4-Days Trekking Tours

Short Information of the Tour.

Name of the Tour: Community Eco friendly trekking tour to Mount Abune Yosef, Yemrehanna Kristos church and low land walking tour

Area: Asheton Maryam monastery, Hudad, Merebarbu, Atabkit, Tegu Kebele, Big Zgiet, Small Zgiet, the highlands of Degosach village and Yemerhana Kiristos church

Total Duration: 4 Days (38 – 39 Hour)

Best Season: Throughout the Year

Grade: Tough only on the 4th day

Altitude: 2,630m, 2,681m 3,600m, 4,200m, 3,500m and 2,700m

Total Trekking Distance: 99km.

Required Level of Fitness: Walking ability for about 40 Hours in 4 days and fit for an altitude difference

Price Inclusive:

  • English Speaking Guide
  • Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
  • Bottled mineral water (Two bottles of packed water per a day) Never
    mind, we will offer if you need more than that.
  • Fruit (Banana or Orange)
  • Mango Juice
  • Donkey with porter (To carry all your staffs that you wanted to use them only when you arrived in the village where you spend the night)

Price Exclusive:

  • Alcoholic Drinks
  • The first day of your breakfast
  • Park entrance fee
  • Church entrance fee

During arrival, We always arrange a Taxi service from Lalibela Airport until reserved hotel and we will pick up you from the Airport.

Day before trekking starts, we will meet our guests at our office (which is located at the center of the town, Next to the Ethiopian Airlines Lalibela office) for tour conformation and we will explain about the details of your trekking tour using the site map and our office will be the point where your trekking tour will start!
The next day morning at 7:45am your trekking guide and the porter will meet you again at the reception of your Hotel to organise and pack your materials that will be on the donkey and your trekking will began from our office!

 

DAY. 1: Walking Tour to “Ade Medhanealem” Village

Today at the morning 7:45am you will start the trekking and after a 30 minutes walk, you will find yourself leaving the town and be on the top of Lalibela and wonder the fresh air of the Ethiopian highlands and you will start spotting Lalibela town from upside down.

The difficulties of this trip is between 7 – 8% and offers a unique combination of spectacular scenery, culture and history.

After you walk for about 2:30h, You will arrive at “Koyta village” Which is 3,500m and has a panoramic view of the region. Here, You will have a short minutes of break having fruits on your hand and drinking water.

Continuing the walk again, You will pass through afro alpine forest, remote villages, farm lands and looking the Gelada Baboon (Theropithecus Gelada) until lunch time.

Mid day, You will arrive again to mount “Atabkit” Which is 3,600 m and has a spectacular view over the other side of the region. It is the place where you are going to eat your lunch and have some time of rest by wondering the view and looking the mountain communities doing the routine of life.

In the afternoon, the trek starts again and you will arrive to “Ade Medhanelem” local community village in the evening where food, drinks and foot massage will be waiting for you.

After having your welcoming soup with coffee or tea, you walk round the village, with the children you can do some fun, see the sundown and we will take you back again to a farmers house next to your community lodge to have dinner. There you will be with the families of the farmer seating beside bonfire, animals and children!

Finally, you will go to your separate room to sleep and we will see each other on the next day morning for a breakfast and to start walking to the national park of massif Abune Yosef.

Overnight: At “Ade Medhanealem” Village. (L, D)

 

DAY. 2: Walking Tour to Mount Abune Yosef

The next day early morning we will start walking again after having breakfast and we pass through a small village of “Tegu Kebele” and we stop for a short visit inside a very remote Elementary school where children of the local community studies at and you might teach them English for some minutes.

The trek from “Tegu Kebele” to Mount Abune Yosef covers about 14km following a path along the escarpment edge.

Just before arriving into the Top of Abune Yosef, you will encounter the small and big Zegit mountains viewpoint in the park.

This viewpoint is actually a gap in the precipitous cliff – which reveals impressive views of the steep mountain faces to the west and the lowlands areas to the left. The tightly clustered houses (Tekuls) that form the village of Telfetit, tucked below a cliff, are also visible from this viewpoint.

Then, we keep moving towards the park, and climb the small and big Zegit which are 3,800 – 3,900m as order.

Mid day, we will be in the middle of the park and we will have our lunch by seating 50m distance from the Gelada Baboon (Theropithecus gelada)

After having your lunch, we will keep hiking to the top of mount Abune Yosef, we will pass beside the group of Gelada Baboon (Theropithecus gelada), cows, sheep and mules. we realized sometimes it is hard to breath hiking to the top and the trek will be much slower relatively the low land.

Between 2:30pm – 3:00pm in the afternoon, we will be on the top of mount Abune Yosef. This has a great views of the Ethiopian highlands mountain and the common plant called Giant Lobelia (Lobelia Deckenii), These trees can grow up to 9m and may live above 15 years.

This species of Giant lobelia (Lobelia Deckenii) is known for the reservoirs of water held in its rosettes, which freeze at night and protects the apical meristem held in a dense central leaf bud. When this reservoir is drained, the temperature of inner meristem drops below freezing, which does not occur when the fluid is left intact.

Here you will be able to spot the Ethiopian endemic Monkey called “Gelada Baboon” (Theropithecus Gelada), the biggest Bird Lammergeier (Gypaetus Barbatus), the Ethiopian Red wolf (Canis simensis), Buzzard and Eagle.

After we spot them on the top, we will start walking downhill enjoying the beautiful sundown and we will spot again the Ethiopian endemic wolf on the way back to community lodge.

Finally, we will arrive to the same lodge where you spend the previous night, or the third day sleeping place would change upon your request. Having our dinner with coffee, tea and massaging your leg, you would go to your separate room to sleep.

Overnight: At “Ade Medhanealem” Village. (B, L, D)

 

DAY. 3: Walking Tour to “Yemrehanna Kristos” Village

We walk up early in the morning and you will have your breakfast as usual and we start the third day trekking which is directly going a downhill trial to the famous church of Yemrehanna Kirstos.

This most impressive cave church, 42 km north-east of Lalibela, was built by King Yemrehanna Kristos in the year 1087AD. This wood and stone construction with its white marble panel exterior resembles the architecture of old Aksum.

In medieval times the church attracted many pilgrims due to its curative holy water. The remains of over 10.000 pilgrims from Syria, Egypt or Jerusalem, who came here to die, lie in a chamber behind the main building and add to the eerie feeling that the cave already has.

On the interior walls of church are the oldest wall paintings in Ethiopia and the Church was built-in a large northeast-facing cave on the west of Mount Abune Yosef.

On this day afternoon, after you had your lunch, you will go to visit this church and you spend the evening visiting the village with a wonderful viewpoint of wondering the sundown.

Finally, you would go for a dinner as usual and sleep in your separate hut.

Overnight: At “Yemerhanna Kirstos” Village. (B, L, D)

 

DAY. 4: Walking Tours Back to Lalibela

Early at the morning you will weak-up up for a breakfast and we start walking again to mount “Degosach”, 12km about a 5 hours walk which is directly uphill and we will arrive to a small village of Degosach with a wonderful sunrise at the morning.

There we will see the city of Lalibela being between the valley of river Simeno and we will go downhill until the village of Medage for two hours.

In between we will pass through a small village of Medage which is popular for its fruit product and we will hike again the uphill of Lalibela town.

Overnight: Hotel in Lalibela. (B, L, D)

End of Tour.