About Nurgi Birding Ethiopia

What makes Nurgi Birding
Ethiopia different?

We are the first company that exclusively organizes/offers Bird watching holiday in Ethiopia.
-Birding always comes first and foremost in our objectives.
-We are specialists in searching out the Ethiopian endemics, and we really take you close to where they are.
-We are the only company to have very well experienced ornithologist/guides with expertise and local knowledge. Many have been working with various foreign Birdwatching Companies for the past 15 years: Negussie Toye, Merid Nega, Yilma Delelegn and for general interest Ammanuel Ayaleaw
-We are the only company that arranges special birding trips to Ethiopia which income passes for conservation. By protecting the rare and globally threatened endemic Abyssinian Woodpecker for one week each October. All the profit of a trip goes directly to the Bale Mountains National Park, which is one of the top ten birding sites in Africa.

In addition to our scheduled tours or custom made itineraries, we can arrange package and private trips at any time of the year up on request. Please feel free to contact us at any time, and we will be happy to build an itinerary that fits with your requirements.

About Ethiopia

Ethiopia is a country with a high diversity of eco-systems and with diverse habitats is one of which is extremely the rich countries in Birds and Mammals. Ethiopia has over 860 species of birds representing about 9.5% and 39 % of the world and African birds respectively. Of these almost sixteen species are restricted to the geographical boundary of Ethiopia. Ethiopia’s diverse habitats are as wintering utilized ground for large numbers of migrants. It is not a coincidence that Ethiopia is so rich in birds, variety in habitats over a vast altitudes range. While many birds can be found almost in various African countries, some bird species are adapted to live in environments with specific flora and fauna. The Ethiopian highlands and the Rift Valley system form an ‘’Island’’ with a relatively cool climate; therefore have a totally different and unique birdlife; and this results in a good number of species that are found nowhere else.

Apart from the unique scenic mountain areas, Ethiopia has a number of highland and Rift Valley lakes which offer a good variety of birds. Lake Tana, lies the north-west highlands, is the largest in the country and produces a great variety of bird species. In and around the Rift Valley Lakes (Langano, Abijata, Shalla Ziway, Awassa, Chamo and Abaya) offer some of the best birding sites in Ethiopia. While the south western lowlands, especially, the Mago and Omo National Parks provide visitors with a rich variety of birdlife and mammals. The Borena zone (Negelle, Yabello & Arero) and Boqol Mayo (in Somali Region) is exclusively a home to few endemics like the White-tailed Swallow, Bush Crow, Sidamo and Prince Ruspoli’s Turaco and Degodi Larks.

The nature beauty of the rugged mountains, savannah, lakes and rivers amaze the first-time visitor. Due to its geographical setting Ethiopia has rightly been called the ‘Water-tower’ of the North-East Africa, as it forms a water divide between the Mediterranean Sea and Indian Ocean.  
There are fourteen major wildlife reserves. Bird life abounds, and indigenous animals from the rare Walia Ibex to the shy Wild Ass, roam free just as nature intended. Ethiopia, after the rainy season (June, July, and August) is a land decked with flowers many of which more native plants than most countries in Africa. And that you really experience many of the wildernesses with their many natural attractions.
      
The Awash, Bale Mountains and Semien Mountains, Rift Valley Lakes, Mago and Nechsar National Parks and Sankalle sanctuary are Ethiopia’s prime natural tourist attractions that we visit regularly on our tours. The Bale and Semien mountains are rightly famous for their scenic trekking routes in addition to the endemic flora and fauna they accommodate.

Some Facts about Ethiopia

History
It was in 1994 that the oldest human remains ever discovered, the 4.4 million old bones of Homo Ramidus afarensis, in the Ethiopia’s Afar region, in which the previous one was known as ‘’ Lucy’’, who was estimated at 3.4 million years.
Ethiopia has got very wonderful and extensive historic places, especially in the northern part of the country, where the visitors can easily see old steles, churches and castles. In the east, the 1000 years old city of Harar, with its 99 mosques, is also considered as the fourth holiest place in Islam, after Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem.
The 1.5 to 1.8 million years old archeological site at Melka Kunture, the Tiya standing stones and the 400 stele of Tutu Fella (near Dilla) are one of the most southern historical sites. Although there are some medieval monasteries and palaces in Oromia, the recently restored palace of Abba Jifar, the last independent Oromo king, is one of the remarkable historical sites in the western Ethiopia.   

The People
Ethiopia’s geographical and historical factors have had a great influence on the distribution of its peoples and languages. The country is situated at the cross roads between the Middle East and Africa. Through its long history, Ethiopia has become a melting pot of diverse customs and varied cultures in which some of them extremely ancient.
Many of the country’s large variety of ethnic groups have their own customs, traditions, crafts, homes and unique languages. There are over 78 languages are spoken in the country in which the majority of the languages belong to the Afro-Asiatic supper family, and the rest few classified under the Nilo-Saharan. Of these, the Afan Oromo, Amharic, Tigrinya and Wolaita languages are the most widely spoken with the largest population, respectively. 

Culture & Tradition
Christianity, Islam and animism have exerted much influence in the development of the complex and diverse cultural traits. While the lives and day-to-day activities of the people are influenced by their respective religion. In terms of religion, Christians and Muslims makes up about 80 % of the population together, the remaining 20 % would be animist and others.

Language
Afan Oromo, Amharic and Tigrinya are the largest indigenous languages in the country. And that Amharic is also serving as an official language of the central government. Besides, English, French, Italian and Arabic are widely spoken in Ethiopia.                                           

Calendar
Ethiopia follows the Julian calendar, which consists of twelve months of thirty days each and a thirteenth month of five days (six days in the leap year). Our calendar is seven years and eight months behind the Western (Gregorian) calendar.

Time
Ethiopia is three hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (+3). Almost, time remains constant through out the year; day and night are always the same length, in which counting starts at 6.00 a.m. in the morning. So that, Western 7.00 a.m. is, therefore, one o’clock.

Energy
Ethiopia uses 220 volts and 50 Hz.

Currency
The local currency is the Ethiopian birr, which made up of 100 cents. Notes are issued in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 50 and 100. There are also five different coins: 1, 5, 10, 25 and 50 cents.