Historical/Duration 7 days and 6 Nights
Overview
This part of Ethiopia is renowned for its Christian culture, it’s amazing monuments, treasures that go back centuries. The scenic landscape, high pick, planes, winding rivers and spectacular gorges makes it an experience that will be imprinted in the tourists’ minds for the rest of their lives.
Ethiopia can boast a wealth of historical and cultural treasures unlike anything else on Earth. Ethiopia is a very different destination and a remarkable tour destination. Ethiopia includes some of the finest mountain scenery in Africa, notably in the Simien Mountains which have been designated a World Heritage Site There are hundreds of rock-hewn churches found in Tigray region built in the 12th to the 15 century, most of them perched in inaccessible mountain tops. Lalibela could be considered as 8th wonder of the world. A cluster of eleven churches divided in to two groups are all hewn out of solid rocks. Further up North is the Gondar town with its 17th century castles and early medieval age church with fantastic wall paintings
Included/Exclude
Tour Plan
After breakfast, drive to visit the National Museum, where you see the famous fossil Lucy, who is 3.2 million years old; visit the Ethnographic Museum, visit Entoto St. Mary Museum, St.Trinity Cathedral church, and Merkato market, the largest open-air market in Africa.
You will have a boat trip on Lake Tana, where 37 islands and 32 of them have churches and monasteries of considerable historical and cultural interest. You visit the monastery church of Ura Kidane Mihret is more decorative with a huge, conical thatched roof is painted with scenes from Biblical lore; Kebran Gabriel is renowned for a magnificent manuscript to the Four Gospels which is believed to date back to at least the late fourteenth or early fifteenth century, and Daga Estifanos is considered one of the most sacred on Lake Tana, and said to have served as a temporary hiding place for the Ark of the Covenant. In the afternoon, you will have an excursion to the Blue Nile Falls, also known locally as Tissisat (smoking waterfall): 100 m (328 ft) wide, the water plunges for 45m, giving rise to steam clouds and rainbows. Late in the afternoon, drive back to Bahir Dar and finish the day with a lovely sunset over Lake Tana.
After breakfast, you will drive to Gondar, the camelot of Africa. The city seems more of European than African origin. In the afternoon, visit Fasiladas's Palace, probably the most impressive of all the castles found in the area and the oldest one! Continue going to the Church of Debre Berhan Selassie (Light of the Trinity). The interior is decorated with beautiful frescos, cherubs and paintings. Debre Berham Selassie is rumored to once having been the proposed final resting-place of the Ark of the Covenant of the Ethiopian Empire, which began in 1632.
After breakfast drive to Simien Mountain National Park. Debark is a small market town at an altitude of 2700 meters close to the boundary of the Simien Mountains National Park. Corrugated–iron–roofed buildings surround the colourful and busy market area. Before entering the park, you have to register at the park headquarters just outside town. Here, armed scout – one of the park regulations, joins you. Then drive to Sankaber for the best view. En route, pass through pretty country, the foothills of the Semen Mountains, with carefully tended field, open pasture with grazing horses, stands of trees and distant rocky peaks. At the high point of the road, there are superb views across the weirdly eroded foothills of the range and you may also be lucky enough to spot you first Lammergeiers and Gelada Baboons of the trip. Late afternoon, drive back to Gondar for overnight.
After lunch in Axum, you will have a city tour in the UNESCO World Heritage Site. Legends narrate in the Kebre Nagast (Book of Kings) how the city of Axum as early as the 10th century B.C. was already the city where the Queen of Sheba resided. It is told that the son of Queen of Sheba and King Solomon, Menelik, brought the Ark of the Covenant from Jerusalem to Axum and it remained there to this day, preserved in a sanctuary. Famous long before the time of Christ, Axum was the capital of the long Axumite reign, one of the oldest African empires and represented a crucial trade connecting-point between Africa and Asia for almost a thousand years. Visit the Granite stone Stele of Axum, the Tombs of King Kaleb and his son King G/Meskel, the Ezana’s stone inscriptions, Queen of Sheba’s palace and Swimming pool, and the Church of Zion, the final resting place of the True Ark of Covenant.
Today, you will take a flight to Lalibela, the home of the largest monolithic church in the world. The city contains 11 monolithic churches that were built in the 12th century. Some are beautifully painted inside. Possibly, you will start visiting churches the first and the second group of the three.
Early in the morning, you will visit the remaining group before you will be taken to the airport. At 10:00am, you will be taken to the airport for your flight to Addis Ababa. Up on arrival and interest, the driver and the guide will meet you , and take to you for some shopping and tasting Ethiopian Coffee.
END OF TOUR
The program can be customized upon request.
