Bale Mountain National Park 9 Days Tour Package 9 days

Day 1 Addis Ababa

Exploring Tourism representative will welcome the group at Addis Ababa Bole International Airport (ADD), and he 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.

You will cover approximately 80km and 3-hour drive.

Meal: Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Transportation: Land Cruiser V8

Accommodation: Monarch Hotel

Day 2 Addis Ababa - Bale Mountains National Park

Drive from Addis Ababa to Bale Mountains National Park 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

You will cover approximately 480km and 8-hour drive

Meal: Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Transportation: Land Cruiser V8

Accommodation: Dinsho Lodge or Similar

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

Meal: Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Transportation: Trekking or Horse/mule

Accommodation: Comping in Tent

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

Meal: Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Transportation: Trekking or Horse/mule

Accommodation: Comping in Tent

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. The rocks of the volcanic outpourings are predominantly trachytes, but also include rhyolites, basalts and agglomerates, and tuffs. After that, you will stay overnight at Rafu Rock Lava.

Key animals: Ethiopian wolves

Meal: Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Transportation: Trekking or Horse/mule

Accommodation: Comping in tent

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. Then you spend a full day at Sanneti Plateau to explore it well by vehicle, 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, bush pig, and bush baby

Meal: Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Transportation: Trekking or Horse/mule

Accommodation: Comping in Tent

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

Meal: Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Transportation: Trekking or Horse/mule

Accommodation: Comping in Tent

Day 8 Sof Omar Caves

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, you will drive to stay overnight at Goba.

You will cover approximately 180km and 3-hour drive.

Meal: Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Transportation: Land Cruiser V8

Accommodation: Goba Wabi Shebelle Hotel or Similar

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 one of the best 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 transfer to Bole International Airport and fly back home. This is the end of the tour.

You will cover approximately 480km and 3-hour drive.

Meal: Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Transportation: Land Cruiser V8

Accommodation: -