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Tigray Churches 4 Days Tour Package

Price on Request

Must Visit City
Tigray
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Day 01: Drive to Gheralta In the morning at 06:30 AM, we will transfer you to the airport for the domestic flight. Drive from Mekel to Hawzien and the Gheralta Cluster. You will visit Medihanialem AdiKesho . .
Country: Ethiopia
City: Tigray
Duration: 4 Day(s) - 3 Night(s)
Tour Category: Historic Tour
Departure Date: Thu 01 Jan '99
Package Itinerary

Day 01: Drive to Gheralta

In the morning at 06:30 AM, we will transfer you to the airport for the domestic flight. Drive from Mekel to Hawzien and the Gheralta Cluster. You will visit Medihanialem AdiKesho and Abiriha-we-Atsbiah on the way. Don’t worry – your guide won’t expect you to do this and many are much more accessible so strike out for a day of exploration around churches that really do signify the birthplace of Christianity including Abreha Atsbeha Monastery, Cherkos Wukro, and the church of Petros–we-Paulos home to charmingly unsophisticated murals of saints and angels – built on a steep ledge you can climb a rickety ladder for some jaw-dropping views.

This Tigray region is home to some of the most remote, hard-to-reach churches, often situated in incredible locations. Some churches involve precipitous climbs and some are unfortunately forbidden to females. Your guide will discuss the options with you and you will stop and explore some on the route.

Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Transportation: Domestic flight and Coaster bus

Accommodation: Vision Hotel or Similar

CONSULTANT NOTE

You will drive approximately 152 km including pick up and drop off

Game drives vary the time duration

Visiting Abireha-we-Atsibiha depends on the road condition at the time of being.

Day 02: Visit Korikur Mariyam and Drive to Axum

Drive and trek to Mariam Korker. Mariam Korker is a rock church situated on one of the high mountains of Gheralta just overlooking the village of Megab, 8 km south of Hawzien. An hour's trek from the village brings you to the Mariam Korkor and the nearby smaller church of Daniel Korkor.

A picnic lunch after a steep climb up. Time to enjoy the wonderful view across the Gherelta Plains. In the afternoon a gentle return to camp. Visit a local village, or a local grinding mill, or maybe join in a coffee ceremony.

Sheer cliffs, surreal rock formations, and vertical spires dominate this stunning region. It is a region that makes us wonder whether Christianity was something about being an adrenaline junky! (In fact, these cliff-top churches were intended to bring devotees closer to heaven and more practically to be out of sight of raiding armies passing through the valleys below!) The churches are certainly not very accessible to raiding armies or tourists, and some of the churches involve visitors literally free-climbing sheer sandstone walls, hiking razor canyons, and skirting cliff edges. In the afternoon you will drive to Axum overnight.

Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Transportation: Coaster Bus

Accommodation: Yared-Zema hotel or Similar

CONSULTANT NOTE

You will drive approximately 180 km

Game drives vary the time duration

Day 03: Visit the Whole day Axum

We drive to Axum and in the afternoon explore Axum the seat of the ancient capital of the Kingdom of Axum, which was once one of the most powerful in the ancient world. Located at the center of the trading routes between the Mediterranean and India, and the great port of Adulis on the Red Sea, it was economically, politically, and technically advanced and at times had control over both sides of the Red Sea. Axum is also the origin of Christianity in Ethiopia and is believed to be the resting place of the Ark of the Covenant.

The old church of St Mary of Zion was the first church to be built in Sub-Saharan Africa around 330AD. Its ruins can be seen in the precinct of the church compound. We visit the famous monolithic stelae of Axum, the tallest one still standing reaches over 21 meters, and the greatest one of them all, once 34 meters high now lies toppled on the ground. It is still, however, the largest monolith ever erected by man.

The subterranean tombs, stone inscriptions of ancient Axumite kings, and the small archaeological museum are also living witnesses of ancient Axumite history. We will also visit the ruined palace of the Queen of Sheba who is said to have given birth to Menelik the First, fathered by King Solomon, the founder of Ethiopia’s ruling family until the late Emperor Haile Selassie.

Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Transportation: Coaster Bus

Accommodation: Yared-Zema hotel or Similar

CONSULTANT NOTE

You will drive approximately 80 km

Game drives vary the time duration

Day 04: Fly to Addis Ababa

Flight back to Addis Ababa. If you leave on an international flight in the evening, we provide you with a day room and a suitable airport transfer to Addis. In the evening before departure, you will be invited to a farewell dinner party at one of the best traditional restaurants in Addis where you taste a variety of Ethiopian meals, and watch the folkloric dancers of the Ethiopian people. Departure

Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Transportation: Domestic flight and Coaster Bus

Accommodation: -

CONSULTANT NOTE

You will drive approximately 180 km

Game drives vary the time duration

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