Mount Abuna Yosef

Abuna Yosef rises to 4,260 metres north-east of Lalibela, one of the higher massifs in Ethiopia, and its upper ground is Afroalpine: giant lobelia, everlasting flowers, tussock grass and frost at night. Gelada baboons, the grass-eating primate found only in the Ethiopian highlands, live here in large troops, and a small population of Ethiopian wolves survives on the plateau, one of a handful of pockets left of the world's rarest canid. Thick-billed ravens, lammergeiers and endemic birds use the cliffs. Community-based trekking is organised from villages on the massif with local guides, mules and simple camps, and the route from Lalibela climbs through farmland to the moorland edge. It sees very few visitors compared with the Simiens.

The landscape

• Gelada troops - the highland grass-eating primates in numbers.
• Ethiopian wolves - a remnant population of the world's rarest canid.
• Afroalpine moorland - giant lobelia and tussock above the treeline.
• Cliff raptors - lammergeiers and ravens along the escarpment.

When to go

October to March for dry trekking, with clearest weather from November to February. Nights are below freezing on the plateau at any time. June to September brings heavy rain and impassable tracks.

What to expect

Wolf sightings are far from guaranteed; the population is small and scattered. Trekking is at high altitude with cold camps and basic community facilities. Guides and scouts are compulsory and arranged through village associations. Infrastructure is much less developed than in the Simien mountains.

Nearby

Lalibela lies south-west; Yemrehanna Kristos is west.

Key facts