Arrival Bole International Airport
Awesome Ethiopia Tours will meet all clients arriving at the airport regardless of arrival time. For morning flight arrivals you may begin your tour after checking into your hotel. For afternoon or evening arrivals, you may begin your tour the following day.
Day 01: Arrival
Visit the Ethnographic Museum, a great introduction to Ethiopian culture and history. Tour the Mercato, one of Africa’s largest outdoor markets, and Trinity Cathedral, resting place of Emperor Haile Selassie.
Overnight at the Jupiter International Hotel
Meals (B.L.D)
Day 02: Fly Addis – Bahar Dar
This morning you will be transferred to the airport for you flight to Bahar Dar. Up on your arrival there will be transfer. After check in you will proceed your sightseeing. On the commencement you will have a boat trip on Lake Tana with a surface area of 2,282 square miles it is the largest lake in Ethiopia. The lake is dotted with islands, many of which shelter isolated monasteries containing the remains of ancient Ethiopian emperors and treasures of the Ethiopian Church. Visit Ura Kidane Meheret monastery, famous for its ancient manuscripts, crosses, icons, and paintings. Your Overnight will be at Blue Nile hotel. In the afternoon you will drive to the village of Tis Isat to see the Blue Nile falls (please be informed that due to the newly constructed electric dam in the vicinity the water level of the falls could be very minimal) . Drive back to Bahar Dar.
Overnight at the Abay Minch Lodge
Meals (B.L.D)
Day 03: Drive Bahar Dar – Gondar and attend Timket Eve
After breakfast, you will visit Gondar, a town founded in 1636 by the great Emperor Fassiladas. Set in a landscape of incomparable beauty, it was the Royal Capital of Ethiopia. Visit the Castles and Churches built by Emperor Fassiladas and his descendants. Then, proceed to the fascinating Debre Birhan Selassie Church, its walls and ceilings decorated with scenes of Biblical lore and medieval history. In the afternoon, you will attend the Timket eve ceremony called, Ketera. During Ketera, the priests take out the Tabots – replicas of the original Ark of the Covenant.
Overnight at the Taye Belay Hotel
Meals (B.L.D)
Day 04: Attend Timket Festivity
In the morning you will again walk to the ‘Taboat Maderia’ to witness the early morning baptism ceremony. The water which symbolizes the Jordan River is blessed by the priest and the patriarch then dips a golden cross and extinguishes a burning consecrated candle in the alter. Then he sprinkles water on the assembled congregation in commemoration of Christ’s baptism. Following the baptism, the Tabots start their way back to their respective churches, while feasting, singing and dancing – continuing all the way to the churches.
Overnight at the Taye Belay Hotel
Meals (B.L.D)
Day 05: Excursion to Simien Mountains National Park and Day Hike
This morning drive to Buhit Ras the first segment of the Semein Mountains National Park – the “Roof of Africa” set an altitude of 3260 meters 1072 ft. En route, you will observe the magnificent scenery with unique flora. Following, you will drive to Buhit Ras via Simien Mountains National Park. Total drive time is approximately 4- 5 hours. Drive back to Gondar.
Overnight at the Taye Belay Hotel
Meals (B.L.D)
Day 06: Fly Gondar – Axum
There will be transfer to the airport for your flight to Axum. On arrival there will be transfer and after check in you will precede you sightseeing in Axum. Take a city tour that includes the Stele Park. These famed granite obelisks are relics of this time and have gained UNESCO World Heritage Site status.
The tallest, the Great Stele, has fallen and broken into six massive pieces, but when standing was 33 meters (108 feet) tall and weighed about five hundred tons. The tallest obelisk still standing at Axum today is about 23 meters (75 feet) tall, still an impressive sight! We continue the city tour, visiting St. Mary’s Church and the Sanctuary Chapel which is the repository of the Ark of the Covenant; the Coronation Yard; King Ezana’s Park; and the “Queen of Sheba” ruins, once a massive palace with finely mortared stonewalls deep foundations, and its own impressive drainage system, believed to be the oldest building in Axum.
Overnight at the Sabean Hotel
Meals (B.L.D)
Day 07: Fly Axum – Lalibela
Your visit in Lalibela is said to be a great experience in life. Lalibela is the jewel in the crown of Ethiopia, the most famous churches and the scene of so many major religious ceremonies. The churches are carved below ground level and ringed by trenches and courtyards and are arguably Ethiopia’s top most attraction. They are connected to each other by a tangled maze of tunnels and passages. Among the churches you will visit are Bete Amanuel a 36-foot-high monolith considered by art historians to be the finest and most precisely worked church in Lalibela, possibly because it was the private church of the royal family, Bete Markorios a cave church originally used for secular purposes and thought to be around 1,400 years old and Bete Giorgis the most majestic and best preserved of all Lalibela’s churches.
Overnight at the Lalibela Loge
Meals (B.L.D)
Day 08: Excursion to Gente Mariam
Today you will have an excursion to Genete Mariam, one of the most interesting churches in Lalibela’s outlying area. Genete Mariam is a large monolith carved into a pink-tinged outcrop near the source of the Tekaze River. Supported by pillars, the church is very different from any of the excavations in Lalibela in that it is not hidden within a trench, but carved openly on a rocky hilltop, though the cover of scaffolding detracts from the impact of seeing it from afar. According to tradition, Genata Mariam was excavated during the reign of Yakuno Amlak, the king who ‘restored’ the Solomonic line in the early 13th century.
Overnight at the Lalibela Loge
Meals (B.L.D)
Day 09: Fly Lalibela – Addis
You will be transferred to the airport for your flight to Addis. In the evening, there will be Extraordinary Ethiopia Tours complimentary farewell dinner party with traditional special buffet and local drinks (flight schedule permitting). At the end of the farewell dinner, transfer to Addis Ababa airport for the flight back.
Meals (B.L.D)
…. END OF TOUR