- I visited some parts of north Ethiopia all by road (plenty of hours in the car but worth it in my opinion) with my couple and two friends (I am looking forward to have the opportunity to visit the Southern part)
- Some areas amazed us (Erta Ale, Dallol or Gheralta) and most locals were particularly kind-hearted
- In general I do not like guided trips: however sadly as of 2018 foreigners non resident are not allowed to drive within the country plus accidents on the road are very frequent, so we had to hire a local driver in 4x4
- We planned our desired trip, contacted him, and he was very helpful with knowledge of roads, hotels, restaurants, etc... Let me recommend him (in red) as he was very honest, safe, punctual, flexible, helpful, very friendly and his price was very reasonable: (facebook JOSI YOSI, email
local number +251911766474)
- Humble accomodation during the trip was very cheap, at a maximum €10 per person per night
- a) Gheralta
- b) Erta Ale - Lake Afrera - Dallol
- c) Lalibela
- d) Bahir Dar - Blue Nile Falls
- As soon as we landed in Addis Abeba (its meaning is "new flower"), Josi picked us up and we drove the first day and a half (approx 15h) to our first stop
- In Gheralta we did two great trekking in order to visit hidden churches, best ones of this trip in our opinion even nicer than Lalibela (most followed religion in Ethiopia is Orthodoxy)
- Before detailing the visit, I have to say we needed a local guide (around €20) plus a fee of €5 per person to enter each church
- First visit was Abune Yemata, what meant a 2.5h trek
- Views of the valley are beautiful during the whole walk
- After the first hour, we reached a wall of rock which we had to climb barefoot
- In the area you can even find remaining parts of human bodies buried several decades ago
- And after a few more minutes, where nobody could expect it, there is a hidden church around the corner
- Abune Yemata was quarried from the rock in the 5th century AD and its location, paintings and ancient books are really impressive
- Secondly we visited the churches Maryam Korkor and Daniel Korkor, another 3h trek and again, €5 per person
- This walk is a bit longer but easier, so more tourists were nearby
- Views are even more impressive
- However, these churches, also carved from the rock several centuries ago, are not as incredible as Abune Yemata in my opinion
- A monk living in the area and willing to receive a small tip, opened both churches to us, firstly Maryam Korkor
- and then, Daniel Korkor
- We were very pleased and surprised with the first part of the trip, really worth it
b) Erta Ale - Lake Afrera - Dallol
- We drove to Mekele to start a 3-day tour that Josi helped us organizing (Erta Ale, Lake Afrera & Dallol), as this area is not allowed to be visited without an agency and military support
- We paid $300 per person and it was one of the best tours I have ever done in my life
- This visit to the Danakil depression in the Afar Region entails a very delicate region which is controlled by the military (the area is near the border with Eritrea, which was the same country as Ethiopia in the past, and there has been an ongoing conflict since 1995)
- Apart from military support, the tour included 4x4, guide, meals and humble accommodation, great deal in my opinion
- Information online is a bit confusing and there are people who have paid much more; also some tourists take the 4-day option for an extra $100 but apparently is not worth it as they see basically the same but waking up a bit later and having an extra dinner
- First day we left by 9:30 and we had several stops (toilet, photos, lunch...)
- We reach by a military camp around 4pm, where we had some rest and dinner
- By 7pm we started a 3h trek till Erta Ale crater
- Guides insist on going all together 1 by 1 (eventually in 2017 a German tourist was shot dead but it was the first incident in a few years and I did not feel scared at any time) and the walk is a bit tiring all in the dark with a torch but the surprise at the top is magnificent
- Reaching the top we started feeling the anxiety of getting closer but we could not expect something as incredible...
- To my surprise, we were allowed to have a look right into the crater and we observed during a few minutes a river of fire, one of the most incredible experiences of my life! (apparently there are only 6 safe places in the world where you can enjoy lava flow)
- Only for this visit the trip was worth it, but still there was much more...
- We slept at 200m from the crater for a few hours and around 6am we went down again
- Second day we had a quick stop in Lake Afrera, kind of the Dead Sea of Ethiopia, where we could enjoy a floating bath plus a small hotspring
- We spent that evening and night in Abala and even if it is not touristic I spent there probably the happiest time of our trip with the local kids even if at first they asked for some biscuits or pens
- This cute girl showed me how her mum was cooking injara, the most typical Ethiopian food, which is a sour bread rich in iron which accompanies any vegetarian or meat plate in their cuisine
- I bought a very simple football for the kids and we organized a football game in the middle of the road, with a few stones as goals, plenty of stones on ground, cars and tuk-tuk passing eventually... for sure the best memory I have of this trip regardless of the amazing sights we saw
- Somehow we became friends for a short time and one of the kids even brought me a piece of delicious sugar cane that his mum used to sell. Later I bought some more but I will not forget the detail
- Third day we woke up very early as the agenda was busy and delightful again
- We visited Dallol, where we had several stops:
- The most impressive area were at the sulphur pools
- Apparently there is lot of potasium and iron in the area and together with volcano eruption these pools are formed in different locations lasting around a month
- Then we briefly visited what they called "New York City", a cave which broke into two sides with a river crossing in between during rainy periods
- During the day we visited other natural pools and incredible areas where you think of being in a different planet
- Last visit of the tour was to the salt flats (similar to Uyuni in Bolivia) nearby
- You literally drive over salt roads and there is a huge beautiful lake in the area
- The sad part of this area is the business of salt exploitation
- Companies exploit people for only $5-$7 a day (they have even to bring their own food), workers who continuously hit the floor in order to obtain big pieces of salt and then polish them in order to be sold
- Later on, up to 150kg of salt are loaded on camels who travel during a week to Mekele, where the salt is finally sold
- During our visit we had the chance to share some tea with them and provide them some water as their conditions are not human... agaré!
- The tour dropped us back in Mekele and we where delighted with it, clearly the highlight of the trip
- We continued our long drive till Lalibela, where we were received by a beautiful sunset
- In Lalibela we visited a series of twelve churches (11+1) carved within the rock from 12th and 13th centuries
- The history of Lalibela is impressive, however the price of $50 per person (plus $20 for the guide) is very excessive and you feel they are ripping you off because of its UNESCO recognition
- I honestly enjoyed the churches in Gheralta more
- Anyway, there are two restaurants which are recommended within this rural town: one is Ben Abeba, offering spectacular views; and the other, even better, is a local restaurant with simple food but local live music and dances after 8pm called Torpedo which we loved)
- I would not spend more than a day in Lalibela
- Another long journey in the car lead as to Bahin Dar, where we enjoyed Blue Nile Falls and Tana Lake
- Blue Nile Falls are just 1h far from Bahir Dar, and they charge a €3 fee per person
- Even if Josi recommended a local guide to walk around (around $20) we preferred to go without him and it was actually very easy and recommended
- An interesting fact I learnt in this trip is that Blue Nile River starts in Tana Lake in Ethiopia while White Nile River starts in Victoria Lake (Uganda-Kenya-Tanzania) and both merge in Khartoum (Sudan), reaching Egypt
- Anyway, we did a beautiful 1h trekking where we crossed the Blue Nile River a few times
- We found our way till the waterfalls very easily and even if it was not the rainy season, still the falls were nice
- Instead of coming back from the same side we took a 1 minute boat ($1 per person) on the other side
- Back in Bahir Dar we took a 3h boat tour around the lake ($30 for our group) to visit another church, Ura Kidane, from the 16th century, the only one in the lake which allows both men and women visitors (€3 per person)
- The boat droped let us one hour to explore the remote area, very green and beautiful but full of souvenirs stands
- Its paintings (not fresco) are very colourful but we were a bit tired of seeing churches
- At the end of the boat ride we were taken a few minutes to enjoy hippos in the water, but they were very "shy"
- During the rmaining time in Bahir we enjoyed the first fish of the trip, natural fruit juices and playing pool
- Still we had to return to Addis Ababa (over 10h drive) and we spent last few hours visiting Sholla local market, a big mess with great fruit and vegetables apart from clothes, electronics etc
- Clearly Ethiopia surprised me, I saw some spectacular places, some of them very unique, and Ethiopian people gave me a really good impression
- As I said at the beginning, I hope I can visit the tribes and villages in Southern Ethiopia in the future
