More mountains… and this time the Simien Mountains – home to the highest mountain peak in Ethiopia, 10th highest in Africa at well over 4,000m.
We checked into the highest lodge in Africa (their claim, don’t know it it’s true) and therefore also the highest bar in Africa and looked forward to a couple of days of hiking. These mountains have been made by volcano eruption after eruption which created the dramatic plateaus and gorges.
We walked and walked and walked – in and out of the clouds at times which was pretty cool! We saw waterfalls, lots of beautiful flowers and spectacular views. Met a few other hikers at times but otherwise all we heard were crickets, birds, trickling of water and occasional chatter from locals. Soooo nice!
But my absolute highlight was to see the gelada baboons – they are not actually baboons, they are their own species, so should be called monkeys, but guess that is a minor detail.
They are called the bleeding heart baboons – and it’s easy to see why, when spotting their bright red chest which is brighter when they are sexually ‘ready’. They are endemic to Ethiopia and I could hardly contain my excitement when we walked straight into the middle of a group of over 200 baboons. There was eating, fighting, more eating, chattering, mating, playing, even more eating and farting – it was mesmerising! We were lucky enough to bump into another two groups the following day. What a treat!! 😊
BETINA IN AFRICA 