NATIONAL PARKS SAFARIS ETHIOPIA

HIGHLIGHTS, WHERE THEY ARE AND HOW TO VISIT

SIMIEN MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK TREKKING & TOURS ETHIOPIA

ONLY SIMIEN MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK TREKKING & TOURS ETHIOPIA guided by a Wildlife Conservation Biologist and discover walia ibex, gelada baboon, Ethiopian wolves, endemic birds, etc.

Simien Mountains National Park Trekking & Tours, Ethiopia

The Park is located in the western Simien Mountains, 120 km north-east of Gondar. The park can be reached from the little town of Debarq, where it has its headquarters, following a bad dirt road into the park. Unlike most national parks of Ethiopia, there is a lodge, the Simien Mountains Lodge, at an elevation of 3200m. Many visitors however, spend the night in the town of Debarq, and depart from there early in the morning.

A picture is worth a thousand words. Most of our hundreds of pictures are favored in Google! Why? Because no other website has so many beautiful high resolution pictures, taken by ourselves. Our pictures not only show you the beauty of Ethiopia, but they also show that we go everywhere, photographing wildlife, plants, people and culture. They show our professionalism, our keen eye for detail and our passion for the culture and nature of Ethiopia. So why consider booking our our Ethiopia Culture & National Parks modules? Because we don't mislead you like many tour operators do. When the Blue Nile falls are dry.... we tell you. When fog clouds the lava lake of Erte Ale? We let you know. Just drop us a mail and we will check it out for you.

Our tours take you to ALL famous cultural places of Ethiopia, and on top of that, you get to see up to 12 large nature reserves accompanied by a conservation forester. There is nothing similar on the market.

As Ethiopia can be combined with other East African countries, we organize tours in modules. Destinations Overview: Historical Circuit; Danakil Depression; Eastern Route; Simien Mountains; Bale Mountains; Southern Parks Safari; Gambella; Addis Ababa. BUT WAIT: if you buy your international ticket with Ethiopia Airlines, they will sell the internal flights at a price that you can't even ride the bus for. But you MUST plan it all in one package and making changes may be very costly. So let us help you plan your entire trip and book your local flights for an incredibly low price after you booked your international flight with Ethiopian Airlines!

Situated at the limit of the Northwestern Ethiopian plateau, the park includes the highest mountain in Ethiopia, the 4,550 m Ras Dejen, the tenth highest mountain in Africa. This mountain and the neighboring 4,510 meters Mount Biuat, are often covered in snow during precipitation. Millions of years of erosion have created jagged mountain peaks, ragged cliffs and steep escarpments dropping some 1500 m into arid valleys and lowlands offering vast vistas over the rugged-canyon like valleys. The Simien mountains have been likened to Colorado’s Grand Canyon.

Its Afroalpine meadows provide beautiful landscapes with unique montane vegetations which are a mixture of afro-alpine meadows, heaths and forests, the latter including giant Jupiter groves, tree heath, giant lobelia, yellow primrose, while mosses and lichens drape the trees.

These habitats are home to several extremely rare endemic animals, most notibly the Walia ibex, Capra walie, a wild mountain goat which only lives in and near the Simien Mountains. The Ethiopian wolf, Canis simensis, the rarest wolf on Earth and the Gelada baboon, Theropithecus gelada, also are endemic species living in the Afroalpine highlands. Other large mammals are the Anubis baboon, Hamadryas baboon, klipspringer, and golden jackal. The park is also an Important Bird Area that forms part of the larger Endemic Bird Area of the Central Ethiopian Highlands. In total, over 20 large mammals and more than 130 species of bird live in the park, of which 16 bird species are regional endemics, while the park is famous for its lammergeyer, a large vulture.

Simien Mountains National Park Trek

Simien Mountains National Park is renowned for trekking and one of the most popular parks in Ethiopia.

Dramatic landscapes of Cliffs and escarpments.

The headquarters of Simien Mountains National Park with the visitor center are at Debarq.

The dirt road from Debarq into the park is in poor condition (above right).

High mountain village in Simien Mountains National Park.

The Simien Mountains Trekking Lodge is one of the few high standard lodges in Ethiopia (right).

The Tree Heath is an erica species that can grow to 10 m high at the lower part of is ranges, while it gets smaller and smaller as the elevation increases, forming regular heath vegetations in the Afro-alpine meadows.

Some of the many beautiful flowers in the park.

Birdwatching is quite popular in Simien Mountains National Park.

Simien Mountains Animals

Lammergeyers and Ruepell's vultures in the park.

Simien Mountains animals include the following very unusual mammals:

Hamadryas Baboon, Papio hamadryas (top left);

Gelada baboon, Theropithecus gelada (top right);

Ethiopian Wolf, Canis simensis (left); and

Walia ibex, Capra walie (below).

With tall torches for flowers, the Giant Lobileas are landscape forming plants in the Afro-alpine meadows.

Yellow Forest Primroses, Hypericum revolutum, and white Abyssinian roses, Rosa abyssinica, are common small trees and shrubs in the park that mix with the Erica forests.

Trekking is a very popular activity, but our treks are small and focused on wildlife observation with our conservation biologist. Normal treks lack such professional guide.

Ethiopia modernizes and changes more rapidly than any other country in Africa. Many features may not be there anymore in the near future. If you want to see it the way it was for thousands of years, see it now before it has changed forever! Compose your own once-in-a-lifetime Ethiopia-Africa-Adventure from our affordable modules:

Famous Ethiopia Historical Circuit

Simien Mountains trek or car visit

Danakil Depression and Erte Ale Volcano Expedition

Awash Babile Harar Safari Tour

Ethiopia Central and Southern Parks & Tribes Safari Tour

Bale Mountains National Park and Sof Omar Caves Tour

Gambella National Park Safari

Addis Ababa City Tour & Airport Transfer

All Ethiopia modules and prices together

We designed our itineraries in such a way that you can compose a 1 to 4 weeks journey from different modules that can show you the entire country or just the parts that interest you, all depending on your personal preferences, available time and budget. Email us on your interests and we can discuss a custom program with you by phone (we have phone lines from the USA and Europe) or skype. So, weather you have a great ethnic affinity, are a birdwatcher or want to go on safari, contact us and we work out a customized program that focuses on YOUR interests.

Addis Ababa Bole International Airport is home of Ethiopian Airlines, featuring Africa's youngest fleet of the latest intercontinental jet airplanes - including 2 Dreamliners - as well as short-distance Bombardier turboprops for affordable and reliable in-country flights servicing all major cities of Ethiopia. The best airline of Africa, will fly you non-stop from the USA and Europe to Addis Ababa. Take our 1-week Ethiopia Cultural Monuments Tour and then continue for your Kenya or Tanzania safari - or any other East African capital - thus completing your journey. IF YOU BUY YOUR INTERNATIONAL TICKET FROM ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES, YOU WILL GET MOST INTERNAL FLIGHTS FOR $40 - $70 PER LEG! BUT CHANGING AFTERWARDS IS EXPENSIVE, SO WORK OUT A SCHEDULE WITH US TO GET A FABULOUS DEAL FOR FLYING THROUGH THE COUNTRY IN STEAD OF SPENDING ENDLESS TIME ON THE ROAD!!!

SIMIEN MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK TREKKING & TOURS ETHIOPIA