4 Days Simien Mountains Trekking

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 01 : Gondar-Sankaber (3250 m), 3-4 hours

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 2: Sankaber to Gich (3600 m), 5-6 hours

This trek covers a distance of approximately 12 km and takes around 5-6 hours. The hike goes through highland grasslands, heather forests, cultivated fields and follows a spectacular escarpment with dramatic views.

We will encounter the friendly Gelada baboons, foraging in big groups. A stunning viewpoint at the Jinbar Falls is reached after clambering a few rocks. This waterfall plunges several hundred meters down the escarpment down into the abyss.

At the end of the day we pass through the welcoming village of Gich where the local people are happy to prepare a well-deserved coffee. The coffee ceremony is an important social event in Ethiopian culture. The camp for the night is not far from the village.
Overnight camping.

Day 3: Hike Gich to Chennek (3620 m), 7-8

This is a long but probably the most spectacular stage of the trekking, offering stunning views all the way.

We hike 7-8 hours to cover 12 km, including a short detour to Imet Gogo (3925 m). This summit offers the most exciting views. The giant lobelia is abundant on the Gich plateau. The majestic lammergeyer might soar the skies in front of you and the endemic thick billed raven will be present.

On your way to Chennek you pass some other major peaks (Inataye reaching 4070 meter) and a deep valley. Chennek is the best place to spot the endemic and endangered Walia Ibex. Not seldom they walk into the camp. Overnight camping.

Day 4: Hike Chennek to Ras Bwahit (4430 m),  Drive (4 hrs) to Gondar

The last day in the Simien Mountains takes us up to the Bwahit Pass (4200 m) and if you’ve got the energy, you can hike all the way to Ras Bwahit, the second highest peak of Ethiopia after Ras Dashen. Total hike is 10 km, 5-6 hrs. Not only will you likely spot the Walia Ibex, you might even spot the endemic, and extremely rare, Ethiopian Wolf. In the late afternoon, we drive back to Gondar.