Ethiopia Simien Mountains 2012

We camped for several days in the Simien Mountains National Park in Northern Ethiopia, about 100 km north of the city of Gondar. It is a Unesco World Heritage site, a series of high plateaus with towering peaks above 4000 meters including Mount Dashen, possibly the 4th highest peak in Africa. Simiens is known for several large mammal species that are endangered and for the dramatic views, enhanced by rapid changes in weather and dramatic lighting. I was with Chris Jordan and Aleco Chigounis, and it was a once in a lifetime chance to see an amazing part of Ethiopia that is off the normal parth for my coffee travels. -Tom

Dawn of Man?

Actually it is sunset, since we entered the park late. But we quickly became acquainted with the...

Lonely Man

Geladas roam in all kinds of family groups, as well as packs of young eligible males such as...

Mrs Personality

The Gelada are real characters and it's evident in their complex aural communications, a unique...

On Guard

We camped the first night at 3400 meters, and it was an experience to get used to being this...

African Bee

I was impressed with the array of alipine flowers in the Simien mountains, and their were bees...

Simien Flowers

There was an abundance of flowers and I enjoyed photographing them with s straight 100mm macro...

Red Hot Pokers

That's the name of the flower … Red Hot Poker … not that they can do the same damage as such....

Israel

Our guide was not as much of a character as he looked. He was from the Tigrai area and knew the...

Klipspringer

The Klipspringer is not endemic or unique to the Simien mountains, but it is rare to see them....

Jinbar Waterfall

The Jinbar river plunges 1000 meters from the Simien escarpment. It's a dramatic waterfall, and...

Fields of Grain

Vivid colors emerge at these high altitudes, where there are grain crops like Barley (here) Tef...

Aleco ponders the drop

The road faces directly one of the more breathtaking drops, which is actually more than vertical...

Perched

Our guard, with local herders set up on a nest above him. People seems to be scarce in the...

Caps for sale

Local crafts are sold by the kids, including these unique helmet-like hats.

From the Plateau, toward Eritrea The view north from the Simiens is dramatic.



		The plateau is around 3500 meters and this...