Hudad is a lodge sitting atop a high plateau (more than 3,300m altitude) and overlooking the historic religious town of Lalibela, Ethiopia. The lodge sits on its own plateau that commands 360 degree views of the valleys and mountains surrounding it. On the trek up you will pass many small villages and meet many local people.
Hudad is an ecolodge managed by local residents, and its eco credentials are pretty good too. There are no roads up to Hudad, so everyone must hike or ride a mule up to the plateau (about 2-3 hours direct), employing mule drivers and guides. There is no electricity or running water, so everything has been designed around this (there are gravity showers, pit toilets and campfires). The lodgings – tukuls – are also made in the local style.
The kitchen is the meeting place and home to all of the very friendly staff.
Then there is the wildlife – more prevalent than I have seen in other locations that spout this as an attraction. The endemic Gelada Baboon makes this its home, together with Rock Hyrax. Lammergeier, or bearded vultures, can be seen circling the skies with many other birds. A leopard was even spotted briefly.
Opportunities for trekking further afield abound. There are rock hewn churches, schools, villages, mountain peaks and forests.
The people. This is what made the trip for me. Sometimes you will see and hear reports from tourists to Ethiopia, that the locals are not friendly. This is definitely not the case in Hudad or the highlands. I enjoyed the opportunity to practice my Amharic (the main Ethiopian language) and to feel so welcome in such a wonderful place.
If you do ever decide to go up to Hudad, which I thoroughly recommend, do bring very warm clothes – at over 3300m it gets a wee bit chilly at night! But they tell me they are building a bar – so all those stout whiskey’s should help keep you warm.
To a truly magical place…
Erin.
Love love LOVE the faces of the “people you meet along the way” — I’d like to meet them too someday.
Gorgeous pix! 🙂
I hope you do too. They really are gorgeous people. Thank you for the nice comment.
cool capture…..NICE
Thanks Alice.
The bee catcher is stunning!
Thank you. They are so colourful, aren’t they?
Great pics, and a great way to meet people and get fit at the same time.
Thanks. Yes, it either mostly up or mostly down, and while I was puffing away, the locals were all just taking it their stride!!!
truly Amazing =o
Thanks Ren.
Your welcome .
Reblogged this on decorbuild.
What an adventure! Your photo’s are beautiful. Thank you for opening my eyes to yet another beautiful place in this world we live.
Thank you. There are so many wonderful and amazing places aren’t there?
These photos are beautiful! How neat to have the chance to mingle with a different and beautiful culture. Cheers to you!
Thank you so much. I feel very privileged to have been able to experience this, and then to share it.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHS OF WHAT SEEMS LIKE A VERY INTERESTING PLACE BUT PARTICULARLY THANK YOU FOR THE WONDERFUL WORDS. SO OFTEN WE GO TRAIPSING OFF INTO THE SUNSET THINKING THAT WHEREVER WILL BE EXACTLY LIKE THE PLACE WE JUST CAME FROM – THIS DESPITE THE FACT THAT WE KNOW THAT IT COULD NEVER BE SO AND ISN’T FOR SURE BECAUSE WE ARE REALLY LOOKING FOR SOMETHING DIFFERENT. BUT IN SOME WAYS THERE IS THE EXPECTATION THAT EVERYONE WILL BE FRIENDLY AND RECEIVING BUT PEOPLE ARE PEOPLE WHEREVER YOU GO – SOME ARE FRIENDLY, RECEIVING AND HELPFUL AND OTHERS ARE NOT AND SOME ARE NOT THIS OR THAT. ONE CAN HOPE THAT TO MEET THE FRIENDLY ONES OR THROUGH ONES OWN FRIENDLINESS BRING OUT THE FRIENDLINESS IN ANOTHER BUT IF NO , NOT. THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO REMEMBER IS TO BE THE BEST ONE CAN BE WHILE VISITING ANOTHER COUNTRY BECAUSE IN THE END YOU, AS THE VISITOR ARE THE AMBASSADOR FOR YOUR OWN COUNTRY AND CULTURE. OBVIOUSLY, THIS WAS YOU AND HENCE, YOU WERE WELL RECEIVED. MY HISTORY TEACHER (AND NOT ONLY HE) ALWAYS SAID, “WHEN IN ROME, DO AS THE ROMANS DO.” CONGRATULATIONS , AMBASSADOR, HAPPY TRAVELLING THROUGHOUT THE MANY BEAUTIFUL PARTS OF THIS WONDERFUL PLANET OF OURS!!!
Thank you Marialla for the lovely and thoughtful comment. Your history teacher was right – no point trying to do as you always do at home as you will never experience life as it is in another culture this way, it will only lead to frustration. It is also my experience that if I am friendly I am almost always met by friendliness.
First, I liked your post; loved your pics. Not to get off the subject, but whatever the credentials are that related the rock hyrax to the elephant is a bunch of boloney–I don’t care how scientific the classification was. That thing is closer related to a mongoose, or guinea pig than an elephant.
Thanks. On your note about the Hyrax – you are right about it being different, to the point of having its own order (Hyracoidea). But I think it is interesting that science has related it to the elephants and also dugongs. How about we just stick with mammal though?!
Beautiful pictures!
Thank you so much Carlie.
What wonderful touring you do! My envy is kept at bay only because I can go by proxy by looking at your photos. Wonderful.
Thank you Sarah. I am glad that you can at least share my adventures virtually.
Thanks for sharing your adventure. Very interesting photos. Connie
http://7thandvine.wordpress.com/
Thank you Connie.
Loved all the pics! The place looks good and even the people sound good! Even I have heard a lot about locals being unfriendly. It is a difference when you find the local people friendly with you. You feel more at home. Congrats on being Freshly Pressed!
Thank you so much Ann. I have to say that most of my experiences in Ethiopia have been good, but this was great! I did feel at home there. Thanks for the congrats and the nice comment.
These are inspiring, I hope to be able to experience this myself one day too!
Thank you so much. It was a wonderful experience for me, and probably the most immersed I have been in local culture in Ethiopia. I hope you get to experience it one day too. Thanks for the nice comment.
Omg I love those monkeys!!! They are so cute! Must have been hard to say goodbye to them. Do you live in Ethiopia or were you just visiting? I want to go there now!
They are also fairly easy to just watch for hours. It got to the point that they didn’t even care that I was there – I could talk and move and about and they just went about their business! I have been living in Ethiopia for 3 years now. It is definitely a place to visit that is very diverse – culture, people, climate and scenery. Thanks for commenting.
Great photos Erin. You managed to capture the whole trek. Well done!
Where to next?
Pam
Thank you Pam. It was a wonderful trek, so didn’t feel hard to capture it. Am now in New York City!!!
Reblogged this on wincharles.
This is such a great story told through pictures. The dinners you had in the tiny village must have been remarkable.
http://katieraspberry.wordpress.com/
MontrealDSL
Thank you Katie. They made the best Special Tibs (Sauteed meat, onion, tomatoes and capsicum eaten with injera – the flat bread) I’ve had in my whole 3 years in Ethiopia – you can see how fresh the meat was! But actually, the most amazing meals I have on these sorts of trips come from near strangers who invite you into their home and share whatever they have with you. It is very heartwarming.
Their communities are so different than ours – welcoming, caring, sharing. I can’t wait to experience what you’ve experienced!
I really hope you get to, they are really wonderful.
Beautiful pictures and a very picturesque place. I am sure you had a lot of fun!
I did have a lot of fun! Thanks for the nice comment.
Amazing trip, beautiful photos
Thank you.
I think its great to see life through others opportunities. What a wonderful way to see outside our box, and so much like national geographic. Thank you for such a good job sharing. Thanks to wordpress.com
Thank you so much. You are right, the opportunity to share our experiences like this is amazing.
Erin, did it get pretty cold at night, that high up? You mentioned a religious aspect to the plateau – is it connected to the Rastafarians? I know they believe Haile Selassie was a great prophet, perhaps even an incarnation of Jesus himself. Related to elephants or not, the Dassies appear to be grinning. Perhaps they enjoyed your pictures as much as I did. Well done.
Hi, thank you John. It was very cold at night – not sure I have any images of me all dressed up with even gloves and beanies! Most of the country is religious – though it seems Rastafarianism is quite small and mostly connected to a town in the south of Ethiopia.
Oh, thank you.
Great presentation! Love the pictures and actually learned something today reading your post. Thank you so much for sharing
Thank you very much. Great to hear you learned something – I also love learning new stuff all the time, hence all my travels!
Peace . . so very nice . . i like go to visit around there. . 🙂
Thanks Yakub.
It’s great… all is beutiful… amazing!!
Thank you very much.
Awesome. Super awesome. 🙂
Thanks. Thank you very much.
great pics ,I like it .
Thanks.
Thanks to share some great pictures. stunningly awesome!
Thank you so much.
Beautiful pix. I also like the blog appearance. Congrats to be on freshly pressed.
Thank you. It is an honour.
what country is Hudad in exactly? it looks amazing!! awesome pictures.. 😀
Oh, I was so absorbed in writing about my incredible experience that I forgot to mention in the start that it is in Ethiopia. Thank you for the nice comment.
What a wonderful journey you must be having. How did you find out about such a place?
Thank you. I live in Ethiopia at present, so found out about it through a local. Hudad hasn’t been open that long, but there is also another group (TESFA) that do really great hikes through the highlands too (it is in LP).
How spontaneous! Is it just you and your friend exploring? And I’m sorry, but what’s LP?
Yes sorry, LP is Lonely Planet (in lazy type)!!
I love these images. Very beautiful. The image captioned “The evenings entertainment is hosted around a camp fire” is definitely my favorite!
http://stepstochangetheworld.wordpress.com/
Thank you. The campfire was so much fun too!
Wow! THAT’s an adventure.
And great photos!
Thank you Andreas.
Reblogged this on This beautiful life.
very interesting! great photos!
Thank you Khoa and Michelle.
Enjoyed your pics!
Thanks Tonya.
These pictures are so incredible I have trouble believing them as real! Beautifully taken images. Thanks.
Wow, thank you.
Lovely post.
Thanks Nazario.
I’ve really enjoyed looking at your photos, and reading about them. They reminded me of a trip I almost went on, to Tanzania (in Africa). Unfortunately, expense stopped me from going, we had to fund the trip ourselves, but these photos are lovely! Instead of the trip, I’m putting my spare Summer time into creating a place where people can share their stories and experiences. I’d love to have even just a snippet of yours on there, it doesn’t have to be long. You can include some of your photos too, if you’d like. I can’t wait to hear from you! My web address is: http://pragmaticallyeccentric.wordpress.com/share-your-story/
Thank you Nancy. I will definitely have a look at your blog.
Thank you for taking us along on your trek! . . . A magical place, indeed!
http://arabianmusings.wordpress.com/
I’m glad you enjoyed it, thanks Michelle.
I think its cool.
Thanks audifferen.
great photos! I love the Barley Fields shot.
Thanks Arianne. There was no shortage of Barley fields either!
Totally jealous of your wonderful trip. Nice work.
Congratulations on freshly pressed. Much deserved.
Thank you Rhianna. I am glad you enjoyed my blog post.
Beautifully captured! I’m a wordpress photographer too – really great photos 🙂
Thank you Arti.
Truly and interesting post, and the photos are incredible! Congrats on being Freshly Pressed, you definitely deserve it!
Thank you very much, it really is an honour.
I especially love this series of pics, esp. the Gelada and people shots. It’s as though you have just gone up another peg with your photographic ability. I have viewed these several times – don’t lose your own style!
Hi Dad! Thank you. I am so glad that you liked this series of images. I think the difference for me with this trip was that I didn’t feel rushed and the people were all so nice and interacted with me (including the monkeys in their own way – by not running away!). I actually felt really humbled that people were happy for me to take their photo.
Thank you for that great pictures.
It is nice to visit other place of planet especially when it is different from the place where you live.
Thanks. That is also what I enjoy so much about blogging and reading new blogs too.
This is amazing what you are doing. Your photographs reflects everything – the emotions!!
Thank you so much. I am so glad you enjoyed the photos.
Fantastic blog post 🙂
Thanks Martyn.
You are one brave soul! To trek around in a new place – I wanna be you when I grow up! And…and…your photos are beautiful. They tell a story and leave an impression. Great job.
Thank you. I live in Ethiopia at the moment, so did not feel so abnormal for me.
Love the post! Keep up the good work!
Thanks heaps.
AMAZING photoblog! It captured so many aspects I felt like I experienced it!
Thank you, that means a lot.
What an amazing trek, I love he photos you have to illustrate it all as well. I love the difference in the scenes, from Stonehenge roads to lush vegetation. You have some really nice portraits if the local people and the wildlife, a wonderful travel blog. Sleeping under the stars as well…wow.
Thank you for the really nice comment. Shucks! Not to disappoint but it wasn’t me who slept under the stars, it was another who clearly didn’t feel the cold as much as me!!!
Great shots thank you for posting them!!
Cheers.
Amazing adventure. I’m kind of envious … I wish to take part in an adventure like this one. Thanks for bringing me there thru these pictures. Would love to see and experience Hudad one day. 🙂
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Thank you very much Alyssa. I hope you get to Hudad too one day – definitely a great trip.
Truly amazing, lovely shots! I am an adventure lover and love photography too. Unfortunately haven’t got that many chances but really planning to do so. Loved the post. 🙂
Thank you for the nice comment, and I hope you get to go on some more adventures soon!
U r welcome :).
y love this post
Thanks fifa 13.
Reblogged this on amirfatih and commented:
beautiful
So much beauty.
There really is so much beauty there to capture.
Great post, seriously!
Thanks so much Roselinde.
Amazing photos! And thanks for sharing some of the situations and backstories. Quite often people post pics with no explanation. I think, “pretty….why do I care?”.
Thanks. I’m glad you liked the story as well as the photos.
so exotic live.
I Love it.
Thank you Ciprut.
loved this one, you have done a wonderful job 🙂
Thank you very much Joshi.
Beautiful colors!
Thank you Lynn.