Travelers' reviews about Ethiopia
3 reviews
Lynne Marston
Ethiopia
Solo
Ethiopia has long been suggested to me as an interesting off-the-beaten-track destination. Being more interested in culture, I did the northern heritage circuit, two weeks solo trip with driver. The highlights were, as expected, the Timket festival in Gonder, the unearthly landscapes of the Danakil Depression, and the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela. Skip the Blue Nile Falls (trickle, really), and fly to and from Lalibela because the road is long and ghastly.
The best parts:
Good balance of nature and culture. A fascinating ancient Christian civilisation largly untouched by colonialism. Beautifully mild weather in January. Unearthly landscapes of the Danakil Depression. Service and flexibility of the driver. Excellent French-run local travel agency Summer Time, which organised everything superbly.
The worst parts:
Constant begging by local children (don't give them anything, especially not pens which they've been taught to ask for ad nauseam). Even adults who seem to want to engage in conversation are usually after a dodgy 'donation'. Everybody expects tips: the problem is less the amounts, which are trivial though they do add up, and more the constant nickeling-and-diming. They should be included in the cost. The English proficiency of local staff is far from adequate. Ethiopian food gets tiring pretty quickly.
Dear Lynne,
It was a real pleasure to welcome you in our country.
Let me have the opportunity to thank you for the precious time you gave to make this testimony.
We have taken your remarks in consideration in order to improve the quality of our service.
We hope we will see again for another adventure across Ethiopia.
Sincerely yours
Taye, Marie-Rose and Gabriel
RAHB
Ethiopia
Family
Lake Tana monastery, Gondar, Simien Mountains, Lalibela churches, Lake Chamo hippos, Dorze tribe, and Maze national park camping.
The best parts:
Fabulous landscapes in Simien mountains and many other parts of Ethiopia, charming smiley people, amazing history and strong religion, unspoilt tourist hotspots and variety of wildlife and birds.
The worst parts:
mixed food, some African inefficiency and occasional hassle from street vendors.
Dear Richard, Diana, Charles, Sabrina and Michael
Thank you very much for your testimony, it will help us to improve the quality of our local travel agency
It was a real pleasure to have all of you among us and we hope that you will travel again with us.
Best wishes
Margui
Ethiopia
Couple
I loved Ethiopia. It's a very varied destination. Tourism isn't developed which I liked. The Bale mountains were spectacular, and the lakes and hot springs quite incredible.
The best parts:
Our local agent MarieRose was very responsive. Our driver, Tariku was good and he tried extremely hard to make our trip a good one. The programme was also good
The worst parts:
The hotel in Awasa, Lake view was disappointing. Light bulbs not working, and we discovered in the night that there were dozens of holes in the mosquito screen, and we were both bitten. Unfortunate, as it is an area with malaria.
The itinerary was not sufficiently clear as to which dinners were included. Very few, despite there being no alternative. I think that dinners should be included where there is no alternative, where we were far from a Town and restaurants.
Dear Margaret and Stefanos,
Marie-Rose and myself thank warmly for your feedback.
We will take in considération what you have shared and includ as much as possible dinners in the program to make it easy. It was a real pleasure to have you and Stafanos among us, and i wish i could meet you in person for your next tour in Ethiopia. I do also speak italian and i would be very happy to chat with Stephanos next time you come to visit our country.
With warm regards
Taye & Marie-Rose
