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Ethiopian Experiences
"Experience the Ethiopian Rift Valley with its huge lakes and volcanoes, Visualise Ethiopia's powerful myths and legends.......
Feel the vibrancy of its diverse peoples"
Trevor Jenner : Ethiopia, Travellers' Handbook
Adventures in Ethiopia
with
Ethiopian Experiences
Relaxing nature, tribal cultures, and stunning wildlife
Around the Rift Valley Lakes
A scenic and beautiful tour to the south of the capital city
See our Group tours schedule page and newsletters for latest news
Enjoy the wonders of nature with memorable scenery at every turn
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Here is a wonderfully varied and relaxing tour, offering an almost safari-like experience, with truly enormous crocodiles, families of hippos, herds of zebra and stunning birdlife. But here also you'll see ever-changing, picturesque scenery, varied and colourful tribal cultures, ancient prehistoric sites, and smiling and welcoming people.
A wonderful tour of extraordinary exploration for just
£2750 (no increase in cost since 2025)
plus flights and visa.
Everything else is included - comfortable accommodation, good food, amazing scenery, all tourist costs, guide fees, coffee stops throughout the trip, and all land transportation.
Here are the dates for this attractive and popular itinerary. We'd love you to join us.
Autumn Tour 2027
Departure Thu 4th November
Return Mon 15th November
Around the Rift Valley Lakes 2028
Dates coming soon
Extraordinary Birdlife
Although this *Around the Rift Valley Lakes* tour is designed, as all our tours,
for people with a general and broad interest in Ethiopia, the birdlife in this area is exceptional, attracting specialised birding groups from all over the world.
For a couple of days near the beginning of this tour, we shall have an extra guide travelling with us who has a special interest in Ethiopian birdlife and who can introduce us to the amazing variety that occurs here.​
We can of course run any tour at almost any time for you. Perhaps you'd prefer to travel alone, as a couple, or as a group of friends or associates. Perhaps you would simply like to do our tour at a time that better suits your own schedule. Just get in touch with us via the form at the bottom of each page to discuss your requirements.
The Itinerary
Please note: We shall always endeavour to follow the itinerary as published here on the website, but we reserve the right to flex these details if necessary in order to create the best possible tour for our guests.
🇪🇹 Day 0:
Evening flight
Heathrow to Addis Ababa
Akaki wetlands and Bishoftu crater lakes
🇪🇹 Day 1: We are met by our own comfortable vehicles at the airport and, after some revitalising Ethiopian coffee, we set straight off in a southerly direction with the town of Bishoftu as our destination. But first we are going to Akaki for a gentle stroll and the chance of spotting flamingos on the wetlands. We inspect the oldest dam in Ethiopia, dating from the 1930's and producing just 6 megawatts of power (as opposed to the more than 5000 that are reported to come from Ethiopia's brand new Grand Renaissance Dam). We have lunch on the way and then soon arrive at Bishoftu (previously known as Debre Zeit - the Mount of Olives).
🇪🇹 Day 2: There are five impressive crater lakes in the vicinity of this town and we shall experience at least a couple of them while we are here, taking in some beautiful scenery and very varied birdlife. After lunch we set off to the south again, this time heading for one of the most impressive of the Rift Valley lakes, Lake Ziway, notable for its birdlife and its basking hippos. We stay in an attractive bungalow-style hotel very near the edge of the lake.
" Nothing could have prepared me for the most spectacular descent into the Rift Valley, the start of the most beautiful holiday imaginable."
Lake Ziway
🇪🇹 Day 3: This morning offers us a trip out onto Lake Ziway. Particularly extraordinary birdlife awaits us even before we get into our boat and then we are off to Bird Island (spoonbills, cormorants, herons), Spider Island (spiders recently in short supply, but with a nice little monastery at the top) and those lazily basking hippos at the western end of the lake. Eventually we are back on land and take a relatively short trip down to the next lake, Lake Langano, for lunch. The afternoon sees us over the road at Lakes Abiata and Shala where we find semi-wild ostriches, Grant's gazelles and again wonderfully varied birdlife and dramatic scenery. We return to our peaceful Ziway hotel for a second night.
Hawassa
🇪🇹 Day 4: Today we are on our way to the largest city in the Rift Valley, Hawassa, with its wide streets and welcoming atmosphere. The town sits right on the banks of Lake Hawassa and the views are extremely beautiful and appreciated by all. Even guests who are not particularly keen on birdlife are sure to be won over here, as we stroll along the lakeside in the late afternoon and see numerous different and beautiful species. Our hotel is centrally situated and is comfortable and convenient.
🇪🇹 Day 5: We start today with a visit to the lakeside Fish Market where fishermen and birdlife are in very visible and active competition for the catch. Here the fish is not only caught, but filleted, cooked and eaten throughout the morning. After this, we shall all enjoy some free time to stroll back along the lakeside, watch the colobus and vervet monkeys, and possibly even encounter one or two amazingly friendly hyenas, before meeting up for lunch. In the afternoon you might like to relax and explore the town, with an impressive modern church at the top of the high street, or perhaps take an hour's ride to the hot springs of Wondo Genet out in the countryside. We shall be at your service, whatever your choice. But a good dinner will definitely follow and possibly one last sit by the waterside.
Dilla and Yirgacheffe
🇪🇹 Day 6: Prehistory is our interest today as we move down towards the town of Dilla and the stone field of Tutu Fella and its crop of phallic carvings. The countryside in this area is lush and colourful and provides endless interest. Lunch is had in Dilla itself before our prehistoric activities begin, after which we have only a short extra journey left to do, heading for the small village of Yirgacheffe, famous across the world to coffee lovers. Our simple hotel is there, as is a fine cup of coffee - or two.
" A truly wonderful trip, expertly and thoughtfully led, a wonderfully friendly driver, and very good times with fellow travellers."
Konso
🇪🇹 Day 7: We have a substantial day of travelling in our Toyota today as we move around the bottom of the Ethiopian Rift Valley lakes and start moving north again up the western side. We break our journey for drinks and photos whenever we wish but we are heading for a town called Karat-Konso, the centre of Konso tribal life, and a hotel called Kanta Lodge, one of the most beautiful hotels we use on our tours, drenched in colourful bougainvillea on the top of a hill outside the town.
🇪🇹 Day 8: The Konso territories are our focus this morning, as our tribal guide takes us to a natural rock formation which the locals call 'New York', followed by a relaxed walk along a country road to visit one of the famous traditional Konso villages in this area, unlike any you will have seen elsewhere, with traditional beliefs and lifestyles very much in evidence. After a quick lunch break, we are travelling once again on a three-hour trip to the north, to Arba Minch, our base for the next two nights.
Arba Minch and Lake Chamo
🇪🇹 Day 9: This is a major wildlife day as we drive down to Lake Chamo and transfer to our private boat for a true lake adventure. We are on the lookout for some of the largest crocodiles in the world at very close quarters and we shall undoubtedly spot hippos and their offspring in the shallower areas. The birdlife is extraordinary here, with fine photos to be had along the way. After a brief lunch, Chencha tribal market, at the summit of these hills, is our focus but our local guide takes us first to a colourful Dorze village to be shown how the ensete - the false banana - provides the local people with everything from house-building materials to their daily bread.
🇪🇹 Day 10: Our time around the Rift Valley Lakes is coming to an end, and we are on our way back to the capital city today by means of a short domestic flight. We should nevertheless find time in the morning to take a beautiful, flat woodland walk to see the site of the 'Forty Springs' (Arba Minch) that give the town its name. We shall return to our hotel for lunch and prepare for our late afternoon flight.
🇪🇹 Day 11: Bidding Ethiopia a fond farewell, we take the daytime flight back to Heathrow.
Notes
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We can never be sure of flight costs in advance but based on our recent experience, the complete package of two international flights and one domestic flight may well come to something around £1000 per person.
The cost of the tourist visa is about £48 at the time of writing.
For other general information, see Our tours > All the tours information