5 Day Tour from Bahir Dar to Gonder and Simien Mountain

A short flight north to Bahir Dar. Bahir Dar is a pleasant city located on the shores of Lake Tana the largest lake in Ethiopia. After checking in to your hotel, explore Lake Tana and its islands by boat. We visit the monastery churches of Ura Kidane Mihiret, Azwa Mariam, Ura Kidanemihiret is the best-known of the monasteries and has an important collection of religious icons from the 16th to 18th century A.D.

In the afternoon, Drive to the Blue Nile Falls, which is known locally as Tissisat (smoking water) the water plunges for 45 m (148 ft.) giving rise to steam clouds and rainbows. We climb down to the base of the falls for an up-close look and then ascend the other side the round trip will take about 1 hour of walking. Then we cross the Blue Nile by boat to return to the point of departure.

Morning Drive to Gonder: Gondar City Sightseeing, Gondar was the first capital city of the Ethiopian Empire, which began in 1632 with the reign of Fasilidas.

In Gondar, there are a dozen castles built by various emperors over the course of 236 years. The city seems more European than African and also has Islamic influences. In the morning visit Fasilidas’ Palace, probably the most impressive of all the castles found in the area and the oldest one! We continue to the bath of Fasiledes and Quskuam Church. In the afternoon we visit the Church Of Debre Berham Selassie (Light of the Trinity). The interior of Debre Berham Selassie is decorated with beautiful frescos, cherubs, and paintings. Debre Berham Selassie is rumored to once have been the proposed final resting place of the Ark of the Covenant and we will visit the colorful market of Gondar.

Drive from Gondar to Debark. Here we obtain a permit from the Park headquarters and collect our obligatory scout before continuing to Sankabar (3250m ASL) for the first overnight camp. An early start is needed as the drive from Gondar takes 2-3 hours.

The trek begins at Buytras (Simien Lodge), taking about 3 – 4 hours to walk to the Sankabar campsite is usually possible. During the walk, there’s a good chance of seeing your first Gelada baboons.

In the morning we will walk to Geech via the spectacular Jimbaran waterfall. The trek will take approximately 5 – 7 hours. After descending to the Jinbar Wenz (which feeds the waterfall) a short ascent remains to Geech village. A short distance beyond Geech village is the campsite.

The campsite has great views of the mountains and is characterized by giant lobelia plants. The nearby Kedadit summit provides one of the best places to see the sunset. The campsite is situated at 3600m ASL

We trek from Geech to the Imet Gogo promontory, for one of the most spectacular views in the whole mountain range. This is a great day for seeing the magnificent Lammergeier vultures.

From Imet Gogo we trek back to the road near a village called Ambaras and meet the car for the drive back to Gondar. The trek will last approximately 4-5 hours. We will drop you at Gonder airport. End of the Trip