Addis Ababa Cultural, Religious and Historic Sites Tours 2024/2025

“A very enjoyable trip in a very interesting country. Ethiopia is a fast growing and exciting country, and within Africa, a population second only to Nigeria. The infrastructure is improving fast and its mainly young population are starting to enjoy the freedoms of an education and an emerging confident country. The rural areas remain very poor, but infrastructure, including electricity and improved irrigation and transport links, mean that Ethiopia is no longer the barren, drought prone region imagined by most westerners. In fact, during the rainy season, it must be one of the greenest countries in Africa, and the people are generally very friendly and welcoming. Addis in particular is something of a building site, but most of the other towns have concrete shells intended as future apartment blocks and hotels, and there are apparently more university graduates than jobs in many areas - so the future of the country appears bright - although there are still challenges with over-population and the amount of available land for farming. Most people are still subsistence farmers, and the economy is yet to open fully (you can't own land for example), and if the population is to continue growing, more efficient methods of farming will need to be adopted. However, Ethiopia is already a generally good place to travel. The hotels are good and clean, and despite the worries of others, hot water is generally available, and most places have Wi-Fi of varying quality. The country also yet, hasn't become a tourist mecca, meaning you will not have the place to yourself, but you certainly won't be experiencing the crowds of other more well known destinations. The scenery is wonderful - I hadn't realized quite how mountainous most of the country is. We were there in the dry season, but it was clear that following the rains, when everything greens up, it must be spectacular. Ethiopia is also very culturally distinct from anywhere else I've been in Africa - things start to look very "Ethiopian" quite quickly, being a blend of Jewish, Arabic and both north and southern African, as well being close to Sudan, so it comes across as a real melting pot of cultures and ideas.”

“This was a fascinating journey through northern Ethiopia. We saw churches and monasteries galore, each one interesting for its paintings or architecture, often hewn out of the living rock. The road journeys were long but the scenery and the sheer engineering feats involved made it worthwhile. Accommodation throughout was much better than I'd anticipated; we had en suite facilities in all hotels and hot water was usually available.”

“Tom and Michaela were among the best tour leaders I have ever had. Michaela was patient with some of the more difficult members of the group, and Tom was an excellent and careful driver in some very scary driving conditions. Both took great care to maintain the truck properly. They were enthusiastic and interested in the areas we visited. I would travel with both or either of them again.”