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Capital of Sidama Region, Ethiopia
Photo: MauritsV, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Hawassa (also Awasa or Awassa) is in Southern Ethiopia. Tourism here is mostly local, but Hawassa is also a common stop for Cairo-to-Cape Town travelers and foreign tourists.
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The tours seem popular with locals and foreign tourists alike. If you are lucky, you see many hippos, or you may just see their ears if they are resting. It's about 500 Birr for a boat (as of 2013), but you can fit several people to share the cost. Alternatively, if you have the time, sit on a quiet spot next to the lake, sometimes the hippos come over for food.
There are many guides at the market keen to show you around but the market is quite small and their asking price very high. You are not required to engage a guide but if you don't engage one there appears to be a 50 birr entry fee charged. If the stress of arguing with the guides gets too much you can retire to the outdoor cafes beside the market and eat some fresh caught and cooked fish for 30 birr. Right beside the fish market is a small park (50 birr) which is well worth strolling around for an hour or two.
Quiet setting under palm trees inside a fenced garden, many locals come here too, good fresh juice, local coffee. It has free Wifi.
Serves a varied menu of fresh and bold flavours.
Run by an Italian and his Ethiopian family, possibly one of the best pizzas you can get outside of Italy. A pizza is about 100 birr and good size (as of 2013).
Italian restaurant offering good quality Italian fare.
A good location right by the lake with good quality food (same as other Lewi's cafés in town). Watch the monkeys: they will often steal your food or the sugar bowl that comes with the coffee!
Very good food in a clean and modern hotel restaurant. Service can be a little slow.
A smart microbrewery in town. This is a popular drinking place - do not bother with the food.
Clean, relatively new, mostly quiet, safe, 1 minute to walk to the lake, 5 minutes walk into town.
Luxurious resort with swimming pool, etc.
Luxurious resort with swimming pool, etc. Not to be confused with several Lewi's hotels in town. If you are booking for Lewi's Resort by the lake, be careful that you are not booking one of the others.
Good rooms, friendly staff and reasonable restaurant.
By bus
Sky Bus has good and relatively modern Neoplan buses, and runs from Meskel Square in Addis Ababa every day (except Mondays) around 13:00 for 149 birr for a one-way trip.
Hawassa is a small town and walking is the best way to get around. The town center is Piazza Road that goes from the shore of Awasa Lake eastwards.
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Hawassa · International · AWA
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