Travel information on Security & Safety for visitors in Ethiopia

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Smog in Addis for Hedar Mikael

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Smog in Addis this morning

Today Thursday 21 November is St Mikael’s day here in Ethiopia – Hedar (the month) Mikael. It’s one of numerous big saints days where the holy tabot is paraded out. But for this day there is a tradition to burn rubbish and that the smoke will take the evil away.  For more details see this earlier blog.

Extract from the calendar showing holidays

To understand the traditions of the church, the fasts, the big celebrations, the saints days and holidays and much more in Ethiopia you need the Tesfa Tours diary or calendar where all of these are laid out clearly.  When is the adversity fast starting? When is Tsion Mariam etc? Our calendar will tell you. It even lets you know the full moons!

 

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Tigray goes Green

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The UK FCDO travel advice has just been changed to show all the core areas of Tigray (away from disputed territories and boundaries) as green.

UK FCDO travel advice for Tigray

At Tesfa Tours we have been sending clients there to trek at community-owned guesthouses and see the wonders of the ancient city of Axum and there hidden rock churches of Gheralta. However for British nationals the fact that the travel advice was advising against travel to the region meant that most travel insurance was invalid and generally discouraged people from visiting. Now almost exactly 2 years after the peace accords were signed in Pretoria ending the civil conflict there, and 22 months after I went back to check the situation there, the advise from the UK government  has changed. and they no longer advise against travel to all those parts of Tigray that a visitor is likely to want to see – just don’t go close to

Shimbrety Guesthouse at sunset

the Eritrean border, nor the Sudanese border. Also don’t go close to the border with Amhara Region, nor the extreme west of the Region which is disputed territory.

The FCDO travel map for Ethiopia is here.

And here is the link too the FCDO advice

See our page on trips to Tigray to discover the magic of the place, and ancient land whose beginning is shrouded in mysteries many millennia old, but whose people will welcome you with open arms.

Hosts at Shimbrety guesthouse

 

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Dorze Campfire - villagers dancing

Melkam Addis Amet – Happy New Year – as the holiday season starts.

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As the rainy season – the Kremt – begins to recede, Ethiopians prepare to celebrate their new year – saying goodbye to 2016 and hello to 2017.   If you want to know about the why’s and wherefores of the Ethiopia’s unique calendar please check this earlier blog article.

Meskal flowers – Adey Ababa -in Meket, North Wollo -a symbol for the new year.

The New Year holiday falls on a Wednesday this year (Wed 11 Sep) -a fasting day -and as a result the normal celebratory meat based food can’t be consumed by Orthodox Christians. So many will postpone the feasting on such dishes as dorowot (a spicy chicken stew) until Thursday. However only the Wednesday is a national holiday.

A few days later on Monday 16 Sep, Ethiopia’s muslims will celebrate the birthday of the Prophet Mohammed, known as Mowleid, which is also a national holiday.

A little more than a week later is the celebration of Meskal, when the Orthodox community celebrate the finding of the True Cross in Jerusalem by St Helena, the mother of the Emperor Constantine in 327 AD.  The digging started on Meskerem 17  (27 Sep) and the cross itself was recovered on Megabit 10 (19 March) … for more background about this holiday check out this article I wrote a few years ago.

Meskal is celebrated across Ethiopia with bonfires (Demera)  lit with a cross sticking up from the centre. The way the cross falls is seen as a prediction of fortune for the community and nation. In many places the bonfire is on the eve of Meskal but in some places it is lit on the morning of the holiday. One such place is Adigrat in Tigray, where Meskal is a very big celebration and most people who come from the town return for this big event. Bars have seating on the roads and everybody celebrates – in some ways it feels a bit like Ethiopia’s answer to the Munich Oktoberberfest.

But probably the most famous celebrations of Meskal are found in the peoples of the South West of Ethiopia – the Gurage, the Dorze and the Gamo peoples. The days leading up to the Meskal holiday itself are  each separate and have their own celebrations – eating of special prepared green (gomen), the day slaughtering of the oxen, a day for the women and so on.  There is much dancing and cultural foods are eaten. And this year Meskal also falls on a fasting day – Friday, so a lot of the celebration with traditional foods like kitty – a delicious minced meat marinated in butter and spices and traditionally served raw, will be eaten on the Saturday.

In the days leading up to Meskal thousands of Addis Ababans flock to these areas, notably to Gurage which is closest, to enjoy this authentic celebration of the famous holiday.

Celebrations in 1903 at Lake Hora

There is yet another holiday to come before the end of Meskal – the first month of the Ethiopian Calendar: Irreeychaa.  This is a traditional Oromo thanks giving festival that celebrates the end of the rainy season. The local population led by elders will congregate, most typically at lakes and prayers are said to Waaqua (God) and freshly cut flowers and grass laid on the lake.  The largest celebration was for many years at Bishoftu, where there are many crater lakes, however now it is also celebrated in Addis Ababa, usually on the Saturday and then the Sunday at Bishoftu and in other regional centres.

Cross shaped Amba at Gishen Mariam

There is also one very special Saints’ day in Meskerem:- Gishen Mariam. This festival is also linked to the True Cross and celebrates that a fragment of the true cross is buried at the Mariam church on mountain. This is the location of one of Ethiopia’s most famous pilgrimages, as thousands of pilgrims stream up the narrow mountain roads and clamber up the steep paths from their vehicles to reach the mountain top churches.

More details about both Irreeychaa and Gishen Mariam can be found in this article called Crosses, Thanksgiving and Fasts

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The Kremt Rains arrived – but it’s not winter.

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Foggy morning – Goom – in Addis

For those of us in Addis the change in the weather has been noticeable in the last week. One of my favourite descriptive words in Amharic is ‘goom’  – ጉም – which describes the low cloud/ foggy weather which has started now. Along with a lot of rain over the last week, there is this colder wetter feel to the weather.  It is now Kremt season and a sure sign the the ITCZ: Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone, has moved north bringing monsoon rain to Ethiopia. This same phenomenon brings rain to India and even south east Oman’s Dhofar mountains going green as a result. For more background on the Kremt check out this post from 2022.

But it is not winter! Yes it’s colder and wetter, but this is the growing season, over

Rain in Gurage’s green landscape

the coming months the landscape in Ethiopia will be transformed into an emerald carpet, with clouds of yellow from the Meskal daisies (Adey Abeba).  Winter is something that occurs in temperate and polar regions of the world. Here, of course the days get short, and with that temperatures are generally much lower, and often there will be an increase in rainfall. Plants will die off, become dormant, die back (loosing their leaves) or stop growing until spring.

But a rainy season, like the Indian monsoon and the Ethiopia Kremt, is the time of growth for plants. Crops are sown to grow during the rainy season.

How long does the Kremt last:

Rain storm in Wollo

It varies across the country, and as you go north it tends to be weaker and start later, and even end earlier, whereas in Addis it’s longer. The date I found in the church calendar for the start of the Kremt as Senay 26 (3rd July) but in Addis it does seem to begin in mid June. Some years even earlier.  The heaviest rain would be expected through the 2nd half of July and through August, with the rains getting less through September. By Meskal (27 September) they will almost be over, with perhaps a week or som of intermittent rain. Again the church calendar has the end of the Kremt as Meskerem 25 which is 5th October. From then on the weather should change dramatically to clear skies and very dry conditions – often with a wind that can be quite cool off the mountains.

What trips are good in the Kremt:

Rainbow comes out over the mountains in Tigray

As I mentioned as you travel north the rains become less, so it’s a good time to visit Tigray, where you will get a good deal more sun and drier conditions. On the Tesfa trek in the Agame mountains much of the ground is sandy so the rains soaks away more and it does not get muddy. The same is true in Gheralta. Often the rain comes in late afternoon and at night and you can be in a guesthouse or perhaps watch the cloud and lightening play out in the distance.  There is a special holiday in Tigray, celebrated in the countryside called Ashendiye on 22 August when women dress up with grass skirts and there is a lot of dancing, which would be great to see. And the  delicious beles fruit is ripe – the prickly pear – and is best from the Agame mountains.

Also you can head south. As you go to lower altitudes it gets warmer and although there is more rain in this season it’s a great break from Addis. Staying at a lodge on Lake Langano or in Bishoftu is a nice break. Or you can go further south to Hawassa or Arba Minch where you will get some good weather and storms running through, but with that tropical feel.

And talking of lower altitudes and warmth – how about a weekend at Doho Lodge in Awash, with its beautiful spring fed pools, overlooking an oasis like lagoon! A great place to escape too for a couple of days.

As the waterfalls get more dramatic – checking the weather forecast – you could take advantage of a drier day and head to Debre Libanos to see the falls there (but this would be a last minute thing).

In late September you should pack your travel bags for more adventurous places. Tesfa, with Ride the Rift, are running a Meskal trip to Gurage at the end of September. While there is a focus of mountain biking we take hikers and runners too, and will try to include a half day rafting on the Wabe River (which the upper river for the Omo). But what makes this tip unique is the cultural experiences, joining in the Meskal celebrations that are so much part of the Gurage culture.

 

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Tesfa Ethiopian Calendar- 2017EC (2024/5) out now!

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Tesfa Ethiopian Calendar for 2017 EC (2024-5)

Running from 1 Sep 2024 – 31 Aug 2025 (29cm x 52cm hanging size)

This shows the western dates (Gregorian) and the Ethiopian dates. Weaves the many saints days, annual festivals, fasting periods, Islamic holidays, various curiosities, & even the full moon dates into a western calendar matrix. Convert Ethiopian dates, and plan ahead to see when a saints day will mean your areas is congested, or explains the chanting from your local church. Also to see great times to visit churches! And its always good to know when the fasting seasons start and end!

The calendar is illustrated with inspiring photos from our community tourism treks, with safe places to visit (Tigray and Gurage) even if all our guesthouses can not be visited at this time.

Calendars (and in the coming weeks the Agenda / Diary version) are available from Tesfa Tours office (see our website for location )  and other locations in town.  For more details Email: calendars@tesfatours.com or call us on 092 349 0495‬ / 092 160 2236

Price is 1,000 birr per calendar. Income generated supports local communities (after covering printing costs). 

Agenda /diary version

Agenda/diary version available soon too. 

example page of agenda/diary

With 52 photos inside and each week to a page, this diary contains a wealth of information about the saints days and other notable days through the year, which can not be fitted not the hanging calendar.

It’s about 20 x 14.5cm – this year on a ring bind spine to make it easier to write notes in it.

A vital companion to keep in your bag when you move around.

Price is 1,200 birr. It is available now.

 

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Melkam Fasika – Happy Easter

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Ethiopian Crucification & the life of Abuna Saläma (at the British Museum)

We wish all who are celebrating a Happy Easter – (or as we say in Amharic “Melkam Fasika”).

Some of you may be surprised that Ethiopian Easter, (which is in fact Orthodox Easter across many countries) is celebrated so long after Western Easter.  As we all know Easter in all Christian faiths is a movable feast. But the why’s and wherefores are rather stranger!

As Easter marks the date of Jesus’s death and resurrection, which happened around the Jewish Passover. (Christ celebrated the Last Supper on the first day of Passover and his Crucifixion occurred on the second day, at the hour when the lambs were slaughtered in the Temple at Jerusalem.) It was originally celebrated along side the Passover festival by early Christians.  However the formula for calculating Easter was set down at the Council of Nicaea in 325 — the most famous of the seven Christian ecumenical councils accepted by both Catholics and Orthodox. It is a fairly simple formula:

Easter is the first Sunday that follows the Paschal Full Moon (Paschal means “Passover” in Greek), which is the full moon that falls on or after the spring equinox (taken as being 21st March).

But for calculation purposes, the Council of Nicaea declared that the full moon is always set on the 14th day of the lunar month.

Council of Nicea from Greek Icon

(The lunar month begins with the new moon.) This is called the ecclesiastical full moon; the astronomical full moon may fall a day or so before or after the ecclesiastical full moon.

So far so everyone is on the same page. And this does explain how the date of Easter moves across a month, linked to this ecclesiastical full moon date. And the fact that is on the 1st Sunday following a full moon adds several days to the possible 28 day variation.  However the difference between the Western and Orthodox Easter comes from the calendar used by the church.

The Julian calendar (establish by Julias Caesar in AD45), overestimated the length of the tropical year, the time from one equinox to the next, which also affected  the date of Easter, and is increasingly out of sync with the actual solar year.

In 1582, to correct the increasing error in the Julian calendar, Pope Gregory XIII suggested knocking off a few days from the calendar and adjusting the frequency of leap years. That year, in all countries who went with the Pope’s plan, 4 October was to be followed by 15 October. Hence the term Gregorian calendar! It took England almost 200 years to follow suit (because of its protestant allegiance in the 16th century) and it was decided that Wednesday 2 September 1752 would be followed immediately by Thursday 14 September 1752, thereby synchronizing with the rest of Europe.

However the Orthodox churches have continued to calculate based on the Julian Calendar until now, even if most countries adopted the Gregorian calendar for secular life!  This 13 days is the difference between Western Christmas (25 Dec) and Orthodox Christmas (7 January). But now Easter compounds the 13 days difference with the lunar calculation and the fact that it is always a Sunday! It couldn’t get more complicated than that!

This means Western Easter can be from late March until late April, (from 22 March to 25 April) and Orthodox Easter from early April until early May (from 3 April to 8 May).

Fasika in Lalibela

Here in Ethiopia, this week Good Friday – Sekelet – will be celebrated on 3 May and Easter Sunday (known as Tinsae or Fasika) will be celebrated on 5 May. The week leading up to Easter is known as Holy Week (Himamat), and the fasting in Ethiopia becomes more intense, with a total fast from Friday morning until late Saturday night (in fact Sunday morning) when the fast is broken at church.  For anyone wishing to get a feel for the intense passion with which Fasika is marked here in Ethiopia, you should attend a local church on Saturday night. (For more on the fasting see this blog article)

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Sunset at Shimbrety guesthouse

Tesfa Means Hope

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Berhe enjoys a coffee while sitting with his children

Berhe with his children – Feb23

Over a year ago I went back up to Tigray after the peace accords had been signed and flight services resumed. I met with my good friend Berhe and visited his family. We trekked to all the guesthouses and met with communities.  (More details of this can be found here:- Blog- A new-dawn-for-tigrays-tourism.)

Berhe has been the key person holding the community tourism together for many years, and I have trekked with him across the Agame mountains many times.  He is always positive, thoughtful and forward looking. But when we met 14 months ago – for the first time since conflict had erupted in the north in Nov 2020, he was a different person.

Berhe has written this email for me and to share with our supporters :-

.. After I finished my university degree I worked for Tigray culture and Tourism Agency for almost one year. Then I moved to an NGO called Adigrat Diocese Catholic Secretariat working as tourism expert and helped to develop eight community based tourism cooperatives. When the NGO I used to work for [TESFA CBT] phased out, I started tour guiding for Mulualem and Birhan Guiding and Travel Agent Partnership [this was the guiding organisation for the community tourism] until Covid and then the war in Tigray.
Before the war I used to had a stable life. I used to cover all my expenses, even I was able to send my kids to private school and save a little bit of money. Then Covid came, followed by the devastating war happened and things changed dramatically. I don’t want to talk a lot about the war. I want to leave bad things behind me and look forward. But to mention one thing, I lost any hope and I was not sure what tomorrow could bring.

The Pretoria peace agreement was signed after two years of bloody war.  Then immediately you [Mark] came to visit us (I wantto thank you Mark for believing in us and you showed up even against all the odds. I know people were telling you not to come over here thinking it is not safe).

Berhe and Mark near Shimbrety in the Agame mats on the Tesfa trek

Berhe & Mark in Agame Mnts

It was then I start to thing life could be easier again. If you remember when we were crossing the villages, people were saying in Tigrigna “Degim Wegihu”,which means “it’s dawn now”.  Those people were right the dawn has come. Since Tesfa Tours start to send tourists again my perception has changed. I start to see hope again. I start to believe my children will eat and go to school again. And that’s what it’s happening right now; though it is not enough but I start to make some money again.
Thank you Mark,  and thank you Tesfa Tours for giving me hope and for trying to give my previous life back again.
Best Regards
Berhe
Sunset at Shimbrety guesthouse

Shimbrety Guesthouse curtesy of Pierre

As Berhe says, he had lost hope! Our discussion for the first days 14 months ago was on how he could leave the country – he was even ready to risk it all with the terrible desert crossing to Libya via Sudan, and then the massive risk crossing the Mediterranean. Of course it was completely understandable. When hope is gone, you are prepared to take risks to find a chance – a glimmer of hope. Thankfully for now, we have been able to provide that. Somehow we showed that the dawn had broken and a new day was slowly and painfully emerging, and with it that hope.

I want to reach out to our supporters and friends. For those who have trekked in Tigray in the last 12 months, or directed friends and family to trek there, I want to say a huge thank you. Without your support we could not have give the hope Berhe refer to. In fact it is you giving the hope by visiting there. For others who have not had the chance to get back to Ethiopia or get up to Tigray I really urge you to try in the coming months. We need to keep this resurgence going.

And I can assure you you everyone visiting Tigray is having a wonderful trip :-

Hi Mark …..sorry for the late mail but after the fabulous week end in the Tigray, the week was very intense…..!!! Thanks for all because it was amazing …..everything was perfect and we enjoy a lot…..for the site, a selection of photos to prove that it was incredible……!!!! Pierre, Feb 2024

Hi. We had a wonderful time. I can’t state enough how beautiful it all was and my son was crying to leave Berhe [who was their guide]. Farzad, April 2024

So while on the one hand you bring hope to a people who have been through too much, on the other hand you will experience a wonderful stay in Tigray as a guest of the local farmers and with our guides (Berhe and his friends) acting as translators in language, culture and so much more, to give you a truly memorable and heart lifting time.

And for those worried about the rain we are experiencing in Addis, Tigray is much drier.  We continue to run treks there during the rainy season as rain is more sporadic with blue skies most mornings and the soil is sandy. I myself enjoy being in Tigray during that time – in addition there are special festivals in August and the beles fruit (the prickly pear) is ripe!

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Nativity scene in Ethiopia Iconographic style

Merry Christmas & Happy New (Ferenji) Year

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Nativity scene in Ethiopia Iconographic styleWe wish all our friends, customers and our team members across the country a happy Christmas time – Melkam Gena (Happy Christmas know as Gena or Lidet in Ethiopia). As across the Orthodox world it is celebrated a few weeks later than in the west.

But this year (2016 which started on 12 Sept), is different. Last year in the Ethiopian calendar was a leap year, and so until the leap day in the western calendar in February, all dates are knocked back. Because there was an extra day added to the tail-end of last year making the 5 day pagumenical (13th) month into a 6 day version so each Ethiopian date starting with the 1st day of this year – Meskerem 1, falls a day later in the western calendar. So, for example, the big Gabriel holiday (Kulubi Gabriel) which falls on Tahsas 19 this year is on 29 December not the usual 28th as in other years. But Gena is different!

gena in Lalibela

Gena ceremony in Lalibela

Gena is celebrated on Tahsas 29 (the monthly day that celebrates the birth of Christ) which usually falls on 7 January. However as the miraculous conception of Jesus in Mary was in the preceding year Megabit 29 (7 April), most of Ethiopia celebrate Gena on Tahsas 28 this year … which is still on the 7th…. but in Lalibela it will be on the 8th!  Understanding Ethiopia is always that bit more complex!

Many Orthodox Christians are currently fasting for advent, a fast that began on 25 November, and means most a vegan diet for 6 weeks.

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Yadey Abeba -Meskal Daisy - Field in Gurage

Melkam Addis Amet / Happy New Year

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Yadey Abeba -Meskal Daisy - Field in Gurage

Yadey Abeba – Meskal Daisy

We wish all or friends, family, supporters and partners Melkam Addis Amet: Happy New Year. Today – as the thirteenth month (Pagume) ends we say goodbye to 2015 and welcome in 2016 in the Ethiopian Calendar.

In this past year (2015), known as a Lukas year, (there is one for each of the four evangelists) the thirteenth month has an extra 6th day in it  (today) – a leap month pushing the New Year date in the western calendar to tomorrow – 12 September. 

The western and Ethiopian calendars will be ‘out of sync’ until the leap day at the end of February.  So known dates like Timkat usually the 19th January will be on the 20th January in the coming year (a Yohannes Year). But Gena (Ethiopian Christmas) is even more

Tesfa Agenda

complicated. So probably the moment to get your hands on a Tesfa Calendar or Agenda/diary. 

The Tesfa Calendar and Agenda are available with all the Ethiopian dates set into the western calendar so you can see what is coming

Tesfa Agenda pages

up. Weaving the many saints days, annual festivals, fasting periods, Islamic holidays and various curiosities, and even the full moon dates has been a labour of love for 17 years now! Conscious of the environment for the 3rd year, we are printing this on recycled paper.  It is available from Tesfa Tours and in some other locations in town. Contact us on calendars@tesfatours.com to get your copy, or call our office 011 124 5178 / 092 349 0495.

We pray that 2016 will be a peaceful and happy year for Ethiopia!

 

 

 

 

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Calendars, Leap Year and Ancient Egypt

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The new and unique Tesfa Calendar is coming out from the printers soon!

Calendar Cover page, Mequat Mariam at dawn

It runs from Sep 2023 – Aug 2024 (ie Ethiopian Year 2016) is now in its 17th year and is ready!  And since the 2014 edition it is printed on recycled paper!!!

The Tesfa Calendar is available again this year, with all the Ethiopian dates set into the western calendar so you can see what is coming up. Weaving the many saints days, annual festivals, fasting periods, Islamic holidays and various curiosities, and even the full moon dates has been a labour of love for 17 years now! Conscious of the environment for the 3rd year, we are printing this on recycled paper.

January page of the hanging calendar

January page of the calendar

The calendar has stunning photos that will make you want to get out of Addis, or fly over from where ever you have the calendar and see this beautiful country. The photos are taken from the Tesfa Community treks across the north of the country (the Agenda has photos from other additional places too).

 

The calendar comes in 2 versions:

  • Traditional hanging calendar, great in your kitchen or office -(29cm across ands 53cm down)- 12 months with 13 photos. 500birr donation
  • The Agenda or Diary format:- (approx 21cm x 15cm) in portrait format, has 1 week to a page and so 53 pages (52.14 weeks a year) – running from Monday to Sunday on one side on easy to write on paper, and with a photo to match on opposite page. 600 birr donation

    A page from the Agenda / diary

    A page from the Agenda / diary

We ask the donation to help support the Tesfa communities who have guesthouses around the country hosting visitors enabling them to walk through their beautiful landscapes.

Leap Years in the Ethiopian Calendar:

The Ethiopian calendar names the years in a 4 year procession, after the Evangelists- so this current year (2015) is a Lukas year and the coming year 2016 is a Yohannes year. At the end of a Lukas year there is an extra day in Pagumay – making it a 6 day ‘month’ which works like the 29th February in the western calendar. The effect for the coming 5 months is to knock the dates in the 2 calendars out of sync. So New Year in the Ethiopian Calendar will fall on 12th September in a Yohannes year (2016), Meskal on the 28th September, Gena (Ethiopian Christmas) – now that is more complicated – In Lalibela it shifts to the 8th January, but elsewhere in Ethiopia it remains on the 7th January (which means its on 28 Tahsas instead of the usual 29 Tahsas) – more on that later in the year! And the big one – Timkat will be on the 20 January. And around then of course all the big saints days such as Tsion Mariam are also going to shift – in this case from 30 November to 1 December. With the leap day on 29 February 2024 all the dates re-sync!  Confused?, then get your copy of this calendar or the Agenda.

The Origins of the Ethiopian Calendar:

As is so much in Ethiopian culture, the origin if the Ethiopian Calendar is shrouded in the mists of time. However it is very much the same as the ancient solar Coptic calendar from Egypt, which is the oldest in history.  It is believed that the famous Imhotep, the supreme official of King Djoser C.2670 B.C. played a part in the development of this calendar.

Nile flood waters at Giza

Nile flood waters at Giza by the Pyramids

Going further back the ancient Egyptians used a civil calendar based on a solar year that consisted of 365 days, without making any adjustment for the additional quarter of a day each year. Each year had 12 months and the heliacal rising of Sirius coincided with the highest point of river Nile flood at Memphis marking the first day of the year. The new year of the ancient Egyptians started on Meskerem 1 which is the date is an Ethiopian new year (which also signals the end of Noah’s flood). I’ve always enjoyed the fact that the Kremt rains in Ethiopia are what causes the Nile to flood, and marks the New year in Egypt – which became the New Year for Ethiopia too.

This ancient Egyptian Coptic solar calendar consisted of 12 x 30-day months with five extra festival days at the end of the year. This is the same concept as the Ethiopian Calendar -13 months, 12 of 30 days each and then Pagumay at the end of the year of 5

Deacons in Lalibela using Sistrum during a festival

or 6 days depending whether the year is a leap year or not. The new year starts on 11 September in the Gregorian Calendar (G.C.) or on the 12th in (Gregorian) Leap Years. The Coptic Leap Year follows the same rules as the Gregorian so that the extra month always has 6 days in a Gregorian Leap Year.

The connection between ancient Egypt and Ethiopia is unclear as the extent of territory connected to geographical names such as Nubia and Kush is debatable. However the calendar and artefacts such as the Sistrum have crossed between ancient Egypt and Ethiopia so it would seem that there was a significant cultural contact.

Get your copy of this Tesfa Calendar or Diary /Agenda and see all the upcoming dates for yourself.

To order your calendar contact Tesfa Tours 011 124 5178 / 092 349 0495, or email calendar@tesfatours.com

Our office is at Kebena, but other places around town will have copies too – contact us for more details.

 

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