Ethio Backpacker Tours

4.3/5 – 44 Reviews

$1,375 pp (USD)

2 travelers   on   Start date
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*This tour does not accept children under 6.
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Ethio Backpacker Tours

4.3/5  
(44 Reviews)
Office In:
Ethiopia Ethiopia
Size:
10-20 employees (Founded in 2010)
Member Of:
ASTA & ITAT
Tour Types:
Small & medium group tours (Budget & mid-range)
Destinations:
Ethiopia ET

Ethio Backpacker Tours has established by young tourism professionals Gashaw Takele (CEO) who have excellent occurrence over decades.

Reviews44

NIGHTMARE, avoid at any cost!! Most stresfull trip ever
1/5

Unfortunately, everything written in the previous negative reviews turned out to be true. I was aware of this, but decided to take the risk due to the numerous other positive reviews and the low price of the services offered by Gashaw.
From the beginning, my plan included 3 days in Omo, 4 days in Simien Mountains and 3 days in Danakil. I requested to skip sightseeing in Addis/other cities because I was primarily interested in nature, so I requested to avoid the cities on the route. I was supposed to go to Omo on the very first day just couple of hours after my arrival.
After landing in Addis, it turned out my plan had been turned upside down. I began my sightseeing with a half-day city tour and a full day in the capital, something I hadn't planned. Despite everything, the day was pleasant, but the attractions were planned only for half a day. Then, instead of Omo, I was informed I will be flying to Semera (Danakil) the next day. The next day, upon my arrival to Semera it turned out that the Danakil tours hadn't been running for several days. Gashaw had several tourists stuck in the hotel waiting for a tour. Day after day, he promised them "we'll go tomorrow," but there was always either no fuel, a road problem, or not enough tourists to coplete the group. It turned out that we wouldn't be going to Danakil that day nor the next (despite Gashaw's numerous promises), and that I would be spending the next two days in the hotel doing absolutely nothing (there is literally nothing to do in Semera). Why did he even changed my plan and sent me to Semera first if he knew there was a problem for several days already??!!
I found couple of other local tour operators that had available tours and asked Gashaw to pay another tour operator to go with me, since he couldn't take me himself. Gashaw asked me to send him the phone numbers of other tour operators and that he will arrange the tour for me. Gashaw called every single tour operator I gave him, calling them scammers and liars, telling them they were ruining his business and trying to steal his tourists. At that point many tour operators advised me to report Gashaw to tourist police as he was well known scammer for them. He simply refused to organize anything for me or pay anyone else claiming everyeone else are scammers and i can not go with anyone esle. Later, Gashaw told me that if I wasn't happy with it, I should organize everything myself and he wouldn't do anything else for me (even though I'd paid him the full amount already). He left me ALONE and stopped answering my calls. It was incredibly stressful in a foreign country!! A nightmare, I felt so hopless because a person I paid 2100 usd for whole the tour just ignores me and tells to organise on my own and he is tired of me. Gashaw generally stops answering the phone everytime there's a problem and just ignores you. By evening, he agreed that I could go with another agency to Danakil, and he'd pay them a maximum of $300. If it was more expensive, I'd have to cover the difference. I agreed and found an agency that had a trip the next day for $280. ​​Gashaw started to bargain with me, saying he could pay $230 and I would pay $50. I asked why, since he'd previously agreed to $300. He stopped answering my calls again and avoided me. A nightmare again. He also scammed some French guy who I met at hotel- the guy was waiting 3 days to get the Danakil tour, eventually quited and asked Gashaw to return his money and buy him return flight- Gashaw assured him that he will and asked him to go to the airport, then stopped answer the calls and blocked the guy...
Next days, it turned out he booked me a flight to Gondar (Simien ) for "Ethiopian Nationals," which was detected at the airport, and I had to pay an extra $70, which he never refunded me, despite many promises. When I was in Gondar, it turned out Gashaw hadn't even checked the flight schedule to Jinka (Omo) and didnt book flight for me. I was supposed to go there May 16-18, but I discovered there were no flights to Jinka on May 16 nor 18, and I was already leaving Ethiopia on May 19. I called Gashaw to see how he planned to resolve the situation, as he was the one to change the plan and its order and didnt even check the flights. He then informed me that I wouldn't be flying to Omo, that he wasn't organizing anything further for me, and that if I didn't like anything, he could cancel the Simien Mountains trip. A NIGHTMARE AND STRESS!! I have never been so stressed out while traveling in my life! He stopped answering calls and responding to messages again. Ultimately, instead of being in Simien for 4 days, I only stayed 1.5 days to return earlier and fly to Omo, where I also stayed 1 day shorter than planned. In the end, when in Omo I asked him 1000x times to book my return flight, as I had an international flight coming the next day. Of course, I checked the day before departure and found that the flights were already sold out, and Gashaw had forgotten to book my return flight again. If it weren't for my intervention and the STRESS AND NERVES again, there's a chance I would have missed my international flight and never returned home. A LOT OF STRESS, NOT WORTH IT!!!
TLDR: Gashaw doesn't check flights or schedules, books everything blindly and without thinking it through. And when your plans fall apart, he tells you that if you're unhappy, make your own arrangements and he won't be doing anything more for you. He stops answering his phone and responding to messages. I've honestly never been so stressed in my life while traveling, wondering every day what was going to happen today. It's a nightmare.
If anyone of you is wondering about going with Gashaw PLEASE DON'T. For your own good. If you have any hesitancies please contact me by email [email protected] and I will be glad to share you more info, screenshots etc. about this scammer. Just don't ruin your vacations and health.

Extremely bad experience with the Tour Team's planning
1/5

Echoing some other travellers concerns, there were things several things that are terribly planned. If the owner (Gashaw) asks you if you wish to let him book your flight on your behalf, do NOT get him to book it for you. Both my guide and I suffered as we had to run in and out the domestic terminal security gates, rebook all the domestic tickets since he booked my Ethiopian flights using Ethiopian National, and he did not add my international Ethiopian airline flight in. In the end, I had to repay all the tickets.

Flights impacted: Addis -> Gondar, Gondar -> Addis, Addis -> Lalibela, Lalibela -> Addis, Addis -> Merkele, Mekele -> Addis (6 tickets)

When I contacted him to get him to pay my guide the money, he tried to feign ignorance and even not returning the call. There was a cancellation of Gondar -> Lalibela flight, causing a huge delay. Requested his assistance to provide the itinerary outline to me to claim against insurance, but no response for 2 months. Missed my flight from Mekele to Addis due to the domestic ticket issue and had to stay extra night incurring additional costs. This is an extremely unprofessional behavior as the issue was not rectified immediately from the 1st instance or 2nd instance. It continued to be an issue for 6 times. This whole delay caused me to miss my cross-continental international flight out of Addis as well.

Do NOT book this Tour, if it goes smoothly, it is luck, and the ill-planning by Gashaw has caused huge losses to me and guide, till now no response has been given.

Ethiopia: A Journey of a Lifetime. Where Beauty Meets Kindness.
5/5

My trip to Ethiopia was truly unforgettable. In just ten days I experienced more adventures than in my entire life. The team works with amazing people, and I was delighted with everyone I met — organizers, guides, drivers, and hotel staff. Ethiopians are incredibly kind, open, smiling, attentive, and ready to help at any moment. The program was rich, diverse, and beautifully designed, giving me memories for a lifetime. I also appreciated your flexibility, care for clients, and ability to make every moment comfortable and enjoyable. Ethiopia has stunning nature, incredible history, and, above all, the most wonderful people.

Gashew is an amazing person!
5/5

My mom, sister, and I spent about a week in Ethiopia. We toured the Omo Valley and saw and met some of the most unique tribes. Gele was an outstanding tour guide and we could not have had a better experience. We also visited the Debre Libanos Monastery and had an amazing trip there also. The entire trip was organized and prompt, and Gashaw was extremely understanding and flexible as we wanted to customize the tour along the way. If you are going to Ethiopia, THIS is the company you want to book with. As someone who has visited over 150 countries, and had many, many tour guides, I can honestly say that this is one of the best. You will not regret a trip with Gashew and his company!

Not well managed and will no respect to the environment
3/5

We booked the 3 day Danakil depression tour with Ethio Backpacker Tours.

Danakil depression is an incredible place, definitely worth visiting. The sights we visited during the tour were great, and our guide Aman was friendly and very attentive. Our driver was great too.
It should also be noted that unlike the rest of the group, we had to finish our tour in Semera. The guide managed to arrange a special agenda for us on the last day so that we didn't miss anything. We are very grateful for that. And the food was also very good.

However, there were many things we didn't like.

1. Gashaw told us the group size will be 15 people max, in reality because of some last minute bookings it was about 30. Which is a huge difference, we would not book it if we knew we'd be in a crowd.

2. On the first day of the tour there was some fuel issue which caused us some 4-5 hour delay. As we learned later, it could have been prevented.

3. The camping sites are very dirty with plastic bottles and other garbage. It's painful to see the nature being treated this way. Nobody seems to care.

4. Travelling long distances with 5 people per car (4 passengers and driver) is quite uncomfortable.

5. The sleeping places in one of the camps were right next to the kitchen, so when the chef started cooking at 2 am, everybody woke up. Almost nobody had proper sleep that night.

My impression is that the operator just took on more clients than they could manage properly. So maybe it was an exception and not a rule.

Throwing out plastic bottles and not cleaning the camp sites is a serious issue though. I hope they will start paying attention to this.

Other Safaris & Tours60  – Offered by Ethio Backpacker Tours

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  • This tour is offered by Ethio Backpacker Tours, not SafariBookings.
  • This operator reserves the right to change rates advertised on SafariBookings.
  • If you request changes to this tour, the advertised rates will likely change.
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  • The exact order, contents and rates of this tour are subject to availability.
  • If an accommodation is fully booked, the operator will suggest a comparable alternative.