Trekking the Bale Mountains

Bale Mountains National Park, in Ethiopia’s southern highlands, is the country’s other great mountain wilderness — quieter than the Simien, and unmatched for endemic wildlife. It ranges from high Afro-alpine moorland to dense cloud forest, and is the surest place on earth to see the Ethiopian wolf.

The landscapes

• The Sanetti Plateau — a vast plateau above 4,000 metres, crossed by the highest all-weather road in Africa, with the peak of Tullu Dimtu near its top.
• The Harenna Forest — lush cloud forest tumbling down the southern escarpment, where coffee grows wild.
• The Web Valley and Gaysay grasslands near park headquarters, good for wildlife on foot.

The wildlife

• The Ethiopian wolf — the continent’s rarest carnivore, most reliably seen hunting rodents on the Sanetti Plateau.
• Mountain nyala and Menelik’s bushbuck, both largely endemic to these highlands.
• A wealth of endemic birds, from the blue-winged goose to the thick-billed raven.

Planning a trip

• The park is reached by road from Addis Ababa via Shashemene — allow the best part of a day. The towns of Goba and Dinsho, where park headquarters sits, are the bases.
• Trekking is on foot or horseback over several days between camps; a day’s drive across Sanetti also delivers the wolf and the big views.
• The drier months (roughly November to March) are best; nights are cold at altitude year-round, so pack warm layers.

Browse places to stay around the Bale Mountains, near Goba and Dinsho, to base a trek or a wildlife drive.