Ethiopia’s Unique Wildlife and Culture

Arrival at Addis Ababa airport. You’ll be met and transferred to your hotel by our local representative.

The tour starts in the fascinating high-altitude city of Addis Ababa, which has a population of about 3.5 million people. Here we can already find many of Ethiopia’s more common endemics, such as the oddly-proportioned thick-billed raven, white-collared Pigeon, the beautiful Abyssinian longclaw, the pretty black-headed siskin, Abyssinian slaty flycatcher, black-winged lovebird, and others.

This morning drive to the National Museum of Ethiopia for visiting the long-age history of Ethiopia and the oldest human ancestor, Lucy. Set within Haile Selassie’s former palace and surrounded by the beautiful gardens and fountains of Addis Ababa University’s main campus is the enthralling Ethnological Museum. Even if you’re not normally a museum fan, this one is worth a bit of your time – it’s easily one of the finest museums in Africa. Before lunch, drive to Holy Trinity Cathedral Church which has a unique architectural style.

Immediately after a relaxed lunch, drive up to the Entoto Mountains, the best location to observe the panoramic view of the capital. It is also a historical place where Menelik II resided and built his palace. It is notable as the location of a number of celebrated churches, including Saint Raguel and Saint Mary (Maryam Church). The return drive will be via Piazza with en-route visit to St. George Church and Menelik II Square towards the largest open-air market, Merkato.

Highlights today

• The National Museum of Ethiopia
• Holy Trinity Cathedral
• Ethnographic Museum of Ethiopia
• Merkato Open Air Market

Stay at Swiss Inn Nexus Hotel or Similar, Addis Ababa.

Today, take a flight to Gondar. Then drive to Sankaber via Debark where the park’s entrance fee is paid, and park guides are met.

You will be dropped off at Buyit Ras for a 3-4 hours hike to Sankaber hiking along the dramatic edge of the escarpment. Nearing Sankaber, you’ll have stunning views on both sides of the escarpment ridge and most likely see the endemic Gelada baboons.

Overnight at Simien Lodge

Explore the escarpment by vehicle and on food. 24 kilometres takes you to the Chennek campsite, via the Kurbet Metaya viewpoint. Once you pass Kurbet Metaya keep your eyes peeled for the endemic Walia ibex. Continue for a few more kilometres to one of the highest peaks in the Simien Massif – Mount Bwahit at 4,200m. Drive along the foothills through a valley crossed by wild streams. The road then descends from the plateau passing through spectacular scenery.

Look for the Walia ibex and Ethiopian wolf on your journey.

Overnight at Simien Lodge

Early departure to arrive in Gondar is before lunch, so that you’ll have time to visit the Royal Enclosure of Gondar and Debere Berhan Selassie before you go to the airport for your return flight to Addis.

Overnight stay at Swiss Inn Nexus or similar, Addis Ababa

You’ll drive to Dinsho, which is the gateway to the fabled Bale Mountains, which reach an altitude of around 4 500 meters (more than 14 000 feet).

Here we spend the next two days birding varied habitats for such sought-after species as Abyssinian owl, Cape (Mackinder’s) eagle owl (the most massive of three subspecies), African wood owl, wattled ibis, chestnut-naped francolin, moorland francolin, wattled crane, red-billed chough, white-backed black tit, Abyssinian catbird, African emerald cuckoo, Abyssinian crimsonwing, and, with luck, golden eagle, as well as a long list of other birds.

Interesting mammals here are mountain nyala, klipspringer, Menelik’s bushbuck, Bohor reedbuck, and others. The days in this area are also a botanical treat, with vegetation ranging from hagenia-dominated forest to giant Erica woods to high-altitude moorlands, sometimes with fabulous giant lobelias. In the adjacent harenna Forest, it might be possible to spot some star birds like brown parisoma, Ayers’s hawk-eagle, African emerald cuckoo,

Overnight stay at Goba Wabe Shebelle Hotel or Bale Mountain Lodge.

To the south of the park lies a 1200m (3700 ft) escarpment, below which is one of the largest and most extensive forests remaining in Ethiopia, the Harenna Forest.

The slope of the southern escarpment falls rapidly from the tree line at 3200m to around 2000m within a distance of only 8 km, producing a rapid and spectacular change in landscape, habitat, and species composition.

The Bale Mountain Lodge is located beside a clear mountain stream, within a natural forest clearing beneath the escarpment, and enjoys breath-taking views of the mountains and the surrounding forest.

Here rare Bale Monkeys inhabit the trees and the birdlife is spectacular. Wild coffee is harvested to the south of the lodge and delicious Bale honey is obtained by the local people from hives placed high within the canopy. Here is also found 3% of Africa’s remaining bamboo forest. Harenna is truly a magical place in which to relax or to explore.

Overnight stay at Goba Wabe Shebelle Hotel or Bale Mountain Lodge.

In the morning, you will have breakfast and drive to the Sanetti Plateau (altitude of 4000 meters, with Afro-alpine Moorland, beautiful wild alpine scenery). Driving further, stands of hypericum trees host the endemic griseiventris subspecies of brown parisoma.

Moorland and chestnut-naped francolins and cinnamon bracken warbler frequent dense shrubbery, and Ethiopian cisticola prefer the more open areas. Then drive on one of Africa’s highest roads, passing close to the summit of Ethiopia’s second-highest mountain. Here on the Sanetti Plateau, an island of tundra in the tropics, the habitat is classified as “Afro- alpine moorland”, characterized by a fascinating range of unique plants, including giant lobelias, which tower like monolithic giants over the rich tussock grasslands, and extensive cushions of yellow everlasting flowers.

The grasslands are estimated to support incredible biomass of 8,800 pounds of rodents per hectare. This attracts a rich array of raptors, and we should see steppe and golden eagles, augur buzzard, and the elegant pallid harrier circling over this verdant floral sea.

They share this abundant food source with the plateau’s most celebrated resident, the Ethiopian wolf, crowned with the unenviable title of “the world’s rarest canid.” Watching these vibrantly coloured animals, most closely related to the European timber wolf, exhibiting their hunting prowess while bouncing on giant mole-rats (another endemic to the Sanetti Plateau) is surely among Africa’s greatest wildlife experiences. The plateau also holds the only Afrotropical breeding populations of ruddy shelduck, golden eagle, and red-billed chough. We may also search for black stork, wattled ibis, Rouget’s rail (particularly common and endemic to this location), the endemic blue-winged goose, spot-breasted lapwing, wattled crane, Thekla lark, migratory flocks of red-throated pipit, Abyssinian longclaw, red-breasted wheatear, the dumpy moorland chat, and flocks of the endemic black-headed siskins.

Overnight stay at Goba Wabe Shebelle Hotel or Bale Mountain Lodge.

Today, we drive to Lake Langano, where we will spend the night. We will bird this and other lakes, among them beautiful Lake Ziway, and wetland sites of the Great Rift Valley, looking for Black Crowned Crane, Collared Pratincole, African Snipe and several other shorebird species, various Tern species including Gull-billed, Lesser and African Jacanas, Fulvous Whistling-Duck, African Pygmy Goose, Western Marsh Harrier, and many others.

Other highlights today might be Greater Spotted Eagle, Egyptian Vulture, White-headed Vulture, Clapperton’s Francolin, Blue-spotted Wood Dove, Lichtenstein’s Sandgrouse, Buff- bellied Warbler, Northern Black Flycatcher, Blackstar, Black-headed and Pygmy Batises, the striking Masked Shrike, Green-winged Pytilia, and Red-fronted Warbler, as well as many others.

Overnight stay at Hara Eco Langano with lakeview rooms.

Some of the species we might find today are Black-winged Lovebird, Banded and Red- fronted Barbets, Little Weaver, and Little Rock Thrush. The rocky escarpment above the hotel holds Blue-breasted Bee-eater, Mocking Cliff Chat, Abyssinian Wheatear, Fan-tailed Raven, and rock hyrax. Alternatively, a walk in the adjacent dry acacia woodland might yield Black-billed Wood Hoopoe, Bearded Woodpecker, Von der Decken’s Hornbill, Boran Cisticola, Buff-bellied Warbler, Mouse-colored Penduline Tit, White-winged Black Tit, White-rumped Babbler, Grey-headed Batis, and Rüppell’s Weaver. Later on, we may visit the grounds of another hotel for roosting Slender-tailed Nightjar and Verreaux’s and Greyish Eagle-Owls, as well as Clapperton’s Francolin.

During the afternoon we plan to visit the forest around Bishangari on the southeastern shore of the lake. The acacia woodland bordering the road could produce Western Banded Snake Eagle, Bare-faced Go-away-bird, and Red-throated Wryneck, among others. The remnant patch of natural forest at Bishangari Lodge is home to a number of endemics and special birds, including Scaly Francolin, Lemon Dove, Narina Trogon, Silvery-cheeked Hornbill, Yellow-fronted Parrot, White-cheeked Turaco, Abyssinian Woodpecker, and Ethiopian Oriole. Noisy groups of Grey-backed Fiscal inhabit the more open areas, and guereza can be found in tall fig trees.

Overnight stay at Hara Eco Langano or similar.

Drive back to Addis Ababa via Lake Koka and Lake Ziway.

There’s time for some souvenir shopping before a final meal at the Yod Abyssinia Traditional restaurant. From the restaurant, you will go to the airport and the tour ends.