“Northern Ethiopia with culture, nature, mountains and cities”

We spent 15 days in Northern Ethiopia, following a very tightly packed schedule including 3 inland flights and many multi-hour car drives to take in the old and new capitals of Addis, Aksum, Lalibela, Gondar as well as a cultural highlight (Christmas celebrations in Lalibela), the Danakil Depression with the Erta Ale volcano and several hikes in the Gheralta mountains, around Lalibela and in the Simien Mountains.
Such a schedule would have been extremely difficult, if not impossible, to arrange independently in the little time available and we were extremely fortunate to have found Molla from Lalibela Eco Tours. Not only was he lightning-fast in his email responses during the planning phase in Germany, he was also extraordinarily helpful and accommodating in adjusting the schedule to exactly our preferences, while providing very useful recommendations and advice on the individual target destinations we had picked.
Once in Ethiopia, we were able to rely completely on his organization. Things like flight delays or difficult traffic conditions would have upset our timeplan, had we planned transfers, transport or accommodation ourselves. As it was, we were able to just blindly trust in everything working even with such last-minute changes.
Molla’s system of using his network of local guides meant that we always had someone to take good care of us wherever we arrived, and also provided an ample fund of detailed expert knowledge on the sites we visited.
We were also very positively impressed by the level of organizational detail Molla went to for us – an example being the climbing harness on one of the Gheralta hikes. All other tourists were asked to pay a small fee for using the harness, whereas Molla had already arranged that to be taken care of for us. Maybe not a huge thing, but it’s niggling little details like this that can make or break an impression.
In fact, in hindsight I can truthfully say that in pretty much every aspect of the trip, Molla overdelivered on each promise made/each service we paid for. A really unusually positive experience, and one I will gladly repeat!
Detailed reviews of the various trip elements to follow as separate reports.

“Excellent Trek and exploration of Ethiopia”

My wife and I only had a short time in Ethiopia and we wanted to make the most of it -so literally 5 hours before our flight was set to depart we contacted Molla with Lalibela Eco Trekking and within minutes he had an excellent itinerary set up for us!

We visited Bahir Dar and the Blue Nile Falls with our excellent guide Desi, the next day we went to Gondar and viewed the incredible castles and the following day we trekked up the Simian Mountains.

We then went to Lalibela and finally got to meet this incredible Molla -what a joy to meet the man who had set us up with a fascinating trip!

Our 2 days in Lalibella were filled with the churches (another excellent, fun and knowledgeable guide) and finally an 8 hour trek up the mountains -with the excellent guide Abeje to visit Ashten Mariam Monastary and Hudad Eco Lodge.

I cannot tell you how happy we are we chose Lalibela Eco Tours -they were really top notch with excellent customer service and guides full of knowledge…Cannot wait to return and use them again.

3 day Danakil Depression tour

Molla and his colleague at Lalibela Eco Trekking were so helpful in the lead up to my trip to Ethiopia as well as once we arrived to finalise the tour booking. They weren’t pushy, and were flexible, which was great as we didn’t confirm dates until a few days before and were also able to book a 3 day trip instead of the standard 4 days, to suit our travel plans in Ethiopia.

The Lalibela churches were amazing, and Molla recommended a guide Zenebe (well worth having a guide, 600ETB for two days) who was well informed and made the visit really interesting. Lalibela Eco Trekking have their own guides for the churches too, but they were already booked with other groups by the time we arrived. We met one at the airport, however and he seemed very knowledgable also.

The Danakil Depression tour that we arranged through Lalibela Eco Trekking was 100% incredible and perfect. We were really happy with the 3 day option we decided on, the operating company World Sun were fantastic and again extremely helpful even outside of the tour.

The tour was well organised, our driver Mezgebe was fantastic and very safe, we felt that we didn’t have to worry about a thing. It also felt as though our guide Gere had a good relationship with the people in the communities we stopped at/passed, which was reassuring as it is never nice to be a tourist on a trip that stops at villages to ‘gawk’ at people and then drive on by. Gere was a great guide too, and took the time to go around to everyone in the group to provide information on what we were seeing if we weren’t all standing together. Expect things like flat tyres as there are some shocking roads at times, but the drivers were prepared and the other vehicles always about to help out.

I highly recommend visiting these incredible places, and getting in touch with Lalibela Eco Trekking Tours.

“Warm welcome to Ethiopia”

Hi !

I had a great 10 day experience in and around Lalibela, organized by Molla and his team (Oct 3-12, 2016). And I say team, because that really was how it felt: a group of warm people, working together to make my trip a success.
The weeks before the trip, Molla carefully listened to my desires for the trip, and together we composed a nice program. I spent 2 days in Lalibela, to visit the churches, guided by Zenebe Minale, and then left the city for 4 days in the Hudad Eco Lodge followed by 3 days trekking through the Mount Abune Yousef park. Abeje was my local guide for those 7 days, and i most certainly enjoyed my time together with him. As I was traveling alone, having a personal guide for 7 days is not obvious … both ways. We enjoyed. Really.
Nature was wonderfully green, I simply felt like I had stepped into a wide-screen National Geographic documentary … every second of my stay. Never ever in my life have I met so many warm, genuinely friendly people.
Food was delicious … and safe! Animals were abundant, especially birds with falcons, vultures, eagles, … all close by.
I most certainly enjoyed the silence at Hudad Eco Lodge, and the singing with the staff.

The whole organization was top: no financial surprises, fresh water whenever I wanted, transport well-coordinated, no language barriers, respect for my wishes, … Highest score possible 🙂

Thank you Molla, Zenebe, Abeje, Esubalew, Mo’gez, Abebetsh, …. and so many more people for making my journey an unforgettable time. I cherish you and your fabulous country,

Pieter (Belgium)

“Full-day Trek Through Highlands of Lalibela”

I visited Lalibela for the long weekend and wanted to see more than just the churches in town. So I emailed Lalibela Eco Treking based on other tripadvisor reviews. I am so glad I did! This day turned out to be the highlight of my trip – I was put in touch with my guide Molla, who planned out a perfect day-long trek through the highlands: complete with a visit to a stunning ancient church hidden high in the mountains (and I was able to witness the Sunday church ceremony still held there ever Sunday), a trip to the stunning Hudad on the mountain top (where we frolicked with wild baboons and danced with the 68 year old Hudad gatekeeper), and stunning views at every turn. Molla was an excellent guide: very responsive to emails, flexible, punctual, reliable, and so knowledgeable about the area. I highly recommend both this company and Molla as a guide to anyone! Thanks Molla and Lalibela Eco Tours!

“Excellent very professional team!”

This was my first trip to Ethiopia. Although my stay was short,I wanted to connect with local people and hike in the mountains, away from the hustle and bustle of the big cities. I was a bit nervous because I was traveling alone for the first time in Africa. I contacted Molla and he took care of everything. I saw the churches the first day, then met my “crew” the next morning: a guide, a expedition chief, a cook and a donkey ( that I thought was named Dwinky until I realized that people were trying to pronounce donkey! LOL) Abece, my guide, was fluent in English, and patiently translated all my conversations with locals. We hiked in the mountains to a 4300m peak. Everything was great! I felt very welcomed and safe everywhere I went. Ethiopans are such warm people! The culture and nature is very rich and very interesting. The views are spectacular.

Lalibela Eco Trekking is a professional, local company that does intelligent tourism. They support local people by creating jobs. They have very interesting projects for the future that I would like to support in one way or another. I strongly recommend them for anyone who wants to get off the common tourist roads. They helped me live an unforgettable week and now I will surely have to go back, only next time I will plan at least 3 weeks!

“Best experience”

It was certainly the best experience I had in Ethiopia. The Guide, the porter, the cook,… simply everybody was very very friendly and always there for me. The landscape is beautiful and the sky at night is unforgettable, the trekking routes great and the dinner around the fire made every day perfect. The Ecotrekking around Lalibela is a quite new attraction, though not very well known, but I would put it in the same league as the rock hewn churches or any other big attraction, so an absolute must see in Ethiopia. The 5 days passed like 1 day.

The tour went through the highland villages, where life is completely different than anywhere else. People live in very simple housings, and with very little. They seam always happy, open and live a positive way of live. Their guest have their own room in a separate house.

Important to say is also, that with the little money spent, the people living in the remote areas can have a little better life. The food is all grown by the local people, and the accommodation is run by the locals, plus it creates important job opportunities for the community. Food is prepared separately for the visitors, so it’s safe, and there is always bottled water.
I would even say if you have not seen this, you have not seen the real Ethiopia. Absolutely worth 5*!

“A brilliant trek to Abuna Yosef”

When we arrived we met Molla who we knew through a friend. Molla helped us organise what we wanted to do and was very, very helpful.

We ended up doing a 4 day trek with Mesfin Yesmaw as our guide, and had a fantastic time! Mesfin was a superb guide who spoke flawless english and knew everything there was to know about Lalibela and Mt. Abuna Yosef which was our final destination.

The trek itself was at times hard going but incredibly fun, I would recommend it to everyone as long as you’re fairly surefooted. The families whose lodges we slept in were lovely and treated us like friends, they got on with their lives and we felt very happy that we weren’t too intrusive. In the evening we sat around the fire and were ‘heavily encouraged’ into some Ethiopian shoulder dancing which was a lot of fun. Throughout the trek the cook cooked better food than we’ve ever eaten in any restaurants, he was divine!

“Lifetime experience in the Ethiopian Highlands!”

We contacted Molla from Lalibela EcoTrekking after reading about his project and how they collaborate with the local communities. They organized the trekking perfectly! We walked during 4 days in the Abune Joseph area and it was one of the best experiences in our life!
During the trekking we slept in local houses, cooked with them, drank with them, laughed and danced with them and even raced against them! (no chance 🙂 )
We had an English speaking guide with us that helped us to communicate in Amharic, a cook that prepared lovely local food and a local porter that even invited us to his village to meet his family. Everything really human and natural, excellent persons.
Regarding the area, the landscape is astonishing. A great variety of views, from ridges and vertical walls to nice prairies at high altitude.

We totally recommend a trekking like this, and we also recommend contacting Molla for that. He takes care of everything and adapts to any circumstance.

Of course, be prepared for long walks, sleeping at 3700m and forgetting about light, electricity and showers 😉 At least in the highlands!

“What an experience!”

Molla and his team made our trip in Ethiopia unforgettable.
We started with a two- days trekking in the mountains around Lalibela. We had a great experience with our guide Mesfin, the cook and the mule-man who all took good care of us. The trekking was fabulous, and we will never forget the evening with the local family.

Lalibela Eco- trekking also organised our trip to the south. They booked a 4×4 car with the driver Ababa who also was a good organizer. We visited many villages and local tribes.
Very well organized! Thank you Lalibela eco-trekking!