14 days • 13 nights
This itinerary takes in the Bale Mountain National Park and several Rift Valley lakes – Koka, Ziway, Langano, Hawassa, Chamo and Abaya.
If you would like to visit an area not covered in one of our itineraries, get in touch with us.
Extensions to Debre Libanos, Tigray, Awash National Park, Harar and Danakil Depression can be arranged.
Day 1: Arrival and transfer to your hotel
Hotel: Jupiter International Hotel Bole
Day 2: We visit the National Archaeological Museum, where the highlights include the three and half million year old skeleton of ‘Lucy’, pre-Aksumite exhibits and an exotic collection of Royal crowns, robes and thrones. We continue to the Holy Trinity Cathedral to see the massive mausoleums Haile Selassie had constructed for himself and his wife. In the afternoon we head for the Ethnographical Museum, housed in Haile Selassie’s former summer palace. In addition to the excellent exhibition relating to many ethnic groups living in Ethiopia and an extensive collection of musical instruments, we view the remains of the royal bedchamber and bathrooms.
Hotel: Jupiter International Hotel Bole
Meals: B
Day 3: This morning we travel south towards the Ethiopian Rift Valley. We head first for the crater lakes of Bishoftu where we spend a couple of hours walking on the shore of Lake Hora, discovering the remarkable natural heritage of the country, with more endemic species of birds and plants than anywhere else on the African continent. We are looking out for Marabou stork, fish eagle, reed cormorant, pied kingfisher, hammerkop, African pygmy goose and black-winged lovebird. After lunch overlooking Bishoftu Crater Lake, we drive further south towards Lake Langano. We break the journey with a few birdwatching stops at the northern-most Rift Valley lakes, Koka and Ziway. Our lodge is located on the bilharzia and crocodile free east bank of Lake Langano.
Hotel: Hara Langano Lodge
Meals: B, L, D
Day 4: We walk in the East Langano Nature Reserve, an area of a well-preserved tropical forest. As Mammal species present in the reserve include Black-and-white Colobus, Anubis baboon, Warthog, Bush duiker, Reedbuck and White-tailed mongoose. The bird species we will look for include Dark chanting Goshawk, Hemprich’s and Von der Decken’s Hornbills, Cardinal Woodpeckers, White-bellied Go-away Birds, Red-billed and White-headed Buffalo Weavers, White-crowned Shrikes and Blue-naped Mousebirds.
Hotel: Hara Langano Lodge
Meals: B, L, D
Day 5: Finally, we head for the Bale Mountains, rising eastward from the Rift Valley up to 4,377 m at Mount Tullu Dimtu, Ethiopia’s fourth highest peak. The Bale Mountains National Park is home to the rare Ethiopian Wolf and the endemic Bale monkey and Mountain Nyala. Our lodge for two nights is situated within the large natural montane forest on the southern slopes descending from the Sanetti Plateau.
Hotel: Bale Mountains Lodge
Meals: B, L, D
Day 6: We spend the day exploring the Bale Mountains National Park on foot, learning about endemic plants, mammals and birds.
Hotel: Bale Mountains Lodge
Meals: B, L, D
Day 7: We return to the Rift Valley using the same road, crossing a 4,000 m pass. In Shashemene we turn south towards Hawassa, the capital of the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples’ region.
Hotel: Haile Resort
Meals: B, L, D
Day 8: After breakfast we walk to the open-air fish market on the shore of Lake Hawassa.
Hotel: Haile Resort
Meals: B, L, D
Day 9: We drive to Arba Minch, with a lunch stop in Sodo. Arba Minch is scenically set in the foothills of the Rift Valley Escarpment at an altitude of 1,300 m and offers views of the nearby Lakes Chamo and Abaya.
Hotel: Paradise Lodge Arba Minch
Meals: B, L, D
Day 10: In the morning we head for the Nech Sar National Park and take a boat trip on Lake Chamo to observe crocodiles, hippos and the bird life. After lunch we drive to a village inhabited by the Dorze. As we walk through the village, we learn how they use the false banana plant (Ensete ventricosum) and bamboo to build their elephant-shaped houses.
Hotel: Paradise Lodge Arba Minch
Meals: B, L, D
Day 11: We continue our drive towards Konso, the main settlement of the Konso tribe. The unique landscape of fortified hilltop villages surrounded by dry stone terraces used to cultivate crops is protected by UNESCO.
Hotel: Kanta Lodge
Meals: B, L, D
Day 12: The Konso’s main crops are sunflowers, fruits, cotton, sorghum and corn and they are also renowned bee-keepers. They produce wooden anthropomorphic statues, erected in honour of important deceased people. In the Konso language these statues are called Waga.
Hotel: Kanta Lodge
Meals: B, L, D
Day 13: A two hour drives takes us to Arba Minch airport to fly to Addis Ababa. We transfer to the hotel.
Hotel: Jupiter International Hotel Bole
Meals: B, L
Day 14: Airport transfer
Meals: B
Price:
£4,840 per person based on two people sharing a double room
Please enquiry about prices for individual travellers or small groups.
£440 single room supplement
Price Includes:
accommodation for Days 1 through 14
meals as listed in the daily notation
land transportation in a comfortable private vehicle
entrance and sightseeing fees, except during free periods
services of an English-speaking guide and local guides, as required
scout fee at the Bale Mountains National Park
Additional Costs:
domestic flights Arba Minch – Addis Ababa:
if booked in conjunction with your international Ethiopian Airways flight £65
otherwise £135
Price does not Include:
international flights to and from Addis Ababa
trip cancellation, medical or other insurance
immunisations, prescriptions or other medical requirements
passport, visa and health documentation
drinks other than soft drinks with meals outside Addis Ababa
meals in Addis Ababa other than breakfasts
any tips for porters, restaurant and hotel staff, drivers, church ‘shoe guards’, and other helpers, scouts and guides
transport and transfer of excess baggage
personal expenses (laundry, free time activities, etc.)
Ethiopian departure tax, if any
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