We planned our 6 days trip to Ethiopia through Armaye Ethiopia Tours, basically looking at the Trip Advisor reviews and comparing with other companies, you see there are many of them making it difficult to choose, but it is ranked among the best and is not for nothing. I recommend this company because they certainly have a different service of others and for us it was excellent from start to finish. We made the tour of Bale Mountains. From the beginning I was chatting with Armaye, who at all times gave me all the information I needed and was very good with communication. Depends on our agreement they came and pick us from Addis the Hotel we stayed overnight ( Home Town Addis Hotel) As well before leaving for the mountains he made us a summary of all the important things we should take into consideration.
The landscapes are surprising, varied and we observed endemic Ethiopian Wolves and more mammals. We climbed to the second highest peak of Ethiopia also visited a waterfalls, many wild birds to observe. Part of it all happen was thanks to our guide, who always kept a good mood and our friend. He was always present when needed, accurate and kind at the same time. On the night before trekking always he briefs us all the necessary information so we are ready for the next day. We also accompanied by a cook, ‘Awol’who was serving us a delicious food for the whole tour during trekking. On the way back we stayed one night at Sabana Resort it’s a great place to relax after 5 days trekking. The resort is beautifully located along the Red Lake Langano; small chalets with terrace offers excellent comfort, very good.
We felt safe at all times, for us Armaye Ethiopia Tours is without any doubts to be recommended to anyone who wants to experience trekking tour in Ethiopia!
When we first started planning our trip to Ethiopia, we were digging on the internet about different tour companies. We were very lucky to find Armaye Ethiopia Tours. From the first moment I felt very comfortable with the contact person who answered me quickly, dissipated doubts and gave me a thousand pieces of advice. We requested quotes from other companies however their pricing was competitive but Armaye’s response time to any questions was incredible. The service has been excellent, at all times adapted to our requirements or circumstances so that everything went great.Our plan was to spend nine days in Southern Ethiopia including rift valley lakes and Bale Mountains. Armaye put together a package tailored to me and my wife. He was incredibly patient with all our questions, requests, changes to the original plans, extra things we wanted to see. On our arrival to Addis Armaye met us at Bole Airport and took us to Caravan Hotel which was quality and clean rooms.
At Abidjatta Shalla National Park We take a scout to the park entrance. This national park is largely inhabited by livestocks so there are few wild animals. However, we spotted gazelles, warthogs , ostriches and many bird species like flamingos and Hornbills. One lake hosts many flamingos while the other is fed by a hot spring. The boat ride on Lake Chamo, between hippos and crocodiles was really extraordinary journey.
You have to cross Lake Chamo to access the nech bsar park, which allows viewing of birds, crocodiles and hippos. Then we walked in the middle of the volcanic rocks and acacia trees. We saw zebras and have been able to get very close and very amazing scenery. We also visited Dorze village, Dorze certainly have a habitat, traditions, an interesting lifestyle. The village tour is interesting and you may have the chance to taste their excellent bread, drinking the local alcohol! we loved the people of this village, nice and welcoming. We spent two nights at Bale Mountains national park this park is superb. We saw Mountain nyala, Bush bucks, baboon, warthogs and some other antelopes. While we get close to 4000m, the vegetation is completely different and we were in the habitat of Abyssinian Wolves that we spotted 5 wolves on the plateau. Track allows you to go to 4300 m at Tulu Dimtu which is the 2nd highest mountain in Ethiopia, magnificent view.
The country is magic, everything was planned as our interests were mostly naturalistic, culture and ethnography of Ethiopia, and we were just amazed! highly recommend a trip organized to us by this company.
We booked our southern Ethiopia trip (including Rift Valley lakes, Omo Valley and Bale Mountain) with Armaye tours and we are very happy with their service and would highly recommend them to anyone traveling to Ethiopia. In the booking phase, Armaye is very responsive and worked with us patiently to create an itinerary tailored to our interests.
Our driver and guide Kinfe was very nice and kind, he took great care of us. He is always early when picking us up, and he cleans the car everyday to keep things clean. In addition, he speaks English very well and is very familiar with local culture and wildlife. He is also a very careful driver.
The tour itself is well organized, with the best in class hotels and the car well equipped with backups for any unexpected situation.
Because we travelled during the coronavirus, Kinfe and Armaye constantly watched out for us and altered the itinerary to ensure our safe return, and he kindly refunded us accordingly even though it was not his fault.
After the trip, as we waited to fly out, our flight got cancelled, so I turned to Armaye for help. Not being able to reach the Ethiopian Airlines by phone, he went to the airport himself to get the information for us.
I want to thank both Armaye and Kinfe for being our guides and for their help and kindness in this difficult time. We will certainly come back next time to tour the north with them.