A Journey Through Ethiopia: Part 4 The Bale Mountains

After some long days in the car and the intense heat of the Danakil, the cool of the Bale Mountains came as a relief. We arrived at Bale Mountain Lodge in the dark and woke the next morning to the mist rising from the forest to reveal a beautiful glade, the Harenna forest as the dark backdrop. A pair of Abyssinian slatey flycatchers perched on a branch, occasionally swooping for an insects while we sipped our coffee. A fantastic White-cheeked turaco swooped 

into the tree above the lodge.

An incredible view of the Harena forest in the Bale Mountains. Bale Mountain Lodge.

The Bale Mountains are a series of extinct volcanoes that form a plateau known as the Senneti. Rising from around 2,000m to over 4,400m above sea level. One the south side, they are covered in an enchanted forest known as the Harenna forest, home to shy lions and Giant Forest Hog. The north side is covered in beautiful Pencil cedar and Hygenia abyssinica, and graced by the beautiful Mountain Nyala, while the top of the plateau is covered in alpine grasslands, dotted with red hot pokers and giant lobelias, but more importantly, home to the last stronghold of the Ethiopian wolf.

It was the wolf that had brought us here, so we bundled up, grabbed a packed lunch and headed up to the plateau. As we drove up above the heather zone and onto the afro-alpine moorlands on this glaciated landscape, the presence of a prey base became very evident by the impressive number and diversity of large raptors. Augur buzzards, steppe eagles, tawny eagles, the occasional lesser-spotted eagle rode the updrafts searching for rodents. A pair of Verreaux eagles worked a cliff face in search of hyrax. 

The Simien wolf or Ethiopian wolf has adapted to eating rodents.

Finally, after driving across nearly half the plateau, we spotted our first wolves. Grabbing our binoculars, lenses, tripods we began the stalk. This became the routine of the day and by late lunchtime we’d seen nine wolves. Some very habituated had let us get within meters of them, others kept a distance of 50m. Satisfied we returned to the lodge.

  

The next day we pulled off the bumpy main road onto a small track that leads to one of the wolf research stations. Our landrover was parked, the camp supplies spread out on the ground as the horse team began divvying up loads, rolling mattresses and tying the loads onto the horses. Three horses were saddled and ready to ride, so after figuring out what we needed we proceeded to mount and set off. Within 5 minutes we had seen our first wolf of the day. The sun was shining and we rode across the spectacular landscape, past giant lobelias and clumps of everlasting flowers. The views were intense and soon I realized I needed to be on the ground to capture any photos and videos of this incredible ride. Around lunchtime, we rode up through a pass and stopped to take in the panorama. High peaks rose up behind us, and before us a steep sided valley with a small lake. Not a soul in sight.

Glacial features in the Bale Mountains.

We continued, down through the valley, across another ridge, and then up through another valley. Pausing for a rest in one valley, we glassed a cliff face where a pair of golden eagles displayed, eventually landing next to their nest. That afternoon, we rode up over the final ridge and descended to our campsite. Tea was ready as we pulled in and we relaxed watching the horses graze in the flats below.

 

Great trails for riding the local horses or hiking.

Around every corner was another expansive view. 

Glacial valleys where Black Eagles soared.

That night was cold, and we woke to a small layer of ice on our tents. The clouds were low, hiding the magnificent peaks, but as the sun rose so did the cloud. We set off again. Today was mostly downhill and we followed a stream down through the valley finally coming out in the Web valley. This was one of the last strongholds for the Ethiopian wolf and we watched a pair forage while we ate our lunch. Another couple kilometers and we rode into camp. Again, tea was ready but we were also eager to photograph the wolves so we quickly set off on foot.

Ethiopian wolves live in small packs with an alpha male & female. During the day they forage individually, their physique specialized for hunting rodents. With big ears, pointed muzzles and sharp teeth, they pounce on their favourite prey, the endemic Giant Mole Rat as well as a host of other species. Their social interactions occur early in the morning, and late in the evening and involve a short greeting ritual. We hoped to witness this.

 

Expansive alpine landscapes.

It’s difficult to stalk in the open alpine grasslands, but we did our best using rocks and ridges, belly crawling over the tops and then scanning with binoculars. A couple times, the wolves spotted us and kept their distance, but finally we found a pair resting beside a clump of Everlastings. We could see another couple wolves in the distance, also resting. The wait began, our local guide was convinced that we’d see the greeting ceremony, but with the cold wind, and darkness quickly approaching we abandoned our post. As a Cape Eagle Owl flew from a rocky ridge, we watched as it silently and deliberately flew across the valley, discussing the patience and frustrations that wildlife photographers and film-makers go through getting the amazing BBC or National Geographic quality footage.

The next morning, while it was still very dark and cold, we scrambled out of our tents, and headed to where we’d left the pack. It was cold and we walked in silence. There was a light wind and fog that would make it difficult to spot them and we hoped that we wouldn’t spook them. As we came up over a ridge, our guide suddenly hurried us back. Lying right where we had been lying the evening before was the pair of wolves. Their orange and grey colors blending so perfectly with the lichen covered rocks. Quietly we took cover, set up tripods and zoom lenses and waited. 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, finally another wolf came up over the ridge. Another 5 minutes, 10 minutes, and then one stood up, walked over to another one, and the greeting began. Shaking with excitement, we were glad to have a tripod holding the camera. We let the video roll.