Trekking · Cultural · Small Group
Lalibela Highlands Community Trek
Village-owned tukul camps on the rim of the Meket escarpment, then wolf country at Abune Yosef.
The Journey
4 nights, designed around the hours that matter
Gentle walking along a highland escarpment at 2,800 to 3,100 metres, sleeping in thatched tukuls that the villages themselves built and run through the TESFA community trekking programme. Most of the walking is flat or gently graded, horses can be hired for any stretch, and every night's fee goes to the community hosting you.
Places
- Lalibela
- Meket Escarpment
- Mequat Mariam
- Abune Yosef
Indicative price
$1,480
per person, twin share
- Duration
- 5 Days · 4 nights
- Best season
- Oct – Mar
- Group size
- 2 – 8 guests
- Style
- Trekking · Cultural · Small Group
Final pricing depends on season, room category and group size. No deposit is taken until the itinerary is right.
Day by Day
The itinerary, as it usually runs
A working draft rather than a fixed schedule — we move days around for weather, festivals and how you are feeling.
Day 1
Lalibela
Arrival, the northern church cluster in the afternoon, and a briefing on the trek over dinner.
Day 2
Onto the Meket escarpment
A short drive to the trailhead and a walk out to Mequat Mariam — the first TESFA camp to host guests, in 2003 — set on a promontory with the drop on three sides.
Day 3
Along the rim
A full day on the plateau edge, past farmsteads and threshing floors, to the next community camp. Tea in the dining tukul, and a sunset with no other lights in view.
Day 4
Abune Yosef
Back via Lalibela and north into the Abune Yosef massif, some forty kilometres from town, climbing to a community lodge above 3,200 metres.
Day 5
Wolves at dawn & departure
An early walk onto the high plateau for gelada troops and a chance of Ethiopian wolves, then down to Lalibela for an afternoon flight.
What Is Included
- Community camp fees paid directly to the host villages
- Local village guides, plus a senior guide from Lalibela throughout
- Four nights in community tukul camps and lodges, full board
- Pack animals for luggage, and horses on request
- All transfers between Lalibela, the trailheads and the airport
- A morning at the Lalibela churches before the trek
Not Included
- Flights to and from Lalibela
- Sleeping bag (hire available in Lalibela)
- Travel insurance (required)
- Gratuities for village guides and cooks
Enquire
Make Lalibela Highlands Community Trek yours
Send us your dates and we will confirm availability, quote precisely, and suggest the two or three changes we would make if it were our own trip.
Runs Oct – Mar · 2 – 8 guests · from $1,480 per person
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Speak With a Designer
Questions before you enquire?
Altitude, road time, how hard the walking really is, whether the children will cope. Ask us anything — a designer will answer honestly.
Or call us directly on +1909-450-7246