Gorgeous Bale Mountain National Park, Ethiopia

While the attraction of most of the Ethiopian parks is just their gorgeous landscape, the Bale Mountain National Park is an exception. It surely has a stunning landscape if you consider the fact that within the 2200 square kilometers of the park most of the Ethiopia’s highest points are located but the real attraction of the park is its bird and wild life. The park is home to more than 60 species of mammals and amphibians and more than a hundred species of bird. This magnificent park provides the tourist with an awesome game viewing opportunity along with a memorable trekking and hiking experience.

Bale Mountain National Park is divided into three regions with each one of them having its own unique charm. The northern plains are mostly barren with a few bushes and woods and provide the tourist a great trekking opportunity. The central Senetti Plateau is perfect for a hiking enthusiast as the average elevation of the region is 4000 meters. The southern region called the Harena Forest is home to all the bird and wild life of the park and will be a paradise for any safari lover.

The park was established in 1977 to preserve the natural landscape and wildlife of the region and is fast becoming a hot tourist attraction of Ethiopia. If you are arriving from abroad then you will have to take a cheap flight to Addis Ababa the capital of Ethiopia from where you can hire a car for making the rest of the journey to the park. You will have to pay a small entry fee on arrival in the park and will be briefed by the park rangers about rules of staying in the park. Our recommendation will be to visit the Senetti Plateau in the beginning of your tour of the park as it will provide you with an exciting hike as well as a chance to view some of the rare species of Ethiopian wildlife.

The Ethiopian wolf is the most endangered specie in the continent and Senetti Plateau is its last big habitat, with a little bit of luck you will be able to witness quite a few of their packs roaming around the Plateau. As said earlier the Senetti Plateau has an average elevation of more than 4000 meters so only opt for a hike if you feel that you are physically fit enough. The highest point in the park is the Batu Mountain whose summit is at 4373 meters.

Trekking the northern plains will be a far less demanding venture so if you are not that physically fit even then you can trek these gorgeous plains and marvel their beautiful landscape. The Harena Forest is for the bird and wildlife lovers so if you are one of them then hire the services of a park ranger and head to it. The recent incursions made by the villagers living close the park are significantly reducing the wildlife of the park and it is feared that many of its already endangered species will get extinct if the efforts are not made to stop such incursions.