Continuing on my way north through Ethiopia, I made a long day trip into the Simien Mountains. Doing a three day trek is an option, but due to time constraints, I settled for the day trip and it turned out to be just right. Any excursion into the Simiens has to start in the little town of Debark, where the park headquarters are located and where you sign in and get an armed ranger. Why we need an armed ranger is beyond me, though, since there are no dangerous animals or villains here, but ok. First and foremost, the scenery in these mountains is astounding and rivals the Grand Canyon. Big tall cliffs, green grassy hills and plateaus, eucalyptus forests throughout, waterfalls, just awesomeness all around.

Our first stop was a short hike to a perilous looking cliff overlooking Jinbar Waterfall, the tallest in Ethiopia. High up on the cliff I get to look down on hundreds of birds flying below me in the abyss, including lammergeyers, a type of vulture known as the bone crusher.

The next official stop was the Chenneck camp, usually the last stop for trekkers, at about 10,000ft where I had lunch under the watchful eye of some African type of crow. Also flying around were these really beautiful eagles. The main purpose for this stop, however, was to hike around the hills looking for the walia ibex, an endangered goat species endemic to this area. We didn’t find the ibex, but we did see some more amazing views and got hailed on.

Lammergeyers and ibexes aside, the real stars of these mountains are the roughly 30,000 or so gelada baboons that inhabit the area. 

Also known as bleeding heart baboons because of the bright red exposed skin on their chests, these guys roam the hills all over the place munching on grass, climbing up and down the cliffs, and letting us humans get ridiculously close.

And just when you thought my wildlife encounters were over.

The Simien Mountains were supposed to be a day trip on the way to my next stop, but I unexpectedly ended up having to spend the night in Debark, where they’re short on amenities, but a dude with an AK47 is never more than ten feet away. Tomorrow I’ll be back on track. 

See all my pics from the Simien Mountains here