6 Days Historical Tours of Ethiopia

Day 1: Arrival to Addis Abeba

Meet Ethio Target Tours at the airport and check-in to your hotel.  You will visit the National Museum that exhibits numerous antiquates, historical relics, archaeological and pale-ontological objects including the 3.5 million year old skeleton of Lucy; one of the fine Ethiopian  Orthodox Churches, St. George Cathedral that contains several interesting modern paintings and mosaics St. George Cathedral; Merkato – biggest open market of its kind in Africa and the commanding panoramic view point Mount Entoto which offers the stupendous view of the city.  

Day 2: Fly Addis Abeba – Bahir Dar

Short flight north to Bahir Dar. Bahir Dar is a pleasant city located on the shores of Lake Tana, the largest lake in Ethiopia.  After checking in to your hotel, exploring Lake Tana and its islands by boat. There are 37 islands on Lake Tana and 20 of them have churches and monasteries of considerable historical and cultural interest. We visit the monastery churches of Ura Kidane Mihiret, Azwa Mariam, Ura Kidanemihiret is the best known of the monasteries and has an important collection of religious icons from the 16th to 18th centuries A.D. Azwa Mariam is known for its paintings and we also have time to visit the small museum.

Afternoon:  Drive to the Blue Nile Falls, which is known locally as Tissisat (smoking water) the water plunges for 45 m (148 ft.)  giving rise to steam clouds and rainbows. We climb down to the base of the falls for an up-close look and then ascend the other side the round trip will take about 1hour walking then drive back to bahir dar.

Day 3: Gonder – Royal Enclosure of Fasiledes

Morning Drive to Gonder: Gondar City Sightseeing, Gondar was the first capital city of the Ethiopian Empire, which began in 1632 with the reign of Fasilidas. In Gondar, there are a dozen castles built by various emperors over the course of 236 years. The city seems more European than African and also has Islamic influencejks. In the morning visit Fasilidas’ Palace, probably the most impressive of all the castles found in the area and the oldest one! We continue on to the bath of Fasiledes and Quskuam Church.  

Day 4: Gondar –  Sankobar

Drive from Gondar to Debark. Here we obtain a permit from the Park headquarters and collect our obligatory scout before continuing to Sankabar (3250m ASL) for the first overnight camp. An early start is needed as the drive from Gondar takes a 2-3 hours. The trek begins at Buytras (Simien Lodge), taking about 3 – 4 hours to walk to the Sankabar campsite is usually possible. During the walk there’s a good chance of seeing your first Gelada baboons

Day 5: Sankabar – Geech

In the morning of day 2, we will walk to Geech via the spectacular Jinbar waterfall. The trek will take approximately 5 – 7 hours. After descending down to the Jinbar Wenz (which feeds the waterfall) a short ascent remains to Geech village. A short distance beyond Geech village is the camp site. The camp site has great views of the mountains and is characterized by giant lobelia plants. The nearby Kedadit summit provides one of the best places to see the sun set. The camp site is situated at 3600m ASL.

Day 6: Geech to Ambaras – Fly Gondar – Addis Abeba

We trek from Geech to the Imet Gogo promontory, for one of the most spectacular views in the whole mountain range. This is a great day for seeing the magnificent Lammergeier vultures. From Imet Gogo we trek back to the road near a village called Ambaras and meet the car for the drive back to Gondar. The trek will last approximately 4-5 hours.

End of Tour