6 Days Tour To Yirgalem and Bale Mountains

Overview

Pick you up at Gondar Airport or your hotel, and drive along a good paved road from Gondar to the park headquarters in Debark. The 100 km journey will take around two hours. At the headquarters, we will arrange our permits to the park and pick up our scout. After that, we will drive for another hour before we start our first-day introductory walk. This first hike is an easy one along the northern edge of the escarpment with nice viewpoints over the foothills and plains of northern Ethiopia. You will encounter gelada baboon along this hike and overnight at Sankaber.

Day 1: Addis Ababa – Lake Langano (200 km)

After breakfast, we drive to the Hara Langano Lodge at the shores of Lake Langano (approx. 4 hours). Hara Langano Lodge is an eco-lodge beautifully situated within genuinely preserved nature. You may relax on the beach (swimming is possible), take a walk through the lodge, and encounter wild animals such as Warthogs or Olive Baboons in front of your bungalow. The lodge can arrange many activities, such as trekking through the nearby forest, mountain biking, bird watching, fishing, hippo spotting, or horse riding.
Overnight Langano

Day 2: Lake Langano– Bale National Park (250 km)

Morning: We drive from Langano via Shshamane to the Bale Mountains National Park headquarters in Dinsho, where we will undertake a gentle but very interesting walk and usually encounter a great variety of animals and birds, particularly a large number of the endemic mountain Nyala.
Afternoon: We continue to drive into the Bale Mountain National Park, the second national park in Ethiopia underway to become soon a UNESCO world nature site due to its stunning landscapes, rich flora, and fauna. We explore the highest all-weather road in Africa to the largest moorland tract in Africa, the Senetti plateau. With a little luck, we should encounter here the endemic Ethiopian Wolf and its favorite prey, the Giant Mole Rat. In addition to the Senetti Plateau, we will also explore the Harena escarpments and its equatorial rainforests. Highland birding includes the Abyssinian Catbird, Abyssinian Woodpecker, White-backed Black Tit, Abyssinian Ground Thrush, Yellow-crowned Canary, Somali Chestnut Winged Starling, Olive Pigeon, and Mountain Buzzard. In the late afternoon, we will arrive at the Bale Mountain Lodge where we will spend the night.
Overnight Bale Mountains

Day 3: Full Day in the Bale National Park

The Bale Mountains Lodge, situated beautifully within the Bale National Park is surrounded by rare wild animals that you may encounter during your stay there. There are marked routes for guests to walk along and explore the forest. Nature enthusiasts may enjoy many activities such as Bird Watching, a trip to the Sanetti Plateau, where you may spot the Ethiopian Wolf and more bird life, or a walk through the forest where you can spot endemic Bale Monkeys, other primates, birds, rare cats, and unusual plants.
Overnight: Bale Mountains

Day 4: Bale National Park – Hawassa (280 km)

Morning; after breakfast, we drive to Hawassa (approx. 5hrs.), the capital town of the Southern People’s Nations and nicknamed “The town of Endless Love”. In Hawassa, you can recover from the strengths of traveling in the 5-star resort of the famous Ethiopian runner Haile Gebre Selassie. From Sauna, and steam bath to beauty treatment nothing should be missing here and the sunset is fantastic!
Afternoon: We arrive at the luxurious Haile Resort early enough to enjoy the beautiful sunset over the lake.
Overnight: Hawassa

Day 5: Hawassa- Yirgalem (40 km)

Early in the morning, we will visit the authentic fish market in Hawassa, and then continue to Aregash Lodge in Yirgalem, a beautiful nature retreat with its own forest as well as vegetable and fruit gardens. During your visit, you should see also see Black and White Colobus Monkeys, Vervet Monkeys, and numerous bird species. Not to be missed is the feeding at dusk of the hyena living in the forest near the lodge.
Overnight: Yirgalem

Day 6: Yirgalem – Addis Ababa (320 km)

Morning / Afternoon:
After breakfast, we drive back to Addis through Debreziet (approx. 7hrs) and we will reach Addis late in the afternoon (a day room will be provided).
You will be invited to a memorable farewell dinner in one of Addis Ababa’s traditional restaurants with cultural songs, dances, and traditional food. You will then be transferred to Bole International Airport for departure or be transferred to your reserved hotel if you continue your stay in Ethiopia.
End of the Tours