Bale Mountains

Bale Mountains National Park protects the largest continuous expanse of Afro alpine habitat on the African continent. Spanning elevation zones from mountain cloud forests to the moonlike Sanetti Plateau over 4,000 meters high, Bale is an ecological jewel harboring extraordinary numbers of endemic plants and animals. The Sanetti Plateau is the ultimate refuge of the Ethiopian Wolf (Canis simensis) the rarest canid on Earth and Africa's most endangered carnivore. As you explore the plateau among giant lobelia plants standing five meters tall, you will often spot red-furred wolves hunting giant mole-rats in broad daylight. Further down the southern escarpment lies the enchanted Harenna Forest, a misty jungle where wild Arabica coffee trees grow naturally under moss draped canopies, home to Menelik’s bushbuck, mountain nyala, and rare endemic birds like the Prince Ruspoli’s Turaco.