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- Simien Mountains National Park- the roof of Africa
August 8, 2021 - Covid-19 requirements for tourists to Ethiopia
August 8, 2021 - Ethiopia - A Land of mysteries
August 8, 2021
Bale Mountains National Park – 8 Days Tour
Detailed itinerary
Day 1: Addis Ababa City Tour
Upon arrival at Bole International Airport you will be met by a Ruba Tours representative and be taken to your reserved hotel. Depending on your arrival time, we have various sightseeing options:
- Mount Entoto with the best views over the capital.
- Institute of Ethiopian Studies, where you can see a variety of artifacts from all the different regions reflecting the history and culture of the country
- National Museum which among other exhibits the 3.5-million-year-old bones of Lucy.
- Saint-George Cathedral, where paintings by the famous Ethiopian artist Afework Tekele and other ecclesiastical wealth and cultural heritage of the past are displayed.
- Trinity Cathedral: this is the burial place of members of the imperial family and noted patriots; the cathedral is the most magnificent of its kind in the country, ornamented with carvings, mosaics and other artistic works.
- The Mercato, the largest open-air market in Africa
- Unity Park, located within the National Palace of Ethiopia , embodies generational legacy of Ethiopia And Ethiopians.Prime minster Dr Abiy has announced that The park will be open to the public as of October 11, following the October 10th launchThe National Palace was Built under Emperor Menelik II over a century ago, the Palace rests on 40,000Sqm of land. For generations, it has been viewed as the epicenter of political power, where the most powerful family in the land resides. The renovated compound incorporates several sights of interest to visitors, including an arena, a playground, a zoo,three churches,House of Royals and an imperial banquet hall.
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DAY 2 Drive from Addis Ababa to Langano.
Lake Langano (Oromo: Hora Langaanoo, Amharic: ላንጋኖ ሐይቅ) is a lake in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia, exactly 200 kilometers by road south of the capital, Addis Ababa, on the border between the East Shewa Zone and Arsi Zones.[1] It is located to the east of Lake Abijatta in the Main Ethiopian Rift at an elevation of 1,585 meters.
Overnight at SABANA LODGE
Day 3: LANGANO / GOBA VIA DINSHO
Goba (Oromo: Gobbaa, Amharic: ጎባ) is a town and separate woreda located in the Bale Zone of the Oromia Region, Ethiopia approximately 446 km southeast of Addis Ababa, this city has a latitude and longitude of 7°0′N 39°59′E and an elevation of 2,743 meters above sea level.
The town is known for its Wednesday market and for honey, basketry and cotton shawl making; Bale National Park is 10 km to the southwest. A few kilometers outside of Goba are the remains of an old rock church.[1] Goba shares Robe Airport (ICAO code HAGB, IATA GOB) with neighbouring Robe.
Dinsho (also called Gurie) is a village in south-central Ethiopia. Located in the Bale Zone of the Oromia Region in the heart of the Bale Mountains, this village has a latitude and longitude of 7°05′N 39°45′E and an elevation of 3207 meters. It is the administrative center of Dinsho woreda.
Overnight at GOBA WABE SHEBELE HOTEL.
Day 4 : GOBA/ HARENA FOREST VIA SANETTI PLATEAU
The Harenna Forest is a montane tropical evergreen forest in Ethiopia’s Bale Mountains. The forest covers the southern slope of the mountains, extending from 1450 to 3200 meters elevation. The Bale Mountains are in Ethiopia’s Oromia Region, and form the southwestern portion of the Ethiopian Highlands.[1]
It is one of the few remaining natural forests in the country, and the largest. The Harenna Forest is known for its native plants, mammals, amphibians and birds, including many endemic species.[2] The montane climate of the southern Bale Mountains sustains plant communities distinct from those of the adjacent lowlands, and from montane forests elsewhere in the Ethiopian Highlands.
The Sanetti Plateau is a major plateau of the Ethiopian Highlands, in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. The plateau is the highest part of the Bale Mountains, and is located within Bale Mountains National Park.
The plateau exceeds 4000 meters in elevation, and its highest point is Mount Tullu Dimtu at 4,377 metres (14,360 ft). The southern edge of the plateau forms a steep escarpment, known as the Harenna escarpment, which descends from 3800 to 2800 meters elevation.
The northern slopes drain into the Shebelle River, and the southern slopes are drained by tributaries of the Ganale River, including the Weyib. The southern slopes receive higher rainfall, generally 1000 mm or more annually, while the northern slopes are in the drier rain shadow of the mountains.
Overnight at GOBA WABE SHEBELE HOTEL.
Day 5 : GOBA / SOF OMAR
Sof Omar Caves is the longest cave in Ethiopia at 15.1 kilometres (9.4 mi) long. When surveyed in 1972, it was the longest cave in Africa. Since then explorations in Algeria (Rhar Bou Ma’za – the Tafna River Cave 18.4 km) and Madagascar (Ambatoharanana – Crocodile Cave 18.1 km) have overtaken it. [1] It is situated to the east of Robe, in the Bale Zone of the Oromia Region in southeastern Ethiopia, through which the Weyib River (Gestro River) flows.[2] It sinks at the Ayiew Maco entrance and reappears at the Holuca resurgence 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) away. According to tradition Sof Omar was the name of a Muslim holy man who lived in the area and Ayiew the name of his daughter. Maco and Holuca are local names for ‘name’ and “cave”, respectively. Long a religious centre, it is sacred both to Islam and the local Oromo traditional religion. The caves are known for their many pillars, particularly in the “Chamber of Columns”.
Overnight Camping.
Day 6 : Drive to Sheikh Hussein
This morning we will drive to the nearby Shrine of Sheikh Hussein.
Sheikh Hussein is a town in south-eastern Ethiopia. Located in the Bale Zone of the Oromia Region, it has a longitude and latitude of 7°45′N 40°42′E with an elevation of 1386 meters above sea level. The Central Statistical Agency has not published an estimate for this town’s 2005 population.
The town is named after what, in some Ethiopian Muslim eyes, is the most sacred place in that country: the tomb of the thirteenth century Somali saint from Merca called Sheikh Hussein, who introduced Islam to the Sidamo people living in the area at the time.[3] He is also credited for founding and establishing the Sultanate of Bale and is said to have performed many miracles.[4] A number of these miracles have been recorded in a hagiography published in Cairo in the 1920s, entitled Rabi` al-Qulub. Although this town is now within the homelands of the Oromo people, it has continued to be the destination of approximately 50,000 pilgrims from Muslim Ethiopia twice a year during the Muslim months of Hajj and Rabi’ al-Awwal.[5] The first pilgrimage is to celebrate his birth, the second his death. They traditionally carry cleft sticks known as “Oulle Sheikh Hussein”, which are too small to serve as walking sticks and are not utilized for any practical purpose. Once they arrive at the shrine, the pilgrims take their turns entering the saint’s tomb by crawling through a small doorway.[6]
The extensive religious complex dedicated to the saint includes the town and the nearby valley of Kachamsare. In the 18th century, Emir `Abd al-Shakur ibn Yusuf of Harar constructed a shrine to the Baghdadi saint `Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani near the tomb of Sheikh Hussein, inside the shrine compound. A graveyard has also been consecrated as part of the complex.[5] Other landmarks of the complex include the pond of Dinkiro, 300 meters south of the mosque, built in dry stone masonry; associated with the pond is a spring with “miraculous” water. At the entrance of the holy area are two wild fig trees called kiltu (identified as Ficus sycomorus) in the Oromo language. Near another pond, of Imaro, there is the mosque of Sheikh Hussein’s father, both with a gubba of Harar type. Also nearby are several caves—a “cave of serpents”, a “cave of herbs”, and a “cave of honey”—and rock formations said to be petrified persons.
In the afternoon we will drive back to Goba
Overnight at Wabe Shebele Hotel in Goba
DAY 7 GOBA / ADAMA
Adama (Oromo: Adaamaa or Hadaamaa, Amharic: አዳማ), formerly Nazreth (Amharic: ናዝሬት),[3] is a city in the central Oromia Region of Ethiopia.[4][5] Located in the East Shewa Zone 99 km (62 mi) southeast of the capital, Addis Ababa, the city sits between the base of an escarpment to the west, and the Great Rift Valley to the east.
Overnight at SAFARI LODGE.
Day 8 : ADAMA/ ADDIS ABABA
We will drive back to Addiss Ababa and after lunch we will visit an art gallery or do last minute shopping. Before departure , we will go to a traditional Ethiopian restaurant to enjoy cultural dance and exotic food.
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DepartureAddis Ababa Airport
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Departure Time6:00 AM
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IncludedLatest Model Land Cruiser VechicleLocal and professional GuideBreakfast (4)Airfare
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Not IncludedAlcoholic BeveragesTips to Guide and Driver