The Bale Mountains are made up of the Harenna Forest and the Sanetti Plateau, home to the world’s rarest canid – the Ethiopian wolf. The scenery is spectacular, with pristine lakes and rushing streams carving waterways to the lowlands.
Thanks to the isolation of these mountains, the park has an incredibly high number of endemic species, and the wide altitudinal range has resulted in a variety of belts of vegetation that support many niche species of both flora and fauna. The open spaces of the high Sanetti Plateau are possibly the easiest place to see the rare Ethiopian wolf, while nearby Harenna Forest is the place to find bushpig, giant forest hog, grey duiker and occasionally lion and leopard. Menelik’s bushbuck, mountain nyala and giant mole rat, all endemic to the Bale Mountains, can also be seen here.
Many other attractions outside lie within easy reach: in the Rift Valley to the south, the landscape changes to arid scrub, providing a habitat for an entirely different range of indigenous birds. A day trip often results in a sighting of the exceptionally rare Prince Ruspoli’s turaco in a small area between Dolo Mena and Negele, some 50 kilometres away. In the opposite direction lie the spectacular Sof Omar limestone caves, the largest in East Africa and an Islamic religious site.
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