Bale Mountains National park is nothing less than an earthly paradise worth visiting. Having all touristic attractions in one, the park which is 400 Kms. away southeast of the Capital, Addis Ababa, can be also dubbed as the mother of all parks for its unusual landscape, breathtaking weather, and endemic wildlife.
And if you want to visit one of the highest parks in Africa or experience a park with different worlds, then make your destination the once nominated, in the UNESCO’s heritage tentative list, Bale Mountains National Park that has so much to offer you with.
Adorned with concentric circles of a total of 40 rivers, the national park is one of the best-rated destination enticing wildlife watchers, culture and nature enthusiasts, bird watchers, mountain walkers, horse trekkers, to scenic drives and endemic specious spotters.
Surrounded by chains of must-see mountains and beautified by scenic vegetation, life inside the park proves to be the marvelous harmony created by Mother Nature’s unique and yet perfect combination. Whether you are fond of trekking or camping, or if wildlife and scenery are your priorities, the Bale Mountains are a must-see.
The spectacular park is the most-watched nature, always included in the menu of nature admirers. Bale mountains national park whose scenic area covers about 2,200 sq.kms. is replete with the rarely seen endemic wild animal in the deep naturally careo-graphed forest, and harbors peculiar birds in the sunny and yet cloudy sky.
And if you want to add up adventure to what would be one of your unforgettable trips, make sure to use the chance the park offers with such as superb hiking and trekking possibilities. The park is famed with high rise mountains and jungles and wonderful views.
In fact, according to documents, high altitude, afro-montane Sanetti Plateau rises to over 4,000m and includes the highest peak in the southern Ethiopia
highlands.
This magnificent mountain is a high-altitude plateau with numerous dramatic volcanic plugs, seasonal tiny alpine lakes, and cascading mountain streams.
The park is abundant in fauna and flora, tempting you enough to extend your actual visiting time. Bedecked with colorful flowers as well as grasslands and painted with the mosaic landscape, Bale has embraced a long list of eye-catching creatures.
It could offer you with all kinds of temperature ranging from sunny and warm with clear blue skies, to a place with abundant rainfall and damp cloudy climate, given its high-altitude.
Located south-eastern part of Ethiopa in Oromia Regional State, the park is also one of the highest incidences of endemic animals of any terrestrial habitat in the world.
Precious wild animal
At the heart of precious but nowhere else to be found wild animals, only endemic to Ethiopia are 20 endemic Ethiopian mammals, including the endangered Mountain Nyala, 12 different reptiles, 12 different amphibians and hundreds of different birds.
You could also find one of the best sites to spot the rare and endangered Ethiopian Wolf on the spectacular Sanetti Plateau as the sun rises.
The open spaces of the high-altitude Sanetti Plateau host the Simien Fox (AKA the Ethiopian Wolf). Despite its name (Simien is Amharic for North), this mammal is more commonly found here than in the Simien mountains. The conservation of the Simien Fox, along with Mountain Nyala, was a leading reason for the establishment of the park
The park is also home to Menelik Bushbuck, grey duiker, warthog, African golden wolf, colobus monkey, spotted hyena and the critically endangered species of the African hunting dog.
Breath-taking birds
Ethiopia hosts the biggest birds’ list with over 860 species of birds, and without the Bale Mountains, this fact could be incomplete. The park is home to 283 bird species of which nine of the 16 species are endemic to Ethiopia.
That is why the park is one of the top birding spots not only in Africa but also in the globe. At the Juniper-hagenia forest around Dinsho, you will find woodland species such as the Yellow-fronted Parrot, Black-winged Lovebird, White-cheeked Turaco, and Abyssinian catbird.
There are about 1,321 species of flowering plants, of which 12 per cent are endemic to Ethiopia and 14 per cent endemic to Bale alone.
Caring community
What really impresses everyone along this touristic destination is the welcoming face visitors receive from the surrounding community of the park. They know how to make you feel like home, offering you an entire good smile, local coffee, and honey!
The Ethiopian Herald July 5/2019
BY DESTA GEBREHIWOT
