Ethiopia Daily Budget

Hi there, I am considering visiting Ethiopia over July or August. I am a budget traveller, what sort of budget would I be looking at for a month's stay?

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=oPAUxFDrQaQC&pg=PA75&lpg=PA75&dq=%22ethiopia<i>daily</i>budget%22&source=bl&ots=m2-2NcpTT_&sig=nFSVpov0yFQ28SM3elCLnVoIaVg&hl=en&ei=mxbISY_bJ9SujAfaoPyGCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=2&ct=result#PPA75,M1

seems to suggest $10 a day as possible. This seems very cheap. Would this be possible whilst still being able to do most things? I notice you need a guide for many mountain hikes, would this be possible on $10 a day (it seems like this would be more, but possibly other days will be much cheaper)

I'd like to travel around independently as much as possible, will this still enable me to see everything worth seeing (or as much as possible given the time constraints)

Is there much opportunity to hike in mountains without the need for a guide?

Many thanks

Prices have gone up, especially for lodging.

Bradt has an updated Ethiopia guide that comes out in July. Try to get one before you go.

There are plenty of places you can hike without the need for an official guide. In some places you will encounter wanna-be guides who latch onto you. In many instances it is worth it to hire one--if only to keep the others at bay.

Peace,

BB

It said on Amazon the new Bradt was out in April on their site, has it changed now?
That would be typical, I need it for May!!

It does say April on the UK Amazon website.

Safe journeys,

BB

I didn't exactly do it super cheap, but that still seems way too low. In Bahir Dar, I did find an outrageously cheap restaurant (from Lonely Planet) where we paid about $1.50 for a huge plate of injera with fasting food and two sodas. I know there are lots of local places like this, but I would count on always being able to find them.

I can't remember many hotels where you spend less than 5 US a day, buses are relatively cheap but the distances are long so you easily spend a couple of dollars for a bus ticket, some of the sightseeing is not cheap at all (5 US for visiting certain places), hiking (with guide) is between 20 and 40 US, depending on the size of the group and the amaont of equipment you have to rent, some places are not easy to get to if you don't rent a private car...
I'd say you can survive on 10 US but it's not enough for special things (hikes, sightseeing, renting car/bike)

Edited by: uersii

This sounds way too low to me...maybe possible if you were living there only. The only dirt-cheap hotel I stayed in was 15 birr, but it was in Filakit, sort of a truck-stop-style hotel...you won't have any reason to stay there. Most of my hotels were closer to 6-7USD. If you are not fussy and can eat the same thing every day, you might be able to get by with 3USD per day on meals. But you probably WILL get bored, you've already hit 10USD, and you haven't done any sightseeing/hiking yet.

I just came back from Ethiopia.
If you are able to spend 15 (- 20 $) a day, your life will be more comfortable.

Having just returned from six weeks in Ethiopia, I can say that prices certainly have increased well beyond the guidebooks, even the Brandt (which is 2008). If you will eat local food (ie. injera and wat) then eating will be cheap ($2 a meal or less), but almost all hotels will have foreigner pricing which is 2x the local price. I didn't stay in too many ultra-cheap hotelsas as I had a bit higher budget (but did get stuck in them a few times), but low end hotels were basically bar/brothels with dubious cleanliness (and then there's the fleas ...)... its not SE Asia. For something very basic and clean, expect to pay at least $4-5 (no bathroom, obviously) ... nicer spots will be closer to $10 (double that for Addis) but will have a bathroom. Buses are cheap ... Addis to Bahir Dar was about $10; ~$18 for the newer "SkyBus" line, but they are generally slow and prone to breakdowns ... and seem to all leave damn early (your need to be there ~5am) as they have to be off the road by dark (in theory).

As for doing things, there's not a lot that you can do on the cheap ... here's my advice:

• southern tours are typically done on hired 4x4s (~$150/day) ... you CAN bus it to Jinka (2 days from Addis) though the market there is so so (though the Mursi do occasionally show up there); Key Afer is a much better market and is reachable by bus. Unfortunately, local transport (big trucks) that go to the other smaller villages will not take tourists so you'll either have to hire a 4x4 ($$$! ... but you can hire them in Jinka) or stick with the villages you can reach by bus (Jinka, Key Afer, Weito). All the other tribal villages require a guide fee (~$4) and then you'll be paying for most photos (not much ... 1 or 2 Birr per person but it adds up) ... if you have a vehicle, you can stop at other villages not normally visited and that was a lot of fun.

• you want to see the hippos and crocs on Lake Chamo (by Arba Minch)? They have a preset price (~$25-30 per person) and you will not find anyone outside of their collective (we tried!)

• Blue Nile Falls is fairly cheap (~$5) and can be reached on local transport

• boat trips on Lake Tana were about $15 per person if you see the near monasteries ... going deeper to see the others (which were better, IMO) is about $150 for the boat

• hiking in the Simien requires several mandatory hires (guide, scout) ... you might be able to do it without the cook, mules/muleteers, etc but I don't know (I jumped in with a group that went fully equipped ... it was about $50/person inc. transportation) ... going alone, the minimum price was about $40 a day (though more people lowers this ... but see below).

• Axum is cheap (except for St. Mary's Cathedral which was about $14-15) but the main thing to see up there are the rockhewn churches (definitely worth the effort!) but you have to hire a car for that as most are not near the highway ... (though it was cheaper ... only about $100 a day). However, there was a temporary road (the highway was being repaired) that went directly past Debre Damo, so that would be easily reached by bus.

• Lalibela has a one fee ticket (~$20) that's good everywhere in town for 5 days.

I would definitely recommend bringing a few more $$$ than you think; you will likely need it. Obviously, finding other people helps to lower the shared costs ... but this was my biggest gripe about Ethiopia:
There are only two kinds of tourists there ... older people with a lot of money (who aren't interested in sharing the cost), and poor backpackers who have no money and aren't doing anything at all. It was very frustrating trying to find other people like myself (who fall in between the two extremes) ... I usually succeeded but occasionally had to bite the bullet.

I would (again) recommend saving a bit more $$$ ... it gives you a lot more freedom/choices and there's some very interesting things to see!

I'm sure the backpackers had money otherwise they wouldn't be there! There is no such thing as a poor backpacker just a budget conscious one, and I'm sure they were seeing things just doing it cheaply! $100 for a car is a no-no on a budget..

It still seems relatively cheap to me, $18 for a bus ride gets you 30 miles at home not a whole days journey and hiking in the Simiens certainly seems a bargain since I did my homework on how to do it cheaply, particularly compared to Kenya and Tanzania.

A few of the prices that nomad001 list are high, but in general it is a spot-on assessment. (i.e. St Mary's Cathedral admission only costs $6, but the priest asks to be tipped for everything, so you could easily spend $15 as nomad001 describes. A guide is not required for Simiens.)

wilddog, you are correct that Ethiopia is still relatively cheap. But it has become much more expensive in the past several years, and the budgets in older guidebooks are no longer appropriate.

$100 for a car is a good deal in Ethiopia. Budget backpackers do in fact pay this price, but group together to share costs--with 4 people this is only $25 per day.

nomad001's assessment about "having to bite the bullet" is also correct. Getting a group together to share costs is not always easy. It is not like going to Arusha, where you can just show up, and things fall into place.

There might not be "poor" backpackers, but there certainly are "miserly" ones. I take wilddog's being "budget-conscious" as meaning you see everything possible (within reason) but as cheaply as possible. Sadly, there are more than a few backpackers who travel half-way around the world, then forgo an incredible experience because it costs a few dollars more than they expected.

Peace,

BB

Sorry WildDog but the vast majority of backpackers I met there were doing very few excursions in Ethiopia. Why? Cause it costs money ... too much money, yes, but either you pay or you don't do them. I saw virtually no backpackers doing the southern circuit, none doing any but the basic boat tour on Lake Tana, only two doing the Simien trek on the cheap, and after four days in Axum, I couldn't find a single one interested in seeing the rockhewn churches. Not one! There are plenty around, but its "too expensive", which I found laughable as many seemed to be flying within Ethiopia. Lots of package tourists, but this was the first time in 20+ years of traveling that I actually had real trouble finding other people to do excursions. It was strange ...

(I consider myself a backpacker but I'm willing to spend the $$$$ when I have to ... and I had to in Ethiopia)

A few of the prices that nomad001 list are high, but in general it is a spot-on assessment. (i.e. St >Mary's Cathedral admission only costs $6, but the priest asks to be tipped for everything, so you >could easily spend $15 as nomad001 describes. A guide is not required for Simiens.)

The ticket - which I kept - (as of Mar. 2009) is 120 Birr (which is about $11) plus a small tip, so it does cost about $14-15, though the ticket does get you in to two other churches. Prices were jumping fast in Ethiopia!

$100 for a car is a good deal in Ethiopia. Budget backpackers do in fact pay this price, but group >together to share costs--with 4 people this is only $25 per day.

True ... but trying to convince them was another matter. It was very strange ... most countries have a wide range of tourists of all budgets, but my experience here were mostly people on the extreme ends.

There might not be "poor" backpackers, but there certainly are "miserly" ones. I take wilddog's >being "budget-conscious" as meaning you see everything possible (within reason) but as cheaply >as possible. Sadly, there are more than a few backpackers who travel half-way around the world, >then forgo an incredible experience because it costs a few dollars more than they expected.

I have a similar philosophy ... I try to be as budget conscious as I can but when I need to crack open the wallet to see something interesting/unique, then I do it ... but I seemed to have real trouble finding people like us while I was there; I usually did eventually but it took some work. Maybe I was just unlucky?

Thanks for the price update nomad001. The price for the Axum church compound has doubled since last year! For that price, I want a glimpse of the Arc of the Covenant. ;-)

Yeah, maybe just unlucky. I didn't meet any extreme SE Asia-type backpackers while there...mostly people who spent the same or more than me, and then yes, there were those at the high-end extreme. We easily filled our boat to the central monasteries in Bahir Dar (300birr each), but it was December so there were probably more people around. And the TESFA trek, which at the time cost about 300birr per day, was fully booked every day with 3 guides to choose from. The 4 others independent travelers on my trek had all been spending more than me elsewhere in the country, but were a loooong long way from being package tourists.

I do recall a couple guys that left our New Year's celebration in Addis early because they said they'd run out of money. We spent 10USD each for massive amounts of drink and food--we had all just met that night so we got individual dishes instead of sharing, and it was far too much--and a couple more dollars for beers back at the hotel when we first met. So considering it was a special occasion, it did seem a bit cheap to me that they cut out before we had just a couple more drinks--but to be fair, I have no idea how much they'd spent earlier in the day.

I appreciate the information put forth in this thread--thanks to all.

Wilddog, I just received an advance copy of the new edition of the Bradt guide, so I reckon that if you ring or email Bradt directly (see www.bradt-travelguides.com/contactus.asp) they should be able to rush you a copy before May.

There's nowt as queer as folk as they say. Travel half way around the world and then don't do or see anything cos its too expensive?? Very weird these backpackers...
Why not just stay at home?

On the other hand, the beauty is that everybody is free to chose where they want to go and what they want to do. I met people at Angkor Wat who didnt pay the entry, but that was an ideological thing, not wanting to line the pockets of the petroleum company that owns it. Having said that I generally stump up the costs (within reason, my reasonable budget) because I dont want to regret not doing it later, but I know I wont regret spending 15 dollars when 15 dollars becomes a very small amount back home! What I dont like however is having to witness some backpackers showing off how they didnt pay to go somewhere, as if by not paying and not seeing it makes them better, kind of a take on the Buddhistic aescetic thing!

I haven't met many people who completely skipped a site due to the money (or ideological reasons--like the pair I met who went to Bagan and then didn't enter), but people who will indeed show off that they paid 50 cents less than me for a far crappier bus. 50 cents.

To be honest people go over board about seeing everything and end up seeing things for the sake of seeing them ,When ever i go to a country i will see some sites but then relax in the one place and mingle and get to know an area properly . Travelling is as much about who you meet than how many museums you see .I rather see a few sights in the day and have a nice meal and a few beers at night .

I plan on going to Ethiopia later in the year on two weeks off work and probably will not see anything too far from Addis addiab as i believe that will be enough for me to experience in my first trip and it will be more enjoyable for me than chasing around places ticking things of my list just to say I have been somewhere .

Oh, so close! But you don't get full points unless you answer a full year after the last post! ;-)

"it will be more enjoyable for me than chasing around places ticking things of my list just to say I have been somewhere . "

Agreed, but I highly suggest getting out of Addis. And you really need to have a talk with this guy: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=1901000

Peace,

BB

Hmmm...error link, Bri! Must fix, enquiring minds over here!

Can't imagine staying two weeks in Addis while on vacation. If you don't want to move around, why not go somewhere else first and then spend the entire two weeks there? Especially since you mention mingling...except in rare cases, I find it difficult to mingle with anyone but other tourists in large cities.

Hi Nancy. The link was to a thread about a guy who is trying to collect the most countries in the world. I am guessing that the thread was pulled because several ABTT members flagged it for advertising.

Peace,

BB