The Bale Mountains

We spent the month of November 2025 exploring parts of Ethiopia, Kenya and Malawi in search of exotic birds and rare mammals, many of which are endemic to a particular area. The trip was arranged via Naturetrek and was a tailormade, wildlife focussed adventure that produced a wealth of wonderful encounters. Everything ran very smoothly, the guides were excellent, the accommodation lovely, at times spectacular, the food delicious, the people as friendly and welcoming as only Africans can be. Thanks to Naturetrek and all the people we met for making this a marvellous experience which I will document here in a series of posts. First up, an account of 2 days spent in the ethereal, scenic splendour of the Bale Mountains of Ethiopia where eagles soar, hunting the hordes of small mammals that scurry across the moorland. Stay tuned……it was one heck of a ride.

4th/5th November 2025. ‘There!’ Exclaimed our driver, a lad of only 23. He braked to a juddering halt and pointed across the vast expanse of treeless moorland to an area of richer greenery bordering a small lake. I could see nothing except wind blasted rock, stunted vegetation and miles of empty space flowing to the undulating horizon beneath skies of broken cloud from which the sun periodically decorated the landscape with patches of radiance. ‘Moving left, on the edge of the mudbank’ took up our guide, Sisay Tazebachew, eagle eyed as they all seem to be. I still saw nothing. Then a slight movement caught my eye and there in the mid distance was an Ethiopian Wolf trotting along in search of its lunch. It was simply a question of getting your eye in amidst the scale of the landscape all around.

The Bale Mountains of central Ethiopia, rising to over 4000 metres with the Sanetti plateau sitting on top, remote, desolate and breathtaking, an environment a world away from the hot, congested, noisy town of Robe, 2 miles below, which formed our base for a 3 day stay. These impressive granite protrusions are home to the endemic, long-legged, Ethiopian Wolf that makes these wild lands home. Numbers of this sandy coated canid are down to around 150 following bouts of rabies, making a sighting quite rare and precious. We were delighted with this distant view, but more was to come.

Parking the jeep anywhere on the highest road in Africa revealed why the wolves can survive in these bleak highlands. The ground is alive with scurrying endemic rodents, principally the Giant Mole Rat, Blick’s Grass Rat and Black-clawed Mouse which between them form their exclusive diet. But it’s not just the wolves that come to the feast.

Raptors of many species assemble across the plains to hunt the bountiful small mammals. They decorate prominent rocks or posts from which they can survey the surrounding heath scrub for the slightest movement. Augur Buzzards are common, the adults very smart in their bright white frontage, dark backs and rufous tail. Pallid Harriers patrol the skies, floating on wings held in the diagnostic shallow V of their tribe while Lanner Falcons (below) patrol the steeper cliff faces. Steppe Buzzards also join the throng, but it is the eagles, massive, powerful and majestic that steal the show. They care not the slightest about the close proximity of our Jeep, so we are able to slowly approach them and delight at their size and presence. On one occasion our guide could hardly contain his excitement when no less than 3 were sitting together on the ground not 50 yards from where we stopped. One, a young Steppe Eagle, took off and flew towards us, landing on a rock 20 metres from where we stood. Yes, stood; we had left the vehicle and were in full view, but the undaunted eagle simply alighted on a nearby bolder and showed itself off to us delighted observers.

We saw more Steppe Eagles chasing one another across the sky and Tawny Eagles sitting bold as brass by the road, inquisitively looking around at us when we made a sound to attract their attention. Astonishing.

On the windward side of the plateau lies the Harenna Forest, which is reached by a series of winding bends that descend from the top of the bleak, but beautiful, escarpment down through a series of distinctive habitats until the rainforest is reached. We stopped halfway at a point where the trees were covered with thick moss, making for a surreal fantasy world experience, when a few minutes earlier we were moving through stunted heath and barren rock.

A few minutes further along and we were driving through a village where fields of crops were thriving in the rich, fertile soil, surrounded by tall primary rainforest. It crossed my mind that this was a little strange given the area was supposed to be a protected national park and later, on our return to the heights, we stopped for a cup of refreshing sweet, honey effused tea, where the owner informed our guide that the villagers had been given a 30 day notice to vacate. They were all being offered accommodation and some land in nearby towns, thus allowing the national park to remain untouched, for surely if the situation continued, in 20 years time huge tracts of the forest would be felled and put into cultivation. It’s always a very difficult balance, but preserving the forest, its flora and fauna, must be a priority.

Back to the wolves. Our criss-crossing of the highlands resulted in us being blessed with encounters of 7 of these animals, memorably having one move in our direction, stop and commence calling with high pitched yelps and barks to its mate that duly appeared from amongst the rock scree on the other side of the road. Upon meeting, the pair indulged in a greeting display before trotting off together over the rise and disappearing from view. Sometimes you get lucky.

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