Drive
Hotels and Lodge
5 Days/ 4 Nights
2-12 Group Size
About the Tour
A tour across Harar, the walled city in eastern Ethiopia, will give you a daring experience that you will cherish for the rest of your life. Harar is one of the oldest towns in Ethiopia; it is known as a walled city with five gates. As the fourth most important city in the Islamic world, Hara houses over 100 mosques and shrines. The long, winding alleys of the city, with their colorfully painted walls, are worth capturing with your camera. The market in the old city is also worth a visit; you will find delicately embroiled textile to take home as a token of your visit. Take a walk in the streets of Harar and you will get a chance to see the colorful dresses of the magnificent Harari women. This trip also takes you to the Awash National Park which is located between Oromia and Afar regions, 215 km from Addis Ababa. The park is home to over 80 species of mammals including Ethiopia’s largest protected population of Beisa Oryx. The park is named after the Awash River and covers an area of 827 square kilometers.
Detail Itinerary
Day 1: Arrival at Addis Ababa
Welcome to Ethiopia! Arrive at Addis Abeba Bole International Airport. Here you will be greeted by your tour guide or driver from Ecotravel Ethiopia Tours. Then you will be transferred to hotel. Then your trip will start with a drive to Entoto mountain, Addis Ababa's highest mountain, is located on the outskirts of the city. With its very rural flair and the scent of the forests, it is the ideal place to arrive calmly after your flight. For acclimatization you take a short walk through the eucalyptus forests (approx. 1 hour in flat terrain). Up here, a fascinating overview of this growing metropolis of Ethiopia awaits us. The scent of the eucalyptus forests invites you to stay. In one of the coffee houses you enjoy our first Ethiopian coffee from the charcoal fire. Afterwards you visit the Derg Museum, which deals with the time of the Red Terror in Ethiopia in the 1970/80s and is one of the best, though sad, museums in the city.
Overnight: Golden Tulip Hotel
Day 2: Drive to Awash National Park
After breakfast, we drive from Addis to Awash National Park through the awe-inspiring crater lakes of Debrezeit. Awash National Park, located in the Rift Valley, is enriched with many species of birds and mammals: African orange-bellied parrots, bustards, weavers, European Hoope somber rock-chat, yellow-throated serine, Red-fronted barbet, pygmy baits, Lesser striped swallow, House martin and Anubis Baboon, Colobus Monkey, Black-backed Jackal, Bat-eared Fox, Egyptian Mongoose, Warthog, Beisa Oryx, Soemmering’s Gazelle, Lesser Kudu, Salt’s Dik-dik, etc.
Overnight: Doho Lodge.
Day 3: Continue to Harar
Drive from Awash to Harar across the Rift Valley floor and along the spine of the beautiful Ahmar Mountains to Harar. This early 16th century eastern Ethiopian city 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 centre 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 feeding outside the walls of the city.
Overnight: Ras Hotel.
Day 4: Walled Town Of Harar
You will have an early breakfast and visit the walled city of Jegol, the house of Arthur Rimbaud (a French poet who lived in the 1880s in Harar), Emperor Haile Selassie home (where he was born & raised) and Harari Cultural Museum. You will start exploring the 16th century UNESCO registered wall city of Harar. Including the colourful local market, the famous museums and holy shrine. You will also enjoy the visit to the colourful market in Harar.
Overnight: Ras Hotel.
Day 5: Return To Addis Ababa
After a relaxed breakfast, we will drive to Addis Ababa. You will arrive in Addis Ababa late afternoon where you will do some shopping for souvenirs. Finally, you will be taken to a farewell dinner depending on your scheduled flight. You will then be transferred to the Bole International Airport for return flight back home.