Presentation
Stages: ADDIS ABABA – LANGANO – GOBA – BASEL – ARBA MINCH – ADDIS ABABA
Description: The Rift Valley in 11 days / 10 nights from €1,590.
Day 1: PARIS / ADDIS ABABA
Flight from Paris to Addis Ababa on Ethiopian Airlines. Night on board.
Day 2: ADDIS ABABA
Arrival in the morning in Addis Ababa, transfer, installation and rest at the hotel.
Crossing the historic districts of the capital, climb Mount Entoto, from where you overlook the entire city at an altitude of 3,200 m. It is from there, it is said, that Emperor Menelik decided to create Addis Ababa “the New Flower” in Amharic.
Visit the Archaeological Museum, a sumptuous panorama of the history of Ethiopia, from the first works of Aksumite art to the reign of Menelik. Here is also the skeleton of the famous Lucy. Then, visit the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, built by Haile Selassie in the heart of the old Piazza district and where the Negus rests today.
Dinner and night at the Jupiter4* hotel
Day 3: ADDIS ABABA / LANGANORoute to the Awash valley, the opportunity to discover the very beautiful landscapes of Shoa. Continue to Abyata – Shalla Park where you can see ostriches, antelopes, zebras and an impressive colony of pink flamingos.
Very close to the shores of Lake Langano where we will stop. At an altitude of 1600 m, in the heart of the Rift Valley, bordered by the Arsi Mountains, Lake Langano is a popular vacation spot where it is possible to swim. Its copper-colored fresh water, its sandy beaches and its small isolated coves, its bird colonies make it a pleasant stopover.
Dinner and night at the Sabana Lodge 4* hotel.
Day 4: LANGANO / GOBA
Road to the Balé Mountains and the park. The Balé massif is the largest Afro-alpine area in all of Africa, is home to the second peak of Ethiopia, Tulu Dimtu at an altitude of 4,370 m, one of the largest primary forests in Ethiopia and numerous endemic plant and animal species. It is also the refuge of rare species, such as the famous Abyssinian wolf, Ménélik’s Bushbuck, Niyala, colobus monkeys, servals etc… Passage through the spectacular “Dragons Pass” before reaching Dinsho, a small village at the gates from the park, first walk along the Gaysay river or in the park. Then road to Goba.
Dinner and night at the Wabe Shebele 3* hotel
Day 5: GOBA / BALE / GOBA
Leaving Goba, the road rises towards the Sanneti plateau and its giant lobelia, at an altitude of more than 4,000 m, crosses a forest of junipers and cedars, skirts the foothills of Mount Tulu Dentu, before open onto the superb landscapes of the south of the massif and the Harenna forest. Many stops…
Return to Goba
Dinner and night at the Wabe Shebele 3* hotel
Day 6: GOBA / YIRGALEM
Passage through Shashemene, where the Jamaican “Rasta” community settled in the 1960s, on land donated by Emperor Haile Selassie.
Road towards the south and the Sidamo country, on the eastern shoulder of the great Rift Valley, with tropical vegetation, where pineapples, mangoes, papayas and especially coffee are grown. Visit to a Sidama village.
Stop at the superb Aregash Ecolodge built in the middle of a tropical garden.
Dinner and night Aregash Lodge 4*
Day 7: YIRGALEM / CHENCHA / ARBA MINCH
Road to Chencha and the village of Dorzé, perched on the shoulder of the valley at almost 3000 m above sea level. The Dorzés speak an Omotic language, a group of languages common much further south.
Visit the village made up of curious traditional huts, up to 12 meters high. The Dorzé ethnic group is also a people of weavers. You will see from spinning to weaving all the stages of manufacturing colorful fabrics. You will also see the production of “kotcho” made from the pulp of the false banana tree, “enset” which is the staple food of all southern Ethiopia.
Road to the town of Arba Minch, this very pleasant town is built on the side of a hill, it offers an extraordinary panoramic view of 2 lakes of the Rift Valley, Lakes Abaya and Chamo. Check into the hotel from where you have an exceptional view of the lakes.
Dinner and night at the Paradise Lodge 4* hotel
Day 8: ARBA MINCH / KONSO / ARBA MINCH
Stop on the shores of Lake Chamo and boat trip on the lake to discover the thousands of birds that populate it, crocodiles and hippos.
Road to Konso country. In a relatively arid environment, the Konsos developed terraced agriculture which led UNESCO to classify the landscapes shaped by the Konsos as a World Heritage Site. The Konsos live in fortified villages which attest to their traditional conflictual relationships with their Borana neighbors. We will visit one of these villages. Konso society is very structured, made up of 9 clans and lineages and obeying a complex generational class system. Despite the massive conversion to Protestantism, the Konso people are still attached to the traditional cult of the unique god Waqq and to the funerary cult materialized by the “Waqa” steles of carved wood.
Dinner and night at the Paradise Lodge 4* hotel
Day 9: ARBA MINCH / AWASSA
Road to the eastern slope of the Rift Valley. Detour to Wondo Genet, a green oasis where thermal springs emerge. Continuation to Awassa and installation at the superb Haile resort on the banks of the lake.
Dinner and overnight at the Haile Resort 5* hotel
Day 10: AWASSA / ADDIS
Road to Addis passing by the church of Adadi Mariam, entirely dug into the rock like the rock churches of Lalibela probably at the same time, around the 12th or 13th century. Passage through Tiya, listed as a UNESCO world heritage site. Around forty steles, erected in the 13th or 14th century AD, bear engraved swords and mysterious symbols, probably funerary monuments in homage to warriors. Others wear feminine symbols. Arrival in Addis.
Stroll through the Mercato, the largest market in the capital and in the Piazza district for the latest purchases.
Dinner, traditional song and dance show and transfer to the airport for Ethiopian Airlines flight to Paris.
Day 11: ARRIVAL IN PARIS
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