Hello Steemian Friends,
Hope you are all well. We are sorry we have been quiet recently, we have just been busy with other things in our lives and have not had the time to write for Steemit. Hence we have missed out on writing this week of our usual Tasty Tuesday's and Wild Wednesday's. We should be getting back into it all now though. Fingers crossed.
Anyway, today is all about Throwback Thursday's and we will be finishing off our stories from our Christmas trip to Ethiopia to visit Becca's family. In the last post we wrote about the final part of our "Christmas Hike" through the hills and beautiful landscaping views of Bale Mountains National Park.
Just after New Year, we all decided to go another trip in the National Park, but this time to the forest section of the park - Harenna Forest!
Sanetti Plateau
In order to get to the Harenna Forest by car, you need to drive through the Sanetti Plateau in the centre of the National Park. This is a high level Afro-alpine environment with heights reaching 2,800m in the North and 4,377m in the South. The landscape here is open and wild and extremely windy, but beautiful none the less. All along the drive we saw many Lobelia dotted around some of the highest parts of the plateau as well as the entire ground is covered with the rare Erica shrub, amongst which the Mole rats, the Giant Mole Rats and other rodents live and jump from burrow to burrow.
It is also along the Sanetti Plateau that we spotted and had a close encounter with 4 rare Ethiopian Wolves. This is very special, with only about 400 individuals left in the wild, they are considered the rarest Canine species in the World. They are very beautiful and ever so elegant looking.
Towards the "end" of the Sanetti Plateau on the South, you witness a huge drop in elevation and you literally see clouds beneath you and all out in front of you, as if you are about to float on clouds and there is nothing beneath them! Down there is the start of Harenna Forest!
Bale Mountain National Park - Harenna Forest
In the south of the Park there is a big escarpment, as mentioned above. Below this is the Harenna Forest.
When we started the descent down in the car, the views and the changes in vegetation and in the air were amazing. It is a steep slope down and the road is very windy, there are many natural water springs along the slope down which one can collect fresh clean water from. It was getting dark by the time we reached the bottom of this slope and we were heading to Bale Mountain Lodge to stay the night. When we eventually reached the lodge we were able to stay in the big family house which was very handy, we did bring all our camping gear just in case we did not have a room to stay. Always prepared.
The next morning we got to see the views from the Lodge.
After breakfast, we packed our stuff back into the Land Rover and went for a drive. Becca's dad wanted to check in on a Scout Outpost about 2 hours away in the forest. Sam, Becca, her sisters and brother piled up onto the roof of the Land Rover and off we went!
The Harenna Forest is covered in Giant heather trees, which themselves are covered in moss. It is also the home to lions, baboons, warthogs, Bale monkeys and Colobus monkeys (which we had the pleasure of spotting high up in the canopy).
When we got back home, we had enough time to relax, clean up, refresh ourselves and repack again to leave Ethiopia and fly back to our respective countries. We had such a great time in Ethiopia, truly one of our biggest adventures together. We hope to go back and would love to do it all over again! Hopefully we will have many more adventures like this one!
Stay Classy Steemians!
Throwback Thursday’s is a post written by the @travelling-two every Thursday to inform their followers and readers about a previous travel adventure they had been on!
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Travel Resources for your trip to Ethiopia
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Flights: We recommend checking Kiwi.com to find the best and cheapest flights to Ethiopia.
Accomodation: Explore the best places to stay in Ethiopia on Booking.com, Agoda and Hostelworld.
Travel Insurance: Medical emergencies abroad can be pricey, but travel health insurance is not. We always use SafetyWing for affordable and reliable coverage.
Car Rental: For hassle-free car hiring, DiscoverCars is our trusted choice with a wide selection of vehicles.
Internet: Got an eSIM compatible phone? Airalo is perfect for reliable internet access during your trip. Just install it before you go, and you're set!
Day Trips & Tours: We recommend GetYourGuide for a variety of well-organized and enjoyable activities.
Travel Planner: Need a hand planning? Our free travel planner chatbot is your personal guide to Ethiopia. Chat now.
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