The Bale Mountain National Park is one of Ethiopia’s natural gems and one of the best locations to experience the country’s unique endemic wildlife, plants, and birds. The park, which is located about 400 kilometers south of Addis Ababa, spans over 2200 square kilometers, encompassing some of the world’s most protected Afro-alpine moorland. The park also features several other habitats, including a massive indigenous forest. Given the rich biodiversity and spectacular scenery, the park is one of UNESCO’s world heritage sites. 

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The Bale Mountains’ highest peak, Tullu Dimtu, towers at 4,377 meters above sea level, making it the second-highest peak in Ethiopia.  The park’s habitats comprise woodlands in the north, a small grassland valley area, an extensive Afro-alpine plateau in the central part, and the southern escarpment comprising the spectacular indigenous Harenna Forest.  The park has a flourishing plant life, including 1321 species of flowering plants, 163 of which are endemic. There is also a high concentration of medicinal plants and wild coffee. With all-year-round birding and 310 recorded bird species in the park, birding is a key attraction. There are 17 endemic species, 11 of which are also present in neighboring Eritrea. Pale arctic migrants make the period from November to March even more exciting. 

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Two major highlights of the park are the Harenna Forest and Sanetti Plateau. The Sanetti Plateau is situated 4,000 meters above sea level and is characterized by its striking Afro-alpine flora, such as the giant lobelia and red-hot poker. This is the best place in Ethiopia to see the Simien wolf, the rarest canid in the world. The huge rodent population, including the endemic giant mole rat, supports not only the Simien wolf, but also a variety of raptors. Other birdlife includes the rare wattled crane and spot-breasted plover. 

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The Harenna Forest is one of the last remaining natural forests in Ethiopia. Hugging the southern escarpment, which falls rapidly in altitude (3,200 meters to 2,000 meters, over a distance of 8 kilometers), the Harenna Forest presents a diverse abundance of flora, fauna and avifauna. There is also a black-and-white colobus monkey and the elusive Bale monkey, as well as Menelik’s bushbuck. Birds in the area include the grey cuckoo shrike, Abyssinian catbird, Rupp ell’s robin-chat, Abyssinian ground thrush, White-cheeked turaco, and many more. Ethiopia is one of the few, if not the only, countries where coffee still grows wild. For thousands of years families have harvested the coffee berries, many depending on the sale of coffee as their sole income. Organic wild honey is another delicious offering of the Harenna Forest; extracted from hand-carved beehives that are perched high in the trees on the southern slopes. 

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Close to Bale, “Sof Omar” a tiny Muslim village, is the site of an amazing complex of natural caves cut by the Weyib River finding its way from the nearby mountains. The settlement is a religious site, named after a local Sheikh. 

Armed with torches and official maps, visitors to Sof Omar make their way underground, far into the bowels of the earth, beside a subterranean stream, and they can see an extraordinary number of arched portals, high eroded ceilings, and deep echoing chambers. 

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