Things to Do in Ethiopia

About Ethiopia

Frankincense punches through diesel on Churchill Avenue. Priests in white glide past women roasting coffee over coals. Ethiopia rewires your senses before you clear immigration. At dawn in Lalibela, bare feet whisper across 800-year-old stone. The priest's breath swirls in 14 °C (57 °F) air. Drums roll through tunnels like thunder in a stone throat.

Drive north and the Simien Mountains hurl 4,500 m (14,764 ft) walls of rock at you. Gelada monkeys bark like grumpy grandfathers above the clouds. In Gondar, the Royal Enclosure smells of damp stone and jacaranda. Four Sisters dishes up injera and doro wat for 300 birr ($5.50). One platter feeds two hungry trekkers. The catch: roads can eat a full day.

Bahir Dar to Addis on the Chinese-built expressway is a 10-hour, 600-birr ($11) slog. Rain still kills the internet. The reward: coffee roasted at your table before breakfast. Strangers pull you inside for another cup. The calendar runs seven years behind the rest of us. Ethiopia is the only place where the past feels urgent, not decorative.

Travel Tips

Transportation: Ethiopian Airlines keeps the country stitched together. Addis to Lalibela is 2,400 birr ($44) and saves 18 hours of washboard hell. In the capital, the new Sheger lines (green and blue) cost 15 birr ($0.28) and spare you the minibus scrum. For Simien trekking, grab the 6 AM Selam Bus from Gondar to Debark for 100 birr($1.80). Taxis at Debark charge 1,200 birr($22) to the park gate. But split it with other hikers. Download the RIDE taxi app while Wi-Fi still works. Addis traffic can lock you up for two hours. The app locks in fixed fares so drivers can't gouge tourists.

Money: Bring crisp, post-2013 hundred-dollar bills. Banks reject anything older and dirtier. ATMs in Addis, Dashen Bank on Churchill Avenue is the most reliable, spit 4,000 birr max per withdrawal. Expect fees. Outside the National Theatre, black-market guys offer 10 % more than banks. Count every note in front of them. A friend lost 1,000 birr($18) when he glanced away. Hotels and tour operators quote in dollars but will take birr at lousy rates. Keep small bills for buna bets. Coffee stalls rarely break anything above 50 birr.

Cultural Respect: Orthodox fasting days (Wednesday, Friday, and the 55 days before Easter) mean no meat in most restaurants. Craving kitfo raw beef? Hit Tuesday or Saturday. When greeting, offer your right hand first. Use both hands in churches for extra respect. Women need a headscarf and skirt below the knee to enter rock churches in Lalibela. Stalls rent scarves for 20 birr($0.37). They reek of incense and sweat. Photographing priests is fine if you tip 50 birr. Never shoot the Ark replica ceremony. If invited to a coffee ceremony, wait for the third round, abol, before you leave. Skipping early insults the host.

Food Safety: Injera comes with everything. After three days you'll crave its tangy, fermented punch. Eat at busy buna bets where charcoal glows. The injera is fresher and berbere spice nukes most bacteria. Skip salads unless the place caters to expats. Lime Tree Café on Bole Road rinses greens in filtered water and charges 220 birr($4) for a safe plate. For street food, grab sizzling tibs, lamb cubes so hot the cumin smoke stings your eyes, for 120 birr($2.20). Bottled water is 15 birr($0.28) everywhere. Check the seal. Pack rehydration salts for altitude. Gondar sits at 2,200 m and dry air drains you faster than you think.

When to Visit

October to February is prime time. Skies over the Simien Mountains turn cobalt. Daytime temperatures in Addis sit at 25 °C (77 °F). Short rains have washed dust from meskel flowers. Hotel prices spike 60 % in January when Ethiopians fly home for Gena (Christmas on 7 January) and Timkat (19 January). A double in Lalibela can jump from 1,800 birr($33) to 3,200 birr($59).

March to May brings the big rains. Gondar sees 120 mm (4.7 in) in April. Muddy roads add three hours to any journey. June to September is the local dry season in the north, good for trekking. Addis swelters at 30 °C (86 °F) and khat-chewing drivers get cranky. Budget travelers should target late October. Rains are gone, prices haven't peaked.

You'll catch Meskel celebrations on 27 September in Addis's Meskel Square, bonfires, chanting, hundreds of priests in sequined robes. Families need to book lodges six months ahead for January festivals. Solo trekkers can score half-price Simien permits in late September when tour groups vanish. Skip August entirely. Northern highlands glow emerald. But the capital's 400 mm (15.7 in) of rain cancels flights and turns injera soggy.