular views in the whole mountain range. This is a great day for seeing the magnificent Lammergeier vultures. From Imet Gogo we trek back to the road near a village called Ambaras and meet the car for the drive back to Gondar. The trek will last approximately 4-5 hours.

Wake Up early morning transfer to the airport, the flight usually departs from Gondar morning at 9:30am and arrive to Lalibela at 10:10am. Upon your arrival to Lalibela, you will be picked up by our agent transferred to hotel and have few hours visit to the first group of Lalibela Churches. This day, visit the first group of Lalibela Churches which are located north of a small stream named Jordan River. These Churches were carved during the time of King Lalibela (1181 – 1221) and are registered by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. . Overnight Lalibela Lodge

After breakfast, trek down from the Lodge and start visiting the second part 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.

After lunch, visit the second and third group of churches of Lalibela. This day, you will also visit Asheton MARYAM After the visit, you will trek up to the Beautiful Hudad Eco Lodge which is 2 hours away from the main City. .Overnight Lalibela Hudad Eco 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).

This day we will meet you at the town of Semera airport then we will drive to danakil depression. We start early drive to lake Afdera(a salt lake that is located in the heart of Danakil Depressions and in this lake you may a chance of the natural hot springs then later you had a

swimming around this lake we will be driving to Dodom (at the base of Erta Ale). Leave after lunch, possible at 01:30. After you pass several small hamlets scattered here and there in this desert land, Dodom is about 9.5km from Erta Ale and it takes about 1 hrs  trekking.  Early  dinner  around 17:00, Camels transport all the camping materials and some food (sleeping materials like light mattresses and mat and water) to the rim of the volcano, where we spend the night watching the dramatic action of the boiling lava. Danakil

depression (dallol and Erta Ale) ranks one of the most alluring and physically challenging natural attractions anywhere in Ethiopia. It is a shield volcano with a base diameter of 30 km and 1km square caldera at its summit. Erta Ale contains the world’s only permanent lava lake. Erta Ale is 613 meters, with a lava lake, one of only five in the world, at the summit. It is notable for being the longest existing lava lake, present since the early years of the twentieth century. O/n camping on the mountain

This day after an early breakfast we will drive to HamadEla 04:30, better village with a total population about 500 people. You will see lots of camel caravans and you will have the sun set look from the very shallow salt lake Assale.

Morning tour Drive to Ragad (Asebo), the place where the localities are mining salt. 1,200 km2 (460 sq mi) the Afar Depression is covered by salt, and you will Look the activity of breaking the salt from the ground, local people are cutting in to rectangular pieces and loading on camels. You drive ahead to Dallol and visit the difference landscape formed by volcanic activity; Dallol + Lake Assale + salt canon, camel caravans, follow up camel caravans

Overnight Camping 

This day you may have another chance to see the beautiful of sun rise in lake Afdera then after breakfast we will drive to the town of semera and drop you at the airport for your departure

Early morning you will rise with the sun with time to walk around pits and craters. The main pit-crater, 200 m deep and 350 m across, is sub-circular and three storied. The smaller southern pit is 65 m wide and about 100 m deep. You will leave around 7:00 to head back to Dodom for breakfast. You will reach latest at 10:30 am at the camp and after some time to relax you will drive on to Hamad Ela, a village with a total population about 500 people. Over night camping at Hamed Ela.

Morning driving tour to Ragad (Asebo), the place where the salts are mined. Observe the breaking of the salt from the ground, cutting into rectangular pieces and loading on camels. You drive ahead to Dallol and visit the difference landscape formed by volcanic activity, Dallol + Lake Assal + camel caravans. Excursion to Dallol (116 meter below sea level, one of the lowest places in the world) colorful salts mining, visit Lake Assal, follow up camel caravans and walk with the Afar people. Drive back to Hamedela and proceed to Mekele.

Same day, you can fly back to Addis from Mekele by the flight departing from Mekele at 7:50pm and arrive to Addis at 9:10pm. Overnight Sidra Hotel.

Depart south from Addis Ababa via Butajira. On the way you will visit the archeological sites of Tiya (ancient stelae field and UNESCO World Heritage Site), Adadi Maryam (a rock-hewn church similar to those in Lalibela) and Melka Kunture (pre-historic tool-making site). Final destination for the day is Arba Minch. Overnight Paradise Lodge

In the morning, depart to for a boat trip on Lake Chamo to visit the “crocodile market”, and the local hippos. Afterwards, depart from Arba Minch to Turmi. On the way you will pass through the village of Weyto (market daySaturday), which is home to the Tsemai tribe. Continue through the Weyto Valley to Erbore, where you will have a brief visit to a local Erbore village (market day is Saturday). Finally, proceed to Turmi, home of the Hamer tribe. At night, you can see the traditional night dancing of the Hamer tribe, known as evangadi. Overnight in Turmi Lodge.

This day we travel out to the Karo people at Kolcho village on the banks of the Omo river The Karo people excel in traditional body painting. This evening we visit a Hamer Village near to our accommodation. The Hamer are fine looking people taking great pride in their appearance – the women, with their red dyed plaited hair wear leather skirts decorated with shells, are beautiful. Each Hamer village is amazingly still free from western influences and non-organic materials. Their homes are constructed entirely of local materials, mud, wood and thatch. Each village consists of a single extended family unit of approximately 10-15 huts in close proximity around which daily life rotates. Overnight Turmi, Turmi Lodge.

Driving across dry sandy plains to Key Afar then into more fertile rolling hills to the small town of Jinka. We 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 our accommodation. Tonight’s accommodation is at an Jinka resort.

After breakfast, 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, 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, proceed driving to Arba Minch. Overnight in Arba Minch Ezana Hotel.

Early start today as we 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. Drive into the Chencha mountains tovisit a Dorze village. Noted for their fine weaving in wool and cot-ton (great shopping). Their distinctive thatched homes are tall and beehive shaped, we will be able to visit a home and see some weaving, also a demonstration of the many uses of the “false” banana. After a picnic lunch we drive to Lake Chamo and take a boat trip in search of the enormous crocodiles and possibly even Hippopotamus before returning to the air port. Fly back to Addis.

This night, there is farewell dinner arranged in the traditional restaurant. You will enjoy Ethiopian food and cultural dances to have the last amazing memory in the beautiful Ethiopia. Overnight Sidra Hotel.

This day, you can have shopping tour in Addis to buy some gifts for your parents and relatives when you go back to Israel.

After you finish the shoping, we will drop you back to the airport for your flight check-in time.

END OF THE TOUR