Ethiopia - 3,500m
From
Intermediate
Activity
Transfers
7 Nights
2 - 2
Group size
Leaders
The Ethiopian Wolf (Canis simensis) is Africa's most endangered carnivore and the rarest canid on Earth. Native to the Afroalpine highlands of Ethiopia, there are fewer than 500 individuals remaining in the wild. The Sanetti Plateau in the Bale Mountains is the Rooftop of Africa; averaging 4000m in altitude, it is the highest plateau on the continent.
On this incredible Ethiopia wildlife tour we will walk across it, viewing its beautiful and exotic wildlife including Mountain Nyala, Ethiopian Red Wolf, impala, warthogs and Colobus Monkeys; meeting the nomadic herders grazing their flocks on the plateau and learning about their culture.
Bale mountain trekking, accompanied by your local guide, porters and horses, often above the cloud line; you will traverse this region of immense landscapes and breath-taking natural beauty.
To learn more on the Bale Mountains, you can read our Journal post here.
Highlights include the beautiful Lake Gebreguracha and the opportunity to hike up Ethiopia’s second highest summit, Mt. Tuludimtu (4389m). On our drive down to the ancient lichen-covered Harenna Forest, where waterfalls plummet between bamboo groves, we will visit villages where the local people live in thatched houses, and whose way of life has not changed for a millennium.
Transfer
Dinner
Boutique Hotel
We will pick you from Bole International Airport and transfer you to Lobelia hotel.
In the afternoon if time permits you can take a city tours around Addis Ababa, visiting the national museum and the Hamlin Fistula institute if you would like to.
In the evening you will watch traditional musicians and dancers performing different tribal dances in culture house YOD ABYSSINIA enjoying dinner.
Overnight stay in Lobelia hotel.
Transfer
Wildlife
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Camping
Driving from Addis Ababa to the Bale Mountains Dinsho headquarters is about 400km will take up to 6/7 hours.
Up on arrival in the afternoon, after a warm welcome with coffee and tea, enjoy a safari on the Gassay grassland of the Bale mountains national park, the second World Heritage site in Ethiopia, included on the world Heritage list on September 18, 2023. At the 45the . The area is covered by juniper forest and home to different species of wildlife including two endemic species to the habitats: Mountain Nyala and Menelik’s Bushbuck.
Except to see: Mountain Nyala, Menelik’s Bushbuck, Bohor Reedbuck ,Common Warthog and grey Duiker
Habitat: Open woodland
Overnight: Gessaygresland camp.
Wildlife
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Camping
Walk through the dramatic landscape of Afro-alpine meadows looking for one of the most endangered species of Wolf and different migratory birds; here is the day we start our best landscapes. The Bale Mountains are spectacular and irreplaceable in their biodiversity. As a water tower, it supports the lives of millions in the Horn of Africa, and we must halt the degradation of the park before it becomes irreversible.
Key Animals: Ethiopian Wolf, Mountain Nyala,
Habitat: Afro alpine
Overnight: Sodota Camp site.
Wildlife
Breakfast
Packed Lunch
Dinner
Camping
Again through the magnificent landscape, heading to the next destination of our beautiful campsite , the are 363 documented birds species, including over 170 recorded migratory birds species. Expect to see the Ethiopian Wolf as this is prime area for them, and also potentially the Caracal & Serval Cat .
Key Animals: Ethiopian Wolf, Serval Cat
Habitat: Afro alpine
Over night : Wassama Campsite
Wildlife
Breakfast
Packed Lunch
Dinner
Camping
Lake Garba Guracha (often spelled Grabaguraacha) is a deep, mystical alpine lake situated at roughly 4,100 meters atop the Sanetti Plateau in Ethiopia's Bale Mountains National Park. Meaning "Black Water" in Oromiffa, this remote, glacial-fed lake is nestled near Tullu Dimtu and offers a rewarding, rugged trekking experience
Start trekking from Wassam to Grabaguraacha lake, walk (7-8 hrs). Expect to see many Ethiopian wolf here 🐺 in this beautiful remote landscape. While the afro-alpine habitats are not conspicuously rich in terms of plant species, more than 80% of all species found in this type of habitats are endemic.
Overnight Garba Guracha campsite.
Transfer
Wildlife
Breakfast
Packed Lunch
Dinner
Camping
After breakfast this morning walk from Grabaguraacha lake for 2-3 hours to meet your vehicle and driver, to then drive to TulluDimittu 4377m, Ethiopia's second-highest mountain.
Then drive down to the Harenna forest, afternoon walking around the Gusherlaa mountains observing many different wildlife species including the colobus monkey, bale monkey, bush pig, white cheeked turaco, narina trogon, yellow-fronted parrots, Abyssinian Orioles, Abyssinian slaty flycatcher, yellow-fronted parrots.
Visit the giant bamboo groves growing around hidden waterfalls where the local women clean their clothing.
Overnight: Harenna forest camp
Transfer
Breakfast
Packed Lunch
Boutique Hotel
Drive back to Addis for the comforts of civilisation - a nice shower at your hotel and dinner in the city (not included) at a restaurant of your choosing - we can recommend Castelli's Restaurant, operating since 1948.
Overnight stay in Lobelia hotel.
Transfer
Breakfast
Transport to the airport to continue your journey, filled with wonderful memories from Ethiopia.
Carbon Compensation is not the perfect solution, and it is important to first reduce our carbon emissions as much as we can, yet trees remain an excellent natural technology to sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to slow global warming.
For every client and guide who attends a YellowWood Adventure, we donate £30 to our partner charity WeForest to plant 15 trees to (over) compensate for the carbon footprint of the tour.
We also invite our clients to match this with an optional additional £30 for another 15 trees to be planted to help compensate for the carbon footprint of their international flights.
WeForest run many tree planting and tree maintenance projects such as this seedling nursery in the Amhara region of Ethiopia, the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil and many other projects in other countries including Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania & India.
Click Here to find out more about their amazing projects around the world.
We fully believe in, and practice Responsible Tourism, using local hotels, owned and run by locals. We put time and effort into building our relationship with them to ensure you have a a great trip.
We choose hotels based on cleanliness, comfort, safety, proximity to our route (to avoid unnecessary extra road travel), and a warm client welcome, as well as reliability in their service to us. Some hotels will be basic, in modern buildings or in town centres. Wherever we can, we will choose smaller more characterful, individual hotels, but in areas where tourism is still developing, this may not be available. An aspect of our adventures is to escape the ‘trappings’ of modern Western lifestyles and to experience new things which are exciting and memorable, and reflects the countries we are visiting.
This is adventure travel and on occasion the advertised services at a hotel (eg wifi, or hot showers, or continuous power) may not be functional on our arrival. This tends to occur in the smaller, more remote hotels. Very rarely a hotel lets us down and we are required to find alternative suitable accommodation that might not be our first choice. This trip involves hotels, a wilderness lodge and camping.
The list below gives information on our first choice of accommodation for this adventure; where hotels and hostels are fully booked or unavailable, we will use an alternative of a similar standard, and equally well situated. We will provide you with an accurate list of accommodation, with contact information to leave with relatives, prior to departure on your adventure.
Addis Adaba (Day 1,2 & 9): Monarch Hotel (www.monarchaddis.com). Address: Cameroon Street near Edna Mall, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Phone: +251 116672480 (Wifi & Pool)
Camping (Day 3-6): We wild camp in the heart of the wilderness on this adventure, in 2 man tents. We have horses to carry all our camp equipment and our guides will assist with setting up, but please be aware that camping facilities are basic. There are no toilet facilities - you may need to find a suitable spot away from the group and waterways to dig a small hole in order to manage your toileting in a hygienic and environmentally responsible way. You will need to carry your own toilet paper, burning it after use. Washing is done in mountain streams or using camp water. However, believe us when we say that the views from your chosen ‘wild bathrooms’ will be totally incredible!
Bale Mountain Lodge (Day 7 & 8): Bale Mountain Lodge (http://balemountainlodge.com). Phone: +251 912790802. Wilderness lodge - this is something very special indeed as a once in a lifetime stay!
With the exception of some of the higher class hotels in Addis Ababa, hotels generally do not have heating or air conditioning. As nights can be chilly, please bring appropriate sleepwear if needed (see packing list for further information).
In areas where malaria is a problem, hotel rooms come with mosquito nets.
Unless you have booked a single room (where they are available) and paid the single room supplement for those nights, you will be sharing a twin room with another client (of the same gender).
Supporting you on your holiday will be an experienced member of the YellowWood Guiding team. They will be joined by local city guides in Addis and Ayuba, our local hiking guide in the Bale Mountains, will join the team for the duration of the trek.
This ensures you the perfect balance of information and support on your trip; your Ethiopian guides offer insight into local life and customs, as well as routes during hiking, whilst your YellowWood guide ensures the smooth running of your adventure.
Porters and camp staff all ensure that you are well supported and secure on this holiday during the camping part of your adventure.
Your group will be any number from our minimum group size of 3 or 4, up to a maximum of 12 clients. This number works really well with the ratio of guides, and ensures the optimum level of service to you during your adventure.
We get clients booking alone, as couples and in small groups of friends. If you have a group of friends or family who are interested in having their own customised trip, then please let us know and we can cost it for you.
You are visiting the mountainous areas of Ethiopia and this is one of our more challenging itineraries involves hiking/trekking in the heat, at altitude and over some rough terrain. The camping is wild camping with only basic facilities. The hiking is at the natural pace of the group, with regular stops. As horses will be moving all your luggage and belongings, you will be carrying just a day pack and your water bottle. We highly recommend a filtration water bottle such as Aquapure Traveller.
To get the most of out of this adventure, you need to be a regular walker and in good physical condition so that you can enjoy consecutive days of hiking. You do not need to be experienced in trekking, however.
Horses will walk with the group so riding is an option if you are tired or feeling unwell.
As with all active holidays, the fitter you are the more you can relax and enjoy the stunning route, and the better you can cope with challenges such as the outside elements. Clients are advised to get in as much regular walking/ short runs before the trip as is convenient.
NB: If you have bought new hiking boots for this adventure, training is the right time to wear them in, not on the trip itself.
For general information on health issues in Ethiopia, please see the general information on Ethiopia, however, for this specific adventure, the following points are worth separate consideration.
Our guides are fully First Aid trained and there to support you.
The highest altitude that you will be experiencing in the Bale Mountains is at around 4400m, which can be difficult for people coming from lower altitudes. The summit of Mount Tuludimtu is at 4377m but other areas are around 3500m.
While we do our best to create an itinerary that allows for some time for acclimatising, altitude affects everyone differently, and to varying degrees, and the whole of the Sanetti Plateau is high. If you experience any of the following symptoms during this adventure, make sure to inform your guide and they will support you in descending to a lower altitude as soon as possible.
There is no malaria in Addis Ababa and in many places in the northern highlands (with the exception of Bahir Dar), as the malaria-carrying mosquitoes do not travel to higher altitudes, generally above 1800-2000m. For this reason it is also not present in the Bale National Park.
However, Malaria is present in lower-lying areas. We travel through these areas by car, en route from Addis to Bale Mountains National Park and back. The only guaranteed way not to contract malaria is to not get bitten by a malaria-carrying mosquito.
Suggested ways to avoid contracting malaria include:
Your YellowWood adventure starts at the airport in Addis Ababa on the start day of the trip. We understand that arriving into an unfamiliar airport can be very daunting, so we aim to give you as much information here as possible to help you prepare.
Flights are not included in the cost of your holiday, and whilst we are happy to help advise you, responsibility for booking the correct flights rests with you. We recommend that you use a comparison tool such as www.momondo.co.uk or www.skyscanner.net when searching for flights. We will send you a Flight Information Sheet with further pointers on which flights to book for your adventure.
In order to benefit from the natural and undisturbed beauty of the Bale Mountains, we need to be prepared to travel some distance, by road, to reach our destinations on this adventure. There are 2 days (Day 3 and Day 9) where you will be in private transport (minibus) travelling long distances to or from Addis, in order to reach the Bale Mountains National park. The roads are not always in great condition and the journey may be hot and dusty at times. However this is very much part of the adventure, and a wonderful opportunity to absorb the ambiance of South Central Ethiopia, so we ask you to embrace the travel days, as without it, we would not be able to access the remote areas we then enjoy.
For the latest travel advice from the Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office including security and local laws, plus passport and visa information, check www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice. As the situation in our destination countries can change, please do ensure you check regularly before your adventure. We also receive notifications direct from the FCO so we are always aware of the ‘status’ in our destination countries.
Bole International Airport (Addis Ababa) has reassuringly tight security measures and for this reason they do not allow any non passengers into the airport.
Fortunately, the Monarch Hotel has a small booth inside the airport so all you need to do is head to the booth and tell them you are a hotel guest, with YellowWood, and they will organise your shuttle transfer straight to the hotel (transfer of 20mins). Before you head to the Monarch desk however, you have a couple of jobs to do!
Toilets can be found in the arrivals lounge.
On arrival at the Monarch hotel, you should head to reception. You will be greeted by your guide at the hotel, and will be welcome to settle into your room.
You will be heading to a local restaurant for lunch and a trip briefing, once everyone has arrived.
Holiday insurance is essential for all Yellow Wood Adventures. Unfortunately anyone without insurance is not able to take part in the holiday, so please make sure you arrange cover. We recommend sorting your insurance when you book so that if you have problems during the run up to your holiday, and need to cancel, you are covered, particularly in the light of effects that the pandemic has had on travel.
Prior to the holiday, we will ask you to send us details of your insurer, policy number, 24 hr emergency assistance contact details and the name, address, and telephone numbers of your NOK or persons to be notified in the event of an emergency.
Your insurance needs to cover you for hiking /trekking with the following fairly standard inclusions:
We would also recommend that you have cover for the following optional items:
For information on Ethiopia, such as climate, weather, language, social norms, food & drink etc, please have a read of our Country specificinformation.
Caroline Kean
I'll definitely use YellowWood again.
This was my second trip with YellowWood and I can't praise them enough. My first was to the World Nomad Games in 2024: the second started as a trip to Ethiopia but when conditions changed in the area we planed to visit, Sam contacted me to discuss options and we came up with a two centre trip to include Madagascar. All the arrangements were smooth, all the team - including the local partners - were responsive
and a joy to deal with and it really was a great success. And special praise to the way they handled unexpected events in Madagascar: an occupational hazard of taking the road less travelled is that sometimes plans have to change at the last minute and this happened to us. The local team were completely on top of it, anticipated work arounds and at all times we felt completely safe and in good hands.
I'll be back.
Ethiopia's Gheralta Mountains & Danakil Depression September 2025
CHB
I have been on 2 trips with YellowWood - to Kyrgyzstan and then to the Bale mountains in Ethiopia.
Both were really interesting and great trips - well organised and great guides - both from the UK and locally. Very much applaud their working with local partners and planting trees to help offset carbon issues.
Fully recommend them and indeed planning another trip with them to Bhutan.
October 2022
Lizzie Pook, London
We had an absolutely incredible trip with YellowWood Adventures in Ethiopia’s Bale Mountains. It was seamlessly-organised, the guiding was excellent, and you really felt like you were exploring a part of the world that very few people get to see. Would highly recommend.
Wolves of the Bale Mountains, 2019
Chris Baxter, UK
A wonderful trip to the Southern Bale mountains - local guide and his team great - very knowledgable and his skills ensured that we had several sightings of the rare and magnificent endemic Ethiopian wolf. After a strenuous 5 days trek and camping the trip ended with 2 days at the wonderful Bale mountain eco-lodge - hot showers and a warm welcome. Definitely a great trip and a return to Ethiopia definitely on my 'to-do list'
Wolves of the Bale Mountains, 2019
Gurbinder Kundi, Dubai
…And so I found myself on the Rooftop of Africa in the Bale Mountains of Ethiopia at 4,200 meters – the highest plateau on the continent. I travelled to Ethiopia from Dubai and had no idea what to expect, but I have been truly gobsmacked by the beauty of this country and I want to thank YellowWood Adventures for arranging the whole tour: From the food to the guides to the transport to just giving me an amazing experience I will never forget. I highly recommend everyone to come to this country. Thanks YellowWood
Renato G
If you feel adventurous look no further, YellowWood Adventures can undoubtedly offer this! Travelled around off the beaten track destinations. It was a fantastic trip.
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All adventures can be tailored as private bespoke trips.
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You will receive a reminder email for your final payment 56 days before the departure date.
Feel free to contact us with any questions about your adventure or booking, we're here to help!
To help you choose the right adventure for you, we have given each itinerary a grading that relates to the level of Walking / Trekking you will experience during the trip. This grading can be found on the Yellow map on the adventure page of the website.
All of our trips involve a level of general activity so are designed for people who are in good health, enjoy the outdoors, and have a taste for adventure and some level of fitness. As will be clear from our destinations, the climate (and altitude) may be different to that which you are used to, so please take this into consideration when choosing the most suitable holiday.
Please read our Adventure Itinerary & Essential Information for more information and don't hesitate to contact us if you would like to chat through whether you have found a suitable adventure for you.
You need to be in good physical health to enjoy your active holiday, but you don’t need to be an experienced hiker. These itineraries offer a mix of sightseeing and easier walking for around 2-4hrs a day, with the emphasis on sights and cultural experiences.
Walks will be well marked or on defined pathways, and often around sites of interest. The expected amount of descent/ascent will depend on the landscapes of the destination, but will not exceed 400m/day, and will often be much less. Walks are at low altitude (below 3000m).
You will not be required to carry more than a day sack with water and essentials. Ensure you are aware of the weather conditions likely in the destination you are visiting and have a pair of comfortable and worn in walking shoes/boots.
You need to have a good level of fitness and be a regular walker for these adventures, with ideally some trekking experience. You can expect to be walking for 3-6 hours per day, not including rest stops, normally on good trail paths but with some uneven surfaces at times.
You will not be required to carry more than a day sack. You may be walking in more challenging temperatures. You will generally be walking at low altitude (below 3000m) but may walk at altitudes up to 4000m. The amount of ascent could be up to 800m in a day but will frequently be less. You may walk on consecutive days.
Ensure you are aware of the weather conditions likely in the destination you are visiting and have suitable clothing for this adventure.
You need to have a good level of fitness with previous experience of trekking. Extra training before your trip will ensure that you get the most out of your adventure. Areas will be remote and terrain uneven.
Expect to walk for 5 – 8 hours a day, not including breaks, with some very steep ascents and descents. You will be walking at altitude (over 3000m but not higher than 5000m).
Ensure you are aware of the weather conditions likely in the destination you are visiting and have suitable equipment/clothing for this adventure (see the packing list for your adventure).
Please check individual itineraries for details of what you will need to be carrying with you.
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