Bale Mountains National Park

The Bale massif holds the largest continuous area of Afroalpine habitat in Africa, and its Sanetti plateau, crossed by one of the highest all-weather roads on the continent, is a landscape of giant lobelia, frost-heaved ground and tarns above four thousand metres. It is the best place on earth to see the Ethiopian wolf, the rarest canid in the world, which hunts giant molerats across the plateau in daylight and is genuinely likely to be seen rather than merely possible. Below the escarpment on the southern side, the Harenna forest drops into cloud forest with wild coffee growing under the canopy. Mountain nyala, endemic to these highlands, graze the juniper woodland around the park headquarters at Dinsho.

What you actually see

• Ethiopian wolves on Sanetti - the plateau population, active in daylight.
• Giant lobelia - the Afroalpine flora across the high ground.
• Harenna forest - cloud forest with wild coffee below the southern escarpment.
• Mountain nyala at Dinsho - the endemic antelope around park headquarters.

When to go

October to March is the dry season, with the clearest plateau weather. The rains from July make tracks difficult. It is bitterly cold on the plateau at night year-round and frost is normal.

Honest expectations

The plateau is above four thousand metres and the drive up is fast, so altitude affects people. It is genuinely cold and exposed with no shelter. Accommodation ranges from basic lodges to camping, and there is little at the higher end. Wolf sightings, while likely, are still wild animals and not guaranteed. The road from Addis is long.

Nearby

The Harenna forest and Rira village lie south; Addis Ababa is a long day's drive north.