What to do in Ethiopia for Easter?

April 13, 2011 12:22 PM

Extended Easter weekend in Ethiopia. Where to go?

I'm taking an extended Easter weekend from the 21st-26th of April. I will be flying into Addis on the afternoon of Thursday the 21st and flying out of Addis on the afternoon of Tuesday the 26th. Other than the flight itinerary, I have no set plans.

I'm thinking about staying in Addis and taking day trips or tours but if there is something better to do I'm open to suggestions.

I've been to Addis once before and I did a lot of the touristy things like the Ethnological Museum, Entoto, the Coffee Ceremony, etc. I'd like to get out and walk in nature and take tons of pictures but where can I do that within my time constraints?

posted by Gringos Without Borders to Travel & Transportation around Ethiopia (2 answers total)

I did a 3-day hike in Tigray, starting in Axum and ending in Mekele (with some driving, obviously). Organized by TESFA. It was amazing.

I've heard that the Simien mountains are even better, or heading to Abuna Yosef(?) - my sister had already been there so we avoided it. Alternatively, you could head to Lalibela and wander around the rock churches there.

If you stay near Addis, you can head to Debre Libanos (I think?) It's about a 2.5 hour drive from Addis, great view and you can see the Gelada baboons in the area.

(I have a number of [unfortunately un-labelled] photos from Ethiopia on flickr, feel free to message me to figure out where I was in them)
posted by Lemurrhea at 12:54 PM on April 13, 2011

Most of the places I went to were more than a day's drive from Addis, unfortunately. You can catch a minibus (really early in the morning, like 3am) to Bahir Dar. If you're willing to fly you could see Lalibella, which is really nice.
posted by Bunglegirl at 9:29 AM on April 15, 2011