The B

ale M

ountains

As a total contrast, the Bale Mountains, with their

vast moorlands, their lower reaches covered with

St. John’s wort, their extensive heath, their virgin

woodlands, their pristine mountain streams and

their alpine climate, are a beautiful world all of

their own set in the southern highlands of Ethiopia,

425 kilometres from Addis Ababa. The mountains

rise to a height of over 4,000 metres, with Tulu

Dimtu, the second highest peak in Ethiopia, rising

4,377 metres high. The bale mountains National

Park, which covers an area of 2,740 squre

kilometres, and through which one can either walk

or drive, is one of the best places to see the

endemic Abyssinnian wolf, the Mountain nyala and

Menelik’s bushbuck. Amongst a profusion of birds,

other animals to be seen include Anubis baboons,

colobus monkeys, giant forest hog, lions and

leopards. The creeks of the park, which become

important rivers further down, offer some of

Africa’s finest fishing both rainbow and brown

trout. Not far from the Bale Mountains is one of the

world’s most spectacular and extensive

underground caverns:

the Sof Omar cave system. Formed by the Web

River as it changed its course in the distant past

and carved a new channel through limestone

foothills, Sof Omar is an extraordinarily natural

phenomenon of breath-taking beauty. The two

southernmost of the chain of Ethiopia’s Rift Valley

lakes, Abaya and Chamo, are the lushest in

vegetation and the richest in wildlife. The Nechisar

National Park embraces the eastern shores of the

lakes and was established as a sanctuary for the

endemic Swayne’s hartebeest. The lakes support

many species of fish including the Nile perch and

the tiger fish, as well as hordes of hippos and

crocodiles. The bluff between the lakes has

numerous springs after which the nearest town,

Arba Minch, the local name for ‘forty springs’, is

named.