How to get to the Simiens

 

The Simien Mountains are 100kms north of Gonder. It takes about two hours to travel there taking the main road north from Gonder. At the town of Debark, take a right turn and drive 22km to the lodge. This is where the scenery gets interesting.

Note that the park is open from 6am to 6pm. Sometimes it is possible to get an extension to these times but not always, so it is important to arrive before nighfall. Simien Lodge cannot be held responsible for late arrivals and entry refusal by the park staff.


Shuttle to the Simiens   (Currently suspended. We stopped running this service during the Covid year. We will advise when it can be reinstated).

 

 

Bookings may be made by phoning either our Addis office or the Lodge. We can currently only offer private shuttles in our Land Cruisers. 

Shuttle bus prices one way ()
1 person $ per person
2 person $ or $ per person
3 person $ or $ per person
4 person $ or $  per person
5 or more $ per person.

From October 2016, Simien Lodge has had a license to take tourists into the park. We now can offer this possibility to take you to Sanakbur, not far from the Jimber waterfall and to Chennuk where the walia ibex can be seen and with a bit of luck, the very rare Ethiopian wolf as well

 

From To No of Pax Price USD 
Lodge Debark Up to 2 Pax 30
Lodge Debark Up to 4 Pax 50
Lodge Debark Up to 8 Pax 80
Lodge Sankaber Up to 2 Pax 50
Lodge Sankaber Up to 4 Pax 70
Lodge Sankaber Up to 8 Pax 90
Lodge Chennek Up to 2 Pax 90
Lodge Chennek Up to 4 Pax 120
Lodge Chennek Up to 8 Pax 150

 

 

Our current prices are as follows.
Car Hire to Gondar with driver $150 Toyota 4x4 persons Pickup 4
Car Hire to Axum with driver $400 Toyota 4x4 persons Pickup 4

Our offices in Addis and France can assist with your transport requirements

 

Tarikwa Hailu
Mikre Azmeraw
Nick Crane (Europe office)

Our office in Addis is easy to find. We are situated on the 2nd floor of Negist Towers near Lime Tree Café. Nigist towers is 100m south of Intercontinental Hotel. Our professional staff are there to help you.


Airlines

 

Fly to Gonder with Ethiopian Airlines who run at least two flights a day to Gonder. Tickets may be purchased from any Ethiopian office.

Ethiopian run a very modern fleet of Aircraft and have some of the most up to date facilities in Africa. Internationally they run 777-300 and now they Africa's first carrier with 787 Dreamliner aircraft (photo). The internal flights are with 737s and Bombardier Q400 planes. The Q400 serve most smaller internal destinations.

http://www.ethiopianairlines.com

Charter

 

There are several charter companies running a variety of small aircraft from Beech 1900 to Cessna Caravans. Contact us for details.

Our director (Nick Crane) is an IFR pilot and can give accurate advice


Buses

 

Local buses run from both Gonder and Axum. However the buses stop in Debark which is 21km from the lodge. When arriving from the north, you will need to change at Shira and often this can mean an overnight stay in here.


Car Hire

 

 

If you would like to hire a personal car, then we have some specially converted 5-seater Land Cruisers with special suspension for mountains roads. We use them for trips all over the country and we are happy to quote daily and weekly rates. We are the only company in the country to have these specially adapted vehicles. they have individual seats (no bench seats) with personal 230v and USB charging points for cameras and phones. The windows open wide for photography and the driver sits mower than the passengers so that there is a good view forward.

 

Helicopters

 

Helicopters are allowed but permission has to be granted by both Civil Aviation and the Parks Authority.

Please contact the park office

Phone: +251115514989

Mobile: 00251 920 039285

Email:

The current fees for landing in the park are 500 bir/48hrs for single engine helicopters and 900 birr per 48hrs for helicopters with more than one engine.


Flying to Gonder with Abyssinian

 

These flights make it ideal for that weekend away in the mountains, for that special conference, or just to save time. You take off and leave when you want. No waiting at airports or booking in. No flight delays. No overbooked flights or reconfirmations. The flight in itself is much more interesting than a commercial flight. You will fly low over the Nile Gorge and Lake Tana. If you want you can fly low to see special places that you may have visited on the ground.

Contact us for an airfare quote: click here

Fly direct to Gondar with a chartered Cessna Abyssinian Flight Services

If you are a group it is quite economical and good fun to charter a 9 seater Cessna Caravan or a 6 seater Cessna 210. At present flights are only to Gonder. Flight time to Gonder is about 1 hour 30 minutes.

Contact Details

Ethiopian Address

Nigist Towers, 2nd floor, Kazanchis Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Addis Office: +251 11 5524758

Lodge: +251 582 310741

European Address

La Clarine, 38840 St Lattier France

Phone: +33 476643078