TRAVEL    INFORMATION  

CUSTOMS  AND DOCUMENTATION 

To enter the country must have a valid passport, valid for a minimum of 6 months. The visa is processed directly on arrival at Bole Airport in Addis Ababa. The amount of the visa is $ 50.

 

TIME AND TIME DIFFERENCE. 

To find the time difference, we take the time on the meridian of Greenwich. Ethiopian time is GMT +3., Taking as an example, the time of Spain is GMT +1 in winter and GMT +2 in summer, then in Ethiopia is two hours later in winter and 1 in summer. In many places, especially at official level, or for flights, work with the international system, but at street level often work with Ethiopian time. Ethiopian day 12 hours divided into periods, with respect to the time of the sample country (Spain) begin at 6:00 and 18:00 hours, six hours earlier. If we subtract six hours at the time Ethiopian, we have the time in Spain. It is important to know your schedule, because if for example they say that a bus leaves at 14:00 ethiopian time (hours Ethiopian) will be at 8:00 pm faranji time (Spanish time).

 

CALENDAR

Ethiopia has not adopted the revised Gregorian calendar, as did the rest of Christendom in the s. XVI, Ethiopia follows the Julian calendar. Therefore the Ethiopian calendar has 13 months (the country's tourism slogan is Ethiopia, 13 months of sunshine). They are 12 months of 30 days and 1 month of 5 days (6 days in a leap year). The change of year, is celebrated to coincide with the September 11th in Gregorian calender.

 

LANGUAGE

Amharic is the official language of Ethiopia, other dialects are the hareri, orominya, Sidamo, Tigrinya, Oromiña, Somali and about a hundred more ethnic languages.

English is the second official language and is spoken by many Ethiopians.

 

CURRENCY AND FOREIGN EXCHANGE

The official currency is the Ethiopian Birr (ETB). Notes are issued in five denominations 1, 5, 10, 50 and 100 birr. and there are five different coins of 1, 5, 10, 25, 50 cents and also 1birr coin. One euro (according to official exchange rate) can be exchanged for about 26 Birr, one dollar can be exchanged for about 19 birr and one pound can be changed for about 32birr.

On arrival in the country it is mandatory to make the declaration of currency.

You can change money at banks and hotels.                                                                                                                                         Change Euro to Birr

 

TEAM-HEALTH

We recommend cotton clothing and comfortable shoes, raincoat, some warm clothes, sunglasses, hat and sunscreen

It is recommended malaria prophylaxis. It is mandatory yellow fever vaccine.

Do not drink tap water or eat food without cooking.

It is advisable to carry a well equipped first aid kit with painkillers, antihistamines, antidiarrheals, antibiotics, antiseptics, insect repellents, lotions sting relievers or allergy medicine, bandages, scissors, tweezers, thermometer and hypodermic syringes if needed bring them home country.

It is recommended to travel with insurance.

 

MAIL AND TELEPHONE

To send or receive mail it is best to use the services to that end, provided by hotels. You can also use the telephone services of the hotels, that even with higher prices, secure communication.

To call from Spain to Ethiopia must dial 00-251 + subscriber number. To communicate from Ethiopia and Spain must dial the prefix 00 + region + phone number.

 

WEATHER

Ethiopia enjoys a moderate climate despite its proximity to the equator.

Ethiopia's climate is marked by the altitude, at which is every place, usually over the 1800mts.

The wet season is from March to September and rainfall is more intense in August and September.                                      The weather in Ethiopia