The Bale Mountains: Ethiopian wolves, nyala and the Harenna Forest

If you want to see wildlife found nowhere else on earth, go to Bale. The national park, in the Oromia region southeast of Addis Ababa, protects a high plateau, alpine lakes, juniper woodland and one of the largest cloud forests in Africa, and it is the best place in the world to see the Ethiopian wolf.

The Sanetti Plateau

A road crosses the plateau at around 4,000 metres, making it one of the highest roads in Africa. The landscape is otherworldly: giant lobelias, heather, small lakes and endless sky. Tullu Dimtu, Ethiopia’s second-highest peak, rises to around 4,370 metres just off the road.

The Ethiopian wolf is the rarest canid in the world, with only a few hundred individuals left, and more than half of them live here. They are slender, russet and surprisingly confident. Watch them in the early morning, trotting across the grassland and pouncing on giant mole rats, another Bale endemic.

Dinsho and the northern woodlands

The park headquarters at Dinsho sit among hagenia and juniper woodland, where mountain nyala, a large, beautiful antelope found only in the Ethiopian highlands, graze close to the walking trails. Look out also for Menelik’s bushbuck and warthogs.

The Harenna Forest

On the southern side of the plateau the road drops steeply into the Harenna Forest, a vast, misty cloud forest of giant trees hung with moss. It is home to the Bale monkey, colobus monkeys, and, rarely seen, lions and leopards. Wild coffee grows in the understorey.

For birdwatchers

Bale is one of the best birding destinations in East Africa, with many Ethiopian endemics, including the blue-winged goose, the Abyssinian catbird and Rouget’s rail. Wattled ibises patrol the meadows, and raptors hunt the plateau.

Be on the Sanetti Plateau at first light. That is when the wolves hunt, the mole rats surface, and you will often have the whole roof of Africa to yourself.

Getting there

• By road, Addis Ababa to Dinsho or Robe takes most of a day.
• By air, there are flights to Robe, close to the park.
• Allow at least three nights to see the plateau, Dinsho and the forest without rushing.