February 2012
48 posts
Ethiopia: From planning to preparation
Now that the planning stage of this trip is completed it is time to move to preparation.
As we took already all advised vaccinations in 2011 when we went to Kenya and Tanzania including yellow fever we have not much left to prepare. Our travel pharmacy from the 2011 trip remained intact and can be used for this one. We will again take Malarone as Malaria prophylaxis as the children tolerated it...
The planning for Day 16: from Kombolcha to Addis...
The last long drive (7 hours) back to Addis Ababa through the beautiful scenery of the Debre Sina Mountains and the old town of Debre Birhan. This will be our last day in Ethiopia. We have to leave Kombolcha early in order to arrive in Addis early afternoon and have some time to go to the National Museum and see Lucy. Our trip finishes with a goodbye diner before we take the night flight back...
The Planning for day 15: from Lalibela to...
Today we will start our descent back to Addis Ababa and will be again a full day on the road driving up to Kombolcha over Dessie. We will again be crossing through the Afar region and may encounter them on the road with their caravans of camels. By that point I will probably really regret it that we decided not to go to the Danakil on this trip (but who knows I may struggle already so much with...
The Planning for day 14: Lalibela
Lalibela,previously Roha, often referred to as the New Jerusalem and a UNESCO world heritage site is approximately 2800m above sea level and is often refered to as the 8th wonder of the world. It is after Axum the second holiest city in Ethiopia. There are 13 rock-hewn churches cut out of a red volcanic rock in the 13th century during the reign of King Lalibela. The Northern Group, Bet Medhana...
The Planning for day 13: Drive to Lalibela
Today we will be driving from Mekele to Lalibela. It should be a full day on the road to cover the distance of 315 km as the roads are unpaved. The landscape should be spectacular as the unpaved Korem-Sekota road climbs to heights of 3000 metres . It follows the Tekeze Gorge and the Tekeze river. The Tekeze gorge is the deepest canyon in Africa and is more than 2000 m deep. We are...
The Planning for Day 12: The Road to Mekele
Today we will drive from Axum over Wukro to Mekele.
I do not think we will visit the Debre Damo Monastery (5th Century) as it is allowed only for male visitors and is only accessible by using a rope. It would have been a great photo opportunity to see how elegantly westerners (or Faranji as the Ethiopians call them in Amharic) manage to climb on the rope.
Monks that climb the mountain remain...
The Planning for Day 11: Axum
Axum is the holiest city of Ethiopia and of immense archeological importance. The Kingdom Axum (1st-6th Century) was the center of the Ethiopian empire and according to the legends the original biblic ark was hidden in the church of St. Mary of Zion.
The Stele Park where the Axum Obelisk is located is a UNESCO WORLD Heritage Site. The obelisk is a 1700 years old and 24 meters heigh granite stele...
The Planning for day 10 on the road to Axum
Today will be a full day on an unsealed road with an estimated 8 hour drive from the Simien mountains to Axum, passing the Tekeze Gorge and he spectacular scenery of Lima Limo (walk fitt pass). The Gorge along the Tekeze river is at least 2000m deep and is the deepest gorge in Africa.
We will stay overnight in the Yeha hotel.
The planning for day 9 from Gondar to the Simien...
The drive to the Simien mountains is only a distance of approximately 130 km from Gondar but expects us to take approximately four hours over Debark due to the bad condition of the road. We should arrive around lunch time in the Simien Lodge, the only lodge located inside the Simien mountains National Park. In the afternoon we will drive through the park to check out the breathtaking scenery...
The planning for day 8 from Bahir Dar to Gondar
The drive from Bahir Dar to Gondar is about 180 km and will take about four hours so we should arrive around lunch time. It should be on a surfaced road and we should pass through the beautiful scenery of Tara Gedam and its devils nose and see the Guzara castle.
Gondar is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and was founded by king Fasilidas in 1635 and is often referred to as the African Camelot...
The planning for day 7 Lake Tana and the Blue Nile...
On day 7 we will explore Bahar Dar located at the southern shores of Lake Tana. Lake Tana is the largest lake in Ethiopia with a surface of approximately 3600km2 and consists of 37 islands where 20 monasteries (the eldest dating from the 13th century) can be found. Women are only allowed to visit certain monasteries. I do not know which monasteries we will visit. Ura Kidane Meret on the Zege...
The Planning for day 6: The road to Bahir Dar
On day 6 we will drive through the Ethiopian highlands from Addis Ababa to Bahir Dar. On the way we will pass the Blue Nile Gorge which should be an impressive Canyon, where the Blue Nile flows to join the white Nile which will together form the Nile. We may pass through Debre Markos. On route there is also the Debre Libanos monastery and the Portuguese bridge.
The historical circuit will cover...
The Danakil Depression
We will not visit the Danakil Depression on this tour. I wish we could but this will give us a reason to return to Ethiopia hopefully at some other time in the near future when there is no longer a negative travel warning in place for that region. When the tourists were attacked in the Danakil near the Erta Ale volcano in Januari 2012 I was shocked when reading many of the comments in especially...
The planning for day 5: From Awassa to Addis Abeba
On day 5 the plan is to have an early breakfast and visit the fish market which starts at 7am. We should be seeing marabous,pelicans, kites, cormorant trying to steel the fishermen’s catch of the day.
Afterwards we continue to drive back to Addis Abeba where we will visit the Merkato and Piazza and overnight in the Dreamliner hotel
We may have time to buy some souvenirs or hopefully shoot...
The planning for Day 4: Drive to Awassa
On day 4 we drive to Awassa and are stopping through Wendogenet “Paradise”. The area should be very green and famous for its natural hot springs and was favored by the former emperor Haile Selassie.
We will stay overnight in Haile’s resort which is owned by Haile Gebrselassie, the world’s greatest long distance runner. He won twice olympic gold and was eight times world...
The planning for Day 3: Abiatta-Shalla Lakes
On day 3 we stay in the same area and visit two other lakes.
The three neighboring lakes of the central Ethiopian Rift Valley are very different from each other. Lake Langano is of medium dept and reddish-brown, lake Abiatta is a shallow soda lake and lake Shalla is very deep (250m) and blue as it is a volcanic crater lake.
At lake Abiatta we hope to find Greater and Lesser flamingos.
Lake...
The planning for Day 2: From Awash to lake Langano
We will drive from Awash to Langano which is a distance of 290km. From the Afar tribal territories where we hopefully will have had the opportunity to photograph the Afar tribesmen, dressed in their white cotton tunics with their camel and goat herds we continue to travel through the immense western wall of the Great Rift Valley, passing through the town of Nazereth and lake Ziway. Lake Ziway is...
The planning for Day 1: Awash National Park
On the arrival day assuming that the Ethiopian air flight will arrive in time and that our guide will be waiting for us at the airport, we plan to have a short breakfast and then continue to Awash National Park. It is about 200 km East of Addis Abeba and an approximate 3 hour drive. It is in the Northern part of the Great Rift Valley and part of the Afar region.
Initially we were planning to...
Ethiopia: What do we expect? The planning?
I am going to write down on a day by day basis what we expect and hope to see/do on a particular day of this 16 days tour. I plan on doing the same upon our return so you can determine for yourself how realistic our expectations were.
As a photography enthusiast an important part of my planning will also be which body to bring and what lenses to leave at home to control the weight. In any case...
Preparing a family photographic tour to Ethiopia
We are in the final planning stages for a 16 day trip through Ethiopia.
Ethiopia is not the usual travel destination especially not when traveling with children and many people are asking us what we are going to do there, of all places. In their mind Ethiopia is only drought and famine.
That is untrue. Ethiopia is a country with a great historical and cultural past in beautiful green...
Guidance for preparing a photographic trip with...
As a hobby photographer, going on a trip with the family is always a compromise. However, if you are well prepared it will be a win/win. You may perhaps not get all the great shots you would get if you were to join a professional photo safari. However, if you have limited free time and you want to spend your vacations with the family you need to take a different approach to get the most out of...
