Gheralta Lodge

a great base for hiking to various monasteries

Gheralta Lodge is set on the outskirts of the village of Hawzen, in a broad agricultural valley backed by the dramatic sandstone Gheralta Mountains.

This is an extensive area of freestanding inselbergs and undulating hills which conceal an incredible wealth and diversity of secret rock-hewn churches.

Many of these amazing places of worship are extremely inaccessible and can only be reached by traversing some pretty extreme hiking trails.

The experience of visiting these churches is, without doubt, one of the most exciting and atmospheric things to do in Ethiopia. It really feels an honour that the lovely local people are generous enough to share these intimate places with outsiders.

Lodge

Gheralta Lodge is a relatively high quality property, certainly one of the better options in Ethiopia.

The property has been sensitively built into the natural landscape, with a very strong focus on sourcing products locally and sustainably, which is reflected in its use of traditional construction techniques. The walls are all of honey-coloured stone hewn by local masons and the roofs are thatched in the traditional style.

The lodge is centred on a main building with comfortable indoor lounge areas and a lovely outside dining area.

Food is described as being “good simple cooking, using fine local ingredients”, naturally with an Italian eye for detail and quality (they even sometimes have fine Italian wines).

We have always found the staff to be very attentive and Enrica and Silvio are usually around in the background, ensuring that things go smoothly.

Guest accommodation is in just five detached rooms, each with a conventional indoor bathroom, a private verandah and broad views of the surrounding landscapes.

Ownership

Gheralta Lodge is owned and operated by Italian expats Enrica and Silvio Rizzotti, who have created a small slice of Italy in the heart of Ethiopia.

They are lovely people and passionate advocates of the Gheralta region and its people.

Activities

Gheralta Lodge is at the heart of the rock church area of the Gheralta Mountains, with over 140 Ethiopian Orthodox Christian churches and archaeological sites within easy reach.

The most famous church, the dramatic Abuna Yemata Guh, is 8 km to the east, a short drive away, as is the Abuna Maryam Korkor monastery.

Back at the lodge, the grounds are large enough to provide a lovely scenic stroll around sundown and the Tekla Haymanot church, which dates from around 1250 AD, is also within easy walking distance, where it may be possible to take part in colourful religious ceremonies.

A whole raft of other locations can be visited on half day and full day excursions from the lodge, not only more rock-carved churches, but also various hermitages, shrines, monasteries, villages and ancient sites from the Sabean and Axumite eras.

The Gheralta area tends to be combined in trips with various places of interest in the north of Ethiopia, including Danakil Depression, Axum, Lalibela, Gondar, the Simien Mountains and Bahir Dar.

Seasonality

The best time to visit the Gheralta Mountains is generally considered to be during the Oct-Mar dry season period, but it really is a viable option year round.

The greater region has a subtropical highland climate, with an Apr-Sep rainy season, which reaches a peak during Jun-Aug.

But whilst the majority of the north of Ethiopia experiences significant rains, in this more arid part of the country only tends to bring light afternoon showers, which tend not to be too disruptive to treks and the water soon evaporates and drains away.

Peak daytime temperatures are usually very comfortable, at around 27C/80F. But in advance of the rains during Mar-May they can rise to 30C/85F, potentially accompanied by high humidities, which can become uncomfortable (although night time temperatures usually still fall to a pleasant 13C/55F).

In an ideal world we would be able to plan visits around specific cultural events such as the wedding season, but these tend to be quite unpredictable. The main religious festivals of Ledet (Christmas) on the 7th January and Timkat (Epiphany) on 19th January are certainly interesting, but there tends to be a surge of both local and international visitors, so they might actually be worth avoiding.

Getting there

The north of Ethiopia is usually reached by means of regular daily flights from the capital Addis Ababa.

Some of the interconnecting journeys within the region are best done by air, others have to be done by road.

Gheralta is usually connected by air to most locations (via the airport at Mek’ele), but by road to nearby Axum and the Danakil Depression.

usually visited in combination with other areas to the north of Ethiopia