 | Ethiopia Transportation | Tips 11 - 20 of 53 |  |
Popular Transportation | Miscellaneous Transportation Tips | All Tips (53) I was asked "how to travel in Ethiopia"... I thought I should share the general parts of the response I made:
I'm planning to go back to Ethiopia myself also - maybe autumn 05 or early 2006. Will do it the following way: go with one or two friends with whom I have travelled before, will connect with people and places I have visited before and use these as staging posts and make short visits and excursions, and a longish, expedition style transect of the upper Rift Valley (Danakil) and hire jeep for part of the way (expensive, but sometimes the only way) and camel and guide through the desert.
The most commonly visited places in Ethiopia are accessible by bus (or even train) - see guidebooks for this info. Planes take you to some places of interest. But the absolutely best way of travelling is by a good 4x4 jeep - hired. You will need a driver to go with it. It costs a good 120 USD up per day, but then you can share among 4-5 persons. Take in the main sights around Addis (slumbering and extinct volcanoes are accessible on day trips), visit cities and lakes in the Rift Valley south and east toward Djibouti, travel to Lalibela if interested in Church history. If not, perhaps travel up to Lake Tana, Gonder and to the Mountains up there. If much time at hand, do the circuit further on via Axum, Mekelle and Lalibela on the return leg.
Local travel agents will be happy to organise a tour, but they probably like to organise it for a group. If you can find a group to join - or form a group w/ friends, that's probably the easiest. No idea of costs for a single person apart form the approximate vehicle rental fare, sorry. Make a suggested itinerary yourself and go and present to a travel agent in Addis and check what it costs. I have made use of local and national travel companies, and while costly, at least things went well with everything provided and promised. It may be hard going to travel in Ethiopia, but the rewards are great. Leave a Comment Theme: Other |
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FLY ETHIOPIAN!
Ethiopian is probably the best African based airline. For long haul they have modern and comfortable planes. Their short haul flights use older small planes and you get a basic service. What makes them great is that they have an extensive destination network within Ethiopia and all across Africa. You can reserve a seat without a deposit at their offices in Addis Ababa and pay later. I found the ground and air staff to be friendly and helpful. They are usually right on schedule.
You can also join their ‘Sheba Miles’ frequent flyer programme and check/buy International flights on-line.
If you need help buying or reserving domestic flights, ring their Addis Ababa Branch on +251-11-665 6666. They all speak excellent English and are very helpful.
http://www.ethiopianairlines.com/ Leave a Comment |
Tip #1: Bring along your earplugs. They might come in handy...
Tip #2: Bring along cologne/eau de toilette. They might come in handy...
Tip #3: Bring along your sense of humour. It WILL come in handy... Leave a Comment Theme: Bus |
To travel in Ethiopia means to travel with a lot of time, except you will use Ethiopian Airways. It’s the oldest African Airline and they have a good network that covers all the main place of interest. Tickets are not expensive and the safety standards are good. Overbooking is not uncommon, better check twice instead of relying on your ticket. Leave a Comment Theme: Airplane |
Probably most people travel at least once by bus, which is an experience by it self. Busses always leave early in the morning sometimes as early as 5 am. There are no busses driving through the night. The luggage is stored on the roof and somebody will ask to get paid for the service of carrying it up there. Tickets are usually cheap!
For some reason the Ethiopians are paranoiac in closing the windows. `Immediately after the bus departs all windows are closed and fellow passengers will be very reluctant to open them. Even if half the passengers are graphically suffering from motion sickness, merely cracking open your window will cause pandemonium in the rows behind you! And do you want to know why? Health. Health! Its beyond me why a nation that cheerfully tolerates pissing and ***ting in the middle of the streets should be terrified of a bit of fresh air, but that’s Ethiopia!(Bradt Guidt 3rd)
Its true! There is saw dust spread out on the floor of the busses to soak up the vomit! Often the drivers have plastic bags handy.
The seats are very narrow and not comfortable. The positive thing about public transport is that by law every passenger needs to be seated. In most of the busses the seats 1 – 6 are the best! Don´t think about stretching out your legs!Whenever buy a ticket insist on a seat number!* Leave a Comment Theme: Other |
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FLY KLM TO GET HERE!
Why I like KLM:
• Always polite, friendly flight crews that seem to enjoy working with each other
• Fantastic booking website where you can search for flight 1 month at a glance!
• Great prices on long haul flights
• Free drinks! Just ask for more
• Comfortable planes
• Excellent in-flight entertainment (pictured)
• Good food (pictured)
You can join their Frequent Flyer Programme for free – it’s called Flying Blue. And you get to board the plane first – even if you have an economy ticket!
Great airline. Give them a Fly! Leave a Comment |
Hacia Harar: Tren de Addis Abbeba a Dire Dawa (54 km. de Harar) y desde aqui un autobus hacia Harar.
Por el norte, para la llamada Ruta Histórica (Bahar Dar, Gondar, Axum, Lalibela) podemos viajar en autobuses locales. Salen todos los dias a las 5 de la mañana de su destino. Si no tenemos mucha prisa viajando es una buena experiencia mezclarse con la gente del pais. Leave a Comment Theme: Other |
Hacia el sur: es imprescindible alquilar un vehiculo. $80 al dia (en 1995). El conductor buenisimo se llamaba Theodros Verhanu. P.O. Box 3502 Ethiopia. Leave a Comment Theme: Other |
Only kidding really. But this is how the locals transort goods. You can buy donkeys for about £20. I was tempted but I think I would have trouble with customs at Heathrow. Leave a Comment Theme: Other |
Ethiopian airlines, Egyptian air, Lufthansa, and Alitalia fly to Addis Ababa from the UK. We flew with Ethiopian airlines, a recommendable service.
There are internal flights going to major centers such as Bahar Dar, Lalibela and Axum (except in times of war with Eritrea).
Going Long Distances By road: I would seriously avoid the buses as we saw one teatering on the edge of a cliff, and another on its side. You can go by tour like we did, or hire a 4 wheel drive and guide which you can get for around $100US a day.
Getting Around Addis Ababa: You can hire a taxi for about $2US an hour. We were lucky, with a taxi driver who can speak good english. We hired him for 3 days. Leave a Comment Theme: Other |
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