A Week in Ethiopia for $1765 a person

I was fortunate to get my airfare to Ethiopia for free using miles on United Airlines.  Without miles, though the cost was $978.

Prior to leaving, we applied for evisas online.  They were $50 each.  Although the line for visa on arrival wasn’t long when we went, I still recommend doing the evisa.  The cost is the same and the application was easy to complete.  You never know if you will be on the flight with many people doing visa on arrival causing your processing time in immigration to be much longer than needed.

Here is our itinerary:

December 27:

We flew direct from Toronto to Ethiopia.

December 28:

Arrived in Addis Ababa.  Went to National Museum to see Lucy.  Admission was 10 Burh-Next to free.

We flew to Bahir Dar (cost $94 for 2) at noon and went to the Unison Hotel which cost $47 for the night. After checking in, we walked to the edge of Lake Tana and went for a few beers at the local watering hole. Later that day, we took a tuk tuk tour of the city.

December 29:

We took a boat across Lake Tana to the colorful churches/monasteries in the region.  Before the end of the tour, the boat captain took us out to see hippopatamous in the Blue Nile River. I think we paid around $50 for the day.

That evening we had a prearranged driver to drive us to Gondar.  The two and a half hour drive cost $65. When we arrived in Gondar, we stayed at the Haile Resort for two nights which cost $200 for the two nights for both of us.

December 30:

We explored the city of Gondar with a private driver we booked online.  The fee was included in the $65 we paid to get from Bahir Dar.  We spent the afternoon taking a last minute tour for $80 for both of us to the Semien Mountains.  On the way back, we stopped at a Jewish community and bought souvenirs.

December 31:

We flew out early in the morning to Lalibela ($74 for 2) and arrived around 10:30 a.m..  One tip for entering airports in Ethiopia is to keep your passport handy.  You will be asked for it when you enter the airport grounds and you will need to show it again to enter the airport.  Then it needs to be shown to enter there security line to enter the airport and one last time to enter the gate area security.  One of the best money saving tips I have for Ethiopia to to fly to Ethiopia on Ethiopian Airlines.  This will give you access to the lowest fares to fly within the country.  We only had a week to see Ethiopia so flying around the country was the best way for us to see it all and it was great to be able to fly for the same price the locals pay.

Please see my separate post on Lalibela for information and tips on seeing Lalibela.

January 1:

We flew ($84 for two people) to Axum departing at 11:00 a.m. and arriving at 11:40 a.m. We had a driver and guide for the day in Axum as well as have the driver take us to Mekelle.  His fee was $265.  Upon arriving in Mekelle, we stayed at Planet Hotel which cost $138.

January 2:

We took a tour to the Danakil Depression for $250 each. When we arrived to the salt desert, people we given time to explore for a few hours and dip in the natural salt pool.  That night we slept under the stars.

January 3:

We were up early (4:30 a.m.) to hike through the colorful area of the Danakil Depression.  We had to go early to beat the heat since this is one of the hottest places on the planet.w

At the end of the day we were returned to Mekelle where we stayed at the Atse Yohannes Hotel ($70).  Would not be my first choice for a hotel if the pictures had truly shown what it was like.  But oh well–it was only one night.  Not the end of the world. We went out to the best restaurant in town where we truly enjoyed the food.

January 4:

We took a taxi to the airport to fly back to Addis.  The flight to Addis was $180 for two people.  Since we had all day in Addis, we arranged a tour for $70 in a private car to take us to Adadi Maryam.  We spent our last hours in Ethiopia at the Ethiopian Skylight Hotel where we ate shirt and drank beer until we had to leave.

January 5:

We arrived back in Toronto and drove home to Detroit.

Just a side note:  Everyone seemed to want dollars. You will do well to exchange your (preferably large) bills with reputable people like tour directors, drivers, etc… They will give you a much better rate than the bank.  Just make sure you know what the local currency looks like before you exchange to avoid being duped.  Very few places take credit cards.  Cash is king and many people will gladly want to buy your USD.

~Bella