www.vacationethiopiatravel.com

Hassle-free Tours in the land of mystery.

VacationEthiopia Travel Hassle-free toursin the land of mystery.

Whowe are: We are two young Ethiopian men born and bred in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital, employing five Ethiopians from various parts  of the country. We have been running tours all around Ethiopia since 2012 when we each graduated with Tourism (Tour Operation) from the Catering and Tourism Training Institute (CTTI) here in Addis Ababa. Yoseph also has a BA degree in History and Heritage Management, with a keen interest in the archaeological sites of Ethiopia. Dawit is particularly interestedin the natural attractions of this country and is a contributor to the Ethiopian tourism magazine Kez-ezhi. Togetherwe are enthusiastic about introducing theworld to the mysteriesof the world's second-oldest Christian country. We are a homegrown company employing five otherEthiopians from various parts of the country. Betweenus, our guides speak: English, German, French, Amharic, Oromo, and Tigrinya. Your comfortis importantto us and on all our tourswe use a fleet of well-maintained air-conditioned 4WD vehicles with government-mandatedsafety equipment including fire extinguishers, first-aid kit, repair kit, etc. We are fully licensed by the Ethiopian Ministry of Culture and Tourism. While we are a new company, we are keento expand our servicesand so are always happy to hear suggestions. In the near future we hope to expand to tours acrossEast Africa and so would be excited to hear from othertourism professionals in Sudan, Djibouti, Somaliland or Kenya.

 VacationEthiopia Travel Hassle-free toursin the land of mystery. About Ethiopia: Ethiopia is a land ofwonder and enchantment, a country with one of the richesthistories on the African continent, a land of contrastsand surprises, of remoteand wild places, home to cultured and friendly people who are descendedfromsome of the world's oldest civilizations. This is theland ofthe fabled Queen of Sheba, homeof the Ark of the Covenant, the birthplace of coffee.Lucy, the world'soldest known almost-completehominid skeleton, morethan three million years old, was discovered here. Ethiopia has so muchto offerto visitors: theHistoric Route, covering the ancienttown of Axum, with its amazing carved obelisks, Christian festivals and relics, hides - we believe - the Ark of the Covenant; Gondar, with its castles and palaces; Lalibela, with its remarkable rock-hewn churches; Nejash, one of the earliestholy Muslim centersfrom the era of the ProphetMuhammad with the Negash Amedin Mesgid; the walled Muslim city ofHarar; and Lega Oda, near DireDawa where you can see cave paintings considered tobe thousands of years old. Lake Tana, sourceof theBlue Nile, is our largest lake with 37 islands and 22 Monasteries dating back to the14th Century, notably monastrieslike Kibran Gebriel and Ura Kidanemhiret. Many ofthe Great RiftValley lakesare national parks, and they are hometo a wealth of bird and animal life. The high, rugged, Simien Mountains in the north and the Bale mountains in the southeast are also home tosome unique wildlife and rich flora, and are ideal for trekking, whilst some of Ethiopia's fast-flowing rivers are becoming famous for white-water rafting. Thereare more thantwenty national parks and four sanctuaries where 277 species of wildlife and morethan900 speciesof birds can be found. The Simien Mountains National Park is registered by UNESCO as a natural World Heritage site and is hometo endemic mammals, such as the Walia Ibex, the Gelada Baboon and the Abyssinian Wolf. Ras Dashen, the fourth highestpeak in Africa with an altitude of 4,620 meters,is also located within the National Park. Other National Parks include Bale Mountains and Abijatta-Shalla in Oromia; NechSar, Mago and Omo National Parks in the southand Yangudi Rasa in Afarl Gambella National park in Gambella, as well as Awash in bothOromia and Afar Regions. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's friendly and safe capital city also has so muchto offer,, with its five-star hotels, international restaurants, museumsand palaces, and good shopping which includes the bustling Mercato area (Africa'slargestopen-air market) and themuch more sophisticatedBole suburb with its boutique shops and stylish restaurants. Thanksto its altitude of 2350 metresabove sea level (the fifth-highest national capital in the world) it has a pleasant, "spring" climate all year round (although we do have a major rainy season from June to mid-September). Although mostlystill a poor country, statisticsshow that Ethiopia has had the fastest economic growth of any country year-on-year most years of the last decade. Construction is booming in Addis Ababa and the country has had cement shortages trying tokeep up with the construction, but has now built many cement factoriesto help fuel this demand. Much money has been pouring in to develop roads, airports, and sub-Saharan Africa’s first above-ground suburban train system. The majority of Ethiopians belong tothe Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, established in the fourth century AD, while about 30% of Ethiopia's population is Sunni Muslim. ButEthiopia's Christian rootsmay go back muchfurther. Even the New Testamentof the Bible records St Peter converting an Ethiopian returning to his country. Ethiopian Christians believe that their spiritual tradition goes back even further, to the Jewish early first templeperiod when our first Emperor, Menelik I, whom we believe to bethe son of the Biblical King Solomon and Queen of Sheba, broughtthe Ark of the Covenant from Jerusalem to northern Ethiopia as told in our holy book the Kebra Nagast. Ethiopia is a mosaic of people with more than80 languages, different lifestyles, costumes and cultural dances. People's livelihoods vary from pastoralistsand farmers to factory workers, business peopleand academics. Ethiopia has been called “the land of a thousand smiles”. Visit usand you can be sure of a great welcome, a memorable holiday, and the experience ofa lifetime. Some Important Facts About Ethiopia: Some ofthe oldest hominid fossils were found in Ethiopia Coffeeis Ethiopia’s gift to the world Ethiopia is the only African country with its own alphabet (one of the world'soldest), numerals and calendar (the year 2016 is 2008 in the Ethiopian Calendar!) Ethiopia has never colonized by Europeans. During the "Scramble for Africa" it was recognised as an Empire in its own right. Ethiopia was the second country to accept Christianity as itsofficial religion Ethiopia has 9 UNESCO listed World Heritage sites Ethiopia is mentioned many times both in the holy Bible and holy Qur’an Ethiopia is the land of some of the world’s greatestlong distance runners (perhaps the most famous is Haile Gebrselassie) Ethiopia is the fourth largest biodiversity zone in the world Ethiopians Christians believe that the Ark of the Covenant was broughtto Ethiopia by our first Emperor Menelik I and is still hidden in a church Axum (in Ethiopia’s north) Morethan 70% of Africa’s mountainsare foundin Ethiopia Ethiopia is the sourceof the Blue Nile river which contribute85% of the Nile river Ethiopian Christians believe that St Mary’s Church at Geshan holds a piece of thetrue cross on which Jesus was crucified The Great RiftValley cuts Ethiopia in to two crossing the countryfrom top to bottom Ert’ale in Danakil Depressionis one ofthe few places on earthwhere one can seeactive, live, continued and dramatic volcanic eruptions Ethiopia has more endemicspeciesof flora thanany other countryin Africa The sun dictatesthe Ethiopian time, at 07:00 a.m. you startby counting one and you end up at twelve when the day ends, and start counting again from one from7:00 p.m. So 9:00 a.m. is 3 in Ethiopian time and noon is 6. Ethiopia is the only country in theworld that prophet Mohamed declared to befree from Jihad, afterthey welcomed some of the early followers of the ProphetMuhammad who were fleeing from persecution at the hands of the ruling Quraysh tribe of Mecca