Day One: Arrival in Addis Ababa
When you arrive at the airport, the guide will pick you up and take you to the hotel for the overnight. But if you arrive early, you can go for the city tour. You can visit the National Museum, where you’ll find the remains of “Lucy’, and the Ethnographic Museum, set within the beautiful gardens of Haile Selassie’s former palace.
Day Two: Bahir Dar
This morning, we will take a flight to Bahir Dar. Bahir Dar is located on the southern shore of Lake Tana, the source of the Blue Nile with numerous churches and monasteries. Many of these monasteries are believed to date back to the 13th and 14th centuries, and feature superb ecclesiastical art. Legend has it that the Ark of Covenant was hidden here for protection during the times when Muslim forces invaded the ancient capital Axum. In the afternoon, go for the board cruise on lake Tana. Your boat trip will take you to the monastery of Ura-Kidane Mehret, which dates from between the 16th and 18th centuries. It is renowned for its collection of crosses and crowns, and its incredible painted walls. The boat returns to your hotel via the source of the Blue section of the Nile.
Day Three: Bahir Dar
Today, you will go for the Blue Nile Falls which is located south of Bahir Dar, the Blue Nile Falls measure over 400 metres wide and 48 metres deep in full flood. These falls are known locally as Tis Isat (Smoking Water) and are a spectacular sight when the water’s high. You can take a longer scenic walk past the main viewpoint or a shorter walk to reach the foot of the falls. Then later visit the open air market.
Day Four: Gondar
After your breakfast, you will drive to city of Gondar. Gondar was the capital of Ethiopia through the 17th and 18th centuries, and is famed for its castles and churches. The city’s unique Royal Enclosure is a World Heritage site and home to dramatic, Emperor-built castles in Africa. Visit the church of Debre Berhan Selassie, one of the finest in Ethiopia with walls and ceilings covered in stunning murals of angels.
Day Five: Gondar
You will explore more the streets of Gondar. Visit the markets. In the afternoon enjoy a Ethiopian cooking demonstration. Head to the market to gain fresh ingredients, then learn how to make traditional Ethiopian cuisine, such a wot, the national dish, and injera, the staple bread of Ethiopians.
Day Six: Simien Mountains National Park
Take you breakfast and drive to the Simien Mountain National Park. Explore the spectacular mountain scenery including viewing Ethiopia’s highest point – Ras Dejen (4550 metres). When you enter the park ,you will hike and drive along the escarpment up to Sankaber Camp. Look out for the Gelada baboons, which are only found in Ethiopia and have a shaggy coat with a red patch on their chest, hence being known as the ‘bleeding heart baboon.
Day Seven: Axum
Depart Simien Mountains and head for Aksum. Along the way stop at one of the farming villages to visit a farming family and learn of their traditional farming techniques. Aksum was once the capital of the Kingdom of Aksum, Africa’s oldest empire, which exsisted from around AD100 to AD900. It was at the centre of a trading route that stretched from Egypt all the way to India and grew to be one of the most powerful kingdoms in the ancient world.
Day Eight: Axum
On this day, you will visit the historical sites of Aksum. Visit the stele fields, several tombs, the ruins of the Queen of Sheba’s palace and an archaeological museum. The field has over 100 stele – the largest one measuring 33 metres and weighing an incredible 517 tones.
Stele are carved from a single piece of granite and their scale reflects how important Axum once was, and they were probably transported by elephants from a nearby quarry. The mausoleums in this area include the tombs of King Kaleb and Gebre Meskel, while the archaeological museum, St Mary of Zion Church, the first built in sub-Saharan Africa. This holds the crowns of various former Ethiopian emperors and is even said to house the Ark of the Covenant.
In the evening, you will go for the traditional coffee ceremony in a family home. The Ethiopian coffee ceremony is an important part of Ethiopian culture and considered to be the most important social occasion among Ethiopians.
Day Nine: Mekele
Drive from Axum to Mekele, and look out for the spectacular Adwa Mountains and the battlefield of Adwa, where the Ethiopians defeated the Italians in 1896. Stop to visit the Pre-Christian Temple of Yeha and the have lunch at Adigrat. Yeha is thought to have been Ethiopia’s first capital and the temple has been dated to around the 6th century BC. After lunch, drive to Mekele.
Day Ten: Lalibela
Get the breakfast and head to Lalibela. It involves climbing on winding roads along steep hills and evergreen lush valleys up to the Delanta Plateau.
Day Eleven: Lalibela
This is an exciting day, you will visit Lalibela’s amazing churches. The Northern Group contains seven churches, a tomb, a chapel and a sunken chapel. At the centre of the group is Bet Medhane Alem, measuring 33.5 metres by 23.5 metres and said to be the largest rock-hewn church in the world. A tunnel connects three of the churches in a courtyard to the east, whilst another tunnel connects two other churches to the west of Bet Medhane Alem. However it is Bet Giyorgis (St George’s), carved in the form of a Greek cross and lying slightly apart from the main northern cluster, which is the most famous and frequently photographed. This church is exceptionally well-preserved and is probably the most visually perfect. The Eastern group of five churches includes the only hypogeous church, where only the roof remains attached to the overhead rock.
Day Twelve: Lalibela
Today, we will hike to the rock church of Asheten Mariam, which sits on the 3,150-metre-high Abune Josef mountain that overlooks Lalibela. You will hike for 2.5 hours to the summit, where the church is carved out of a cleft into the cliff face. The monastery houses ancient parchments and crosses, but the real treasure is the setting and the view. Descend the mountain and return to the hotel for lunch. This afternoon is free to relax. This evening you will enjoy a special dinner at Ben Ababa open air restaurant.
Day Thirteen: Lalibela
After yor breakfast, the guide will transfer you to connect to your international flight back home.
Trip Includes
Lake Tana – Boat Cruise
Bahir Dar – Blue Nile Falls
Gondar – Market Visit & Cooking Demonstration
Simien Mountains National Park – Hike
Axum – Yeha Temple
Lalibela – Morning & Afternoon Churches Tour
Lalibela – Asheten Mariam H