Cultural journeys
Good Friday prostrations in white, a candlelit vigil, and the first meal after a 55-day fast.
Overview
For 55 days before Fasika, most Orthodox Ethiopians eat no meat, eggs or dairy. On Good Friday they stand in church through most of the day, bowing to the ground again and again. On Saturday night the churches fill for a candlelit vigil chanted in Ge’ez, in a church that has kept its rites since King Ezana of Aksum made Christianity the state religion in the 4th century. In the early hours of Sunday the fast breaks with doro wat.
A guide stands with you at every service, and the programme leaves room to rest after the long night. A Lalibela version will follow when the north reopens.
Itinerary
Your guide meets you at Bole International Airport on Thursday 29 April. The afternoon covers the National Museum’s human-origins gallery, with casts of Lucy (3.2 million years old) and Selam, the child found at Dikika (about 3.3 million years old), and Holy Trinity Cathedral. Over a fasting dinner of lentils and shiro, your guide explains the week.
Activities
We join part of the Good Friday service at a city church, where worshippers in white bow to the floor for hours. In the afternoon we drive up to Entoto for cool air and the view over the city.
Activities
The markets are loud with chickens, sheep and onions as the city shops for the feast. After an afternoon rest, we go to church in white for the vigil, with candles and Ge’ez chant, and stay as long as you wish.
Activities
A late start, then an Easter lunch of doro wat and injera, followed by a coffee ceremony. In the late afternoon we take you to your hotel or to Bole for your flight.
Activities
Itineraries can change with weather, road and flight conditions. We will tell you promptly if they do.
Gallery
Photo: Unsplash
Good to know
Dress code: Modest white or light clothing with shoulders and knees covered; women cover their hair with a shawl, which we provide.
This tour follows the Strict policy. Days are whole calendar days before departure.
| When you cancel | What you get back |
|---|---|
| 30 or more days before departure | 50% refund |
| Fewer than 30 days before departure | No refund |
Questions
Questions welcome
Dates, prices, hotels, a private version: ask, and a local specialist replies by email.
You may also like
Length 06 days
Addis Ababa
Run or walk Africa’s biggest road race at 2,350 m on Sunday, then end the week at a Thanksgiving table in Addis Ababa.
Departs 17 Jan
Addis Ababa
Walk beside the tabots to Jan Meda on the eve, then stand in the crowd at dawn as the blessed water falls.
Length 04 days
Omo Valley
Four days in the Lower Omo, from Ari farms around Jinka to the Karo village on its bluff above the river.
Plan with us
Choose your dates above, or tell us what you have in mind and we will shape the trip around you.
