Ethiopia Timket Small Group Tour 2022

Good morning Derek

David and I had a wonderful trip to Ethiopia. I ended up taking far too many photographs so it’s taking me quite a while to decide on which to keep and which to delete. I’ll send you some when that task is complete.

We were very fortunate to have travelled with a lovely, fun group which always adds hugely to the whole experience. Our guide Tammy was fantastic! His knowledge was excellent. He was relaxed, well organised, thoughtful and good fun.

I thought the itinerary gave a really good balance of culture and wildlife giving a very good overview of the parts of the country we visited. There was nothing I wouldn’t have wanted to do, all the visits from churches to archeology to monasteries to scenic panoramas to markets were excellent. My only real regret is that we didn’t add on another week to go to the south and see other parts of Ethiopia.

What we look for in accommodation is a clean room, comfortable bed, working shower and working power points and most of the hotels filled that bill really well. All the beds were great, all the rooms were clean, as usual there were some bits and pieces that weren’t quite right, wobbly taps, ill fitting doors, etc but nothing that in any way spoiled our stay. The showers in Axum and Simien were disappointing but everywhere else they were great. Everywhere we went the staff were friendly and helpful. Food was variable but generally very good. The locations of the hotels was superb, particularly Kuriftu Resort and Spa, Goha Hotel, Simien Lodge and Mezena Lodge.

It’s hard to pick out particular highlights as the whole experience was amazing with so much to take in, but Timket was astonishing. The fact that Timket seemed to stretch across almost the whole of our stay was surprising, as was the number of weddings we came across. The numbers of people taking part in Timket in Addis Ababa and the spectacle of colour, sparkle and joy was breathtaking.

Finding words to adequately describe some of the scenery is hard. Whether we were driving through different types of landscape, flying over it or staying in it the views were stunning, and the people living in it endlessly fascinating. Stopping a couple of times to take pictures of people working in the fields was brilliant too. Walking in the mountains and sitting with gelada monkeys was another never to be forgotten treat.

Tipping, as always on these trips, is horrible. We were very fortunate that one of our group was happy to take on the task, with guidance from our guide Tammy, but not knowing how much to give, when to tip, who to tip and having people expecting tips for doing their job is an uncomfortable side of travelling. I always feel sorry for all the people behind the scenes who don’t have the opportunity to get tips while others expect, and sometimes almost demand them, when they should be paid properly in the first place. I know that’s not going to change but it is one aspect of travel I really dislike.

I hope you can tell from this that David and I had a fabulous time in Ethiopia and we’ve been telling friends and family what a wonderful time we’ve had.

Thank you.

Kind regards

Anne May

Our guide was excellent. The tour (Timket Small Group set departure 2020) very good and varied. The Ethiopians are lovely, helpful people. I will try to encourage friends to go as the country desperately needs our money. You need a level of fitness for the tour. 

Dear Derek

I had a marvellous time [on the Ethiopia Timket 2019 small group tour] thank you!

Ethiopia is such an ancient and quite unspoiled place- the countryside, people, flora and fauna were all one hoped for.

I think Lucy was particularly taken with Yeha, near Axum, and it was one of my favourite sites.

I took lots of pictures of the indigenous flora, and have written a little blog/

Best wishes

Carlene
 

The Ethiopian trip (Timket Small Group set departure 2019)  was a revelation and exceeded expectations in every way.   

Best,

Ms L.S

.

Hi Derek

Wow. What a beautiful country Ethiopia is, the sights we saw took our breath away. The Timket experience in Addis was outstanding, so much colour and ceremony.

We enjoyed all of the towns we visited, thought the castles in Gonder were brilliant and the churches in Lalibela  magnificent. We were in Lalibela on St Georges day so we saw St. Georges church being used -again wow. We are quite well travelled however would say that Ethiopia has become one of the best places we have been to.

All the arrangements went well.

Hotels were largely as expected. The Golden Tulip is international standard and well located in Bole, the Blue Nile is OK but well located, the Goha hotel has a wonderful location as the does the Simien Mountain lodge . Our room in the Mountain lodge needed a bit of TLC as the bathroom was a bit broken and the room a bit dusty. The Maribela hotel had the most impressive views-our kind of place. The Sabean hotel was OK however the room was just too hot and if the windows were opened mosquitoes came in  it needs aircon.

The only issue we had really was the last day which is very very long. After a full morning visiting Yeha, lunch then visiting the Queen of Sheba palace we took the 17:15 flight to Addis, it was a little late however we did not get into the Golden Tulip until 19:30, we were due to leave again at 20:00 for the farewell dinner but none of our party felt up to this especially as we had to be at the airport for just after 22:00 to check in for the international flight. We opted (as did everyone) to rest for two hours and forego the farewell dinner. Maybe this part of the tour needs tweaking. (If we had thought about it beforehand we could have chosen to stay another night in Addis,have a look around the city without timket being on and fly back a day later-if we had done this I'm not sure if we would have arrived in Manchester as the airport was closed on the Wednesday)

Please can you ensure that your Ethiopian partners are informed about how good our guide Elijah Worku was during the tour. We have had some mediocre guides during our time however Elijah was one of the best, always smiling, on time and enthusiastic even when we were getting tired etc. He ensured that wherever possible we ate away from ‘the hotel buffet’ taking us to dance shows and restaurants outside of the itinerary which we all greatly appreciated.

The group (Timket small group tour 2019) felt so confident in him. He made a good holiday better. We always had a good supply of water, on the bus, at lunch and dinner and in the hotels much needed in a warm climate.

Really enjoyed Ethiopia during this fast paced tour

Will have a full report for you in a few days, but for now, I'll just tell you it (Timket Small group tour 2019)  was AWESOME (as I have come to expect from Rainbow.)   

Great group of travelers, comfortable accommodations, OUTSTANDING local guide.  Elijah is knowledgeable and enthusiastic...  did a great job of shepherding our diverse group!

'Overall holiday satisfaction (Timket Group 2, January 2018): Excellent. A good variety of different activities and destinations giving an excellent introduction to the country. 

Avanti Blue Nile: needs refurbishment, then this can be excellent. 

Mayleko Lodge: Good in terms of comfort, service and location. Meals and faclities average. Large room; comfortable. No toiletries provided except soap. Peaceful. TV and WiFi only in reception. 

Simien Lodge: restaurant manager surly; beer overpriced but overall a super place. 

Lalibela Lodge: good in terms of comfort and service. 

Sabean Hotel: convenient if a little noisy. 

We were fortunate to have an excellent guide (Temesgen) and a good group of people of similar ability and interest. This added greatly to our enjoyment of the holiday.'

'The start of the trip was Timket. What a stroke of luck we got there. It was a fascinating and unique experience. Well done to Rainbow for spotting it.  

Staff of all the hotels were friendly, helpful and invariably tried their best. Full marks to them. Our tour guide was excellent and really made our trip that much more successful. He was VERY knowledgeable; he was patient and nothing was too much trouble. 

Local guides were a mixed bag. But our tour leader knew everything anyway so problem solved. The local guides in the [Simien] mountains and at Lake Langano were fantastic; knowledgeable and enthusiastic. 

All drivers were excellent and highly capable. 

Hara Langano extention: wonderful local guide and super setting. Birdlife wonderful and hippos just yards from the beach!

(Timket Tour 2018): Overall excellent. Henok absolutely superb. No fault. Hotels no better nor worse than expected. Drivers and vans fine. Everyone friendly and delightful. Fascinating time. Axum the least spectacular; Lalibela the best. I would go again to see the South. Ethiopians (were) almost universally lovely as well. Extraordinary.

Overall holiday satisfaction (Timket 2018, group 1): Excellent.

Henok was quite extraordinarily excellent. Incredibly knowledygeable, energetic, helpful, calm and encouraging. 

Service from tour operator: Excellent

Local guides incomprehensible and unecessary - Henok usaually knew more than they did! 

Golden Tulip: excellent comfort, service and location for airport.

Avanti Blue Nile: excellent comfort, service and location. Meals average. Facilities good. 

Simien Lodge: excellent in terms of comfort, service and location especially. Meals and facilities good.

Maribela Hotel: same. 

Sabean Hotel: Excellent comfort and service. Location good. Meals average. Facilities good. 

Overall an excellent and a memorable trip. Many thanks!!

'We (both my husband and myself) thought that Ethiopia was amazing - we went with high expectations and it surpassed these.  Our guide, Hennok, was first class, we got on well with our fellow travellers - but more importantly the scenery, wildlife, local people and culture we experienced were truly outstanding.  The tour arrangements worked extremely well - hotels were clean and comfortable, travel was efficient and on time, and the content of the trip was pretty much spot-on.  We knew very little about the Timket festival when we booked the tour, but now realise that it right up there with other top cultural events around the world.  To have been given such close-up access to the festival with our "guest passes" made it even more special and it will stay in our memories forever, especially returning before dawn and seeing all of the local people who had kept overnight vigil on the Ark of the Covenant.  We're so pleased that we went this year because we suspect that Ethiopia will become a "must do" on many people's destination list and that in coming years it may become more commercialised.  Very definitely one of our best ever (and we've had many) trips and we're still absorbing many of the wonderful things we experienced.  My husband is a keen photographer and he came home with some incredible wildlife shots (geladas, wolves and birds), stunning portraits of local people and great scenery shots'

'This trip was an experience of a lifetime not just because of the beauty of the country and kindness of the people, but mainly because of our exception guide, Henok. He is extremely knowledgable, patient, kind, and thoughtful. I had some mobility issues and he ensured that I was cared for and safe. He also has a great sense of humor which was very important with our jovial group, who got along with each other from the start and laughed constantly. He handled our mixed Brit/Yank jokes very well! Our driver, Lake, was exceptional. We never had a moment of worry about our safety, even over difficult terrain. Every day of the tour was a new amazing experience, from Gelada monkeys to the ancient rock-hewn churches of Lalibela and finally, the inspiring, beautiful ceremonies of the Timkut festival. I am spreading the word that Rainbow's Ethiopia with Henok is an experience not to be missed!

Jan Cowell, Pasadena' 

'Dear Derek

We are now back in the UK, just a bit flight-lagged, having spent the last week in Dubai with our family.  Rosie and I have such happy memories of our recent trip. Our highest appreciations go to such a beautiful country with its lovely welcoming and happy people. To finish the tour with the amazing Timkat celebrations was the icing on the cake. Unforgettable.

The amazing guide Henok Tsegaye was definitely the best we have ever experienced in our many travels to other countries. He was incredibly well-informed historically and he is so proud of his country, which he loves so much. He was totally clear in his diction and instructions, attentive, caring, with a great sense of humour (he quickly came to realise when we Brits and the lady from the USA were winding him up in a friendly, jokey way!) and nothing was too much trouble. Those essential touches, such as plenty of bottled drinking water being always available wherever we were, make all the difference on a busy schedule. We will be sending him and Dinknesh Ethiopia Tour an email of appreciation. The drivers on our trips were all first-rate, courteous and careful.

Our group of ten visitors all bonded so well. We had fun and a happy time together. Amazingly, we discovered that one couple (Andrew and Viv) live here in East Molesey! If it is at all possible we will try to arrange a reunion for us all early this June, when Ken and Mandy are over from South Africa. We may even tempt Jan over from America!

A big thank you to yourself, together with your colleagues in London and Ethiopia for all your diligence in organising everything. We will send off the questionnaire to you when we come down to earth!

When we said to friends that we were going to Ethiopia several said 'why?'

It is merely that they are unaware of the culture, the history and the beauty there. Our photographs, some of which have already been posted on Facebook, show why! We have sent you a few. Let us hope that many more will travel there and see for themselves. We will certainly encourage this, since tourism is so important for the Ethiopian economy.

Kind regards

John and Rosie Rendall'

'Overall holiday satisfaction (of the Ethiopia Timkat 2016 small group departure): Excellent.

Sora Lodge, Lalibela: very friendly, attentive staff.

Henok is an excellent guide. He dealt with all with humour and patience. He was knowledgeable and a delight. The driver - Hake (spelling?) was also exceptional'.

'Overall holiday satisfaction (of the Timkat 2016 small group set departure): excellent. Jupiter International hotel is a comfortable, international hotel with hot water and Wifi.

Abayminch Lodge, Bahir Dar: good in all respects; excellent location. Electricity is erratic, didn't have this issue elsewhere.

Goha Hotel: good tourist hotel; good breakfast; OK dinner

Simien Lodge: great choice - loved it! Excellent in all respects.

Sora Lodge, Lalibela: excellent. Superb location; cooking class excellent. Fair to say vegetarians are not confused by choice.

Sabean Hotel, Axum: Comfort, facilities, location all good. Service and meals average. Meals here were a little poor especially dinner.

WOW, What a great holiday. Everything went like clockwork. Henok i the No 1 from the moment we arrived to the second we left at the airport for our flight back home. Nothing was too much trouble. New bottles of water in the bus every day. He arranged for the collection of our luggage from our hotel rooms, and even off the airport carousels. He took care of the tipping as we westerners are hopeless when it comes to this - when and how much. The VIP tickets in Addis for the Timkat festival meant we were literally right in the action. Again Henok was on hand to explain and direct us.

Ethiopia is THE place to go....and do it now whilst it is unspoilt by tourists. The people are amazing - we didn't see one private car for 8 days. People walk everywhere. The scenery is fabulous, awe inspiring with thousands of donkeys and mules, goats and sheep. Henok stopped at the roadside for us to photograph alongside a stop to see a young lady making injera, their local tef pancake (acquired taste but lovely).  Henok is Number1! 

Great holiday - where next?