Touring Ethiopia

The first part of this report is at Exciting Trip to Ethiopia Part I.

Early morning we organized our selves, ate breakfast, and started the trek to Geech.

It didn’t take us long to find another species of baboons called Hamadrayas.

The Hamadrayas are shy of humans, unlike the Gelada baboons.

However we had a rare opportunity to take their pictures.

As we were trekking, we found about ten people carrying a woman hurt by an ox. They were taking her to a clinic, a journey that could take them almost a day.

They asked if there was a doctor among us that could treat her. It was sad, as we could do nothing for her, since none in our party was a doctor.

Normally the villagers think a white man or woman could be doctor and ask for treatment especially if they are sick. We advised them to take her to a clinic as none among us could treat her.

We continued our trek passing through the spectacular and amazing landscapes.

My guests were busy taking pictures and asking us almost every type of bird and flowers. We saw several bird species such as Lammergeier, Wattled ibis, Alpine chat, Pied crow, Chestnut-winged staring, White-collared pigeon, and Augur buzzard.

After trekking for almost two hours we reached the beautiful water fall of Jinbar Falls descending more than 500m.

It is a very beautiful spot for someone heading either to Geech or Chenek. We also had a chance to buy some handicrafts from shepherds who put their products on the street waiting for trekkers to buy them.

After we crossed a river around 2pm, we found that our cook, who had gone on ahead to prepare lunch, was already waiting for us. We had a delicious lunch at the river side and continued the trek to Geech.

The weather during the day was very cloudy and the rain kept catching us in different places. This meant we were wet when we arrived at Geech.

We reached Geech around 4pm after a long but wonderful trek.

The Geech camp site was situated approximately 48km north east of Debark town on a plateau at 3,600m with a mean annual temperature of 7.7c.

It comprised the scenic mountain range, an impressive escarpment, superb view points and near by mountain summits such as Seha, Kedadit and Gidergot as well as the endemic mammals, birds, and plant species.

Its vegetation is part of the afro mountain ever green bush land and mixed afro alpine communities. The lower part of the plateau is dominated by Erica arborea and Hypericum revoltum.

Lobelia rhynchopetalum, Helichrysum and Fastuca gelbertiana (an endemic grass in the Simien Mountain National Park) species are dominating the high plateau.

We arranged our tents for camping and went inside the hut for our dinner and to sit by the fire. We sat round the firewood taking hot drinks and snacks until dinner was ready. We had a delicious meal and Ethiopian spirit for dinner enjoying well into the night.

The weather was foggy, so much so that we couldn’t even see each once we stepped outside to go to our respective tents. During the night it was stormy and the rain lasted almost for the whole night.

The next morning our guests complained that they couldn’t sleep due to the storm and refused to stay in that area the next day and night. They were also irritable from a lack of sleep which caused some frustration in my team as we could do nothing about the unexpected storm.

Our initial plan was to rest at Geech and stay there for two nights before heading to Chenek, the last camp site. However, as our guests refused to stay at Geech the next night, we had to rush to Chenek taking another road.

On our way we had to cross a river. My guide Semma and I carried our guests bags across and also helped them to cross the river.

Chenek
Around 3pm we arrived at Chenek where it was nice and sunny, unlike at Geech and that made us all happy.

There was a lodge, recently completed, that had not yet opened for service, but I asked the manager to allow my guests to stay the night.

Luckily the manager agreed and they became the lodge’s first guests.

The support team and I stayed in a hut in our sleeping bags.

Chenek is located approximately 58km north east of Debark town in the Simien Mountains range at an altitude of 3,600m and with a mean annual temperature of 8.8c.

The lower part of the plateau is dominated by the Giant Lobelia and Erica arborea and in the high plateau the dominant and common species are Helichrysum and Fastuca species. The endemic Rasularia Simensis is also found in this camp.

It is extremely spectacular with a scenic mountain range, the summits of Imet Gogo and Buhit, an impressive escarpment and super viewing points.

Surrounding this campsite are to be found the endemic Walia Ibex, Ethiopian Wolf (Red Fox) and the Gelada baboon. There are also small mammals among them the white toot shrew, narrow headed rat and unstriped grass rat, endemic to Ethiopia.

The next morning my guests had agreed to stay at Chenek. It was their last day to enjoy the Simien Mountains especially to see Walia Ibex and to see the spectacular scenery.

Here also we saw several bird species such as Lammergeier, Thick billed raven, Wattled Ibis, and Alpine chat.

After breakfast, we went in search of Walia Ibex.

This wild and beautiful goat species is endemic to Ethiopia and found only in the Simien Mountains.

After an hour long search we found them around twenty in number and in different groups at the peaks.

Late in the afternoon, to our surprise, the Walias came to our camp site to pick leaves.

The Gelada baboons also came in large numbers picking the grass in front of us until they were full.

The next morning we had to trek back to Sankaber where our 4WD awaited to take us to Gonder for the next day flight to Addis.

After breakfast, we trekked down to Sankaber where the whole team said goodbye to my guests. Although it was shorter than the previous days, it was an exciting trek during which we also spotted a few Klipspringers at the bottom of Mount Imet Gogo.

At Sankaber, we concluded our five days trekking at the Simien Mountains massif.

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It has been a month since I came back from an exciting trip to the north of Ethiopia around Gonder and the Simien Mountains National Park. Of course I have been to these places several times, but I always find them new and amazing. I believe many travelers who have been there more than once, share the same experience.

I think this is the reason why we see people coming back to explore Ethiopia. I don’t have data of visitor returns, but I can guess that three quarters of visitors hope to be able to come back again.

My main reason to go there was to help four of our guests and to make especially sure the trekking arrangements and facilities were in place - like tents, cooking gears, mules, lodges, meals and of course the support team, nine people including myself.

Our guests were experienced trekkers who had trekked at the Andes, Alps, and Nepal, but had never been to Africa. The whole trip was a 13 day package including Meket, Lalibela, Gonder, and the Simien Mountains.

First Day in Addis
Though it was not included in the package, I wanted my guests to experience Addis Ababa on their first day of arrival. Thus we had a city tour including the Menelik mausoleum, museum, and the Entoto mountains.

From the Entoto Mountains any one can enjoy a bird’s eye view of Addis Ababa at a glance. One can appreciate Emperor Menelik and his wife unlike past Emperors, for their great vision in choosing such a suitable and large place for a capital.

My guests enjoyed the treasures of Menelik and the city he and his wife founded. After the city tour we made our way to Kaldis, a place where we found excellent fruit juices.

Kaldis is an excellent café and perhaps even a prototype of Starbucks. It is a bit expensive for the average person to have a casual visit. But they provide an excellent and wide selection of fast foods, juices, and coffee with a very good service.

Anyone can find mango, avocado, banana, orange, or sprice juice almost any thing at Kaldis. After our juices, I invited them to dine at the Crown Hotel, situated at the east of Addis and a thirty minutes drive from Bole International Airport.

Their coffee house is built in the shape of an Ethiopian coffee pot - “Jebena.” We savored an excellent coffee served in typical Ethiopian style, with burning incense, freshly cut grass, pop corn and roasted coffee, all made and served in a traditional manner.

The dinner at the traditional restaurant was accompanied by beautiful cultural dances. I can honestly say that words fail me to describe my admiration for these colorful dances performed by highly skilled dancers wearing different Ethiopian cultural costumes.

My guests, to their surprise said “What a wonderful introduction!” as it was their first time to Ethiopia or even to Africa.

I recommend the Crown Hotel for any one who wants to see Ethiopian cultural dances and listen to Ethiopian music. We enjoyed four or five shows which represented the major cultural diversities of the country.

My guests left for Lalibela on the third day, after spending one more day in Addis.

Leaving Addis for Gonder
I left Addis on the fourth day to meet my tour party at Gonder, after they had concluded their trips to Meket and Lalibela.

As “African Petra” is for Lalibela, “African Chameleon” is the nick name of Gonder. It is a name given for her beautiful castles and royal enclosure.

I had guest reservations at the Goha Hotel situated on top of a mountain.

From there one can see the whole city below, just as one can see Addis downtown from the Entoto Mountains.

In the morning the group visited the royal enclosure and the bath of King Fasiledas which has become a center for an Epiphany ceremony. After lunch in a beautiful garden of the newly built Lammergeyer hotel, we visited the Kusquam complex and the famous Debre-Birhan Silassie church.

That night we dined at one of the best traditional restaurants in Gonder. My guests enjoyed a local brewed beverage named Tej, made with honey and served using a special flask named a “Birille.”

They enjoyed the taste and wanted to stay and have more, but time didn’t allow as we had to rest for the next day’s trip to the most exciting part of this tour; five days trekking at the dramatic Simien mountain range.

Just a few kilometers from Gonder, on the way to Debark there is a beautiful viewing point named Kossoye.

It has spectacular scenery especially for tourists who don’t have the time to fully experience the Simien Mountains can have a glimpse of it from Kossoye.

We also stopped for a short time at Wolleka, a little village of Ethiopian Jews where the villagers display their souvenirs for tourists.

Around noon we arrived at Debark, the largest town in north Gonder and where the park headquarters are to be found. One can feel the cold chill of the Simien Mountains starting from Debark.

Luckily my guests arrived refreshed after staying at a newly completed, very clean and beautiful hotel, named Imet Gogo. They were also lucky enough to be invited for coffee at the house of the parents of our guide Semma.

We arranged four mules and an eight supporting team for the five days trekking. On the first day we trekked for almost a full day having some breaks and stopovers at various viewing points.

In addition to the beautiful scenery, we enjoyed watching a large troop of Gelada baboons on our way to Sankaber.

After a picnic lunch, we had coffee at the Simien Lodge, an excellent place and said to be the highest in Africa.

It is situated at 3,260m above sea level and located 22km from Debark.

We continued our trek up to Sankaber, 38km from Debark at an elevation of 3,300m above sea level. The weather was good until about 3pm and then came some stormy rain that lasted for more than half hour. We continued our trekking and had the chance to see another troop of Gelada baboons, which could be numbered in hundreds.

It is so exciting to watch these animals whatever they do; like helping one another in picking out the ticks from their thick furs; males dominating and disturbing the group; little ones playing and wrestling with each other. We also had a chance to watch some Klipspringers standing alertly on higher cliffs, where predators can’t easily catch them.

We reached Sankaber around 5pm whilst our support team had arrived ahead of us. After changing out of our wet clothes we enjoyed taking hot tea, coffee, and milk.

That night by the camp fire our excellent cook had prepared us delicious soup, a main course dinner and dessert.

We went to our tents for a good night’s sleep to wake up early for the next days trekking.

Our next day we were to trek to Geech 3,600m above sea level, but that will have to wait for my next report at Exciting trip to North Ethiopia Part II

Eskinder Hailu
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Visit Choosing a Tour for a short Video or Brochure
Visit Ethiopia Tour Enquiry for a Customized Tour