We love nature and one of the reason for travelling to Ethiopia was to see its endemic wildlife (more on this later). We started our tour to the Simien Mountains from Gondar. Our group was led by one tour guide and one guard equipped with an AK47. You may be thinking was the guard accompanying us to protect us from dangerous animals? No it was purely for job creation and the chances of encountering any dangerous animals are very small.
The main reason we wanted to trek the Simien mountains is to see the gelada monkeys. The monkeys are one of the few life experiences you can have to encounter primates at such proximity. Gelada monkeys are indigenous to Ethiopia’s Simien mountains.
Within an hour of starting our trek we came across our first group of gelada monkeys. The gelada monkeys are often mistaken for baboons but they are actually the last members of the ancient grass grazing primates. 90% of their diet is grass and they can graze for up to 10 hours every day. And the best thing is that you can be standing in the middle of them whilst they move around you munching on grass. It was an unforgettable and magical experience!
After running round the whole day looking for gelada monkeys we were looking forward to getting to camp and having dinner. Accommodation at the camp is minimal, you’re basically camping and we were lucky to have good weather throughout the three days. We finished the first day at an altitude of 3,200m. The highest peak on the mountain is 4,533m.
Whilst the gelada monkeys are one of the draw of the park they are not the only one. At high elevations there is the opportunity to see the Walia Ibex. These are highly endangered animals endemic to the local area so are one of the rarest to see!
The next day we got up bright and early to hike another 300m of elevation in search of the Walia Ibex. All day we had no luck and were about to turnaround to go back to camp. Then suddenly our guide shouts, ‘I think that’s a Walia Ibex on the top of the mountain’. Our eyes lit up and we began scrambling another 400m of elevation uphill to reach the Walia Ibex. There were six of them quite spread out. Three of the Walia Ibex were not skittish and did not mind us approaching them. We felt incredibly lucky to encounter one of the rarest animals in the wild.
We then headed back to camp just in time as it started raining so ran down to camp with the biggest smiles on our faces. The next day we went back to looking for gelada monkeys for the last time. Trekking in the Simien Mountains was unforgettable because of the animals.
Sadly just over a week after we left the war in Tigray broke out. It is devastating to see the impact of the war that has impacted so many Ethiopians. It has ruined the lives of so many amazing people we met just as Ethiopia was finding its feet after their lockdown.