Month: January 2020

*Not a sponsored post

Tim and I visited Ethiopia from the 29th of November 2019 till the 3rd of December 2019 with our best friend, MIMI. The weather was perfect. It was a short trip and was booked last minute but we managed to do a lot. Thanks to KimKim for arranging our accommodation, our ticket and the tour.

Here is a tip: When travelling internationally to Ethiopia, use Ethiopian Airlines. We booked our trip with Emirates Airlines and did not manage to get a discount on the domestic flights. If you book through Ethiopian Airlines, you can then get the discount by providing your booking reference number.

This blog post is our itinerary around Ethiopia. Honestly, I wish we did stay longer and explored more. Hopefully, another time. I would say Ethiopia is one of the most beautiful countries I’ve visited and would rank it on my TOP 5 favourite destinations.

DAY 1:

We flew from Dubai to Addis Abba and landed in the afternoon. Our amazing tour guide, Mahi took us for lunch at an amazing restaurant called Kategna.

We then went to our hotel to check-in and to drop our luggage. We stayed at a very cozy hotel in the city called ‘Caravan Hotel‘. We became friends with the staff and learned Ethiopian time which I will talk about on a different post. We then explored our area and decided to check out a local cafe which serves coffee and sandwiches but we just went for the coffee and met locals and had a lovely evening.

DAY 2:

We checked out early in the morning right after having breakfast and drove to the domestic airport to catch our flight to Arba Minch.

First stop was at a local restaurant and they are known for their famous grilled Tilapia. Our tour guide recommended to explore the villages before it got dark then would take us to our hotel to check-in and relax.

As soon as we were done with lunch we headed straight to Gamo Gofa. They are famous for their vegetable and fruit market. We walked around, met locals and just enjoyed the nature.

Later, we visited the Dorze Village. Their houses look like the Elephants head. Our tour guide, introduced us to the prince of the village and he showed us around and invited us to his place. I will write a separate food post about what we ate at the village and generally Ethiopian food.

As it got darker, our tour guide suggested that we should head to the hotel to check-in, relax and have dinner. We stayed at Haile Resort. The hotel is owned by the famous runner Haile Gebrselassie.

Day 3:

We woke up really early in the morning for a long drive to visit the Konso Village, we walked around the village and bought a tiny mask from there. The site is part of the UNESCO World Heritage. The Konso people are known for cotton weaving and agriculture. Their religion tradition is called Waga/ Waga Sculpture.

Afterwards, we walked around the Sunflower fields and made a stop at the Konso Lodge to have lunch. Since we had some extra time for one more activity, we decided to go hiking at the National Park.

Day 4:

Right after breakfast, our tour guide wanted to take us to Lake Abaya but unfortunately, our boat didn’t work. We waited for hours to get it fixed but we all agreed, it was not meant to be. So instead, we decided to visit the Crocodile Farm before heading to the airport.

I slept the whole flight and when we landed at Addis Ababa. The first thing we did was SHOPPING. We wanted to buy souvenirs for our family and friends and of course US. Tim and I bought a painting, a wooden mask and clothes. We later went and bought coffee beans to take back home. OH MY GOD! Ethiopian coffee is the best.

At night, Mahi took us to an amazing restaurant with live performance called Yod Abyssinia Traditional Food. The food was very delicious and we had such a fun night. The performance was insanely good and they even made us dance.

Day 5:

Our day started at the Book Store, where I wanted to buy books for my brothers and myself. Our next stop was the National Museum of Ethiopia to meet Lucy, female of the hominin species.

Before heading to the airport, we did a quick stop to have a good-bye lunch together at a really old house that is now famous restaurant and is also a hotel. The place is called Taitu Hotel.

We were later dropped to the airport and flew back to Dubai 🙁