Merit Ethiopian Experience Tours [MEET] — Local services in Addis Ababa

I booked a day tour of Addis Ababa with Merit before my departure from Chicago. Unfortunately, I got stuck in the Addis airport for my missing check-in luggage and missed the time window when Merit's driver was supposed to pick me up. What made it worse was my T-Mobile cell phone didn't work in Ethiopia. I couldn't call or text Mr. Mulukan, the owner of Merit. When I finally got out of the airport, I was more than two hours late for the appointment. I found someone to help and call Mr. Mulukan, who immediately dispatched my driver Mr. Ashu and my tour guide Mr. Biruk to pick me up from the airport. From there started one of the most memorable tour experiences I have ever. Biruk and Ashu are such warm and great people that they not only showed me the best their city have to offer but also became my friends and families in Ethiopia. At their suggestion, I had an amazing traditional dinner experience while enjoying the local music and dance. The final highlight of my dramatic day in Addis is this. After Ashu and Biruk have dropped me off at the airport at 10 pm for my departure flight and I have passed the security checkpoint, I realized that I had forgotten my cell phone and wallet in Ashu's car. I was devastated fearing that I might have lost my phone, all contacts, credit cards, and ID forever. Or I had to skip the departure flight to stay longer in order to keep the hope of finding my phone and wallet alive. When I finally found someone to get hold of Mulukan, and this was already 10:30 in the evening, lo and behold, Mr. Mulukan said Ashu was already on his way back to airport when he saw my phone and wallet in the car upon returned home, and he asked me to wait for Ashu outside the entrance. Needless to say, my gratitude for these great people are beyond words. Not only I got my phone and wallet back, I also made it for my connecting flight to Hong Kong without...

We found the tour company by looking on Viator but then booking directly with them, which is a cost effective way of doing it (Viator charge 25%). Muluken has been developing his tour guide business for 17 years now, having left his job in accountancy and trained for 2 years in the travel and tourism school in Addis. Although he employs other guides, we had Muluken as our guide, with Hawaryat as our driver. They served us very well, took our wishes into account, shared lots of local knowledge and took us to pretty places. The basic tour plan that we followed was for a one-night stay at the Rift Valley lakes but we added a second night away by Lake Langano as we wanted a relaxing break. We did many things and it encapsulated an ‘African’ experience: a little walking safari where we saw gazelles and ostrich, a visit to a centuries old cemetery marked by standing stones; a visit to see the traditional preparation of an Oromo ‘pizza’; a boat trip on Lake Ziway to see islands full of birds; and several lovely viewpoints. We stayed at Rosetta Marina Beach resort, which overlooks Lake Langano and is in a beautiful location. We were almost the only guests there, but I guess it was low season. A big shout out to Hawaryat, our driver, for being so calm and steady, even when faced with potholes, goats, cows, sheep, camels, tuktuks, trucks, tankers, pedestrians, busses and more on the road. It was a rough road in places heading south, but our return to Addis on the new toll motorway was wonderfully...

Me and my friend had a layover in Addis on route to Rwanda to attend a conference, so we decided to choose the long layover (sleep in Addis as part of the Ethiopian airline package) and arrange a half-day tour of Addis for next morning, before we left to Kigali in afternoon. Booking process was very smooth, Merit team assisted with itinerary and accommodated to our flight times. Henok was our guide, he and the driver (forgot his name, sorry!) picked us up from hotel at 9AM. We drove through the market, went to oldest coffee shop in town, to the Ethnological national museum to check on Lucy; followed by a drive to the mount Entoto and a tradicional lunch and coffee ceremony at a local family house. Back to airport by 2 PM, on time to our afternoon flight. I have being to Addis airport several times for layover, never went out of airport. This long layover and half day tour was the perfect solution to finally see a bit of Addis and learn a little about Ethiopia history (it is very rich!) and local costumes. I recommend Merit tours for that, if you had the chance to explore a bit. PS: Visa was smooth and free, as part of the long layover with Ethiopian airlines (they don't stamp the passport, it is done in boarding pass). You may have to sign a paper at your allocated hotel assuming responsibility for leaving the hotel, as the voucher from Ethiopian airlines includes hotel, meals and transfer from and...