With the change of itinerary, I really enjoyed the Dallol even with the very early morning start. There were a few early mornings start at the beginning of the trip which didn't bother me, but I feel this needs to expanded in the trip notes. Ethiopia is a beautiful country and this trip gives you a brief insight into it.
If you after a trip that has a lot of diversity, then this is the trip for you. In the Simien Mountains we watched the Geladas playing, eating grass and jumping into the Giant Lobelias in anger to protect their harem from other males trying to challenge them. They are very vocal and fun to observe. We were also fortunate to see Ibex, Bearded Vultures and two lucky people saw the Simien Fox. We climbed Ras Dashen, Ethiopia's highest mountain. There were some long hard days of trekking, but worth it, because you get to see the locals going about their daily lives along the way and amazing views. One particular night our guides were singing and dancing for us by the camp fire and the local children joined in, they held our hands and we danced with them. It was a special night. When you look through the itinerary you will see we went on Lake Tana to visit a 14th century monastery and on the way back saw hippos. We also visited ancient rock-hewn churches that will make you wonder how it was possible for them to be built from one huge rock - Lalibela was a highlight! Our local guide looked after us so well and was very knowledgeable about the history, religion and culture of his country. We also had a leader from our tour company join us, mainly to look after us if we needed medical help with altitude sickness. None of the group required this, but it was great to have him trek with us. The food was very good, there was always plenty of coffee available and the accommodation improved along the way from tents to a brand new resort. This is only a small part of what we experienced in Ethiopia. We really enjoyed our adventure, it was wonderful.
We had several guides. Simien, Gonder and Axum. I would rate the two guides who took us on historic tours as excellent. One of the guides in the Simien walked at our pace and shared about birds and flowers.