Ethiopia Kenya Tour
Ethiopia Kenya tour safari is a 13 day African safari to Ethiopia and Kenya. This is a historic, scenic, wildlife and cultural safari in Eastern Africa. The Ethiopia Kenya safari starts in Addis Ababa and ends in Nairobi.
About the 13 Day Ethiopia Kenya Tour
Ethiopia Kenya tour safari is a 13 day African safari to Ethiopia and Kenya. This is a historic, scenic, wildlife and cultural safari in Eastern Africa. The Ethiopia Kenya safari starts in Addis Ababa and ends in Nairobi. You will enjoy the best of Cushitic and nilotic colorful cultures on the Tour.
Look forward to the big five safari in Masai Mara National Reserve. You will also enjoy birding in Lake Nakuru National Park. Amboseli National Park is also home to the big five and great Kilimanjaro views
This Ethiopia Kenya tour safari enables you to interact with the different cultures. You will traverse southern Ethiopia and Northen Kenya enjoying African wildlife and sceneries.
Highlights of About the 13 Day Ethiopia Kenya Tour
You’ll not miss Lalibela while on the Ethiopia safari tour part. Lalibela is inexcusably the most scenic place in Ethiopia. The Kenya safari tour section exposes you to the big five wildlife tracking and birding. Masai Mara is the highlight here.
- Lake Tana Monasteries and Blue Nile Falls in Bahir Dar
- Royal Compound and Debre Birhan Selassie church in Gondar
- Famous rock-hewn churches of Lalibela
- National Museum, merkato, Entoto Mountain in Addis Ababa
- Great game drives
- Superb sun downers
- Lovely topography and landscape
- Beautiful and amazing people
13 Day Ethiopia Kenya Tour Safari Itinerary
Day 1: Addis Ababa
You will be met on arrival at Bole International Airport. Our Ethiopia safari rep will help with the arrival. You will then be transferred to your hotel in Addis Ababa. You will have time to settle in and be briefed on your 13 day Ethiopia Kenya tour safari.
Today you have a city tour of Addis Ababa. You will enjoy a tour to Entoto Mountain. This was the capital of Ethiopia before Addis Ababa. The tour takes you to Merkato that is said to be Africa’s largest open-air market.
You will also visit the National Museum. This is home of Lucy, hominid skeleton dating back 3.2 million years. In the evening you’ll enjoy a traditional Ethiopian dinner. This comes with cultural music and dance show. Your overnight will be at Ghion Hotel.
Day 2: Addis Ababa – Bahir Dar
Your day on the 13 day Ethiopia Kenya tour safari will start early. This will be with breakfast at your hotel. This is to be followed by a transfer to the airport. You will be in time for the morning flight to Bahir Dar.
You will be met by our guide upon arrival and transferred to your hotel. Later you’ll embark on a boat trip on Lake Tana. You’ll explore the monasteries hidden on the shores and islands of Lake Tana. In the afternoon you’ll go out of town to the Blue Nile Falls. This will be for an easy hike in the area.
You’ll end the day with a sunset over Lake Tana from the top of Bezawit Hill. This is next to the former palace of Haile Selassie. Your overnight in Bahir Dar will be at Tana Hotel.
Day 3: Bahir Dar – Gondar
You will begin your day with an early breakfast on this 13 day Ethiopia Kenya tour safari. This will be followed by departure from your hotel in Bahir Dar. You will be driving north to Gondar. The drive will take you through rural villages. The villages offer wonderful insight into the Amhara culture. You’ll get to interact with their traditional agricultural methods still in use today.
You are expected at your Gondar hotel before lunch time. The afternoon will be spent exploring the sites of Gondar. They include the Royal Enclosure, with six castles and several other buildings. Additionally, you’ll visit Fasilidas’s Pool, still used for Timket celebrations today.
There is also the Debre Birhan Selassie church. It has the most famous ceiling in Ethiopia. You’ll sleep in Gondar at the Goha Hotel. This is set on a hill overlooking the town of Gondar.
Day 4: Gondar – Lalibela
You’ll start the day on 13 day Ethiopia Kenya tour safari with an early breakfast. This will be followed by a transfer to the airport. Enjoy the morning flight onto Lalibela. This is the most famous of all the Ethiopian historical sites.
After lunch, begin to explore the 11 rock-hewn churches of the remarkable king Lalibela. You’ll first visit the Northwestern Cluster of churches. They are Bet Medhane Alem, Bet Maryam and Bet Meskel. You also have Bet Danaghel, Bet Mikael and Bet Golgotha.
Entry is not permitted for women at Bet Golgotha. Your overnight in Lalibela will be at Alief Paradise Hotel.
Day 5: Lalibela
You’ll spend the full day of Ethiopia Kenya tour safari in Lalibela. The morning will be spent on a trip to the church of Yimrehanne Kristos. It is the most popular of the churches outside of Lalibela. This church is built with layers of wood and granite. It is set in the entrance to a large cavern.
Your Ethiopia Kenya tour safari will return to Lalibela for lunch break. You’ll have the afternoon visiting the Southeastern Cluster of churches. They include Bet Gabriel-Rufael, Bet Merkorios, Bet Amanual, and Bet Abba Libanos.
You cannot finish Ethiopia Kenya tour safari here without visiting Bet Giyorgis. It is the most famous Ethiopian church. It was constructed in honor of the patron saint of Ethiopia – Saint George. Overnight will be in Lalibela at Alief Paradise Hotel.
Day 6: Lalibela – Addis Ababa
You will wake up to your breakfast in the hotel. This is before your Ethiopia Kenya tour safariventure out. You will visit the nearby monastery of Na’akuto La’ab. This is set on the side of a cliff.
This will be followed by a transfer to the airport. You will be there in time for the 1150hrs flight to Addis Ababa. Here you’ll be met and transferred to your Addis Ababa hotel. You will have your overnight at Ghion Hotel.
Day 7: Addis Ababa – Nairobi
You’ll have the morning of this Ethiopia Kenya tour safari at leisure. You’ll be picked up for a transfer to the Bole International Airport. This is in time for your departure flight from Ethiopia to Nairobi.
Meet upon arrival by our Kenya safari representative. Enjoy a transfer to the 680 Sentrim Hotel for overnight booked on bed and breakfast basis
Day 8 – Nairobi – Masai Mara National Park
You will leave for Masai Mara after breakfast. This is a drive through the Mau Escarpments. You will get into the floor of the Rift Valley as you head to Masai Mara National Reserve. You will arrive in time for lunch at the Mara Leisure Lodge. Enjoy a short rest that will prepare you for the afternoon.
At 1600 hrs, you will embark on an afternoon game drive. Look forward to seeing wildebeest, zebra and Thompson’s gazelle to the famous “Big Five”. Others include leopard, hyenas, elephants, herds of buffaloes and many others. Return back to your Masai Mara safari lodge in time for dinner and overnight.
Day 9 – Masai Mara National Reserve
Ethiopia Kenya tour safari day spent in the Masai Mara National Reserve. Here you will have both morning and afternoon game drives. They will be at 0630 hrs and 1600 hrs respectively.
The Masai Mara Game Reserve is the northern extension of the Serengeti National Park. Its rolling plains are home to hundreds of plains game together with predators that feed on them.
African wildlife here includes dik-diks, bat-eared fox, caracals and aardwolf. There is a variety of mongoose, baboons, monkeys, warthogs. Others are Nile crocodile, hippos, black rhino, and over 350 species of birds. All your meals and overnight will be at Mara Leisure Lodge.
About Masai Mara Game Reserve
The Maasai Mara National Reserve is also spelt Masai Mara. It was established in 1948, it is approximately 1510 sq. km. in size and adjoins Tanzania’s Serengeti.
This is Kenya’s number one tourist destination. It holds spectacular scenery as well as vast amounts of bird and wildlife. The Reserve is famous for its huge herds of Wildebeest and Zebra. They do migrate through Maasai Mara from the Serengeti around June-October each year.
Maasai Mara is a reserve not a national park. This means it is totally un-fenced and is run by the local county rather than the national Government.
The famed Maasai Mara is one of Africa’s most acclaimed wildlife reserves. It is renowned for its wildebeest migration, prides of lion and huge herds of plains animals. The Mara is the northern part of the Serengeti Plains. we find excellent wildlife viewing all year long in these grasslands.
The reserve is named for the Maasai tribes people. They are the traditional inhabitants of the area. They graze cattle here, and the Mara River that runs through it.
Day 10 – Masai Mara – Lake Nakuru National Park
Start your on day with an early breakfast before check out. You will leave Masai Mara headed to Lake Nakuru National Park. Lake Nakuru is one of the many beautiful Rift Valley Lakes.
The park is home to millions of flamingos and other bird and animal life. You will arrive in time for lunch at the Maili Saba Safari Camp. After a short rest you will enjoy an afternoon game viewing at 1600 hrs.
What to see in this small National Park in Kenya include flamingoes and pelicans. we also have baboons, black and white rhinos. Others are the other members of the big five. They are the lion, leopard and buffalo including the cheetah. Return back to your lodge in Nakuru for dinner and overnight.
About Lake Nakuru National Park
Lake Nakuru a shallow and alkaline lake on the bed of the Great Rift Valley. It has earned its fame as the home of the greatest bird spectacle in the world. There is a myriad of often more than a million pink flamingos. These seasonally use its waters to feed on the abundant algae. The algae which thrives in its shallow warm waters.
Lake Nakuru lies 160 kms (100 miles) from Nairobi by road. Enjoy a variety of Kenya’s birdlife on the beautiful lakes of the Rift Valley. Here animals graze on the shoreline. Flamingo concentrations vary according to season.
Day 11 – L. Nakuru – Amboseli National Park
Wake up to an early breakfast in Maili Saba safari camp. This will be followed by departure via Nairobi. You will be driving South through the Masai land to Amboseli National Park. You will arrive in time for lunch at the Amboseli Sentrim Camp.
A short rest after lunch will be enough to prepare you for the afternoon game drive. At 1600 hrs embark on an afternoon game drive to introduce you to Amboseli’s flora and fauna. Later return back to your safari lodge in Amboseli National Park. This is in time for dinner and overnight.
About Amboseli National Park
Amboseli is often mentioned as just second in popularity to the incredible Masai Mara. The Amboseli National Park is a highly recommended safari destination in Kenya. Accommodation in luxury lodges ensures you have everything you need. This is while you enjoy some of the most exciting game drives on the African continent.
The Amboseli National Park is just over 200km to the south-east of Nairobi. It can be accessed by road or by plane. Two main roads available from Nairobi lead to the gates of the national park. But if you prefer to fly, the park has its own airstrip for light plane at the Empusel gate.
Amboseli is such a great location for African safari. It combines with other safari destinations in Kenya or in neighboring Tanzania. They include the Mount Kilimanjaro National Park and the Arusha National Park. Amboseli is fantastic in combination with a Masai Mara safari as well.
Day 12 – Amboseli National Park
Full day on Ethiopia Kenya tour safari spent at the Amboseli National Park. This will be accompanied with morning and evening game drives. Located at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro, the park has a lot of wildlife.
The plain makes sighting of animals much easier when in Amboseli. On a clear day you will be able to see the tallest mountain in Africa, the Mount Kilimanjaro. All meals and overnight will be at the Amboseli Sentrim Lodge.
Day 13 – Nairobi
You will leave from the safari lodge after breakfast. This is to be followed by a drive through the park as you check out. You will be heading back to Nairobi. Your arrival will be in the early afternoon. You will end your Ethiopia Kenya tour safari with a drop off at the airport in time for your flight home.
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13 Day Ethiopia Kenya Safari Costs:
What is included in the 13 Day Ethiopia Kenya Safari cost?
- All transfer in and out
- All Domestic flights
- Flight Addis Ababa – Nairobi
- All transport in Addis Ababa, Bahir dar, Gonder and Laliblea
- Professional English Speaking guide
- Hotel Room on Double Occupancy basis. (i.e sharing a Double room) including Breakfast in Ethiopia and Nairobi
- All entrance fees, local guide fee, scout, and boat fees
- Bottled natural water every day
- Service tax.
- Accommodation in Kenya
- Transport in a 4 X 4 Safari vehicle with pop up roof
- Meals on full board basis while on Masai Mara Lake Nakuru Amboseli Safari
- All park entrance fee
- All Government tax
13 Day Ethiopia Kenya Safari Price excludes:
- Personal expenses (tips, photo and video fees, phone calls, table drinks, laundry, etc.)
- Meals (lunch and dinner)
- Any other services/expenses not mentioned above.
What to Carry on the 13 Day Ethiopia Kenya Safari?
- Light and a few heavy clothings for evenings
- Closed, comfortable shoes
- Sun protection like sun cream, hat
Ethiopia Kenya Tour Safari Destinations
Addis Ababa
The Ethiopia Kenya tour starts from the capital city. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s sprawling capital in the highlands bordering the Great Rift Valley, is the country’s commercial and cultural hub.
This Ethiopia Kenya tour allows you to visit the National Museum exhibits. Here you get to enjoy Ethiopian art, traditional crafts and prehistoric fossils, including replicas of the famous early hominid, “Lucy.”
There is also the burial place of the 20th-century emperor Haile Selassie, copper-domed Holy Trinity Cathedral, is a neo-baroque architectural landmark. Othe places include Merkato, Africa’s largest open air market.
You will on this Ethiopia Kenya tour tour Addis Ababa is also known as Finfinne (Oromo: Finfinne “natural spring”). According to the 2007 census, the city has a population of 2,739,551 inhabitants.
As a chartered city, Addis Ababa also serves as the capital city of the Oromia Regional State. It is where the African Union is headquartered and where its predecessor the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) was based.
It also hosts the headquarters of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). There are various other continental and international organizations.
Addis Ababa is therefore often referred to as “the political capital of Africa” for its historical, diplomatic and political significance for the continent.
The city lies a few miles west of the East African Rift which splits Ethiopia into two, through the Nubian Plate and the Somali Plate.
“Addis,” as it’s often simply known, is the world’s third-highest capital city at 2,400 meters. It has worn its heart on its sleeve since it was founded by Ethiopian Emperor Menelik about 1892.
Life is lived very much outdoors on its bustling streets thanks to comfortable temperate weather. This is boosted by months of nonstop sunshine in this East African destination.
Bahir Dar
Bahir Dar is the capital city of the Amhara region in northern Ethiopia. The Ethiopia Kenya tour will be going to a port on the south shore of the huge inland Lake Tana. Dek Island is one of many islands in the lake that are home to medieval monasteries.
Bahir Dar is one of the twelve cities that was conferred the UNESCO Learning Cities Award 2015. Bahir Dar shares its key ideas of building a learning city in this interview series entitled, ‘12 Cities – 12 Perspectives’.
The city of Bahir Dar sits on the southern shores of Lake Tana, in Ethiopia’s northern Amhara region. It is an attractive, hospitable city that serves as a base for visiting a number of attractions in the surrounding region. Definitely your Ethiopia Kenya tour will visit the most notably Blue Nile Falls and Lake Tana.
On the Zege Peninsula, the Ura Kidane Mihret monastery is known for its elaborate, colorful murals. The Blue Nile River snakes southeast of the city toward the towering cliffs at the Blue Nile Falls.
The main attraction of the region on your Ethiopia Kenya tour is Lake Tana. It is famous for its thirty-seven scattered islands, housing many beautiful churches and monasteries.
The churches, which are spread across twenty of the thirty-seven islands and peninsulas, are for the most part accessible only by boat. Most are 400 and 800 years old, though there are also structures on the islands which are thought to pre-date Christianity.
Lake Tana is the source of the Blue Nile, Bahir Dar’s other great attraction, which flows from Ethiopia to Sudan.
The Falls can be seen year-round, but are best visited shortly after the rainy season. This will enable those on Ethiopia Kenya tour see them at their best, when the surrounding landscape is beautiful and green and the falls in full flow.
Gondar
The Ethiopia Kenya tour head to Gondar, or Gonder, is a city in northern Ethiopia. It’s known for the walled Fasil Ghebbi fortress and palace compound, once the seat of Ethiopian emperors. Dominating it is the immense 17th-century castle of Emperor Fasilides, which combines Portuguese, Indian and local architectural styles.
Outside the complex your Ethiopia Kenya tour will find Debre Berhan Selassie church, with an interior of elaborate murals, including a ceiling of faces.
The so-called Camelot of Africa, Gondar is perhaps the most immediately impressive town along the historical circuit. It is studded as it is with fairy-tale castles, venerable churches and other substantial European-influenced buildings dating from its 17th- and 18th-century heyday.
Imposing as they might be, however, Gondar’s handsome antiquities are arguably less intriguing. It is enduringly memorable than their more genuinely ancient and mysterious counterparts at Axum and Lalibela.
Ethiopia Kenya tour will take you on a tour to the ancient capital of Ethiopia (1632-1855). Gondar retains an atmosphere of charm that’s mingled with an aura of mystery.
Hidden high in the verdant mountains, Gondar appears as a fairy-tale. Hiding behind tall stone fortifications are fantastic castles and flamboyant churches, so impressive that the historical city has earned the nickname ‘Camelot of Africa’.
Take Fasil Ghebbi, home to the country’s emperors during the 17th and 18th centuries. Today it is a UNESCO World Heritage site that proves the prowess of the old royal family with 20 palaces and many magnificent monasteries.
Then there’s Debre Berhan Selassie, from the outside a small, simple church but as you enter each of its walls has been painted with wide-eyed angels that have been exceptionally preserved, making it one of the finest, most colorful churches in Ethiopia.
A short stroll away on your Ethiopia Kenya tour is one of the city’s most peaceful spots, Fasiladas Bath. Shaded by trees, the rectangular building is moated by a pool.
Once a year, during the festival of Timkat, its waters comes alive with leaps and splashes of hundreds of people during the religious celebration. If you happen to be on Ethiopia Kenya tour during the time, you can join in the festivities.
Lalibela
This will be the final destination of the Ethiopia Kenya tour. Lalibela is a town in the Amhara region of northern Ethiopia.
It’s known for its distinctive rock-cut churches dating from the 12th and 13th centuries, which are pilgrimage sites for Coptic Christians.
Carved out of rock, the subterranean monoliths include huge Bete Medhane Alem, and cross-shaped Bete Giyorgis. Many are joined by tunnels and trenches, and some have carved bas-reliefs and colored frescoes inside.
Built high above much of the rest of the country, Lalibela has grown up in isolation. As a result, the stark grandeur of the surrounds and unusual architecture of the circular, two-storey houses clinging to the mountains would be worth a visit even without the churches.
However, the stone-hewn churches are the main reason to visit this area on this Ethiopia Kenya tour. These enormous structures reach great heights and are connected by mazes of passages and tunnels.
Your Ethiopia Kenya tour guide will take you on a tour from the northwestern Bet Medhane Alem, the largest monolithic rock-hewn church in the world at 11.5m high, to the southern Bet Mercurios, a 1400 year old cave church occupied by white-robed priests who live as hermits.
The site is an active Christian place of worship. The churches are the spiritual centre of the town and are not hidden away for preservation, or dressed up for tourists.
Many of these churches are below ground level and the town beats to the rhythm of the drums and chants sung by the hermit priests.
Nairobi
Ethiopia Kenya tour then heads to Nairobi is Kenya’s capital city. In addition to its urban core, the city has Nairobi National Park. This is a large game reserve known for breeding endangered black rhinos and home to giraffes, zebras and lions.
Next to it is a well-regarded elephant orphanage operated by the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. Nairobi is also often used as a jumping-off point for Kenya safari trips elsewhere in Kenya.
Masai Mara National Reserve
Maasai Mara National Reserve is an area of preserved savannah wilderness in southwestern Kenya, along the Tanzanian border. Its animals include lions, cheetahs, elephants, zebras and hippos.
An Ethiopia Kenya tour to Masai Mara takes you to the land where Wildebeest traverse its plains during their annual migration. The landscape has grassy plains and rolling hills, and is crossed by the Mara and Talek rivers. The area nearby is dotted with villages (enkangs) of Maasai people.
The Ethiopia Kenya tour will go southwest of Kenya. The reserve covers an area of 1 510 square km (583 square miles). The Masai Mara National Reserve is a land of breathtaking vistas, abundant wildlife and endless plains.
The quintessential Masai Mara safari delivers many attractions. The reserve is home to an excellent year-round concentration of game, including the more than two million wildebeest, zebras and other antelopes.
The reserve is a photographer’s and naturalist’s paradise, with abundant elephant, buffalo, giraffe, lion and cheetah alongside the migratory wildebeest and zebra. Leopards are frequently encountered, endangered black rhino hide in the dense thickets.
Large rafts of hippo and enormous crocodiles are found in the Mara River. The park is also home to over 450 bird species.
Masai Mara is the land of the Maasai, an ancient pastoralist culture known for their warriors. They were once expected to kill a lion to prove its strength and manhood.
The Maasai are recognizable for their red robes and beaded jewelry, the Maasai follow their cattle herds. They move their settlements as they search for water sources and new pastureland.
Some Maasai are moving away from pastoralism as they adapt to modern life, most still uphold their society’s traditions. This includes elaborate initiation rituals for boys and defined roles for men and women of every age within the community.
Lake Nakuru National Park
The Ethiopia Kenya tour will then head to the birders paradise, the lake Nakuru National Park. Lake Nakuru is one of the Rift Valley soda lakes at an elevation of 1,754 m above sea level.
It lies to the south of Nakuru, in the rift valley of Kenya and is protected by Lake Nakuru National Park. The lake’s abundance of algae used to attract a vast quantity of flamingos that famously lined the shore.
Lake Nakuru National Park is one of Kenya’s two Premium Parks, and is a bird lover’s paradise. It is located in the Central Rift Conservation Area in the Southern Rift Valley region of Kenya.
Originally protected as a bird sanctuary, this park hosts over 400 bird species, including 5 globally threatened species. It and is an important stop on the African-Eurasian Migratory Flyway.
Lake Nakuru National Park started as a bird viewing and sport shooting area of migratory birds in 1950s, but has since been expanded and fenced to protect populations of endangered giraffes and rhinoceros.
Moving through the park’s dense acacia forest on this Ethiopia Kenya tour, you’ll likely come upon herds of impala and waterbuck. Also, in the woodlands you may see large pythons hanging from the trees. This is the infamous African rock python that’s capable of swallowing animals whole.
Those who have been to Lake Nakuru will attest to the park’s beauty with its rich topography of hills, grasslands and forests.
There are several easily attained vantage points from which to enjoy wonderful views of the landscape and especially the lake with its undulating pink population of birdlife
Amboseli National Park
Finally, your Ethiopia Kenya tour will visit the famous Amboseli National Park. Amboseli National Park is in southern Kenya. It’s known for its large elephant herds and views of immense Mount Kilimanjaro, across the border in Tanzania.
Observation Hill offers panoramas of the peak and the park’s plains and swamps. Varied wildlife includes giraffes, zebras, cheetahs and hundreds of bird species. The western section is dominated by vast Lake Amboseli, which is dry outside the rainy season.
Crowned by Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest peak, the Amboseli National Parks is one of Kenya’s most popular parks. The name “Amboseli” comes from a Maasai word meaning “salty dust”.
It is one of the best places in Africa to view large herds of elephants up close. Nature lovers can explore five different habitats here. They range from the dried-up bed of Lake Amboseli, wetlands with sulphur springs, the savannah and woodlands.
On this Ethiopia Kenya tour, you can also visit the local Maasai community who live around the park and experience their authentic culture.
It is a scenic park in its own right, Amboseli is synonymous with two particular things – majestic herds of elephant and glorious views of Mount Kilimanjaro in neighbouring Tanzania.
Kenya’s second most popular national park after the Masai Mara National Reserve, Amboseli was declared a UNESCO-Mab Biosphere Reserve in 1991.
During heavy rains, the basin at the centre of the park floods, attracting hordes of wildlife. The reserve is an excellent place to view the Big Five, as well as lesser known and rarer wildlife species.
