Mountains Ethiopia ~ Ethiopian Highlands pictures

Farmers Threshing in the mountains plateau

The season's crops were being harvested as we drove from Gonder to Debark. All along the route, women, men and children were bringing in the harvest, cutting the grasses with hand scythes, a handful at a time, and gathering it into piles. Usually it was a man who, with the aid of one or two long poles that helped balance the load, hoisted a pile and carried it on his shoulders to the threshing area some distance away. At one of these 'threshing mills', 3 or 4 ponies were led in a circle, their footfalls loosening the grain from the straw. I had visions of my then-young grandparents likely doing the same work a century ago on their farm in Canada.

Debark Hostel

As we were continuing through the mountains to Axum, we stayed the night in Debark so we could see a bit of the park. We left Gonder at 9:30 a.m., and even after being stopped by flagmen several times to allow road graders and water trucks to pass, we arrived in Debark just past noon. I paid 40 Ethiopian birr (about $5 U.S.) for this room for one night. The in-room 'facilities' are basic (a plastic bowl under the bed).

There's a communal toilet and shower located outside at the end of the walkway. There's one larger, pricier room with an ensuite. The restaurant has really good and inexpensive food. They provided us with box lunches of hard-boiled eggs, boiled potatoes, fresh-baked buns for our road trip into Aksum.

Hostel gates are always locked and manned by security staff. Be sure to wear layers of clothing. It's easy to remove some items in the daytime heat, and then wear everything to sleep in at night. And if you are staying in the hostel, bring along a hostel sheet if you can. Bed bug bites can set off several months of allergic reactions and/or asthma in some people, a fact I discovered the following morning.

Debark -> National Park

From Debark, we headed some 36 kilometres (22 miles) into Simien Mountains National Park, planning to go to the first base Camp, where trekkers spend the night. Debark is the mustering point for those making the 10-day trek to Ras Dashen, the country's highest mountain (4620 metres/15,157 feet), with the support of a cook, a guide, pack mules and mule handlers. September, the end of the rainy season, when the countryside is green, is the best time to travel. In January, smoke lay hazy over most of these lands. Even so, the views are stunning!

Simien Mountains National Park Ranger

A Simien Park ranger from the park office in Debark is required to accompany all park visitors. The vast reaches of the park are simply too remote to permit anyone to roam at will.

This area was formed from massive seismic activity some 40 million years ago, with lava flows some 3000 metres (9850 feet) thick that eroded over the millennia into this jagged landscape.

The park, which covers 2400 square kms (927 square miles), has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1978. We arrived in Debark just in time to pay the entry fee just before the park office closed for lunch, between 12:30 and 1:30 p.m. It is customary to tip the guide and the ranger.

Simien Mountains baboons

The mountain park high plateaux are home to thousands of these gelada baboons, themselves the subject of a Richard Attenborough documentary. The park's wide gravel road is easy enough to drive, though it takes a 4 wheel drive to make the steep grades. These centuries old paths and trails are popular with trekkers.

Gelada baboon with baby

Two of the thousands of protected gelada baboons that bounced and grazed along the mountain park roadside. Several adults had infants so tiny, they still clung to their mothers' backs.

We saw several of these large groups along the route through the park. Largely, they appeared oblivious to onlookers, but seemed to 'spook' easily for no apparent reason, and go rushing away.

As you can see in this photo, the grass is very dry, the soil almost dust. A small stream ran along the edge of the field, where several baboons were eating what appeared to be algae that was growing in the eddies.

Simien Mountains vistas

These deep canyons gouging high plateus are the major landscape feature for hundreds of kilometres, offering some of Ethiopia's most spectacular scenery. The most spectacular canyons we saw were outside the park, as we headed north from Debark towards Axum. The road to Aksum, engineeered by Italian occupiers in the 1930s, is a mountain highway masterpiece! Its dramatic switchbacks supported by extensive brick work are truly impressive.

Our ears were constantly 'popping' with the pressure changes as we wound down, across, then up again a seemingly endless series of mountains and valleys.

Throughout this vast and empty-looking landscape, we came across many Ethiopians, young and old, alone or in pairs, most often on foot walking beside a heavily laden donkey, miles from nowhere. Some left the road and took the nearly vertical footpaths worn into the steep mountainsides -- it was faster than taking the winding road.

Shepherd boys in Simien Mountains

When we stopped to take in the mountain and valley views (above), these young lads came over to have a closer look at us, especially at the girls in our group, who were close to their own age.

Ethiopia is still a pastoral society, a fact brought home in these highlands. I noticed a great gulf between children in this area, who stood and watched and shyly backed off if approached, and their urban counterparts, who spoke some English and knew how to beg. As we drove off, they scampered along trails to keep us in sight.

I believe this is Geech Camp, the closest one to Debark, with a small building for camp staff. Several trekkers had pitched tents in a level clearing for the night, and were having coffee and popcorn. The road wound in long lazy arcs around the chasms, and a much easier drive on the return trip to Debark.

Morning in Debark Heading to Church

Outside the hostel gates at dawn, the people heading for early church services made a wonderful river of white as they walked down the main highway.

Note the women's traditional gabys, the many layered white muslin capes (also worn by the park ranger) that are wonderful and light, yet very warm.

Debark had one of the most inviting looking markets, but since we had to see the park before dark the day before, we could not take time to stop. We never did get another chance as it was closed by the time we returned from the park, and again the next morning as we left.

Road Debark to Aksum

The road passed through this wide valley where crops were being harvested, and miles from nowhere, there was a steady stream of traffic, though ours was the only motor vehicle.

And again, as elsewhere in the Highlands, we came across people walking -- most often many miles from the nearest settlements -- alone or in groups of two or four. Some shepherded laden donkeys or frisky goats, some carried large plastic containers on their heads. All were dusty, many were barefoot.

Rock pillar north of Debark

On the road from Debark to Aksum, this stone monolith was visible from the far side of the valley, rising dramatically higher than any other landscape feature. The volcanic genesis of this area is very much in evidence throughout the Highlands on the west side of Africa's Great Rift Valley.