10days/9nights Â
Tour code:WET03
A journey into the history and traditions of Coptic Ethiopia, visiting churches, castles and palaces that narrate a thousand-year-old culture: the rock churches of Tigray, the steles of Axum, the islands with their monasteries of Lake Tana and Lalibela, the Jerusalem of Africa with its eleven monolithic churches carved into the rock. The journey develops on the plateau at an altitude of 1850-3200 meters above sea level. The trip is aimed at experienced travelers, people who do not consider comfort a priority but who seek cultural deepening, contact with uncontaminated nature and ancient cultures.
TOUR PROGRAM
1st day ADDIS ABEBA
Arrival in the morning in the capital of Ethiopia, meeting with the staff of WUBITU ETHIOPIA and transfer to the hotel for a short rest and then start of the city tour. Visit to the National Museum, which houses the fossil remains of Lucy, an ancient hominid ancestor who lived 3.5 million years ago and the Ethnographic Museum which has a splendid collection of musical instruments and Coptic crosses, as well as the rooms where Emperor Haile Sellase lived. Lunch during the excursion. In the afternoon visit to the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity and finally we will reach the hill of Entotò, the most panoramic point of the city. Flight to Bahir Dar.
Dinner and accommodation at the Jacaranda Hotel or similar
2nd day ADDIS ABEBA â BAHIR DAR (flight)
In the morning trip to the Blue Nile Falls. The falls also called âTis Isatâ, smoking water in Amharic, have been reduced for several years due to a diversion that feeds a power plant. Return to Bahir Dar for lunch and in the afternoon boat trip to the Zeghiè peninsula where we will walk through the coffee plantations. We will visit the church of Azwa Mariam, 10 minutes from the lake, and with a 30-minute walk the beautiful church of Ura Kidane MÄhret. The circular churches are from the Gondarian period and the walls that protect the Sancta Sanctorum are decorated with paintings that represent a compendium of Ethiopian religious iconography.
Dinner and accommodation at the Jacaranda Hotel or similar
3rd day BAHIR DAR – GONDAR
(175 km, about 3 hours – times do not take into account stops for visits and lunch)
After breakfast, departure for Gondar and arrival scheduled for lunch. The whole afternoon will be dedicated to visiting the city which is famous for the remains of the seventeenth-century castles enclosed in the fence of the imperial quarter. Continue with a visit to the renowned Debre Berhan Sillassie church, famous for its ceiling decorated with angels; the baths of Fasilidas, on whose perimeter stand centuries-old trees; the monastic complex of Kusquam, where the wise empress Mentiwab, friend of the Scottish explorer James Bruce, retreated. Finally, visit (Light of Trinity).
Dinner and accommodation at the Goha Hotel or similar
4th day GONDAR â SIMIEN MOUNTAINS
(120 km, approximately 2.30 hours – times do not take into account stops for visits and lunch)
After breakfast, departure for the Simien Mountains National Park. Upon arrival, you will take a walk near Sankaber to admire the splendid breathtaking views of the Tekkeze valley and the numerous colonies of Gelada monkeys. Packed lunch. After lunch, continue to reach the Jimbar waterfall, a unique 550 m jump that comes out of the rock and disappears into the ravine below.
The Simien Mountains Park, âNorthâ in Amharic, is a huge volcanic massif eroded over millions of years by rain and rivers. A succession of pinnacles, peaks, canyons, gorges and crevasses, horn-shaped and eagle-beaked mountains, on the peaks and plateaus that extend between 3000 and 4000 meters. This landscape is dotted with Afro-Alpine vegetation, unique with many endemic plants. In addition, the park is home to a particular and unique fauna, for example the mountain Nyala Ibex, the Gelada monkey, the Ethiopian red wolf.
Dinner and accommodation at the Simien Lodge or similar.
5th day SIMIEN MOUNTAINS – AXUM
(280 Km, about 6 hours – times do not take into account stops for visits and lunch)
After breakfast, walk on the ridges to see the views of the Tekkezè valley at dawn, then continue along a beautiful panoramic road built by the Italians during the occupation period. The road descends until it crosses the Tekkezè river, one of the largest rivers in Ethiopia. Arrival in Axum and transfer to the hotel. Packed lunch. Dinner and accommodation at the Sabean Hotel or similar.
6th day AXUM – GHERALTA
(210 km, approximately 5 hours – times do not take into account stops, visits and lunch)
After breakfast, the morning is dedicated to visiting the city.
Axum, a city that according to the legends narrated in the Kibre Negest (the Book of Kings) in the 10th century BC was the place of residence of the mythical Queen of Sheba, is also the site where the son of the queen and King Solomon brought the Ark of the Covenant, which is still kept in a sanctuary today. This city was the capital of the long Axumite kingdom, one of the oldest African kingdoms and represented a fundamental crossroads between Asia and Africa for almost a thousand years. In the archaeological area you will visit: the steles, granite monoliths from the pre-Christian era decorated with symbolic engravings; the necropolis of kings Caleb and Ghebremeskel, where their twin tombs are located and the museum, which houses a collection of inscriptions in Geâez and Sabaean languages, some dating back 2500 years. Finally, the Bath of the Queen of Sheba, a large pool, not used for bathing but only as a water resource. Lunch in a restaurant.
In the afternoon, departure for Hawzien. The journey continues along the main road to Adwa, a famous place in the Italian colonial war. Before arriving in AdĂŹgrat, we stop at the village Yeha, to visit the remains of the temple of the Moon, built in the eighth century BC by the Ethio-Sabenao kingdom of Dâmat and subsequently used as a basilica.
Dinner and accommodation at the Gheralta lodge or similar
7th day GHERALTA – MEKELĂ
(100 km, about 2 hours – times do not take into account stops, visits and lunch)
After breakfast, day dedicated to visiting some churches of the Amba Gheralta. The churches carved into the walls of the Ambe can be reached with paths of varying difficulty. One of the most beautiful and easy to access is Mariam Papaseyti, reachable with a 15-minute walk hidden in a natural quarry covered by an oasis of palm trees. Lunch at the Lodge and in the afternoon visit, along the road to Mekelè, the church dedicated to the first two Christian emperors of the 4th century, Abreha and Atsbeha.
Dinner and accommodation at Desta Hotel or similar
(the church visited in the morning depends on the customers, it is possible to see instead of Mariam Papaseyti the church of Mariam and Daniel Korkor (about 2 hours of fairly steep climb along a canyon and 1.30 downhill) or the church of Debre Tsion (about 50 minutes of walking uphill)
8th day MEKELĂ – LALIBELA
(360 km, about 8 hours – the times do not take into account stops for visits and lunch)
After breakfast our journey continues to Lalibela along a road that passes by famous places of Italian colonial history. Packed lunch. Arrival in the late afternoon.
Dinner and accommodation at Harbe Hotel or similar
9th day LALIBELA
After breakfast the morning is dedicated to visiting the complex of rock churches, extraordinary monolithic works cut into the rock and connected by a maze of tunnels, built during the reign of King Lalibela and the other rulers of the Zagwe dynasty, in XII century. The mighty church of Beta Medhane Alem, the small and more frescoed Beta Maryam, the rock chapels of Beta Meskal, Beta Denaghil together with the twin churches of Beta Micael and Beta Golgotha, constitute the northern group. The bed of a stream, dug into the rock and renamed the Jordan River, separates these churches from the southern group: the basilica of Beta Gabriel and Rufael, Beta Mercorios, the tiny chapel Beta Lehem, the monolithic Beta Amanuel in Axumite style and the underground sanctuary Beta Abba Libanos. Not far away, isolated is the most beautiful and also the most photographed church Beta Ghiorghis.
Dinner and accommodation at the Harbe hotel or similar
10th day LALIBELA â ADDIS ABEBA (flight)
After breakfast, transfer to the airport and stop along the road at the monastery of Nakutolab. Departure with Ethiopian Airlines flight at 10:10 to Addis Ababa, where arrival is expected at 11:40.
Day use in Hotel Saro Maria or similar (one room every 4 pax until 19:00). Afternoon dedicated to last visits. Dinner and transfer to the airport in time for the flight to Italy.
END OF PROGRAM