Ethio Backpacker Tours

4.5/5 – 43 Reviews

$880 pp (USD)

2 travelers   on   Start date
Request a Quote

Your request will be sent directly to the operator

If preferred, you can contact the operator directly

Breakdown of Costs
1 Available
1 Unavailable
Start Date
Age at the end of the tour
*This tour does not accept children under 1.
Travelers

This Tour Is Offered By

Ethio Backpacker Tours

4.5/5  
(43 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.

Reviews43

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.

Poor organisation! Poor communication!
2/5

My review of this tour operator is rather mixed. Admittedly, the guides and drivers were very good, but the organization regarding the plane tickets was really poor. On every flight, there were ticket errors, which forced us to pay additional amounts several times and to insist in order to get the correct tickets. We experienced stress throughout the trip, constantly wondering if we would have to pay again.

It’s now been almost 4 weeks that we’ve been waiting for the promised refund from the tour operator, but still nothing. Each time we get the same answers: “Yes, we promise we’ll refund you”, “We’ll reimburse you in cash when you’re in Addis”, “Oh, we’re not in Addis but in Lalibela.” When we ask for a bank transfer, they say they need to ask a friend, but apparently this friend doesn’t often answer the phone…

So, I give them 2 out of 5, only thanks to the drivers and guides. For the rest, it was really poorly organized, and I want future clients to be aware of this. If they don’t want to go through a stressful experience during their trip, I would not recommend this tour operator.

Other Safaris & Tours29  – Offered by Ethio Backpacker Tours

Interested in This Tour?

Request a Quote

  • We advise requesting quotes from 3 operators (Learn why)
  • Requests are sent directly to the tour operator
  • If preferred, you can contact the tour operator directly
Next: Overview Next: Day by Day Next: Rates Next: Inclusions Next: Getting There Next: Offered By

Best price guarantee

Your request will be sent directly to the operator

If preferred, you can contact the operator directly

Next: Request a Quote
Request a Quote

Disclaimer

  • 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.
  • Rates include a fixed budget for flights during this tour. If flights cost more, your quote will reflect this.
  • 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.