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

Brutus Our second camp was called Chennak, at a towering 3650 meters, 11680 feet. There were roving...	Et tu Brutus My favorite portrait of this individual. Their hair is amazing, long and wispy, colored like an...	Making coffee at 3650 m It was cold, very cold, and even by sleeping bag rated out 0 degrees farenheit (I am going to...
Chennak Camp, Simien Mountains, Ethiopia A panorama of the Chennek camp site with our tents. We brought much of our own supplies, stove,...	Drama The weather changed rapidly as wind and clouds passed from the warm lowlands and rose up the the...	Morning Light Aleco and Chris ahead of me on a morning walk. Once the sun hit, things got a lot better, but...
Near Chennak Camp, Simiens An image from my GPS marking the view looking down on Chennak camp. On this hike we hit 3850...	Edge of the earth The buttes and cliffs were so amazing to photograph. But the altitude, which normally does not...	In search of the Walia Ibex We looked in vain for this Ibex, a kind of mountain goat whose entire range is within the...
Walia Ibex Their horns were fantastically large, and in fact I watched them scratching their backs right...	Alpine Mosses I liked the miniature landscapes created by the lichens and mosses at these high altitudes,...	Somehow, it relates ... Back at the town of Debark, outside the park, it was so good to eat a "regular meal" - that...