Simien Mountains National Park
Good for: hikers, Nature lovers, stunning views, animal lovers, majestic scenery
- Address
- N Ethiopia
- Transport
- Phone
- tel, info: 0581 113482
- Price
- full Br50.00, camping Br20.00, vehicle Br10.00
- Hours
- Mon-Fri 08:30-12:30 & 13:30-17:30 Sat & Sun 08:30-12:00 & 14:00-17:00, hours for park office
Lonely Planet review for Simien Mountains National Park
The Simien Mountains National Park is easily accessible and excellent for trekking, with stirring views and a large variety of wildlife. The mountains are home to three of Ethiopia's larger endemic mammals: the walia ibex, the gelada baboon and the elusive Ethiopian wolf. Other mammals sometimes seen are rock hyraxes, jackals, bushbucks and klipspringers.
Endemic bird species include the commonly seen thick-billed raven, and the less common black-headed siskin, white-collared pigeon, white-billed starling, wattled ibis, spot-breasted plover, white-backed black tit and Ankober seedeater or serin. Although common, one of the most memorable sights (and sounds!) is the huge lammergeyer, or bearded vulture, soaring low overhead.
To take in this beautiful landscape, you can arrange a guide, mules and a tent in Debark.
Traveller reviews for Simien Mountains National Park (2)
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Simien Mountains - 360 degrees
mennohof recommends this,
I visited Simien Mountains in late December 2010 with Simien Mountain Trails (www.simienmountaintrails.com). My guide Taddele arranged the whole trip which I considered to be very affordable. For the first five days we were on the 'tourist' trail on the northern escarpment from Debark, Sankaber, Gich, Chennek and Ambiko where the views of the valleys deep down below are stunning. You will find most tourists to the Simien Mountains around Gich and Chennek, but even here tourism is quiete low key.
After we climbed Ras Dejen Taddele showed me a different route down on the other side of this high peak. We walked through endless fields of Giant Lobelia and along steep cliffs to a little village called Mentaber where we camped next to the church. This area is very little visited by tourists. However, the locals were very friendly and many came up to me to shake hands or make a little chat.
The last four days we walked through the lowlands. This means you will have a totally different perspective on the mountains in comparison with the first five days when you walk along the escarpment. Here you will find fewer tourists. The serenity of the landscape and the people that farm their slopes is great.
The weather in late December was lovely: almost no clouds and quite comfortable temperatures during the day. The last few days from Sona to Mulit it is rather warm in the middle of the day, but lovely in the morning and late afternoon. I found the trails to be in good condition, especially on the escarpment. The walk from Ambiko to Mentaber was fysically challenging and took around eight hours. And from Sona to Mekarebia there is a tiring three hour descent over loose rock and sand, but nothing too difficult (bring walking sticks) and there is a great reward at the end in the form of a series of natural pools.
Although the weather was really nice, may be consider to come a little earlier after the rains have stopped when the country side is more green. Coming during the rainy season seems to be a bad idea to me. Rainfall can be very heavy and most views will be blocked by clouds.
If you come to the Simien Mountains, I can certainly recommend the services of Simien Mountain Trails. Taddele runs this locally based small travel agency and I found it very easy to negotiate a deal with him. The good thing about using such a small agency is, that you can be sure that local communities profit as much as possible from tourism and hence people are motivated to protect the national park. Taddele is raised in a little village in the Simiens and he showed a lot of respect to all the people that worked for him and the onces we met on the way.Good for: hikers, Nature lovers, stunning views
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Unexpected but majestic, a bit of Camelot hidden away.
bpgosnell recommends this,
Who knew that Ethiopia was so full of majestic greenery? Close to Gondor with its Camelot-like castle, the Mountains are known to travelers as the home of the gelada monkeys (babboon-like monkeys with a 'bleeding heart' on chests). Hiking and exploring the area is not only full of promise but a little dangerous--you can't do either without a paid guide and a hunter, as someone's got to protect you from the mountain lions. Definitely worth the trip.
Good for: hiking, animal lovers, majestic scenery
