Simien Mountains, Northern Ethiopia

From Axum we drove south through rugged mountainous country to Debark, the starting point for treks into the Simien Mountains. We arranged our guide and scout at the Park Headquaters in Debark before driving the 35km up to the first camp at Sankader.

Simien Landscape

We saw our first spectacular views from the escarpment and our first troops of Gelada Baboons. This primate, endemic to Ethiopia, is unique in that it feeds predominantly on grass. It also has a harem-based social structure which is regarded to be the most complex of any animal other than humans. That evening, we were visited at the camp by a handsome Menelik’s Bushbuck (another species endemic to Ethiopia). It was also there that we met the ‘Amazing Swiss’, Marc and Roman, who we would end up travelling with for a few weeks.

Our first views from the escarpment


Caro and our Scout

We had planned a three day trek: one day from Sankader up to Gich, one from Gich up to Imet Gogo (3,926m) and back to Gitch, and the last day out to Sankader. We had decided not to climb the highest peak - Ras Dashen (4,700m) - as it is a 7 day round trip from Debark and we had been told that we would see most of the sights on the three day trip anyways. We were well acclimatized by now and found the trekking not very strenuous, walking for 5-6 hours each day.

Beakfast at Gitch Camp

View from Imet Gogo

Returning to Gitch camp before the storm

The Simien scenery is truly spectacular. We saw many Lammergeier’s soaring back and forth along the escarpment, dropping bones onto rocky patches to break them open before swooping down to eat the shards and marrow. The Gelada Baboons are very used to humans and it was interesting to sit close to them watching their antic and listening to their odd language of chirps and grunts. We had to look hard, but eventually we also found a lone male Walia Ibex on one of the steep escarpment edges. These Ibex are the rarest of Ethiopia’s endemic animals.

A troop of Gelada Baboons

Simien Circus - A cartwheel with a stick in your mouth

Axum, Northern Ethiopia

We were surprised to discover that Axum is a fairly small town by Ethiopian standards. It was the capital of the ancient Axumite Empire, which peaked in the 3rd century AD and which was considered one of the four great civilisations of its time, along with the Romans, Persians and Egyptians. We visited the stelae erected by the ancient emperors, and some of their tombs. Not much else remains of this ancient civilisation which, is thought to have declined as a result of climate change and hostility from it neighbours.

The largest of the stelae - a single piece of granite

One of Axum’s churches, the St Mary of Zion, is believed by Ethiopians to house the Ark of the Covenant. This is also the subject of “The Sign and the Seal” by Graham Hancock, in which he adds credibility to the myth and, in our opinion, more interest and intrigue to anyone’s visit to Ethiopia.

An intersting read for anyone visiting Ethiopia

Petrol availability is limited between Axum and Gondar, so it is best to fill up at either end. We had a breakdown on route to the Simien Mountains thanks to some dirty fuel purchased “from the drum” in Lalibela. Fortunately it was just a simple case of cleaning out the fuel filter and we were back on the road…

A Typical Tigre Landscape