Travel Suggestions
Mar. 18th | Posted by Nicky
12 comments
Since we got home, we’ve had quite a few conversations with parents traveling overseas to Ethiopia. A couple nights ago I had a great telephone conversation (ok, so I just babbled on and on!) with a lady who is soon off to pick up her daughters. She actually was calling me on behalf of a bunch of parents… since the edict came from the Ethiopian government that families would be appearing in court (ie: two, or one long trip to pick up kids) there are a few people planning for an extended stay. Anyway, this lady was kind enough to send me her typed notes of our conversation, and I wanted to share it with all of you, too.
For those parents who have already traveled, please do add in your travel tips in the comments below – I’m sure they’d love to hear it! This is not exhaustive, of course, but some tips based on our experiences and the questions the lady was asking me.
Nicky and Jrock’s Ethiopia Travel Tips
Stayed at the Weygoss Guest house (Weygoss # 011 5 51 2205). Rolling blackouts can occur throughout Ethiopia in the rainy season, and then there is no heat or electricty in building. If no electricity, there is no water on 3rd floor- no water pump. Other guest houses have generators. GREAT staff and drivers at Weygoss (Isayas # 0911 666 933). Breakfast included. Walking distance to grocery store and Restaurants(also deliver food to guest house). Rates between $50-80/nt. Ask for long stay discount (approx $5/nt off). Safe at front desk for $$/ documents. Leave your passport in the safe. Please remember to budget to tip out all the staff, including cleaners, cook, desk ladies, guards, etc.
Solomon also used to work for IA and GREAT for tours (# 0911 500 311). He is a guide so you have to pay for him as a guide, as well as a driver. Another former IA driver is Yohalla #0911 609 778 who is great with kids.
If there in rainy season pack for RAIN, and things do NOT dry out fast (ie Shoes). Bring hiking boots and flats for out and about and flip flops to wear around the house. If you are taking a taxi to a museum, flats will be fine (closed toe). Walking ANYWHERE you want hikers or runners (broken pavement, bricks and open sewer drains everywhere).
Toddlers will not have the muscle strength for long distance walking, so bring carrier.
Laundry can be expensive ($50/wk) and expect clothes to be gone for 3 days as they air dry. Clothes are all hand done so VERY clean!!Pick up a map so you have an idea where you are going and orientate yourself.
Food is Cheap and VERY good. Even the holes in the wall are GREAT but don’t eat uncooked fruit or veggies! Also, always drink bottled water and use bottled water for brushing your teeth, too.
When emailing home, write in “notepad” (under accessories on the start emnu) then cut and paste to the email so you don’t loose the letter when your email doesn’t go through. Email goes in and out and it VERY slow. Don’t bother bringing laptop… plugging it in is a nightmare. A download cable for pictures might work. Make sure you bring extra batteries for your camera, especially if you are leaving Addis, and plug your battery charger (with a transformer) in on power days.Calling home is cheapest from an Ethiopian cell phone. They cost $30 and then you can buy phone cards. They recycle the phones and just buy a new card. Phones are also handy to call for food or a driver. You can get the phone cards at almost any kiosk selling gum, etc. Just ask the front desk at the Weygoss to buy you a cell phone or get phone cards – but don’t forget to tip them for their time!
Kids will be freaked of the dogs!! Can last for WEEKS- month +. So prepare for this.
Spanish/Italian wine is GOOD but Ethiopian isn’t. You can buy Spanish wine at the store beside the Spa/Lime Tree. Italian wine is everywhere, but good stuff is at Makush Gallery, near the Weygoss. This gallery/Italian restaurant has superb artwork; $300 buys you an amazing painting, which you can roll up, take home and have stretched.Parks around Addis are good. Lonely planet has a list and best one is on LAST page. Bihere Tsige ($3) 20 min drive from Weygoss. Kids can run around! Also great is the Canadian Consulate… GOOD lawn, bring your passports for admin (adults). Natural History Museum is worth seeing. Entrance is off Arat Kilo.
Entoto market is great. Best place to buy traditional clothing. (base of Entoto Mt) It’s also a good place for souvenirs of all kinds. The scarf cooperative is off a street to the west, half way up the market. There is a sign. The scarf co-op is a must!
Bole Rd… GREAT spa and CHEEP!! Next door is a good Western restaurant is Lime Tree, but with western $$ Best tibs in town is in a cafe on the Northwest corner of Arat kilo. Don’t recommend Blue Tops – but across the street is the National Museum Restaurant and they have this hilarious stuffed donkey inside, plus good food.
Lake Lagano is WORTH the $$. No beggers, out of the city, beautiful scenery, no individual tipping, animals etc. Loved loved loved Bishangari Lodge. The best. Bishangari Lodge # 011 5517 533 OR 091 120 1317 one is booking line at hotel, other is the lodge itself)
Taxi ride around city approx $20/day. To Adama round trip $50. Buses yell their destination… so wanting to get back to Weygoss they yell ‘bole bole bole’.
$$$$: If wanting to use Visa it MUST have a PIN#. Mall with Cloud 9 restaurant has a Interact machine for Visa cards to take out cash. Best way to bring $$ is travelers cheques (USD). Go north on Bole Rd to the row of banks, last bank on corner is FANCY. Go there and get USD for cheque. Then transfer to BIRR. When going to bank bring BOTH the cheque and the receipt!! Also your passport (they need the #). POWER must be on to get the cash out.
If going to Adama, must see Faya Orphanage. Sponsored by Canadians and doing GREAT work. Lots of kids are permanent residents. Lady who runs it has a brother named Sintayehu # 0911 31 6692 (used to work for IA). His friend is Indalkachoo and he has a 4WD to drive there (about 500birr). Indalkachoo is also the BEST way to get to Lake Lagano (and cheapest). Also in Adama is the Safari Lodge # 0221 122 011. Corny but dependable. They have horserides there which are a blast.
Take all food leftovers from your restaurant meal and give them away on street.
Pediatrician is near by the Weygoss and cost per visit is $3. (she is Russian), Lab is also right there. IF child has scalp fungus … SEE pediatrician IN ETHIOPIA. They will do scalp scraping and do lab work for liver function (needed prior to medication administration). MEDICATION is GRISEOFULVIN. Can’t get it in Canada and it is better for child’s system and getting rid of fungus than meds we can get here!!!!!
What to bring:
Book and pen, wallet, balloons, medium rubber maids (bring donations to and souvenirs home), rain gear, flats, sneakers/hikers and flip flops, fancier outfit for pick up day/ court, dress= no boobs, no sleeveless, no short skirts, toiletries!! Tampons!!, extra contacts /solution, medicines (cipro), deet, mosquito net (if leaving city), purse sized wet wipes and Kleenex (TP called “soft paper” and can buy from kids on the streets), Fruit bars (for yourself – Ethioppians don’t like them), granola bars and protein bars, small containers for kids snacks (ie crackers), sweets in E aren’t good!! So bring chocolate if you need it!! (expensive there), Etch-e-sketch (sm), play dough, stories, sheet/ quilt for floor for baby/ kids to play on, Photos of home, balls (pump for balls a GREAT donation item), hoodies and stockings for kids… they will get cold, headlamp. Please also bring toys, clothes, baby supplies and/or cash for Faya Orphanage.
This is great – thanks!
Now about how easy it is to access public toilets…just wondering…
I second Nicky’s suggestion to visit FAYA. They are doing amazing things there – the kids are just full of joy and being there will lift your spirits and leave you full of hope (seeing some of the things you will see in Ethiopia, hope is good!).
The internet at the Hilton is super fast and reliable. You pay per 10 minutes I think, with discounts for paying for an hour or more. You are given a number to use so if you have leftover minutes, you can come back and use them another time. Also at the Hilton there is a money exchange.
If you go to a Museum, be sure to go on a day that there is power. We made the mistake of going to the Museum at the University on a non-power day and had to use the light off our cell phone to see in the dark!!!
We also visited AHOPE Orphanage. They have two orphanages right in Addis and we were able to hold babies and take donations and sit with a girl who was dying. It was a humbling experience. AHOPE is also doing good work in Ethiopia but if I only had time to visit one orphanage, I would suggest FAYA. FAYA is less well-known, therefore receives less money and donations and I also found that our time spent there impacted me much more than my time at AHOPE did.
If I were to do it again, I would buy more wood carving and scarves and traditional Ethiopian clothing and would not buy any pottery as most of it broke on our way home and what is left is super fragile. We also visited a store where everything was made by disabled Ethiopians and all money went back to them and the program. I can’t remember the name but Soloman took us and he will know. They had great wooden puzzles and toys as well as purses, tablecloths, jewelry, etc. Our kids really enjoyed the store and it was less intimidating than going to the market.
Donations of antibiotic ointment and other medications are especially appreciated as are those for clothing and shoes. I wish we had brought more of everything as fas as donations goes, even the little balls and bracelets that we handed out to kids on the streets we ran out of quickly.
I just wanted to add about the money that the ATMs are very unreliable. If you are going to be on a short stay, take the US cash needed with you. If you need to get money out with your visa, you can go to the Sheraton, but take your passport!
Gear post. May I add to it?
1) I also can not recommend the Weygoss enough, many of the same satff were there who we met 2 years ago and they remebered our family. My kids ADORED the staff and the staff totally indulged them. Weygoss now takes VISA and MC (they didn’t the first time we travelled). They add 2.5% to the bill. If you are a larger family, you may want to rent the entire 4th floor – plus large rooftop to play soccer on – which is 2 large rooms w/ 2 washrooms. We had 2 double beds and 2 singles in these room (but they will bring whichever type of bed you need). They base the rates on a room price, plus add for each additional bed. We paid $81. We did have water when the power was off on the 4th floor.
Makush now delivers to the Weygoss, as well as Ice Blue
2) the laundry sent from the Weygoss is machine washed and dried now. We always had our laundry returned the next day (not Sunday) unless the power was off and he couldn’t run his machines.
3) If you go to Bishangari (which, I agree, was AMAZING) you can pay by VISA if you pay at the office in the Hilton. Once you are out there – it is cash only. We had a flashlight, but we forgot our binoculars. I was so glad you recommended the Bishangari Lodge, as it was a highlight of our trip. You can store your luggage at the Weygoss if you leave for a few days, so you don’t need to haul it around with you.
4) I needed to eat a salad after about 2 weeks. OUr family all ate salad (fruit and vegetable) at Makush, Lime Tree and Bishangari and did not get ill. I am not recommending it – just saying that we were okay after eating them for 2 weeks. But, I also spent the first week peeling apples for the kids before realizing the apples are from Washington State
I look forward to reading everyone else’s tips and recommendations, as we are already planning our 2011 trip!
GREAT stuff, thanks people.
Joy – there are no such things as public toilets!
If you are at a restaurant, there may be a toilet (depending on the faciness) or at the museum, but often they are “scoop some water up to pour down the hole” things. Even at the NAtional Museum.
If you are traveling with kids, it’s not crazy to just pull over beside a rural road and have them pee. It’s always wise to have TP with you.
Great tips – I’ll save for (I hope) future use.
Nicky, towards the end of your original post, you referred to “headlamp.” I’ve been puzzling over what you could have meant by that and I can’t figure it out. Please explain!
Ruth
Hi Ruth – a head lamp is one of the flashlights you affix to your head. Available at Walmart, Canadian Tire, MEC – anywhere outdoor gear is sold
Invaluable for reading and trying to get around with kids/stuff in your arms in the dark.
Off to buy my head lamp, lol! Who knew, can’t wait to use all these tips, that’s guys!
shirley
*waiting for sibs/twins under 5yrs.
Thank you for the time and effort you took to make this list – very valuable stuff! After having already travelled to Ethiopia, I will still search for this post someday when we travel again – great information!
Sherri
Hi guys! Maryna here
It’s great to see the girls are doing awesome.
Just wanted to add my two cents:
If staying at Weygoss for a long time (I was there 12 weeks), they’ll drop the price much mroe than $5. I think that they dropped mine a good $20, to $25 a night for a single room.
I had no problem pulling money from the Dembel building ATM(just up Bole rd. about a 5 min walk from Weygoss). The building has two banks in there, so there’s a reliable generator and the building has power 95% of the time. Rarely, the ATM was out of money, but that happens even in the US. I also never had issues pulling money out of the ATM at the Hilton.
I also had no problems with brushing teeth with tap water, and eating salad and raw veggies(at Makush, New York, and Lime Tree) but only in Addis. Raw fruit was also fine by me and my stomach. I only got sick once from poorly cooked meat in a hole-in-the-wall joint that was way off the beaten path.
Sodere Hot Springs are a great side trip if you go to Adama. I think that it was about 30 mins outside, and about $10 entrance fee. There’s a Wetern style play ground, a big naturally hot water pool (bring a swim suit), and also gender separate hot spring outdoor “showers”, which is why all the way to Sodere you will see boys selling soap and sandals. My favorite part – free roaming monkeys that WILL steal your food and/or soft drinks. They’re pretty neat nonetheless.
From what I recall the pool at the Hilton is also worth the $$$ for the kiddos.
I did get cold a lot during the rainy times. I’d suggest bringing a small fleece blanket, they can roll up to a pretty manageable carrying size, but are very warm. Also, I became a huge fan of my quick-dry travel towel. I bought it at an outdoor/camping equipment store. It is a full size towel that folds up to no bigger than a small paperback novel, it wicks up all moisture super fast, and is dry within 5 minutes even in rainy ET.
I found the Lonely Planet guide pretty much useless for Addis because it is so outdated, but the map is good. Don’t waste your money, unless you can borrow someone’s used copy.
Great suggestions, everyone!!! I’m sure this will be really useful for those traveling – and maybe for us, next trip!
You can get Griseofulvin here in canada, just have to special order it.
I’m sure it’s easier in Africa, but it is doable here.
Tova