Tourism in Ethiopia for Sustainable Future Alternatives

Website: www.community-tourism-ethiopia.com
E-mail: tesfacbt@ethionet.et or tesfaethiopia@gmail.com
Phone: Hanna Girma: (office) +251 11 122 5024 / (mobile) +251 91 324 4480

Who they are

T.E.S.F.A. stands for Tourism in Ethiopia for Sustainable Future Alternatives, but also means hope in Amharic (the most widely used language across the country). Since 2003, T.E.S.F.A. has been working with local communities in the mountains around the World Heritage Site Lalibela, developing facilities with these communities for them to host guests.

T.E.S.F.A.’s objective is to develop sustainable tourism businesses for local communities to manage and use as a source of income. These businesses are designed to be eco-friendly as well as a great opportunity for travellers to learn about the host communities’ way of life and culture.

What they do

T.E.S.F.A. locates, designs and assists communities with constructing tourist infrastructure. This is complemented with training to help the communities run and manage the initiative as a business, and provide the necessary services for travellers. T.E.S.F.A. also assists them with identifying useful and productive ways to use the shared income, and can help them to carry this out. T.E.S.F.A. assists communities to register the land-use change and is working with the government to find the right way to register these enterprises.

Finally, T.E.S.F.A. has set up a technical support unit which provides the link to tourists, marketing and promoting tourism and handling bookings and queries from prospective clients.

What they offer

T.E.S.F.A. can arrange for visitors to stay for 2 or more nights with these communities as their guests and walk through the ancient Amhara heartland. Groups have a maximum size of 6-8 people, and are accompanied by specially trained guides who speak good English. Much of the walk follows basalt escarpments with the most amazing views out across this biblical land, with great rivers dissecting the worn highlands. Birds of prey including the mighty Lammergeyer soar on the thermals, while other birds, many endemic to Ethiopia, flit around the trees and plants near to the cliff. Gelada baboons scamper up and down the cliffs, while Rock Hyrax sunbathes on the rock below. On one of the more challenging walks (Abuna Yoseph), it is even possible to see the extremely rare Ethiopian Wolf, and reach a peak of 4,300m.

Best of all, guests get a real idea of how their hosts live and farm this age old land. The local people are a people of remarkable dignity and genuine hospitality. They will also cook meals for their guests (made to suit western tastes and stomachs), prepare traditional coffee drinks and make them feel wonderfully welcome. The money spent on these walks goes straight to the communities, and is used to benefit the entire community. Those who are working receive a regular income for their work. This is not aid for poor Ethiopian people, but them providing a great service and facility and getting their just reward for that provision.

Location

TESFA TSU;
PO Box 3211,
Code 1250,
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

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More information

Check out the Communities of Meket in Ethiopia.

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