What to pack for Ethiopia

Luggage and bags: Not too big a bag especially if you are going to multiple cities. It is very cumbersome for the people who need to help you and rooms are very small.

Clothing/Shoes/Weather Gear: The areas you are travelling in will be rougher surfaces than most areas. Hiking boots and comfortable walking shoes is essential. Surfaces are irregular with dirt or rocks. In the daytime the weather is warm. The further north you go, the warmer it is. At night, it is cool so a variety of clothing is good. The atmosphere is very dry and dusty. Fabrics should be breathable and easy to clean. Revealing clothing is not appropriate. Sun screen is important for fair skinned people. Electricity is unreliable, so keep that in mind when thinking of hair care (I have a 220V hair dryer that kept overheating). Bring a shawl if you are a woman because you will be going into churches where head covering is recommended. The shawl can also help with temperature fluctuations.

You will be climbing a lot the further out of Addis Ababa you go. Make your clothes comfortable and moveable.

If you have spare clothes that you just want to leave with the people in the area, that will be appreciated.

Toiletries and Medical Supplies: The altitude is high and their is a lot of dust. Highly recommend bringing something for sinuses even if you never or rarely experience sinus problems. Would also bring tylenol (or excedrin), a prescription for Cipro for diarrhea (if your doctor approves), pepto bismol, etc.

Toilet paper can be a rarity so toilet paper or pocket kleenex packets can be very helpful. Hand sanitizer is good too.

Photo Equipment: Bring your best cameras and your pocket camera as well. The people love to have their pictures taken, but will expect you to pay them a bhir or more for this. If someone invites you into their home plan to leave a little money for their hospitality. Always ask before taking a picture. Be sensitive to the needs and feelings of the lovely people of Ethiopiz

Miscellaneous: Bring Pens and Pencils. The children will ask you for them because they need to do their homework, particularly children in villages and more remote areas. Some of them will try to sell them, but overall they need any type of school supply to help them with their studies. Give these items directly to the children and not to a school master or someone you cannot trust to deliver them.

The schools desperately need reading materials, study materials - really anything to do with learning. The students learn English so will benefit from anything that can be left. The schools love to have visitors and often welcome tours.

If you have a heart of compassion for the needs of people. you will wish you had packed clothing, shoes, etc that you can just give away. Believe me, I came home with an empty suitcase!

Bring a flashlight as some areas have limited electricity or scheduled times when electricity goes out. Bring extra batteries. You may need to flashlight more than you think.

The people of Ethiopia are very accomodating and want you to feel welcome. Be prepared to be offered food and drink - be careful if you are concerned about your stomach!

Toiletries and Medical Supplies: Why should babies be the only ones to have these hygienic wipes? I don’t know why, but the adult version of this fantastic travel product always seem to be more expensive than the kids version, even though what’s inside is exactly the same. You need to use your right hand to eat food in Ethiopia. Good luck to you if you are left handed. Sometimes a restaurant may be out of soap and having some wet wipes in your rucksack are indispensable. Also, your hand will be an absolute mess after you are finished and these handy guys get all the food off. There is also almost always NO toilet paper wherever you go in Ethiopia. Yep, handy wet wipes to the rescue. Because there is 100% tax on all imported goods and they don’t make them here – bring your own. I have seen them priced up in Addis Ababa at 3 times what I paid at home.

Wet wipes – don’t leave home without them!

Luggage and bags: If you're rather possessive about who touches your baggage or plan to do a lot of internal travel, take a bag with shoulder straps on like a backpack. Suitcases with wheels on are not suitable for the gravel roads. Back packs also prevent opportune porters wanting a tip for hauling your luggage uninvited, this happens at all airports and hotels.

I've put this here as it won't fit under MEDICAL SUPPLIES
MALARIA: Bring doxycycline as an antimalarial if you plan to go to malaria alert areas at short notice (i.e. 2 days) Start taking them 48 hours before visiting that area. Doxycycline is the only antimalarial that you don't have to take weeks in advance as a prophylaxis, but after visiting such areas you must continue to take it for at least 4-5 weeks after a possible expososure. PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE, side effects for the treatment of malaria is as bad as the disease itself. DOXYCYCLINE can be bought without Rx at pharmacies in Ethi.

Clothing/Shoes/Weather Gear: Take a travel raincoat or collapsable light umbrella for sudden and unexpected downpours.

It can get cold at night, particularly in the higlands (including Addis Ababa) Take a fleece for those evening stolls.

Take a large brimmed hat to stop sunburn (particulary if you are losing your hair)

Always travel light – you do not need all those clothes! On top of your flight clothes, take 2 trousers, 2 shorts. Shirts: 2 long sleeved shirt, 2 short. Under shirts and underwear will keep your clothes fresh for longer.

LAUNDRY is cheap to have done and is available everywhere. Take some long socks to tuck in your trousers to avoid fleabites in churches. (You have to remove shoes and there are always fleas on the remote church carpets)

On top of your airplane shoes (which double up for eating in fancy restaurants and going out at night) you only need 2 other pairs. Take a pair of flip flops for those bathroom floors and
a pair of sturdy light hiking shoes for uneven surfaces and dusty roads.

Toiletries and Medical Supplies: TUMMY UPSETS: Bring Diacalm for Travellers' diarrhoea. Also some ciprofloxacin in case you get gastroenteritis, 500mg b.d. (twice daily) will cure it. CIPROFLOXACIN can be bought without Rx at pharmacies in Ethiopia.

ANTISEPTIC: for cuts, sunburn, blisters etc.

SUNSCREEN ESSENTIAL, take a high SFP 25+

PARACETAMOL, IBUPROFEN or some stronger analgesic if you feel peeky.

ANTACID, some food is quite spicy and you may suffer heartburn if you are prone to it.

ANTI-EMETIC (to stop you feeling sick) Domperidone (brand name Motilium) In the UK, it is has recently been made available over the counter from Pharmacies, without a prescription being required.

Bring perfume, aftershave or EDT. Generally, only the well off may use deodorant. Put some on a linen square and keep handy if you find your senses overwhelmed. (local buses etc)

Photo Equipment: Binoculars for those great vistas! Take plenty of film or digital storage space. Batteries; bring your own... often ones bought in the provinces are old and unreliable.

Bring a two pin continental travel plug for recharing your equipment.

Take a filter for your lens to reduce glare.

Miscellaneous: On DOLLAR BILLS... make sure the dollar bills are only a couple of years old as you will have problems with them being accepted by banks / hotels / Forex changing them to Birr all over the country if old and dog-eared.

Take a metal water container, it's handy for all travellers.

Essential: Take a flashlight / candles / matches – power supplies and intermittent blackouts are not uncommon in the provinces – in Addis the good places have a back up generator.

Essential: If you loath bugs take permethrin or Raid to spray round your room in the provinces, this will keep ants, roaches, bed bugs, fleas (spray on socks see above).
Permethrin is good to impregnate your mosquito net. Spray it on your bedlinen if you suspect you have been had by bedbugs on a previous night. (I have to say I never had a problem with them, even in some dingy places!)

If you can, take a small hammer and tacks or washing line and pegs to secure your mozzie net from. Some places don’t have any obvious place to suspend the net from. Improvisation necessary.

Bring your own toiletries: All imported toiletries are subject to 100% importation tax and are more expensive than they are in the west. Local toiletries are usually soaps made from fat of varying origin and smell awful.

Essential: If you have a delicate bottom, take moist bathroom paper. Hygienic if you get travellers’ tummy and nice to finish off with after the hard paper!

Essential: Take some alcoholic hand gel for using in general and before eating traditional food. You never know who or what touched that door, object, etc.

Travellers' Tummy: Don't drink tap water, or use if for cleaning teeth or use ice cubes unless from bottled water, avoid salads and fruit juices that may be topped up with tap water. If you're back packing and need water from streams etc take water purification tablets or boil. (Ice cubes and salads at Sheraton, Addis safe).

GET VACCIINATED FOR ALL THOSE NASTY THINGS: See your GP for advice

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Miscellaneous: Whatever you call them, you need one. Many towns and cities in Ethiopia are growing at a fantastic pace and sometimes the lights go out. It might be that a workman has cut something or, as the locals say, 'the Government sometimes takes it’. I would highly recommend one of the wind-up flashlight that needs no batteries. Quality batteries can be hard to find and you don’t want to find out you need new ones in a blackout. The pictures were taken in restaurants by me after the lights went out. If you are staying a bit longer, you may want to invest a few pennies in some candles and matches.

Luggage and bags: I hate suitcases since they are cumbersome at best. Since I work for an airline and used to throw bags while I was in college I will never check a bag as long as I live. Most hotels have laundry service for a small fee so no need to overpack. Don't go any wider that the usual carryon since the overhead bins in the Ethiopian F-50s are not the same as Airbus you rode down here in.

Clothing/Shoes/Weather Gear: Good walking shoes..tared roads are the exception not the rule yet......
Rainy season lasts around 3 months in Addis so a small unbrella works or you can buy one and a sweatshirt or light jacket is a good idea since it can get a bit cold at night in the North during the (our) winter.

Toiletries and Medical Supplies: I brought all of my own stuff. You can get most of what you need in Addis and the local clinics if you get sick but why trouble yourself with wondering if it is the real thing in the smaller towns plus the locals need access to it more than you do right?

Photo Equipment: There are 35 mm photo shops around town but I am a strong believer in digital now. Don't foget a converter even though you can buy them in town as I found myself doing in Gonder after I lost mine when the power went out in the middle of the night in Addis. Internet is slow here so don't plan on sending pics out unless you like watching paint dry in an internet cafe or can find a fast connection...I did not...but then again I was not interested in doing so either.

Camping/Beach/Outdoor Gear: Flashlight/Torch (Right Andrew?). Addis is growing fast and the power will go out at the cheaper hotels and you will need it if you want to see some of the Churches in Lalibela.
Mosquito net is a good idea if you are headed South and you can give it to a local when you leave since Malaria is an issue for them too.

Miscellaneous: Patience/humor....few things happen fast here and things break but if you can laugh it off
as I did when the power went out after typing a rather long email you will manage ok.

Toiletries and Medical Supplies: Take all your medicines with you. Ethiopian drugstores (especially outside Addis) offer a very limited range of medicines (only medicine for cough I could find in Aksum was some kind of pure ephedrine). The most reliable ones are made in South Africa and they are not so common. Hotels often don't offer any shampoo or even soap, take your own. Respiratory mask will help you a lot if you planto travel by 4WD - the roads are extremely dusty.

Photo Equipment: Take a telescopic lens to make photos of birds (anywhere) or endemic animals (in Simien Mountains National Park).

Toiletries and Medical Supplies:
Pack a few essentials that are also brand names like:
• Sunscreen
• Deodorant
• Moisturiser
• Make-up
• Tampons

They are available in Addis Ababa but expensive even by western standards. Outside of Addis you may not be able to find them at all!

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Luggage and bags: Travel light in Africa, take jeans and kaki's shorts and trainers. The highlands can be cold, make sure you have jumpers and enough sweaters. Do not socks and underwear in Ethiopia, bring your own and make sure you wash them at night as dirty underwear and socks can smell from a distance. I have seen packpackers passing by and everyone around them getting dizzy with a bad smell comign from their bags. Travelling in Africa is something, taking the entire oxygen is something else.

Clothing/Shoes/Weather Gear: Casual clothing, blenty of t-shirts, jeans and shorts. Plenty of clean socks and underwear.

Toiletries and Medical Supplies: First aid box is a must. Off the shelf nedication for flu or cold could be useful. Some painkillers if you are like to have your period whjilst on holiday is useful, I have seen women begging me to give them painkillers.

Photo Equipment: Just digital camera and extra merory cards and batteries (don;t forget your charger and adoptor when using electricity).

Camping/Beach/Outdoor Gear: Out door camping, no way - I would not do it. Africa is a place I would not sleep outside. As a group of 10+ camping is not problem for me (You name it, I would camp anywhere).

Miscellaneous: The place you are visiting is a country or a place that is not your usual place of living. Dont' you ever expect everything to be same as where you came from. For example, waiting taxi or transportaion for an hour or two is normal, don't get mad. be nice to the local people, recpect them and always polite and kind. Look after the environment, be a good expample to show you care the new land you are visiting. Throwing rubbish all over the place does not go down well with locals when you are on holidays visiting their country. Pay tips when you get a good service, I will be served eben better because what goes round and around.