Travel information on Security & Safety for visitors in Ethiopia

Category Archives: green

Tigray goes Green

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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Lalibela & Gondar get the green light  in UK Travel Advice

UK travel advise for Ethiopia

UK travel advise for Ethiopia

The UK government have changed the travel advise for Ethiopia’s key tourist sites – Lalibela and Gondar – home to stunning rock hewn churches, and romantic castles. The UK had been advising against travel to these places and to the roads that connect them but this negative advise has now been lifted. 

Along with Bahir Dar and Lake Tana this now means much of the northern historical circuit is in the UK’s ‘green zone’.

Giyorgis church in Lalibela

What does this mean for you? If you are travelling in these areas, your normal travel insurance will cover you. 

We have been arguing for months that the Travel Advice should be relaxed. As I mentioned in previous posts I have visited Lalibela 3 times since January and  felt completely safe and welcome each time. I also visited Gondar once (going on to the Simien Mountains) and also felt safe throughout my visit. This change in travel advice reinforces this view.

We are also really happy that this change means that the community tourism guesthouses in Meket and along the roads that approach Lalibela from the south are now also out of the red. We look forward to more trekkers enjoying this marvelous scenery as hosts of the local farmers.

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UK Travel advise showing most of Ethiopia as Green

UK Govt travel advise for Ethiopia 4 Feb 22

UK Govt safety zones for travel in Ethiopia

The UK government updated their travel advise for Ethiopia as of 4 February 22, to include large areas of Amhara regions (North Shoa & Gojam) as green, as well a a large part of Afar region. The inclusion of N.Shoa means that the community trekking in Wof Washa forest will now be in the ‘green zone’. In addition we at Ride the Rift, are staging a charity bike ride on 4-6 March in the Ankober area of North Shoa- now in the Green zone!  Visits to Bahir Dar with the Blue Nile Falls and the monasteries on Lake Tana are now also Green. For now Lalibela and Gondar are in the ‘amber zone’, but we really hope the UK government recognise that they are also safe in the coming weeks. Both Lalibela and Gondar saw a large number of diaspora and other visitors over the January holidays of Gena

Sebtretsemu Giyorgis festival Lalibela

Giyorgis church for festival in Lalibela

(Ethiopian Christmas) and Timkat, and I myself went to Lalibela and experienced a special festival of St.George in Lalibela
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Lalibela on 26 January and can attest to the fact that it is calm and secure, and looking forward to receiving overseas visitors again.

With the Ethiopian government announcing last week that the cabinet has agreed to lift the State of Emergency that was declared across Ethiopia in November, the situation in the country is becoming calmer, and we are already seeing that people are looking to travel after 2 years of Covid and conflict has limited any opportunity to explore this incredible country. This is great news for the guides, hoteliers and others who have lost so much in the last 2 years.

 

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