Ethiopia Travel Guide

The National Museum of Ethiopia is a rather small, three story building that houses a wide variety of artifacts from some of the earliest pre-human bones right through to some very recent art pieces by important Ethiopian artists. At the time of writing, the most famous inhabitant "Lucy". a pre-human homind is not on display there, but casts of...

Hey people, this is a place for people who enjoy going local places. I am always annoyed by the fact, that the guides in Asia will try to direct you to really small businesses and in case of Ethiopia to the tourist destiantions... Nonetheless you should be prewarned - this place is great, but local. Enjoy it!

We found out about this site through the Lonely Planet guide. But the people at the reception desk were quite surprised to learn that the monument is actually listed in it. On our part, we were astounded by the sheer size of this monument. Dedicated to the men and women who fought the Derg, the communist Committee that ruled Ethiopia from 1974 to...

The Wude Coffee is very stylish mostly outdoor seating (beware of the birds) and good coffee and good ethiopian food, some stew,usually served on top of a injera )a large sourdough flatbread and made out of fermented teff flour).

This place is OK and has a relaxed atmosphere. Located upstairs, right above the main hall. Some works of art by local artists can be admired here. Open the window and see your plane touch down, which will then be directed away from the runway by a ground handler with his paddles. Our serene stay here came to an abrupt end when we were urged to...

Some more impressions of the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela. Paintings of saints, the gateway to the complex, and a view of one of the tents that have been placed to protect the churches from deterioration. See my travelogue.

A popular place to have a coffee with a pastry or fruit juice during the day. Stylish place with good but very slow pizza and other western food. The Pizza was good but almost one hour waiting to get it.

5 November 2013. Inbetween two excursions, we had lunch in the form of a buffet at the Four Sisters restaurant in Gonder. As you may have guessed, it is indeed run by four sisters ... Great decoration and lively atmosphere inside. Also good terrace. We opted for a place outside since a large group of tourists had already taken temporary possession...

This restaurant has a massive billboard showing 2 beautiful women drinking beer and eating. A very good advertisement! Unfortunately it charges a bit more than other restaurants because it gets Faranjis from the Hospital next door.

There are 2 full service banks on the main street in Axum. They are:• Commercial Bank (first picture)Open 8am-11am & 1pm-3pm M-F, 8-11am Saturday Offers Western Union and Bureau de Change services• Wegagen Bank (2nd picture)Open 8am-4pm M-S Offers Bureau de Change services with a better exchange ratePlease note: both banks give a less favourable...

The Ethiopian Airlines office is located on the North side of the main road. It is open 7 days a week, but has short hours. They can sell any tickets you need, but you may want to book any tickets in Addis Ababa ahead of time. The planes that fly here are small and sometimes are full.

If you plan to travel in the Omo River Valley, there is only one thing you must bring: Emmanuel Cheneke. Emany is hands down the best guide working in/around Jinka and perhaps in all of Ethiopia. I hired Emany in the spring of 2015 to serve as my research assistant/fixer/guide for a two-month fieldwork project. From the moment I met him, Emany’s...

If you plan to travel in the Omo River Valley, there is only one thing you must bring: Emmanuel Cheneke. Emany is hands down the best guide working in/around Jinka and perhaps in all of Ethiopia. I hired Emany in the spring of 2015 to serve as my research assistant/fixer/guide for a two-month fieldwork project. From the moment I met him, Emany’s...

Next to each other the internet is quit good and cheap (i forgot a bag there and someone brought it to my hotel!), the restaurant has decent and resonable food, but don´t go there when it is raining the roof is leaking! On the main street from Addis Abeba between Harer Gate and Skybus and Selam bus stops / offices.

Nobody knows for sure, but this house, today a museum, is supposed to have been inhabited by Rimbaud when he was a weapons trafiquer.

there are areas which never visited by visitors around Jinka. these area i intrroduce to you is the Gelila, Dordora, Shangama, Phelpha and Pa'e. those areas are characterized by a very cold weather and rich in natural vegetation. the societies living there are Ari tribes and they speak Ari language. all of them are depend on agriculture and very...

Jinka is a small administrative city in Southern Ethiopia. it consist of 16 unique and different tribe. from those tribe Ari is widest and include the city Jinka in it. the area of Jinka around the youthes restourant looks like my photo down. its soil is very comfortable for agriculture!. the societies are known with there peaceful co-existence...

On the road to Jinka, you pass various animals. We saw baboons, donkeys, goats and many colourful birds.The best was a wild camel that chased a man (who was scared to death). We were later told that the camels grab people by the neck and throw them in the air.

Access to the crater lake from the Viewpoint Lodge turned out to be quite easy, and fortunately we had remembered to take our swimming gear with us in the plane when we came to Ethiopia. So we made the descent from the crater rim, found the primitive landing place and actually went for a swim in Babogaya Lake (I managed only a few strokes...).

14 November 2013. Bird watching, the owner of the Viewpoint Lodge took us to this wonderful place in his pickup truck. Cranes and marabou storks, but only from a distance, since they decided to spend the night on the other side of the lake.

Catch a glimpse of local transport, we saw this horse cart used by school children, local equivalent of the school bus.

After paid eveything and meet our new guide ..Mr.Get and our armed scout ,we had lunch at a place that seems all tourists came to eat and drink there.It's kind of a hotel that has restaurant,very basic.There's nothing much to order ,so what I got was "what they had",which was "age sandwich" (sandwich with omelette) The food was on Mr.Get but all...

My first day arriving Debark and we immediately started to hike.After driving up for a while ,I think half way.We left the car and started to walk,that was around noon.Our driver and chef continued driving up until the campsite to drop our backpack and prepare our dinner and put up tent for us,everything should be ready when we arrive. Only our...

After passing the gate,the terrain ascend up and up ,the road twist and turn,the scenery around me was so beautiful ,with the green and brown colour of rocks.Only mountains and mountains around.My plan was...I need vehicle to send me up until a certain point and then start to hike.I don't have time to start the hike from the bottom ,which somebody...

Taking pictures of the locals is one way that they get a bit of cash. When we were there, the going rate as 5 Birr for an adult and 2 (sometimes 3 Birr) for a child. Mother and baby would be 7 Birr.Point a camera in the general direction of a person, and they assume you've taken a picture and demand payment.Some of the tribes; especially the Mursi...

Turmi is only reachable by unpaved roads. When we walked the 500-1000 M along the main road from the campsite to the village for shopping or visits, we did see hardly any vehicle.There is no bus service between the villages in the Omo valley, because there are a lot of wadis en route, which a bus can't cross. At marketdays you have the best chance...

There were no goats and other animals for sale at the market in the centre of Dimeka. Somebody told us which road we had to take to that part of the market out of the village. It is not far, only a few 100 Ms, they told us.At the edge of the village with a great view at the surrounding landscape and mountains we saw a large tree. In the shade of...

It is a beut shop ,in biashara street. Good ,fair price all cosmetics. We have cosmetic item:s body cream,body lotions.face cream ,scrub,facewash,bleachs,hair treatment,shampoo,hair oil.prefumes:mens prefum. femm prefum and deodrant spry and roll on Fair

There is no problem in travelling towards Nairobi. Simply cross the border do the immigration formalities (5 minutes) and then walk up to road for another 5 minutes. Opposite the police station, where the bank is, is the place where the trucks meet to leave for Isiolo or Nairobi. A place in the cab will cost 1200 Ksh (20 $) on the back its 800 Ksh....

The bus station is in the middle of the town. There is no public transport into Kenya or even to the Kenyan side of Moyale. Don´t use the service of a broker! You will never get a ticket for your money!

For me half the fun was getting here. It's about a 3-4 hour drive depending on traffic. Heading back to Addis at night can take a bit longer and after seeing all the traffic accidents on my way down there I was not all that interested in being on the road at night.So depending on how many cars/trucks you can pass while heading into traffic in the...

Boats can be rented cheap here and as with my hippo tip the more people you have the cheaper it is. Driver/skipper sits in the back and you can fit about 6 others on them.

I thought for a minute that I ate at the Pinna Restaurant but did not write it down and am less certain now. Anyway there are plenty of places to eat on the main highway the ends at the lake. Good/Cheap. I had the Ethiopian version of Chorizo with injera and plenty of local chili powder or burburi (sp?) and a drink for a buck or two.

We saw a lot of people wearing the same t-shirts in the same colours with stripes everywhere in the area, like the two girls at the picture. Our guide told us there came many containers with these T-shirts from China as gift, all in the same model, colour and design.Along the road we saw also a lot of women wearing their traditional woven...

When we visited the wagas a lot of people came to the site watching us, but most of them liked to sell something, like flutes, incense, miniature wagas. While we were looking at the wagas and making our pictures, they had to wait outside the compound behind a bar till we were ready.Our guide told us, that under the chief anarchy rules the area. The...

The wagas are very famous in the Konso area, When a Konso warrior die, the statue of the warrior is recognizable by a phallic ornament at his forehead or by its large size. At the sides of the warrior-statue you will find the statues of his wives ornated with necklaces and breasts. It is a pity, that the erection of wagas is dying out as result of...