Information: Tour Icons

All SimienEcoTours trips are categorized according to language availability of guides, accommodation, and activity types and their difficulty levels during the journey.

Find here some more detailed information about our availabilities and categorizations.

GUIDING & ACCOMMODATION

Guiding:

The icon indicates the language that is spoken during your group tour with us. Throughout your trip, with us, you are accompanied by one of our qualified SimienEcoTours tour guides. This guarantees you great insights into a country and unique encounters and conversations with its people. Your tour guide will also take care of logistics to ensure that your trip runs smoothly.

Please consider that all other tailor-made private tours can select a guiding language according to personal wishes. We provide guiding services in English, German, Italian, French & Spanish (Amharic & Oromifaa for local tourists is also available).

Hotels:

The icon shows the number of nights that you spend in hotels/lodges during your trip.

If available at your destination, we book our guests into hotels and lodges that offer fair working conditions, support social projects or comply with simple environmental standards. It is always important to us that their atmosphere is pleasant, cosy, familiar, quiet, and authentic. All our partner hotels are carefully selected to guarantee you the best price-quality value and facilities have bathrooms with hot showers (if not noted differently in your itinerary).

Camping:

The icon states the number of nights that you spend in our tents on campsites.

Especially, in Ethiopia's National Parks or in remote nature destinations it is often advised to camp as hotels lack certain standards. Camping with SimienEcoTours means that we provide you with our tents and mattresses (no sleeping bags out of hygiene reasons). Our set-up camps also provide you with a dining/recreation shelter as well as a toilet tent. Bucket showers can be taken in the bush. On more crowded campsites we provide you with a shower facility. Normally, our camping stays come with your own cook to guarantee you fresh and clean food. Get more equipment information here.

DIFFICULTY LEVELS

Hiking/Trekking:

All the walks, hikes, or treks during your tour are categorized according to their difficulty from I (easy) to V (challenging).

Please consider these estimations as a helper for you to find the right trip for you. As physical fitness differs from person to person, from age to age as well as how often you do sports. It is always advised to read the itineraries carefully and judge on your own as well.

Difficulty I - easy

  • max. 1 hour walking time and/or max. 200 m in ascent
  • Character: These tours are suitable for beginners and require only a low level of fitness and endurance. They use wide, paved paths and easy trails.
  • Preparation: No specific preparation is necessary. However, you should at least once a week undertakes activities such as hiking, long walks, and/or Nordic walking.

Difficulty II - moderate

  • max. 3 hours walking time and/or max. 400 m in ascent
  • Character: These tours are suitable for active travelers, hikers, and trekkers with a good overall constitution. You require an average level of fitness and stamina. You mainly walk on fixed trails and paths without alpine difficulties.
  • Preparation: Exercise regularly 1-2 times a week and engage in activities such as running, Nordic walking, and easy walks in hilly landscapes.

Difficulty III - medium

  • max. 5 hours walking time and/or max. 800 m in ascent
  • Character: These tours are suitable for active sportspeople with good physical condition and fitness, as well as a healthy overall constitution. You hike on paths and trails. Occasional pathless or rocky passages may require surefootedness and a head for heights. On these tours, you will feel most comfortable if you have experience in hiking.
  • Preparation: Exercise at least twice a week in basic endurance activities such as running, cycling, and hiking. Undertake hikes in the foothills of low mountain ranges.

Difficulty IV - difficult

  • max. 8 hours walking time and/or max. 1.200 m in ascent
  • Character: These tours are suitable for active hikers. They require a very good physical condition and constitution. Long daily stages sometimes require mental strength and stamina. Steep and impassable passages are no problem for you.
  • Preparation: Practice active endurance sports such as running, cycling, mountain hiking 2-3 times a week and go regularly on hikes and mountain tours.

Difficulty V - challenging

  • max. 10 hours walking time and/or max. 1.500 m in ascent
  • Character: These tours are suitable for sporty mountaineers. They require excellent physical condition, mental strength, and stamina.
  • Preparation: Do active endurance sports 2-3 times a week.

Mountain Biking:

Our mountain bike tours are categorized according to their difficulty from I (easy) to V (challenging). Like this, it will be easy to find the right bike trip for you.

Most of our touring bike trips are accompanied by a support vehicle to carry your luggage and supplies. Anytime it is also available to give you a ride as well and difficulties of individual stages of the trip might differ. More information about our mountain bike fleet you can find here.

The difficulty I - easy

  • Uncomplicated, short distances, partly asphalt roads, wide slopes, easy paths. No technical difficulties. No trail knowledge is necessary.
  • Daily average: < 700 m in ascent

Difficulty II - moderate

  • Easy to medium-difficulty routes, longer ascents on wide pistes and gravel roads, easy to ride. Trail knowledge is not necessary.
  • Daily average: < 1.000 m in ascent

Difficulty III - medium

  • Intermediate and long distances, intermediate uphill sections, slopes in bad condition, single trails with small obstacles (occasional roots, small stones, low steps), trail knowledge necessary.
  • Daily average: < 1.300 m in ascent

Difficulty IV - difficult

  • Difficult and long distances, steep ascents, narrow single trails, partly difficult to ride. Possibly large obstacles and pushing passages (often roots, larger stones, higher steps), trail knowledge required.
  • Daily average: < 1.600 m in ascent

Difficulty V - challenging

  • Very difficult routes with extremely steep ascents, mainly narrow, exposed single trails, sometimes only extremely difficult to ride with pushing and carrying passages, special trail skills required.
  • Daily average: > 1.600 m in ascent