Ethiopia or Kenya?
The practical differences, drawn from our own write-ups rather than from a brochure. We are not going to tell you which is better - they are different trips. What follows is what actually changes between them.
Places written up here 11 20
UNESCO listings among them 5 4
Cost level Budget Mid-range
Busiest month in our write-ups January January
Currency Birr (ETB) Kenyan shilling (KES)
Plugs and voltage C, F - 220 V G - 240 V
Everyday languages Amharic Swahili, English
Driving side right hand side left hand side
Region Eastern Africa Eastern Africa
Capital Addis Ababa Nairobi
Ethiopia
Hospitality is a duty and coffee is a ceremony; nothing meaningful happens quickly.
What we have written up
- Axum archaeological site
- Bale Mountains National Park national park
- Ethiopian Cuisine dish
- Gondar castle
- Harar old town
- The Danakil Depression viewpoint
Worth knowing before you go
- Clocks run on a 6-hour offset - locals may say one o'clock meaning 7:00, so confirm which system a time uses
- The Ethiopian calendar sits about seven to eight years behind the Gregorian one, with 13 months
- Orthodox Wednesdays and Fridays are fasting days - vegan fasting food is everywhere and excellent
Kenya
Safari heartland with entrepreneurial buzz; Hakuna matata is real but so is hustle.
What we have written up
- Amboseli National Park national park
- Diani Beach and the Coast beach
- Fort Jesus, Mombasa fortress
- Hell's Gate National Park national park
- Kakamega Forest forest
- Kenyan Coffee coffee culture
Worth knowing before you go
- Park fees are significant and card-paid - factor them into budgets
- The SGR train links Nairobi and Mombasa comfortably
- Nairobi traffic is legendary - schedule around it
Counts describe this site, not the countries: "places written up here" means how many pages we have finished, and it keeps growing. Currency, plugs and languages are practical facts and change rarely; check anything visa-related with the relevant official source before you book.