ADDIS ABABA

Key tourist sites

With a population of 3,384,569 (2007 census) Addis Ababa is not only the political capital but also the economic and social nerve-center of Ethiopia. Founded by Emperor Menelik in 1887, this big, sprawling, hospitable city still bears the stamp of his exuberant personality. More than 21,000 hectares in area, Addis Ababa is situated in the foothills of the 3,000 meters Entoto Mountains and rambles pleasantly across many wooded hillsides and gullies cut through with fast flowing streams. 

 

There are more than 120 international missions and embassies in Addis Ababa, making the city a hub for international diplomacy concerning Africa. The headquarters of the African Union and the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) can both be found in the city. The European Union and the United States both have two delegations in Addis Ababa, one for bilateral relations with Ethiopia and one for the African Union.

Like any other capital in the world, there is more than enough for anybody to do in Addis. There are numerous restaurants offering various exotic dishes. 

The Churchill Road

Addis Ababa is as cosmopolitan as any of the world's great metropolises, and the architecture is as varied as the city itself. Tall office buildings, elegant villas, functional bungalows, flat, fashionable hotels, conference halls, and theaters - gleaming in their marble and anodized aluminum - vie for attention alongside traditional homes of wattle and daub, surrounded by cattle, sheep, goats, and chickens. There is no designated 'city centre' because, until very recently, there was no urban planning. Addis Ababa simply grew in a natural, organic way, and its present appearance reflects this unforced and unstructured evolution.

The merkato is the largest outdoor market in the world, and you can get anything from tourist goods. Addis is safer than most cities in Africa. Gang violence and similar serious activities are unusual.

The African Union Head Quarter

Arat Killo Monument

Dumbel City Center

Saint George Church_Piazza

The National Bank

Federal Police Head Quarter

Nations and Nationalities Square

The Grand Anwar Mosque

Hilton Hotel

Ghion Hotel

Harmony Hotel

Sheraton Addis

Sheraton Addis

Touring Ethiopia-Part One

Tour to the Southern Part of Ethiopia

  1. TO BALE MOUNTAINS
Via Sodore, admiring Awash river, a bath in the hot water swimming pool at the natural hot spring water. Then proceed via Asela to the Bale Mountains National park. 

  2. BALE MOUNTAINS
View of spectacular fauna & flora at the Bale mountains. Morning drive & walk at Sanete plateau, with afro-alpine vegetable & the chance to spot the endemic Semien fox. After a lunch box, drive to the Tuludimtu forest for very nice views, different flora and the chance to spot the endemic Mountain Nyala.

3. BALE MOUNTAINS- OROMO PEOPLE
You can admire very nice views and crossing the forest, and then visiting Oromo people villages (Oromo Sidamo & Oromo Bale) & their way of life.

4. BORENA PEOPLE
Visiting Oromo people specially the Borena people & villages. Visit one village with particular traditions.   

 5. ELSOD CRATER, SINGING WELLS, KONSO PEOPLE
Visit singing wells around Elsod. Then  drive to Yabelo & have lunch box on the way. Proceed to Konso and visit one village with traditional customs. Kanta lodge or camping near to the king palace.

6. KEYAFER THURSDAY MARKET, JINKA, ARI PEOPLE, MURSI PEOPLE
  Proceed to the Weyto river valley. Try to combine the program to be in Thursday to admire the KeyAfer market (of Tsemay & Erbore people). Then to Jinka admiring Ari people, & proceed to the Mago National park. Crossing the Neri river you can see the Mursi people village of Elwoha. 

7. MURSI & BODY PEOPLE
Full day for Mursi & Body people visiting their villages & culture, way of life & culture. With luck you may look for the donga game (August, September & October). If time permits make a game drive in the late afternoon on the high mountains of the Mago park. 
8. MUGUJI PEOPLE
When you cross the Mago National park you can proceed to the Muguji people & villages. With luck you may visit in the evening on of their dances.

9. KARO, NYANGATOM, HAMMER PEOPLE
Visit Karo people villages of Lubuk or Duss & Kortcho. Proceed to the Nyangatom (Bume) people crossing Omo river, at Kangate. Visit one of their villages, with very interesting cultures. Drive then to the Hamer people to watch the Evangadi dance.

10. HAMER PEOPLE & VISIT TURMI MARKET
Full day visit to Hamer people villages. Walk to a Hamer village; then proceed to the Monday market of Hamer, Karo & Dassanech people. With luck visit one of the Hamer people marriage ceremony with the bull jumping. And with luck the evening a Hamer people dance.

11. DASSANECH PEOPLE & VISIT TURKANA LAKE
Then proceed to Omorate village, where you can visit Dassanech people. Then drive to the Turkana lake, visiting Incoreana people. Back late afternoon to Turmi.
12. POPOLI ERBORE- ARBAMINCH
Visit Erbore people & villages, and proceed to Arbaminch town.
13. LAGO CHAMO E PARCO DEL NETCH SAR
Morning drive to lake Chamo and then make a boat trip admiring crocodiles (the biggest in Africa with length over 7 meters), hippos and birds. Reach the other side of the lake and walk to the Netch Sar park. Visit many animals, as Swaynes Hartbeest, lesser kudu, zebras, birds & more.

14. DORZE PEOPLE- LAKE LANGANO
Drive to the Dorze people, admiring their villages, and particular way of life and houses. And very nice views.  Drive then to the Rift Valley of Langano.
15. LANGANO LAKE & ZWAY, TIYA & ADADI MARIAM- ADDIS ABABA
Relax at Langano lake. Possibility of tracking to Munessa forest, birdwatching, horseriding, cycling, fishing, swimming & more. Drive then to Zway lake, Tiya steles & Adadi Mariam church. Then drive back to Addis Ababa. Ones in Addis, short visit of the Mercato, biggest open air  market in Africa.Test the Ethiopian traditional  food in traditional restaurants with folkloristic dances.

If you need more information on how to plan your trip, contact us here: jhnb4775@gmail.com

Lalibela Rock Hewn Churches-UNESCO heritage site

Lalibela Rock Hewn Churches

Lalibela is a town in northern Ethiopia. Lalibela is one of Ethiopia's holiest cities, second only to Axum, and is a center of pilgrimage for much of the country. 

Unlike Aksum, the population of Lalibela is almost completely Ethiopian Orthodox Christian.

Lalibela was intended to be a New Jerusalem in response to the capture of Jerusalem by Muslims, and many of its historic buildings take their name and layout from buildings in Jerusalem.

There are 11 medieval monolithic cave churches which are completely rock-hewen churches. They are hewen in the 13th-century and called  'New Jerusalem' and all are situated in a mountainous region in the heart of Ethiopia near a traditional village with circular-shaped dwellings.

The churches are grouped based on the four directions. 

1. The Northern Group: Bete Medhane Alem (house of the savior 

of the world), and which is  home to the Lalibela cross and believed to be the largest monolithic church in the world, probably a copy of St Mary of Zion in Axum.

2.Bete Medhane Alem is linked to Bete Maryam (possibly the    oldest of the churches), Bete Golgotha (known for its arts and said to contain the tomb of King Lalibela), the Selassie Chapel and the Tomb of Adam.

 

3. The Western Group: Bete Giorgis said to be the most finely executed and best preserved church.

4. The Eastern Group: Bete Amanuel (possibly the former royal chapel), Bete Merkorios (which may be a former prison), Bete Aba Libanos and Bete Gabriel-Rufael (possibly a former royal palace), linked to a holy Bakery.

Farther afield lie the Monastry of Ashetan Maryam and Yimrehane Kiristos church (possibly eleventh century, built in the Aksumite fashion but within a cave).

There are hotles around these UNESCO heritage  sites. The hotles give a very nice service with Ethiopian reception. One hotle is shown below with a very nice topological view.

If you need more information on how to plan your trip, contact us here: jhnb4775@gmail.com

Body Arts of the Omo Valley people

The people of the Omo Valley

In the Omo Valley of Southern Ethiopia live many tribes of people who use amazing body art to adorn themselves for enjoyment and as an artistic expression. They use flowers, leaves, twigs and face and body paint made from natural pigments such as red ochre (clay). The names of some of the tribes are the Hamar (Hamer), Mursi, Karo, Arbore and Surma. 

The women of the Mursi and Surma tribes practice a custom of extending their lower lips by making a cut into the lip and stretching it by means of an inserted wooden peg and later on by a clay lip plate. 

As the space between the upper and lower lip is created bigger and bigger Lip plates can be worn producing a unique appearance.  

Only the girls and women of the tribe wear lip plates and the practice is started six to 12 months before a teenage girl is due to get married. The lower front teeth are removed too. Where the mouth would be you end up seeing a circular plate adornment. These plates can be as much as 16 inches in diameter in some women.

The women make their own lip plates and take great pride in their craft. A lip plate is seen as an example of artwork.

The people of the Ethiopian tribes also wear many strings of beads and practice other forms of body modification such as piercing and extending their ear lobes and deliberate scarification of their skin.

The tribal people may braid their hair or shave it off or have combination of shaved areas and parts covered by hair.

The custom of face and body painting in many cases and decorating themselves with plant material and flowers appears to be very much about self expression and enjoyment rather than any ceremonial purpose.

 

They are masters of an ancient ancestral practice, which rather than being part of some religious rite, is a manifestation of "the desire to decorate, to seduce, to be beautiful, a game and a permanent pleasure" -- a true expression of deep sentience, fully integral, still extant in this place which was the cradle of humanity.

If you need more information on how to plan your trip, contact us here: jhnb4775@gmail.com

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