Journal · Planning · 6 min
When to go: the south and east, month by month
Dry season, harvest, the small rains and the long ones, read against the thirteen months.
Written by Abyssinia Journeys
Addis Ababa · 2,355 m
Ethiopia's highlands have four seasons in the old reckoning. Tseday, from Meskerem to Hidar (mid-September to early December), is the green time after the rains, with clear air and the coffee harvest starting in the south. Bega, from Tahsas to Yekatit (December to early March), is the dry season: cold dawns, warm days and the clearest skies of the year.
Belg, the small rains, comes in from Megabit to Ginbot (March to early June), mostly as afternoon storms in the highlands. Kiremt, the long rains, sets in from Sene to Nehase (June to early September). The highlands turn very green and very wet.
Place by place
Bale: October to February for the clearest wolf mornings. The plateau clouds over in the rains. Harar: pleasant most of the year; hottest before the belg rains. Kaffa and coffee country: November to February, the harvest. It rains hard from June. The Omo: the far south has its own pattern, with long rains roughly March to May and short rains around October and November; tracks can close.
For the feasts, Meskel is late September, Genna 7 January and Timkat mid-January. Use the converter to check exact dates and any fasts during your trip.
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