Anyone traveled in Ethiopia before? How easy was it to get around? Definitely want to do more than Addis Ababa but a lot of the countryside seems unstable.
Ethiopia
Anyone traveled in Ethiopia before? How easy was it to get around? Definitely want to do more than Addis Ababa but a lot of the countryside seems unstable.
More importantly, how's the cooming there?
>:(
I'm trans btw, if that matters
Been to Ethiopia twice, first in 2015 and then in 2019. Both pre civil war.
Addis is fun but there’s not a whole lot to do there. You can see Lucy’s skeleton and check out some of the old palaces/churches. Best place for nightlife is the Bole road area (near the airport). Meeting girls is extremely easy if you’re willing to pay. $15-25 usd was the going rate last time I was there. Any bar or club along Bole will have working girls.
Outside of Addis, the typical tourist circuit takes you through the Amhara region. Bahri Dar is famous for its lake and the blue Nile waterfalls (~1hr from the city). Gondar has a lot of the old castles from ancient Ethio kings and is definitely worth a visit. Lalibela is imho the most impressive array of churches in the country, including the famous rock hewn churches. Small town though and was pretty remote—although I think they have a Chinese built paved road now.
I can also answer questions about southern or eastern Ethio if you’re interested. Some interesting traditional tribes in the former and more Somali culture in the latter. Never been to Axum which is another tourist destination, but wouldn’t recommend it now with the Tigray militants there
>Both pre civil war.
They've had like a half dozen civil wars in 50 years.
Thank you based Africa traveler. There are so few of us on this board.
I'll only have a few days in country and am extremely interested in nature stuff. Seeing the wolves would be beyond a bucket list item for me. Have you been to the Bales? Really just interested in getting out of Addis for a few days with people I can trust to see cool wildlife. Not going to rent a car or take sketchy cabs really. It'll be for a work trip elsewhere and I just so happen to get a few days in Ethiopia for fun.
Different poster but we saw three wolves in the Simiens. One from maybe 50 yards away and two from about 2 feet when I startled them walking to the bathroom in the middle of then night.
Hot damn. Were you using a guide service to get around?
Yes but for trekking, not looking for wolves particularly.
How were they? Finding it surprisingly hard to find anyone to pick me up at the Addis airport for the Bales. Maybe the Simiens are better?
The guide was okay. Nothing special but I'm pretty sure you're not allowed in the park without one. As soon as the hiking's done they just go hang with the other guys hanging around the camps. If you do go I would highly recommend tent camping rather than in the shelters.
Finding a guide for the Simiens is very easy as there are plenty of agencies in Debark. You'll just get linked up with any other tourists trying to get into the park and form a group. Not sure how it works for Bale. I'm sure you'll find people in Addis on the ground who will arrange it or you could head down to Awasa and try from there. There's got to be trips you could book online ahead of time too.
>I'll only have a few days in country and am extremely interested in nature stuff. Seeing the wolves would be beyond a bucket list item for me. Have you been to the Bales?
Went in 2018 with my sister as part of three weeks in Ethiopia. Took a local bus from the Long Distance Bus station next to the Merkato area in Addis, purchased the tickets there the day before, which I would recommend you do as well if you plan on using local transport. Not sure if it was a direct ride to Bale, but I believe we had to transfer in Shashemene to take a smaller bus to Dinsho, which is where to park headquarters are. Fairly straightforward, not expensive. Not the most comfortable ride but we wanted to try the local bus at least once.
There's probably also (faster) minibuses and (more comfortable) liners buses to Shashemene, but from there on you'll most likely have to rely on either a taxi/bus/truck.
That said, we rocked up at the park headquarters not too long after noon after having found a small hotel (there's only three of four in Dinsho, all quite basic). Guides were mandatory. Told them we'd like to have a short walk then and there, and a jeep safari of sorts to go looking for the wolves. Walk near to the park HQ resulted in tons antelopes, several of which were local endemics, which was pretty cool. Managed to get fairly close. Saw hyena's too. Chances of spotting wolves on the Sanetti plateau are pretty good, we saw several; they usually hunt alone throughout the day, only congregating during the night and at dawn - hard to catch them then. Saw a few more small local endemic mammals. If you're really lucky, there's an endemic monkey in the local bamboo forests, forgot the species. Lions too, but you'd need time and luck.
Simien is more beautiful landscapewise, plus more cool raptors. Also has Walia ibex, endemic. More monkeys (endemic geladas), fewer antelops, chances of seeing wolves are far lower and sightings require more time.
Took pic on Sannetti plateau.
Oh, and if you have time, I would recommend a day in Awasa on the way back. Go for a boat ride, think we paid 500 birr. Hippo's, crocodiles and tons of birdlife.
Also, rather than doing everything by yourself, you could also use one of the many travel agencies. We occasionally did, using ETT (Ethiopia Travel and Tours), best tip I can give is to show up at their office if they're slow to respond to online inquiries, as they may be too busy to follow up on all of those quickly. If you book several days/attractions, you can haggle down a little.
Pic is Walia ibex in Simien, Chenek area campsite. Got to within touching distance of one of these females right after I took this shot.
wow you went all the way to Ethiopia to see a coyote. You even took a pic of it lol.
Based detail posters. Thank you for providing so much info.
OP here. Unfortunately, time became an issue and I couldn't afford to take the time off to travel in Ethiopia like I hoped. Other responsibilities pulled me elsewhere. However, I will be going back through Ethiopia probably once a year, so this will be genuinely helpful whenever I make it back.
I will have about 16 hours in Addis though. Already booked a hotel to crash at and figure I'll just find a restaurant or bar to chill at too. Any recollection of whether I can store luggage in the airport somewhere?
>if you’re willing to pay. $15-25 usd
What about normal girls and regular dating? Any chances?
You need to present two goats, a cow, and several bags of beans to her father.
Did all this except for Lalibdla (i know!) and wolf trip east.
Definitely do not miss on Axum. The Tigray region was in 2018 abundant in resources. Great food, a lot to see. Danakil Depression was once in a lifetime trip. It was about 200 usd per 4 days / 3 nights. You get to look into an active volcano ay 2 am and sleep under the stars 200 metres away.
The Osho Vslley south of Addis is also unusual. Arranged a local boy to bus travel with me for one day to show me around the tribes. Finally ended up at weekly markets bush people organize between themselves.
The third highlight was hiking in Simien.
Downside: could have been my lack of experience but felt pretty lonely there. Established some connections but it seemed difficult.
I want to go to Ethiopia, but I wouldn't want to miss out on the Tigray region if I do.
>the most impressive array of churches in the country
I beg to differ, the best churches are the ones in Tigray. Probably not architecturally as significant as the ones in Lalibela but the whole package is much better. Google Rock-Hwen Churches Tigray
Agreed. Lalibela was fascinating in it's own right and it was very cool to wake up at dawn and see people there praying and having services but Tigray is otherworldly. In hindsight, visiting those churches might have been my first step towards converting.
Unfriendly people. In the country side they throw rocks at white people. Shit hole country.
Your personal prejudices are not the same as OP's.
So sick of racists on this board. Fuck off back to pol.
cry about it reddit moron gay.
blue boards are our domain, you merely reside in them.
I went back in 2006/2007. I hooked up with the front desk girl at my small/"boutique" hotel. But I also noticed working girls in the pubs/bars. Girls were friendly. Weather was garbage. Addis was ugly in general.
So you have AID now?
yes of course
for me it was. this was a long time ago though, i don't know how things are now.
Nice, so it's easy to get laid there?
american africans =/= african africans
There's no issue with Africans, as long as they stay in Africa.