Ethiopia Feb 2020 independent budget (1 Viewer)

One tour company kindly replied to one of many enquiries regarding safety in the Yabello region:

'In the last few weeks there has been some trouble - with even some tourist cars attacked. The army was brought in and everything is ok now.'

But they won't be going to the area this year.

Ah right okay I would rather not risk that area then.. Don't want my family to worry more than necessary.

We can assess the situation as the weeks/months go. She also said that things change rapidly in Ethiopia generally.

Agreed....we had insurgents and riots when we were there but would never have known. Agree with Jos that the Bushcrow is not to be missed!!

Another company has said they've been there several times this year, since the trouble - it seems to be very changeable.

halftwo said:

Another company has said they've been there several times this year, since the trouble - it seems to be very changeable.

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Good morning, Richard.

Thank you for your continued help and efforts.

I remain very keen to do this trip and have been keeping my diary open, to be able to do so.

I have, also, already been doing some pre-trip preparation, over a number of weeks.

I have had a couple of trips away, recently, since my last posting in the thread and am currently in the throws of trying to sell my house in Norfolk, which is both stressful and time consuming.

I am a very flexible person, by nature and happy to remain so in my approach, with regard to this trip. I am happy to trust your judgement and that of the ground agents about the southern loop. My dearest and nearest do not want me to be attacked or shot.
Ideally, like you, I would like to try for the birds in that area, but would not want to do so, if this is felt to be unsafe.

Given my flexibility, I do not feel that you and I would fall out about what to do with the remainder of the time, if it does not prove possible to do the southern loop, ie due to safety reasons.

If the southern loop is essential, then I am happy to wait to do this trip, if it is felt that the departure date ought to be delayed, for safety reasons.

In order to move forwards perhaps we could try and get answers from your chosen ground agent on the daily costings, night drives and size dimensions of the vehicle.

As I have previously said, my ideal, from both a comfort and a costing point of view, is 3 people in a vehicle, in addition to the driver.

I hope you have a great holiday in Brazil, Richard.

All the best, Carol

just FYI, check the bigger international bird tour companies' itinerary and check, in a while, their reports. At the moment BQ is doing its tour and I am pretty sure they do the itinerary as normal bar maybe some little sidetrips. I reckon there will be a report in approx. 1-2 months but I see daily updates by Nik Borrow and they should be in the South in a week, so time will tell.

temmie said:

just FYI, check the bigger international bird tour companies' itinerary and check, in a while, their reports. At the moment BQ is doing its tour and I am pretty sure they do the itinerary as normal bar maybe some little sidetrips. I reckon there will be a report in approx. 1-2 months but I see daily updates by Nik Borrow and they should be in the South in a week, so time will tell.

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Hi Temmie,

Thank you, wise words and advice :t:

Coincidentally, just as you must have been typing your message, above, I had a message simultaneously from a friend of mine, who knows Nik Borrow, that " Nik scored Harwoods Francolin in the Jemma Valley, yesterday !! "

Kind regards, Carol

Carol, I'm sure she won't mind me saying, has had to pull out of the trip, due to a recent accident.

It does seem that Birdquest are currently scheduling tours which include the Yabello region - so maybe those I've been dealing with are just reluctant for other reasons.

I think it would be better to postpone the trip until more info is available - & perhaps a more enthusiastic ground agent can be found.

Most of the planning has been done, so putting it off until Oct/Nov might be the thing to do.

How do others feel?

Richard

Some violent clashes (and a number of fatalities) reported from Oromia state (the bit that currently isn't listed as advise against all/all but essential travel on the gov. website) in light of protests over the Nobel Peace Price. Apparently there have been some road closures as well. With less than 3 weeks until I go, it looks to be an eventful trip if nothing else!
On the off chance that you receive any updates from ground agents, I'd appreciate a heads-up. I can DM any details when we get back in December for any interested parties.

halftwo said:

Carol, I'm sure she won't mind me saying, has had to pull out of the trip, due to a recent accident.

It does seem that Birdquest are currently scheduling tours which include the Yabello region - so maybe those I've been dealing with are just reluctant for other reasons.

I think it would be better to postpone the trip until more info is available - & perhaps a more enthusiastic ground agent can be found.

Most of the planning has been done, so putting it off until Oct/Nov might be the thing to do.

How do others feel?

Richard

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Richard,

no problem, thanks for all the time you have spent pulling this trip together.

All the best

Jo

Hi all,

Just wanted to chime in and say that I spent last summer working in Ethiopia and doing significant amounts of birding on the side. Currently working on a trip report to put on CloudBirders, but feel free to reach out with any questions about destinations or logistics of independent birding in Ethiopia.

Thanks, ForestJ, I hope that the above trip can be resurrected for Nov 2020 - so I'll come back to you soon.

Would you put a link here to your trip report, please?

Thanks,

H

Coming to this string very late but read most of it and if you are still likely to be looking for participants for a November 20 trip (or 2021) then please consider me/keep me informed. Kind regards
Denis

denisparkes said:

Coming to this string very late but read most of it and if you are still likely to be looking for participants for a November 20 trip (or 2021) then please consider me/keep me informed. Kind regards
Denis

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No problem, Denis.

Yes, still looking to do this in Nov 2020.

Don't know how many of the original participants are still up for it, but Denis makes three new interested parties.

H