I arrived in Ethiopia on June 22 as a member of an American humanitarian and literacy mission group. Our work focused primarily on a school in the rural mountains in South Central Ethiopia, but also included a couple of orphanage of simien trekking  Tours was an essential and significant member of our team as guide and interpreter. He made himself available at any hour for educational tours, nighttime entertainment and unique cultural experiences. His witty, self-deprecating humor made the necessary long mission drives a delight that I actually looked forward to by the end of the trip. I laughed... a lot. But what was truly exceptional was the commitment and personal contribution that simien trekking tours made in the trip's objectives. He was an active participate in the mission work when other guides (from another company) were merely drivers/observers. He was a vocal advocate, as well as compassionate playmate for the children/students. He invested his time, his passion and his skills to assist his people. Many times I watched as he took the remainder of his meal to share with those who were hungry or give of his wages to those in need. I greatly admired his integrity and work ethic. The trip was life changing for me, and Ermias was a significant part of that experience.

So, without hesitation, I recommend simien tours is responsive, trustworthy, knowledgeable and competent...detail oriented so that your needs are met before you even anticipate them. 

My criticism is about the organization and prior information from Simien Trekking in preparation of a one-day trip from Gondar to Simien.  I tried several times to get information about route, length, timing, etc. and wanted to start earlier than 8am to get a 4 hours hike, but I was just given the spiel from the website, and told that departure was fixed.  On the day, the guy (Micky I think) shows up in a tuc-tuc and expect us to go for one hour to pick-up place, which we refused, and then he yelled at us!! Absolutely horrified at his unprofessionalism, our hotel graciously offered their shuttle.  We left our hotel at 8am, Gondar at 9am, and did not arrive in Debark until almost noon.  By then Micky had collected the money and left - he is not even on the trip! When the guide came onboard the bus in Debark he had NO IDEA that there were one-day trippers on the bus.   And he said since we would not get to the drop off for everybody else until after noon, there was no way we could do a 4 hour hike, ALTHOUGH WE WERE PROMISED THAT IT WAS NOT PROBLEM.   The guide was actually great and did all he could to make sure we had a great time once there, but we were so disappointed about the lack of information and the fact that we had been misled about the options for a one-day trip.  Micky basically just took our money and left the guide to take care of things.

My rating is directed at Micky and Simien Trekking and NOT the guide - he was great!

The trip really did highlight the places I wanted to see and the tour leaders, Dave and Fentahun are very friendly and hospitable. Accommodations were very good and the transportation was comfortable and roomy. Overall the stops were terrific and gave me a chance to learn something about the history and culture. Some of the guides were very good while others were so-so or really not good. It would have been very helpful if announcements about upcoming departures, itineraries, plans for groups events, etc. were announced on the bus prior to taking place. Communication definitely needs to be better. Tour  was excellent in communicating but too much rain ,somepeople were slow walking and the guide walk so fast , as well as alternative transportation for people with walking difficulties as some missed tours because of their inability to walk steep hills. Also the itinerary could contain some more information on the stops, a quick cut and paste from a website would satisfy. I'd definitely recommend travelers to take this tour. Yigzaw Tours is the easy way to find group travel in ETHIOPIA