' Our trip was organised by Habtamu and the Timeless Ethiopia team in conjunction with Birdwatching Breaks, the UK birdwatching tour company. We were expecting to be part of a group but ended up having a private trip – an indication of Timeless Ethiopia’s flexibility and commitment to providing a 1st class service.
We had a wonderful two weeks birdwatching with Meseret Mekuria and Mohammed seeing a total of nearly 400 different species of birds and many mammals including many of Ethiopia’s endemic species, for example Prince Ruspoli’s Turaco, Sidamo Lark and fantastic views of the very rare Ethiopian Wolf. At the end of the two weeks we flew to Lalibela for 2 days of historic rock churches.
The organisation of the whole trip was faultless – we were well looked after at every stage and all our little anxieties thoughtfully managed. Habtamu’s touch was always in the background, and he was at the end of a phone to help us when it looked like our flight schedule was going pear shaped. We finished the trip with a wonderful evening of traditional food and dancing with Habtamu and colleagues.
We were sorry when the trip was over and we had to say goodbye to our new friends. We are already thinking about another trip to Ethiopia and there are no prizes for who we will ask to organise it for us.
It is no wonder that Timeless Ethiopia has been used by a number of UK TV producers and international celebrities.'
Best wishes to everyone and especially Mohammed.
Mary and Brian
Habtamu Mamo worked with us as our location fixer during our shoot in Ethiopia earlier this year. Sir Bob Geldof and a small crew spent three weeks filming across the country for a six part BBC series "Geldof in Africa".
Habtamu was given the responsibility to book the transport
and accommodation and to make the necessary arrangements for
a camping expedition to a remote area of the Mago National
Park. He accompanied the crew throughout the shoot and acted
as both guide and interpreter.
Our schedule was very intense and the shoot’s success depended on a high level of efficiency. Habtamu was extremely well organised, efficient, trustworthy and a pleasure to work with. He worked hard to ensure that the crew’s needs were always met. He made every effort to resolve problems that arose, as quickly as possible.
Habtamu did not help with our filming permit or temporary equipment import but would be able to organise these aspects if required.
I would not hesitate to recommend him as a location fixer.
Yours faithfully
Rebecca Kelly
Line Producer
"Geldof in Africa"
+44 207 428 3141
Habtamu Mamo and Abiy with Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman from LongWayRound and LongWayDown
Dear Habtamu,
We arrived home safely this afternoon, and have with us many fond
memories of the holiday! We had an amazing time, so thank you so much
for arranging everything, and looking after us, especially the boys!
We love Ethiopia and are sure we will return again one day, the
children say it is the best holiday they have ever had, and have had
such great opportunities during the holiday to experience the culture
and meet such lovely, warm and kind people, which we can all count as
our friends. Our time on the tour really has exceeded all our
expectations and we wish we were back there already!
Thanks so much for taking us out last night, we really enjoyed your
company, and will have great memories of our last night in Ethiopia,
it was a great end to a fantastic holiday! The children enjoyed top
view and the music and dancing at the Ethiopian restaurant was great,
it was such a good atmosphere! After 2 meals we were then offered a
dinner on our flight, needless to say we were full!
We will sort through our photos and send you a few, the boys also
want to write you a report, Tom was so keen he has started his
already! Oscar, Tom and Cory all send their love, and we will be in
touch soon. Thanks again!
Best wishes,
Vicky, Nic, Cory, Tom and Oscar
Comment by Silvia Bua & Sabine (From Germany); Ethiopia
is not yet known very well as a tourism destination which is worth to go
there. But I can declare definitely that it is. It is a wonderful
country with a variety of different landscapes, cultures, people and
historical places .... and it is definitely worth to travel in this
country. It was also a pleasure to meet the friendly, smiling, helpful
and interested Ethiopians on the way of our tour. We only had good
experiences wherever we have been.
We have done a tour to the historical places in Bahir Dar, Gondar and
Lalibela. Each of these places showed us its specialty of cultural
places, different architectures and of course the wonder of the 11
Lalibela churches. We are still fascinated what people can build.
Then we have visited the south of the country with the different tribes
living in this region. All of them are open and friendly people.
Where we have been very disappointed, was the village of the Mursi
people. Maybe we where disappointed on one side as we where expecting
this visit as one of the highlights of our tour. But on the other hand,
it was disappointing to see what negative effects tourism can have on
people who formerly lived in peace. The Mursi react quite aggressive to
tourists get money from them either for taking photos or for buying
souvenirs.
But apart from this only one hour of disappointment, we where very happy
to travel through this huge country with quite long ways to travel from
one place to the other.
Of course, as Ethiopia is a poor country and infra structure is not at
its best yet, sometimes you have to lower your luxury expectations of
hotel rooms etc.
But food has almost always been very tasty!
With the choice to ask TIMELESS ETHIOPIA to organize the tour
for us (we found them in the internet), we did the absolutely right
decision. From the very beginning we had the good feeling by getting
always very quick reply to our different questions and the price was
very reasonable.
On our tour we had a good service, we got picked up for the sightseeing
tours from our guides in the historical places always very punctually,
the guides had a deep and wide knowledge about their city, the history,
the places and the country.
For our tour to the south we had a crew of 3 people just for the 2 of
us. We had a tour guide with a wide knowledge, a good and safe driving
driver and a very good cook for the camping parts of the tour.
They really gave us a very nice time where we got to know a lot about
the country and its people and we had a lot of fun with our crew. At the
end we where like friends.
The car was a strong 4WD Toyota land cruiser where we always felt safe
and also the tents where almost new with comfortable mattresses they
offered us.
I just can express repeating: WE ARE HAPPY THAT WE HAVE
CHOOSEN TIMELESS ETHIOPIA to organize our tour.
AND: WE WILL COME AGAIN TO ETHIOPIA - NEXT TIME IN 2007 TO THE MILLENIUM
PARTY (as their calendar is different from ours they will celebrate the
millennium by then)!!
We really can recommend Habtamu as a serious trading partner for private
people and for tour operators who want to offer Ethiopia in their
programmes.
Silvia Bua & Sabine
Rathausstraße 55
71576 Burgstetten
Tel./Fax: 07191 / 90 65 10
email: silvia.bua@web.de
Comment by Mrs. Wendy Gordon (from UK); Timeless Ethiopia live up to their name. We looked into the window of the past by visiting the Rift valley where Lucy was found, the tribal peoples of the South, the inexplicable monolithic obelisks of Axum and the amazing hewn-rock churches of Lallibella. The people who work with the company are excellent and we have no hesitation in recommending this company to anyone who has an adventurous nature and loves the challenge of travel.
Best regards, Mrs. & Mr. Gordon From London - E-mail: wendy@acacia-avenue.com
Comment by P. Steenbergen (from Holland);
For a very special occasion we contacted Timeless Ethiopia, we wanted
the director, Habtamu Mamo, to organize a four week trip through
Ethiopia during August 2005. We were difficult customers. We had our
special demands about our destinations and about our lodgings. Mr
Habtamu patiently changed plans we mailed to him as our departure date
drew nearer and nearer.
Our trip was finally arranged completely according to our wishes. Mr
Habtamu seems to have his contacts everywhere. The local guides were
well-informed of what assistance we wanted and, equally important, what
we did not want: an over-organized trip with no possibility for a change
of plans along the way.
Our expedition into the Danakil (salt)desert, from the city of Mekele,
was an experience which lead us close to the Eritrean border (and at 46
degrees Celsius almost melted us). Again this leg was meticulously
organized by Mr Habtamu. On the whole we are extremely grateful for
everything he did for us.
We can recommend the flexible and professional services of Mr Habtamu’s great office to everyone who wishes to visit Ethiopia on their own terms!
P. Steenbergen - Holland, E-mail Address:
pietsteenbergen1@hotmail.com
Comment by Ewa Kasperska - Machura from Poland; Timeless Ethiopia is a company worth recommendation because it is a guarantee of marvelous holidays in this country.
In Ethiopia I spend three weeks with my friends. We saw the north with its gorgeous monuments( hewn rock churches of Lallibella).We were impressed with unbelievable beauty of the landscape and unique quality of south tribes (Woito, Konso, Hamer, etc.). On the south we made over 3000 km driving jeeps, which was an unforgettable experience.
During such a long trip we traveled without problems thanks to Mr Habtamu Mamo and his office efforts - they are professional . I would like to underline, that Mr Habtamu created nice and warm atmosphere.
I would like to recommend this office because of preparing not only interesting route but also original entertainment to make our stay better than we could expect.
Ewa Kasperska - Machura from Poland E-mail address ewakasperska-m@o2.pl
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