Cultural journeys
Round thatched houses in groves of enset, the false banana that feeds the Gurage, three hours south of Addis Ababa.
Paused while the Gurage Zone is under official travel warnings.
Length 01 day
Bishoftu
An hour from Addis, volcanic craters filled with still water, and Lake Hora, where Oromo people gather each October for Irreecha.
Departs 01 Nov
Addis Ababa
Eucalyptus trails on the ridge where Menelik II kept his first capital, two hilltop churches, and Addis Ababa spread out below.
Overview
A Gurage house is a single round room under a tall cone of thatch, held up by one great central pole and ringed by enset, the false banana whose pounded stem becomes kocho bread. Many of Addis Ababa’s traders and shopkeepers come from these hills, and at Meskel in late September they return home in thousands, to feasts of kitfo that can last two weeks.
The trip runs by road through Butajira to Wolkite, with time in family compounds and markets rather than at monuments. Come for Meskel if you can. This route is paused for now; we will reopen it when it is safe.
Itinerary
We collect you from your hotel and drive south out of the city into farmland. If you choose, we stop at Tiya, where 46 carved stone stelae stand in a field, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1980. By afternoon the first thatched cones rise above the enset groves near Butajira.
With a local guide you spend the morning with a Gurage family, from the scraping of enset leaves to the long fermenting of kocho. Inside the round house, the central pole and smoke-blackened roof show how the home is built to last. In the afternoon you drive on to Wolkite, the zone’s main town.
If the day fits, you start at the Wolkite market, where kocho, butter and spiced cheese are sold by the bundle. Lunch is kitfo, the Gurage dish, before the drive north to Addis Ababa and your hotel.
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, comfortable clothing that covers shoulders and knees, with shoes that can handle mud.
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
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Plan with us
Choose your dates above, or tell us what you have in mind and we will shape the trip around you.
