During our coffee tour we will learn the secrets of coffee cultivation and processing. We will walk through the beautiful jungle with Colobus monkeys dancing above our heads, we will learn about the beauty of its diverse wildlife. From plantation workers and locals, we will learn all about the processes that enable coffee beans to be exported to the international market.
Coffee and Tea Tours: Ethiopia
Theme: Culture
Product: Intangible Cultures
Tour Code: TET 001
Duration: 11 Night/ 12 Days
Accommodation: Hotel
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Day 1: Addis Ababa
Arrival in Addis in the morning at Bole Airport. Meet and greet at the airport by the driver and your local guide. They will be with you throughout the tour program. Transfer to Hotel. Have a rest in the morning. After lunch, visit to the Entoto Mountains, where Emperor Menelik founded in 1887 the capital city, Addis Ababa. Visit Entoto Maryam Church and the Memorial Museum, enjoy the panoramic view on Addis. On the way back, visit the oldest coffee house in Addis called Tomoca. Transfer to the hotel for a refresh. In the evening, have traditional dinner. Overnight hotel.
Day 2: Addis Ababa – Jimma (350 km)
After breakfast, leave Addis and drive to Jimma. Stop for a small cup of coffee in Woliso. From Abelti, at the bottom of the Omo River Gorge, you will climb into the hills and enjoy the beautiful scenery of granite outcrops and acacia woodland. Stops on the way to enjoy the landscape. Continue to Jimma and witness the Coffee Statue.
Day 3: Jimma –Limu Kossa – Jimma
After breakfast, visit the Limu Kossa Coffee Plantation. Sitting at top 2,000-meter-high mountains, workers at the 300-hectare Limu Kossa coffee plantation swing machetes at weeds between coffee bushes and apply organic fertilizer to the soil. Visit the Harewa Gatira wet mill in Limu Kossa region. In the afternoon, visit the Jimma Agricultural Research Center (Jarco) which is also the National Coffee Research Center. After the visit of Jarco, guided visit of the Aba Jiffar Palace and museum, which is a good example of traditional (wooden) Ethiopian architecture.
Day 4: Jimma – WushWush – Mizan Teferi – Bebeka
Jimma – Mizan Teferi: 225 km Mizan Teferi – Bebeka: 30 km After breakfast, leave Jimma and continue to WushWush Tea Estate. Visit of the WushWush Tea Estate and tea factory. This estate grows black tea on 1249 ha at an altitude of 1900 m. From Wacha on you might see painted Bench (Konta-Sheko) houses along the road. Also, around Mizan and Bebeka there might be some painted houses. If time permits have a first walk on the Bebeka coffee estate.
Day 5: Bebeka
Full day visit by car of the largest and oldest coffee estate in Ethiopia, recently taken over by the Midroc Group. Besides the big coffee plantation, which covers 5556 ha (more than half) of the 10.030 ha, you will also visit the honey farm and witness the spices grown as pepper, ginger etc.… If time permits, visit some organic producers of coffee in the area.
Day 6: Bebeka – Jimma – Sheki – Chida – Waka – Sodo
Estimated distance: 450 km After breakfast, early start and leave the Kaffa region and drive to Jimma. After lunch travel to Chida. Cross different rivers and some mountain passes to Tercha Sodo. Then climb the Wakka mountain pass. After the top you will see tukuls with bamboe fences. After Dauro, you will start the descent to the Omo River Canyon. Have a stop around the bridge (50 km from Sodo) to enjoy the beautiful landscape and cross the only bridge on the Omo River before the town of Sodo.
Day 7: Sodo – Awassa (155 km)
Sodo – Shashemene: 130 km Shashemene – Awassa: 25 km After breakfast, leave Sodo and travel to Awassa by Shashemene. Stops on the way to witness beautiful Wolaita villages. In the afternoon relaxation and optional boat trip on the Awassa Lake.
Day 8: Awassa – Sidamo coffee projects – Awassa
After breakfast visit the fish market 1 km, south of the Lewi Resort. Visit of Sidamo coffee region: Kolla washing station & Efico Foundation project (Ferro Cooperative) in Yirga Alem. Lunch in Yirga Alem or on the way.
Day 9: Awassa – Yirga Alem – Yirga Cheffe
Awassa – Yirga Alem: 37 km Yirga Alem – Yirga Cheffe: 82 km After breakfast you make a walk alongside the lake on the foothpath starting at the old Midroc Zewed Village to witness some birdlife. Continue to Yirga Cheffe with stops on the way, where you can have lunch in the hotel. In the afternoon you visit the Yirga Cheffe Coffee Union project and the Kochere woreda (about 25 km south of Yirga Cheffe) famous for its Yirga Cheffe quality coffee.
Day 10: Yirga Cheffe-Addis (395 km)
Today we leave the coffee region behind us and drive back along the Ethiopia-Kenya highway to the north. Between Shashemene and Arsi Negele. After Shashemene have lunch in Ziway, where you can have – with fresh fish – from the lake. Stop on the lakeside to see waterbirds and continue to Addis. In Debre Zeit have a cup of coffee in Ethio Dreamland Hotel. On the terrace you have a view on the Bishoftu Lake, which is a crater lake.
Day 11: Addis Ababa
After breakfast, we drive to Kaliti, one of the sub-cities in the southern part of Addis and its most important industrial zone. Visit Dry Mills of Kuru Ethiopia Coffee Development PLC. In the afternoon visit the ECX (Ethiopia Commodity Exchange).
Day 12: Addis Ababa and flight to home country
Visit the National Museum and the Ethnographic Museum (Institute of Ethiopian Studies). Visit the Holy Trinity church where Haile Selassie is buried. Transfer to Bole International Airport in the evening.