Bale Mountains – 4 Days

Overview:

The Bale Mountains are within a day reach from Addis Ababa. This area is famous for the many endemic species and offers great scenery for the visitor. Exploring can done by car or more active on foot or horseback.

Day 1: Addis Ababa – Goba 447 km/ ~ 8 hr

After breakfast we pick you from your hotel for a full day drive to the Bale Mountains. En route we stop at Lake Ziway to watch the many waterbirds at its shore. The headquarters of the Park are situated in Dinsho where we have to finalize some formalities before we proceed to Goba, our base for the next days.

Day 2: Goba (visit Bale Mountains NP)

The whole day is spent to explore the Bale Mountains. This is going to be a day of extraordinary scenery and of course we search for the endemic species of which many are found in this area. Among them the mountain nyala, Menelik’s bushbuck, Ethiopian wolf and many birds.

Day 3: Goba (visit Sof Omar caves)

This day, weather permitting, we travel to Sof Omar, 100 km/ 2,5 hr to the east. Here we admire what is believed the largest network of limestone caves in Africa. The Web River flows through the cave system and when the river is to high the caves are not accessible. In that case we explore more of the Bale Mountains.

Day 4: Goba – Addis Ababa, 414 km/ ~8 hr

We are leaving the mountainous area behind and travel down to the bottom of the Rift Valley by a different, very scenic road, via Asela. Late afternoon we drop you at your hotel in Addis Ababa.
(About 115 km (2,5 hr) before Addis Ababa we pass the hot spring resort  of Sodore which could make a nice relaxing overnight break if you have another day to spent.