Day 1: Addis Ababa
Ethiopia Tour Operators in Lalibela will welcome the group at Addis Ababa Bole International Airport (ADD), and they will transfer you to your hotel to leave the luggage (if rooms are available, check in). There will be a mini city tour of Addis Merkato (the biggest open-air market in East Africa), Holy Trinity Cathedral (the magnificent baroque-style architecture), Mount Entoto (the highest peak and city view at 3,200 meters above sea level), and more. After that, you will stay overnight in Addis Ababa.
Accommodation options: Caravan Hotel / Monarch hotel / Jupiter International Hotel
Day 2: Bale Mountains National Park - Addis Ababa
Drive from Addis Ababa to Bale Mountains Trekking headquarters for an afternoon birdwatching, mammals and floras exploration. After that, you will stay overnight at Dinsho Lodge.
Key animals: mountain nyala and Menelik’s bushbuck
Key birds: yellow-fronted parrot, white-backed black tit, Abyssinian long-eared owls, African wood owls, Abyssinian slaty flycatcher and Abyssinian woodpecker
Other animals: warthog, golden jackal, spotted hyena, bohor reedbuck, grey duiker, colobus monkey, and tree hyrax
Other birds: Abyssinian ground thrush, cinnamon bracken warbler, brown woodland warbler, and montane nightjar
Habitat: open woodland
Day 3: Sodota
This broad flat large area, covered by Artemisia afra, Helichrysum splendidum, and Kniphofia foliosa, is very interesting to visit before you reach Sodota. There is a very big waterfall which is known as Finch Habera, which means women urine in the local language. After that, you will overnight at Sodota Campsite.
Key animals: mountain nyala, klipspringer, grey duiker, Ethiopian wolf, giant mole-rat, and Blick’s grass rat
Key birds: wattled crane, spot-breasted lapwing, blue-winged goose, three-banded plover, common sandpiper, black eagle, tawny eagle, peregrine falcon, lanner falcon, and augur buzzard
Habitat: Afro-alpine
Day 4: Wassyma
On this day, you will be above 3,400 meters on the roof of Africa with incredible scenery and spectacular mountain cliff. You will also have the chance to see one of the rare and critical endangered Ethiopian wolves, as well as the birds, which will be an awesome part of this trip. After that, you will stay overnight at Wassyma Camp.
Key animals: Ethiopian wolves
Key bird: bearded vulture, black eagle, steppe eagle, tawny eagle, lanner falcon, and Rouget’s rail
Habitat: Afro-alpine and wetland
Day 5: Rafu Rock Lava
There will be no rush on this day as it is not that much a long day you hike. However, you are going to stay where the Bale Mountains were formed prior to the creation of the Great Rift Valley from lava outpourings, which covered all underlying, rock formations between 38 and seven million years ago.
Key animals: Ethiopian wolves
Day 6: Sanneti Plateau - Harenna Forest
After breakfast, you will depart to reach the second highest peak in Ethiopia which is known as Mount Tullu Dimtu, located at the Sanneti Plateau. After you spend a full day at Sanneti Plateau to explore very well by vehicles, you will drive to the Harenna Forest, one of the best places to spot some game mammals. After that, you will stay overnight at Harenna Forest.
Key animals: Abyssinian black-maned lion, leopard, giant forest hog, bushpig, and bush baby
Day 7: Harenna Forest - Goba
Before you leave the Harenna Forest, an early morning birdwatching is a very interesting thing to do as the forest area has a highly diverse birdlife and also mammals like the endemic Bale monkey. After that, there is an optional hiking activity to the bamboo and waterfall trail. Then, you will be driven back to the biggest Afro-alpine plateau with a packed lunch. After that, overnight at Goba Wabe Shebelle Hotel (the only better hotel in the area).
Key animals: Bale monkeys and Menelik’s bushbuck
Key birds: Abyssinian catbird, Abyssinian woodpecker, and Abyssinian ground thrush
Day 8: Sof Omar
After breakfast, your journey will continue to Sof Omar Caves, which are located about 115 kilometers from the Bale Mountains National Park headquarters and 95 kilometers from the zone’s capital of Robe. It is one of the longest underground caves in Africa, with a total length of over 1.5 kilometers where the meandering Weyib River lies in. It is an entrenched gorge, 150 meters below the level of plateau basalt. After that, stay overnight at Goba Wabe Shebelle Hotel.
Day 9: Addis Ababa
You will have a morning drive from Goba to Addis Ababa (400 kilometers). On the way, you will have a short stop at Lake Langano for lunch. Your last dinner will be at Yod Abyssinia Cultural Restaurant. Enjoy the music and dance from different parts of the country over traditional food (injera) and honey wine (tej). After dinner, you will fly back home. This is the end of the tour.
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