Safety Tips in Ethiopia

Don't give anything to children---parents are neither happy nor proud of this. I myself saw many fathers and mothers giving a spank to their offspring for this.
Don't give anything (lonely planet says,too) It is too egoistic because we do it mostly for us, I know because I enjoyed it ,too. Give to the schools, to the parents or the teacher! Don't make them beggars, don't make them get used to easy money because they often leave school just to run after tourist buses and ask for money. It's a great pity!!
Instead give something to old and invalid...

Be very careful of thieves in the market. They distract you or hold your legs and grab your camera or money.

"Lonely Riders" don't trust girls who come to your room for a "ride". They very often drug you and rip you off. They themselves told me they are ingenious at finding your money no matter how well you have hidden it. Give it to your friends or to the receptionist.

Protect your cameras and other electronic equipment from dust! There are clouds of it everywhere!

Always carry a roll of toilet paper.

Unfortunately there are a lot of small children in Ethiopia who will approach you with a sorrowful look and start telling their weepy stories. They have invented very big and plausible lies and sometimes they will convince you they are telling the truth. It's their big beautiful innocent eyes and their convincing way they are talking. Well, don't believe them. They are lying. Very few of them are really in need and their parents are not always proud of this practice. But who can stop them.
They are used to getting easy money from tourists and they practice a lot becoming better and better ...“I need a uniform for school... / I am a student and my family lives in the country/ I want to be a doctor/ I have no parents/ my mother is sick and my father is dead, we have no food” are the usual stories but they are so clever that sometimes you want to give them something even though you are sure of their mischief. Anyway don't, because it is not good for their future.

Ethiopia is not only a very safe country, it is also a place where you feel very welcome. No one will attack you, or try to take your belongings by force.
But of course you should always use your common sense which means that you never leave your bags unattended, never take out the whole bunch of your money, never show off expensive jewellery or electronic equipment unless you are in a safe place, like a hotel or with the company of local people that you trust as real friends. And don't be surprised if you come to have many of them. They are such a warm and open people!

one of our main reasons travelling to ethiopia was a desire to hike around in the simean mountains for a few days, looking for gelada baboons and other native species. However by the time we had travelled that far north we had already decided that it would be madness to travel without a guide as we had already had more than our fair share of sticky situations. So when we found a tour operator who was running a day trip up there the next day (from Gondar) we said we would go suss it out with the group that day and see what we thought. So there was an italien couple supposedly going and we were to half the cost with them (of course we never actually met this couple!) we discussed prices etc and pick up drop off points and after a small bit of haggling a price was agreed. he said the tour included getting to the mountain range, a guided tour of the area during which he would show us the regular place of the baboons, and home that evening.
Next day when he came to puck us up there were five men in the bus (local) and no sign of any other ferangi :-O when i questioned him he said first that we were picking them up en route, and then this changed to that one of them had taken ill and they had decided not to go. while at this point you are probably saying why did we just not go, well we were already out of gondar at this point and we had already paid. when we got to the stop off point we were offered a guided tour alright... but for extra money! we protested obviously and eventually we just said we would go on our own and meet them back at the pick up point at an agreed time. so we set off. but we were like the pied pipers or something and before long we had a following of children and two men. one of the men had some english and seemed nice, but we told him we did not want a guide numerous times. howeve he just kept going infront of us along the track we were followning, pointing things out. We did see gelada baboons which i found amazing, the mist covered valley from the top of peaks are fantastic and bushy tailed monkeys were hiding in the trees! when we got back to the bus the man demanded money. he was in cohoots with the other lads i would say. they refused to leave until we paid him. so we decided to give him some money anyway since he had been nice, although we were still annoyed with the original tour guide. now for the best part! the men in the bus, mainly the tour guide and the driver started saying that the driver had had to pay entrance fees to the mountain range and we would have to reimburse him. an argument ensued and was getting heated. eventually i just said that when they drop us back to the town we would pay then, whispering to my friend that there wasnt a hope n hell i was handing over another penny to the assholes. So when we got to the town we said that we were not paying any more nad anted to get off the bus. the bus was stopped. they refused so i began to barge my way past to the front of the mini bus. the driver began to drive off, so at this point i stuck my head out the window and began shouting LEBA LEBA very loudly and attracting some local attention. this had the desired effect and they stopped the bus but one of them tried to grab my bad as i left and they shouted every form of abuse (in english might i add) at us as they sped off.
Looking back on it i think we were lucky to get away with being just a little shook from the experience but scams are EVERY where in ethiopia and as time went on we just learned to trust no one.

The is known as “Fird Bet” and seems to only happen in Addis Ababa. What happens? You will be approached on the street by a nice looking gentleman or even a kid. They tell you that the local community are putting on a Cultural Show and they would like to invite you. There will be traditional dancing, including the snake dance, by dancers in authentic costumes. It sounds great doesn’t it? Well, it’s a scam. A complete fraud and criminal enterprise. I used to watch one man, who looked like a school teacher, work the streets near a tourist hotel everyday. There is a teenager who works outside the Sheraton who runs away now when he sees me. Why? Because I know and now – so do you. I learned this from someone who once worked this scam.

How does it work? They take you somewhere and a few dances are performed. You are offered drinks. You are then asked at the end for $100 per person or even more. Because they kept their end of the bargain you have to pay. Not paying could become violent.

Never, ever go to a ‘Cultural Show’. If you eat at a good Ethiopian restaurant you will get traditional dancing for free. If you are approached, just say “Fird Bet” and they disappear quickly.

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Unfortunately men (and boys) have a very cavalier attitude towards public urination. The first couple of times I watched this somewhat alarming behaviour I thought it was only truly homeless men in Addis Ababa who did this. It’s not. A lot of men do it and they definitely do this in the countryside. They just turn their back on even the busiest roads and go for it. Many toilets in bars and restaurants enforce this odd behaviour. Sometimes they have a urinal just outside the ladies toilet cubicle so they may have to see this twice!

Any of you guys ever thought about going behind the tree/bush 2 meters away?

No. Obviously not.

Begging kids are usually seen in shopping areas and other major areas. I dont think that you

would see people begging in a local street expecially in smaller towns.Dont give them

anything they could easilly returne and get the money back.

In jijiga, dire dawa and more places you would see beggers around early in the begging for

breakfast. It's pretty good if you give them some food expecially home cooked things since

they cant re-sell it and it's home cooked.

When traveling by foot becareful of drivers as in some towns they drive all over the place.
2. also dont take pictures with out permissoin of the people.You may wind up getting arested or having your camera confisated.
3. Beware of scams--people will scam you if you look like a foreigner.scams could range from over payment to trying to tell you a sad story that is possibly not true.
4.when staing at a hotel watch out for creepy crawler,insects and carry bug spray around.