Route to the Eastern Part of Ethiopia
Duration: 5 nights 6 days
Tour Code: NTC 018
Transport: Surface
Day 1: Arrival in Addis Ababa at Bole international airport.
Met by Nomad Tour and Car Rental representative and, transfer to hotel.
Day 2: City Tour in Addis Ababa
Day 2: City Tour in Addis Ababa.
Visit 3000m Entoto mountain with panoramic views over the capital the National and Ethnographic museum, St George, Trinity cathedral, and Merkato which is the biggest open air market in Africa. Overnight, stay in the hotel.
Day 3: Addis-Awash National Park
Depart Addis and travel 200 km via Debre Zeit and Nazaret to the rift valley floor and the Awash National Park. Here the elegant Beisa Oryx graze on the savanna plains. Also Soemmering’s Gazelle, Dik-Dik, Greater and Lesser Kudu, Olive and Hamadryas baboons, African warthog and Waterbuck. The park is well known for its 460 bird species of which 6 are endemic. Overnight stay in Awash Falls Lodge.
Day 4: Awash-Harar Drive across the Rift valley floor and along the spine of the beautiful Ahmar mountains to Harar.
This is an early 16th-century eastern Ethiopian city, that was once an important trade centre and is famous for its ancient Arabic structures, great city walls, and the French poet Rimbaud’s house. Harar is an Islamic center with at least 99 mosques and is considered to be the fourth holiest Islamic city, after Mecca, Medina ,and Jerusalem. Early in the evening visit the Hyena man outside the walls of the city. Overnight, stay in Guest house or Hotel.
Day 5: Harar- Dir-Dawa.
Inside the walled city of Harar visit the museum of the Harari National Cultural Centre which is designed as a typical Adare house. Other interesting places are on 17th century Jami mosque, Rimbaud’s house which is also a museum and the birth place of Emperor Haile Selassie Ras Tafari house. Late in afternoon drive to Dire Dawa where is the mosaic of culture, the museum of of the people. Enjoy the nightlife in this hot tropical desert town. Overnight Hotel.
Day 6: Dire-Dawa to Debre-Zeit.
Debre Zeit is 50 km before Addis and the route back to follows the same road as the drive to Harar. Debre Zeit is in the centre of a volcanic area with numerous extinct volcanoes. It is surrounded by five crater lakes including Lake Bishoftu, Hora, Babogaya and Kuriftu. In late afternoon drive back to addis ababa.