Strawberry Fields Eco Lodge
5 years ago, an Irish man settled in Konso and started to build an Eco place; food and accommodation. Today, the Strawberry lodge is a well known place for accommodation in Konso.
Strawberry Fields Eco Lodge
Location:
1,5 km away from the Konso town, on the road to Jinka.
Facilities:
Breakfast is not included in the price. Being an eco-place, please note that the food is a little bit expensive. A dish can start from 55 to 80 Birr. But the portions a big enough and very delicious. Worth every penny. Except from the pancake which did not have any taste at all, the omelette was excellent. But like everything at Strawberry Field, it a little over priced!
Internet? Maybe in your dream. When we arrived, they just got some 2G signal and probably the speed was a dial-up one. Internet in Ethiopia is a nightmare, so don’t expect to have one.
Rooms & Prices
It was not as cheap as the place in Turmi, where you paid liked 2$ per room. Depends more on the room type. The room types and the prices were a bit strange. You can easily pay 190 Birr for a double room and pay more, 220 Birr for a twin room. I could not understand the math here. The cheapest one is the dorm beds; 40 Birr per night, but usually there are occupied by the volunteers. If you have a tent, the price is only 30 per night. I am pretty sure that the prices were per person, not per room. I might be wrong. That makes the cost of one room 16 euro!
The beds are big and comfortable; in the morning is getting cold, so an extra blanket would be useful.
The best part of the Strawberry? The eco-toilet and hot shower. We really had any decent, hot shower in Ethiopia but this place had what it needed!
You have hot water all the time due to the compound system: all the rest of the food goes to big barrels and they ferments and the waters gets warm. One of the best hot showers I have ever taken in my life!
The system was invented by by 2 Lithuanians; smart guys! They don’t smell at all and you an see below full description on how to use the toilet.
The good part of the system is that after the hole is getting full (of shit, of course), another toilet, it’s being built and the hole is covered and the soil will be fertile!
Atmosphere & Stuff
There is a total different story about the guesthouse; how it is run and about the management. I will tell my side of the story in a future post. There is nothing to do there; expect to talk with the other guests or the volunteers. We will probably be tired after 2 or 3 days on the road to see the Omo Valley tribes so there is not such a big thing to do anything here.
Probably next time I will look for a different place.
Recommendation for Strawberry Fields Eco Lodge 5/10.
Where to book online Strawberry Fields Eco Lodge.
Some other travellers reviews on tripadvisor for Strawberry Fields Eco Lodge
James (2013) I visited Strawberry Fields Eco-Lodge during my stay in Ethiopia for the African Union 50th Anniversary celebrations. The purpose of my visit was to stay at the Lodge for the night to check out facilities for a potential group booking on the Permaculture Design Course (PDC). When my guide attempted to introduce me to the manager (Alex) he grunted a few words and walked off with his daughter. I assumed he was busy but whenever we passed he just ignored me. I did not bother to pursue the PDC enquiries. The interns were extremely friendly and helpful and arranged the basic lodge that I stayed in for one night. It was clean and warm but I could hear the trucks that thundered past most of the night. One shower was warmed by a compost heap but I chose instead to use the cold shower nearest my lodge. Both the shower and compost toilet were clean. The organic restaurant does not exist but meals are available and the lodge had just obtained a juicer so juice was available for the first time during my stay. After an extensive tour of the site during which I could not find any evidence of food cultivation, I enquired and discovered that most of the food was bought in. If you want to learn about permaculture and organic farming in practice it is best to visit the Konso Village. Ecological agricultural practices amongst the Konso people has resulted in the area becoming a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Kanta Lodge also grows its own produce unlike Stawberry Fields but its comfortable lodges are more expensive than Strawberry Fields. I did not receive an email response to my emails when trying to book room. There is no internet connection and phone connection is poor.
Maria (2015) We came after a long trip from Turmi looking forward to a nice and comforting lodge. We got there and first it was hard to find a person who could show us the room. We got into the little Tukul and were shocked by the dirt and the cockroaches. We went to the shower and it was dirty, too. If ecolodge means dirty lodge, that is the place you should got!!!
No breakfast, no drinks nothing!!!!