Travel information on Security & Safety for visitors in Ethiopia

Category Archives: Simien

Senior priest at Bethlehem

Mysterious monasteries as Ethiopia travel gets easier

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Mysterious hidden Monastery

Bethlehem church Roof stone and timber

Bethlehem church – timber & stone roof

The mysterious Bethlehem monastery is gearing up to welcome the first tourists. This monastery was reportedly built in the fourth century following the construction of Mariam Sion church in Axum. It is built in the ancient way with blocks of stone for the floor and walls and then a wooden roof, but what makes this church even more intriguing is that it is hidden by typical round wall with a corrugated roof, and so from outside looks like most other churches, although it is anything but!

Bethlehem church -Flagstone marking entrance to basement chambers

Flagstone marking entrance to basement chambers

Even more mysterious is that the monks claim that the Ark of Covenant is kept
beneath the church. They recount the tale of an Italian version of Indiana Jones who some 80 years ago determined to explore the chambers beneath the church. Apparently he came up having experienced an explosion he assumed to be volcanic, left the church and died within a day. The priests sealed the access stone and no one has been back down since.
This monastery is one of the key learning places – a church university for priests who want to study the scriptures and music of St. Yared, and there is a residential compound attached to the church.
We are now able to arrange for guests to stay at Bethlehem, either in a guesthouse or in tents, which will fit perfectly onto a trip between the Tesfa community guesthouses in neighbouring Meket (just south of Lalibela), and Gondar or Bahir Dar.

Travel to Ethiopia gets easier

Bole Airport Addis Ababa

Bole Airport in Addis

With Omicron replacing the Delta variant across the world the threat of COVID 19 has diminished. Although cases may have increased and transmission is rapid, immunity and much lower mortality and hospitalisation seem to follow. Official statistics for Ethiopia show that deaths of people with COVID and active cases have all but disappeared now. In Addis Ababa, where previous spikes in mortality were visible as funeral tents went up along the roads, life has settled down to something approaching normal.
In terms of travel, the Ethiopian Public Health Institute has now revised the directive with the result that travellers do not need to have a negative PCR test if they are vaccinated against COVID (all the mainstream western and Chinese vaccines – all double doses – except J&J, valid two weeks after vaccination) and can provide evidence (one presumes a certificate with the correct stamp on it).
This means the end for most travellers of expensive PCR tests and the worry about having travel plans cancelled due to a positive test.

E-Visas being processed

E-Visa page

Add to this that the online visa applications are being processed speedily now – but do use the correct government website .  Make sure you are using the one ending .gov.et.   You will need the address of your first night in a hotel, and a digital passport photo less than 2MB best as JPEG format. And same size/ format for a copy of the info page of your passport.  If you do not hear back from them in 72 hours please contact us – they may need a nudge to get it done.

Simien Mnt Lodge - High altitude accommodation

Simien Mnt Lodge

National Park Re-opened

The Simien National Park, which was closed during the conflict, is now open for business and Simien Mountain Lodge, which recently was renovated, is serving clients again. Through most of the last 24 months they have kept their staff on the payroll and remain a beacon of light for tourism in the area. Too many tourism professionals have suffered, while others have looked for alternative income streams that have taken them away from the sector. That this lodge remained open has given some of these people hope that tourism will return.

World class attractions

Sebreatsemu Giyorgis in Lalibela - tabots return to the church

Giyorgis church – Rock-hewn in Lalibela

Now that fighting across the region has stopped, the State of Emergency ended, and flight services resumed, the first trickle of visitors is returning to some of the attractions in the region: Lake Tana with its secluded monasteries; Lalibela with its labyrinth of rock-hewn churches connected by passageways and tunnels; Gondar with its romantic castles, baths and an extra ordinary church, and the Simien Mountain National Park with its high mountains, vertical escarpments and unique flora and fauna. Three of these are UNESCO World Heritage sites, and the fourth, Lake Tana, is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and all are amazing places to visit.

Dawn at Mescha community guesthouse Wof Washa

Mescha guesthouse, Wof Washa forest

Community Tourism

Tesfa Community Treks are also getting going again, as a steady stream of hikers has made their way to the guesthouses in Wof Washa Forest (near Ankober) and to the mountains around Lalibela to explore these stunning areas and experience the lives of the local farmers. Here the local host communities, after two years with virtually no guests, are thrilled to receive visitors again.  Treks can be from 2 nights upwards, and we can do several nights at one guesthouse for those wanting more time with the communities. More details on our website.

Book your trip soon!

I urge you to look at visiting Ethiopia soon. These remarkable places are quiet and peaceful. You can enjoy them without the crowds that were coming in 2019, and in the process help the guides, and other tourism professionals and service givers who are really struggling.  Contact us here or email us on info@tesfatours.com

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Passing Gondar, Wild Wheelchair expedition to the Simiens 2019

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Atse Tewedros, Emperor of Ethiopia from 1855-1868, is remembered in Gondar central square.

Atse Tewedros statue, Piazza, Gondar

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Wild Wheelchairs to the Simiens Day 2.

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Some photos from today. Morning – a short boat trip on Lake Tana, from which the Blue Nike starts it’s epic journey
Tom and Alex checking out the hippos
Fisherman on a Tankwa, traditional papyrus boat, as also used on Egyptian Nile & L.Titicaca in high Andes

Ethiopian Hippos


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Pelicans on L.Tana

Fried fish (Tilapia) for lunch-yum

Afternoon drive to Gondar. M

One of many volcanic plugs sticking out of emerald green fields with masses of bright yellow Meskal daisies.

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Wild Wheelchair Expedition – Simien Mountains 2019

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Wild Wheelchair UK team arrives

So begins a wild adventure: 2 severely disabled athletes seeking to reach the highest point in Ethiopia – Ras Dashen who top is 4,533 meters.

It started in Ethiopia today with the arrival in Addis of quadruple amputee Alex Lewis and his team. They flew on to Bahir Dar to meet Emebet who lost both her legs in a road accident as a little girl. David Collinson – the expedition leader,  put this mad scheme together and had Southampton University design special hand cycle that could get these athletes along the rough road that winds its way up and down

Crate emerges from Cargo terminal

steep mountain sides to a plateau just below the gnarled peak of Ras Dashen.

Problem number 1 (1 of no doubt many) This piece of kit was stuck in customs who refused to release it for several days.

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Crated handcycle won’t fit

Finally tonight on the eve of the Meskal holiday – with most Addis Ababans

The handcycle with the crate taken down

celebrating around the fire and enjoying

music and drinks – we managed to get the kit out of customs – but then it wouldn’t fit in the truck.  having quickly taken the crate apart it was loaded in a truck that will set off early tomorrow morning  on the 12 hour road journey to Bahir Dar.

 

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Simien mountains. Photograph: Nigel Pavitt /Getty Images

Backpackers Guide to Ethiopia in the Guardian lauds Tesfa Tours

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Simien mountains. Photograph: Nigel Pavitt /Getty Images

Simien mountains. Photograph: Nigel Pavitt/Getty Images (from Guardian article)

[Except from Guardian Article] “………Adigrat, a border town perhaps set for great times now that a new peace treaty between Ethiopia and Eritrea has finally been agreed. Mark Chapman runs the lauded community trekking trail Tesfa Tours here, which also leads treks near Lalibela, Ankober and in the Simien Mountains……….”

Click on this link to see the full article: The Guardian travel a backpackers guide to Ethiopia .

 

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“Ethiopia has astonishing landscapes, ranging from the flat-topped mountains of the north to the otherworldly multicoloured salt flats and lava lake of the Erta Ale volcano in the Danakil Depression; rich flora and fauna(this is the country where residents and hyenas live in peace); and ancient cultures, including the the city of Axum (one of the oldest continuously inhabited places in Africa), the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela and Africa’s oldest mosque, Nejashi. It also has one of the continent’s fastest-growing economies (second only to Ghana), with booming cities and a young population. For all this, it is yet to attract large numbers of tourists, and visitors can often find themselves alone in this amazing country.”

 

 

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Treks that change lives!

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Tesfa Community Treks providing income to local villagers, and open the eyes of the guests.

Enaf Tesfa village guesthouse in Tigray

An increasing number of discerning tourists are looking to the Tesfa Community Treks where villagers host the tourists and benefits flow directly to the local hosts. For while the Simien Mountains and Bale Mountains have been drawing tourists for decades, keen to trek in these Afro Alpine mountains with their unique wildlife the Tesfa treks also have wildlife and stunning views but at the same time tourists are giving a big something back, and experiencing the real Ethiopia of the highland farmers.

Since 2003 Tesfa treks have been hosting tourists in the

Mequat Mariam Scones for breakfast

mountains of North Wollo around Lalibela. Initially in Meket Woreda and more recently Gidan and Lasta woredas local villages have built 11 guesthouses organised as cooperatives to host small groups of walkers along the basalt escarpments that surround Lalibela. Included in this network of guesthouse are several on Mount Abuna Yoseph, a protected area around the highest peak in Ethiopia outside of the Simien and Bale Mountains at 4,288m.  The higher reaches of Abuna Yoseph are home to a pack of Ethiopian wolves, as well as troops of Gelada, leopards and many raptors.

Mequat Mariam guesthouse, N.Wollo

Since 2012 tourists have also been walking on the Tesfa treks in the Agame mountains around Adigrat in E.Tigray. There is a network of 7 village guesthouses with stunning walks between and a number of magnificent rock hewn churches that are rarely visited by tourists (other than those staying in the guesthouses). Again there are Geladas and amazing birds to see but as with the treks in Wollo, it is the host communities and the age-old farming life of the highlands that have the biggest impact on the visitors. The hospitality is humbling and simplicity of life prompts something to all of us coming from our cluttered and hectic lives.

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Breakfast @Taga Mariam, Simiens

Now Tesfa is opening up new areas for community treks, with 3 simple village guesthouses to the south of the Simien National Park (Funded by African Wildlife Foundation) and 4 village guesthouses in North Shoa, in and around Wof Washa forest, just beyond Ankober. As with the village guesthouses in Wollo and Tigray, each guesthouse is owned and run by a community from the local village organised into a cooperative.

In each case 55% of the payment (around $34USD) goes to pay the village community and lunch (mostly provided by the village or another nearby provider), 25% goes towards local

The forest at Wof Washa, N.Shoa

guides and coordinators, and only 20% (+VAT) is kept by Tesfa Tours who provide the marketing and booking service. Each community provides not just accommodation, but food, hot drinks, and a pack animal. The cost per night also includes a guide, so all that remains is transport in and out and bottled drinks (sold by the community ) – beers, water, soft drinks and maybe some wine or gin and tonic!  Facilities include beds, with sheets and blankets, a simple sit down toilet, a dining room, and great views!

For more information contact info@tesfatours.com or pop by our Addis office.  We will also add more information on our

The view from Janamora Woreda to Ras Dashen

website in the near future.

Get out into the fresh air of the mountains and experience the Real Ethiopia!

 

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Visit the new Tesfa guesthouses – now open

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photo of Ras Dashen while on a Tesfa Trek in Simiens, curtesy of Kevin Rushby

photo of Ras Dashen while on a Tesfa Trek in Simiens, by permission of Kevin Rushby (posted on Instagram)

If you have been on a Tesfa trek before then why not try something new?

We have opened new guesthouses in the Simien Mountains. They are situated to the south of the National Park, in a woreda called Janamora. To access this area, until the new service roads are built you drive through the National park past Sankober and Geech, and over the back of Bwahit mountain, then down to Mekhane Berhan. There are 3 guesthouses, Taga Mariam, Khalid Abo, and Timbala, and we suggest a minimum of 4 nights, including a visit to the market at Wossen on Thursdays and Saturdays.  On the final day we would suggest trekking back up towards the park and getting picked up just south of Bwahit to

Khalid Abo guesthouse

Khalid Abo guesthouses

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View of Seheta Guesthouse

View of Seheta Guesthouse

We have also opened a new guesthouse in Tigray in the midst of the trekking we offer in the Agame Massif. The new guesthouse at Seheta, is set just above several farms on the edge of the village and is a great base to use to explore the valleys and local churches. Again we would recommend spending several days at Seheta. At this time of year there are feasts held daily in the villages and you would be most welcome to join in. You can also link staying here with a stay in one of the other longer established guesthouses in the area.

 

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Simiens is normal for the Gelada and Ibex, but where are the tourists?

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Gelada baboons, staring back at tourists

Gelada baboons, staring back at tourists

Life in the Simien Mountains this week:

Gelada baboons graze the Simien grasslands as they did last year: murmuring and mewing, with occasional shouts when bachelor males venture too close to family groups. They spend much of their time grooming each other in ritual social behaviour. The grazing consists of digging the grass with sharp strong fingers and pulling out the succulent roots to eat.

Gelada Family grooming in the Simiens

Gelada Family grooming in the Simiens

No sign that they are at all on edge or unduly worried by the bizarre travel advise given out by embassies that is limiting the numbers of tourists visiting their mountain home

Walia Ibex grazing steeper slopes, near the precipitous ledges. There numbers were down to a few hundred some decades back, but now there are over a thousand of these surefooted mountain antelope.

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Wail Ibex above Chenek Camp

Walia Ibex above Chenek Camp, beside Giant Lobelia plant

They glance curiously at the camera touting tourists who were lucky enough to see this rare animal, and then go back to their grass, or take a break in the shade of a Giant Lobelia plant.  Maybe they wonder why there are fewer tourists this year.

Trekkers are passing through, enjoying the sunny days, the golden gwassa grass, azure blue skies with lammergeyers, eagles and vultures, soaring across the scene and the unique wildlife of the park on view.  But less than in recent years.

Walia Ibex looking down on passing tourists

Walia Ibex looking down on passing tourists

That makes the experience for the visitors better, but spare a thought for the local people who depend on tourists to pay for their goods and services. They cannot understand the reason why foreign governments are telling tourists to stay away. Tourists were never targeted in the unrest that spread to some of the towns several months ago. And that unrest ended. But still the foreign governments advise their nationals to stay away!

If you haven’t been already then come, if you have been then come back to Ethiopia!

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