Yalew arrived just past 7AM at my hotel with Rasmus and the
German couple already in the SUV. I handed my big backpack to him so he can
store it for safe keeping as I don’t need much of my stuff and expected to wear
the same set of cloth for 4 days! We drove straight for Debark, the town
closest to the park entrance and where the park office is located. The road is paved
except for few short stretches where paving were still being done. By far the
slowest part of the drive was to avoid hitting the stream of people and animals
on the road walking to towns, there are no sidewalks in this part of the world.
It was Saturday morning, so I think it was market day, so people from all over
bring their goods and animals for sale. We saw that in Debark which had big
size outdoor market.
We arrived in Debark around 9:30 I believe, where we stopped
by park office to sign in and our guide paid the park fee and pick up our guard
(scout) and cook; we also picked up few more supplies. There was also another
group of tourists going for the trek as well. There is nothing to offer in
Debark except may be meet other independent travelers for do-it-yourself trek
as you only required to hire a scout I believe. Luke, Yotam, and Noam did that
for their trek, they even cooked their own food! Beside it was told this town
is run by transportation association (Nazi) by prevent any outside competition
and charging high fee for transport to/from town.
We departed Debark may be around 11AM and by 11:40 or so we
left our vehicle behind and started our trek. The SUV will drop off our stuff
at our first camp, Sankaber. A dirt road runs through the park, but in order to
see and feel the dramatic landscape, it is best to walk up and down along the
edge of escarpment overlooking the lowland far below. The distance covered each
day isn’t too great, but with lots big ups and downs and in altitude ranging
from 2,800 meters (9,186 feet) at Debark to our highest point 4,430m (14,557
feet) at Mount Bwahit. We averaged may be 5-6 hours of walking a day.
We walked with our guide and scout over soft and green
ground. The rainy season has just ended so everything was green with patches of
wildflowers. During the rainy season, it usually very foggy and no views are
possible. Now with sun out, the heating caused the ground moisture rises to
create a very noticeable hazy at our eye level and valleys and lowlands below,
so some of my photos aren’t too clear as result of that. By no mean does this
reduces the dramatic and beautiful landscape I witnessed.
A short distance from the start of our trek, we made our
first encounter with the endemic gelada monkeys. They were foraging on grass,
roots, and flowers and ignored our approach. Geladas have a noticeable red
patch on their chest that looked like a heart, with they being ground foragers
and sitting down most of the time, it is used a signal as indicator of over
health for an individual. Some the gelada troops in the park can have hundreds
of individuals. Geladas sleep at cliff faces to avoid predators like hyenas,
lammergeyers (large bird of prey) etc. We were told by our guide that these
monkeys are used to tourists especially the light skinned ones and runs away
from dark skinned human as local Ethiopian villagers and kids throw rocks at
them. Soon the other tourists we saw in Debark joined us in their SUV,
obviously they were not going to hike as much as us. With enough photos of
geladas we continued our hike on the edge of the escarpment and enjoy the warm
weather under the bright sun, puffy clouds, and stunning views. We stopped for
a lunch break with great view of the immense expanse of lowland thousands of
feet below us. After about 4-5 hours from the start of the hike, we arrived at
our camp. Our tents have already been setup and snack and hot drink ready for
us on the table. There were three tents for 4 of us, so no sharing except the
German couple and they are 4-person tent! We also have a big dinner tent.
Dinner was being cooked in a large circular concrete with metal roofed
structure. They are few of these kitchens around the campsite. There were many
big thick-billed ravens flying around looking for scraps and scavenging around
the trash dump. Each group got their own cooking house. But I assume some
sharing might be needed when it gets busy during high season. As for the toilet
facility here in Simien Mountains, it is actually pretty good by my standard.
Concrete building and floor with a hole in the ground and not much smell and
you can’t see the bottom, and I believe they clean it every day.
As we sat down for our snack before dinner, the German guy
washed his hands with the soap and water provided. He shook his arms back and
forth and felt that his wedding ring slipped out, but he couldn’t find it
around where he was standing. Soon everyone was looking for this elusive gold
colored ring. We pull up grasses, weeds, and enlisted help of some local kids,
but for over an hour we could not find it. Finally the German guy said it was
enough, and he will have to replace it when they get home. His wife was pretty
calm about it the whole time. I wonder who will be the luck person to find this
ring in the future.
There are villages scattered in the park and government
tries to limit this number as resource are scarce and environment fragile. Many
local kids would gather along the hiking trails to sell the same locally made
items like knit hats, wooden instruments, or useless items, but to our dismay
no drinks, candies, or good hiking snacks. We would have paid good money for
say chocolate bars after a long hike as our tour company didn’t provide any decent
snacks, nothing after the first day. We told our guide that he should relay
this information to the local villagers so it would be benefit to all parties.
There was some time before dinner was served so I went
walking around the camp area for some late afternoon rays on the beautiful
landscape. As soon as sun went down the temperature dropped very quickly, we all
put on many layers of clothing as a result. I had two layers for pants, and 4
layers for my body. Even that was still a little chilly. Finally the dinner was
served, and the warm food warmed us up as well. The food on our trek was good
and tasty (when one is hungry everything is good) but nothing to write home
about. I wished we had snacks between meals (no snacks after the first day) and
lunch can have more variety instead of egg with tough breads every day.
After dinner we chatted a little, Ramus the most talkative
guy among us said that he is an anesthesiologist and volunteering in a Korean
church group run hospital in Addis Ababa and was taking a much needed break
after a month of non-stop work and was sick and tired of kimchee for lunch
every day. He said that the work culture here in Ethiopia is just very
unprofessional. All the nurses would take lunch at same time, leaving critical
patients unattended. And people just work to get a paycheck and not taking
professional responsibilities or pride, sort of echoing the same sentiment as
Merjin from Danakil depression tour. With being the first day of hiking in high
altitude we all went to bed very early. I slept with my cloth on as the
sleeping bag they gave us is probably 50F bag and the temperature at our camp
site of 3,250 meters (10,663 feet) was probably near freezing. Rasmus also
complained about being cold with his sleeping bag. I had a very good night
sleep none the less, must slept 9-10 hours, the most in a while. It is very
quiet in this part of the country.
We got up may be before 7AM and sun already up for a while,
so I went around taking few more photos before the breakfast was served. We
left our camp just after 8AM, our tents and stuff will be carried by mules and
it mule handlers. The daily rate for a mule is higher than the mule handler.
We continue our hike up and down the valleys and along the escarpment
with occasional short walk along the dirt road. There are many domestic animals
in the park, cows, sheep, and goats along with mules, donkeys, and small
horses. Rasmus who is full of facts told us that Ethiopia has second largest
donkey population in the world after China. We stopped at the Gich Abyss and
Jinbar river waterfall for some photos. Sun was at bad angle and hazy condition
makes not so interesting photos. Later
on we encountered another troop of gelada monkeys, but they were more scattered
and the harsh sun make it hard to take photos, so we didn’t stop too long. Not
soon after that we stopped at the crossing for Jinbar River for lunch and a
little siesta. We were moving at a very good pace. The other group from
Sankaber camp arrived at the river crossing just as we were leaving to move up
the valley to Gich village and our camp for second night – Gich camp 3,600
meters (11,811 feet). This is when we started to see the high altitude giant
Lobelia plants. Our guide said the plant only flower once and then dies. He
asked us if we want to try the coffee ceremony at the Gich village, we all
declined. I saw it informally before and I don’t drink coffee. After a long
steady climb, we finally reach Gich camp just as the people were finishing
putting up our tents, a little too fast for them. There was a store near by
selling sodas and bucket warm showers. Rasmus went over got us some sodas.
It is cooler at Gitch camp and more exposed, because it is sitting
on a high plateau. Our guide took us up to a high point not too far from our
camp for sunset. The view was very nice as late afternoon sun shine
horizontally across the vast plateau at same time the lowlands below was
getting dark and obscured by the thick haze. We lingered until the sun
disappeared below the thick cloud on the horizon and then headed back down to
our camp and dinner. After dinner our cook and guide tried to start a wood fire
inside the kitchen and had us sit inside to get warm but the smoke from the wet
wood filled the kitchen quickly. So we decided to head inside our tent. I
wasn’t sleepy yet, but just want to stay warm in the bag. Maybe I slept too
well the night before, I didn’t get a good night sleep and had to get out for
pee breaks in the middle of night which is always fun in middle of cold night.
Next morning we awoke to another brilliant sunshine, and
again we were off for our trekking and toward Imet Gogo, a large 3,925 meters
(12,877 feet) peak with spectacular views of foothills and plains to the north
and east. From there we head down and up valleys along the escarpment. At
bottom of the first valley after Imet Gogo, we were staring at long slope up
the other side of the valley. Local kids were ready for their horses to take
tired or slow tourists up the long uphill for a fee. None of us took up the
offer and we just slowly move our way up. At the top we rested for lunch and by
this time clouds have moved over Imet Gogo. From here it was mostly downhill
with few short stretches of climb before we descent toward our camp at Chennek,
3,620 meters (11,876 feet). Chennek is at a valley and at the base of Bwahit
Mountain, 4,437 meters (14,557 feet). We arrived with the news that we will
have couple chickens for dinner, which our guide purchased from a villager as
we approached our camp. The two chickens looked very skinny. The meat turned
out pretty tough as expected, so I only have couple small pieces. I didn’t
bother with watching the killing as I did for goat killing in Danakil since I
have seen chickens been killed before. Our guide told us that a sheep out here
would only cost may be $20 or so! I can make a small profit if I were to buy
one here and take it back to Gondar. I told the group that Luke and others bought
a sheep and had a feast while they were in the Simiens. So Rasmus asked the
guide if the cook would kill the sheep and cook it if the group was to purchase
one, and our guide said yes. Since I will be leaving the next day, I will not
be at the feast.
There was no other group at this camp as the other groups we
met early were either taking an easier pace or shorter itinerary.
Rasmus had brought his ipad along, so we played trivia game
with it to pass time. With another chilly night, our guide setup a bonfire inside
the kitchen again and this time he promised us that there will be no smoke
because they will be using dry wood. So we all gather around the fire for
warmth and chatted and telling riddles. Eventually everyone headed back out in
the cold and getting ready for bed. Instead headed straight for bed, I decided
to try to setup my tripod for few photos of the stars and Milky Way. I tried 40
to 60 seconds exposures, but none of it turned out too well. With my hands
getting cold, I called it a night and got into my sleeping bag with all my
cloth on again to stay warm.
Early next morning, we heard some howling sound around the
camp; I was too cold to get out of my tent to investigate. Later I was told it
was made by an Ethiopian wolf. I am glad
that I am not a wildlife photographer. I did go around the camp area after the
sun had raised high enough to start warming the land. I took some photos of the
sun shining across the sloping land and escarpment.
After breakfast I packed up for one last time. I was told
that my stuff will be waiting for me when I come back down from the summit of
Bwahit Mountain and that a vehicle will be arriving shortly after that to take
me back to Gondar. Before we headed up for the summit, we parted way with one
of our mule handler as they now have less stuff to carry to next camp site. I
gave the guy a little tip. We sorted discussed how much each one of us was
going to contribute to the tipping pot to be divided up to all helpers. But
this was not expected, but it was no big deal, only small change and he did
real work. After that we started our slow and steady climb up to the summit,
about 3000 feet of elevation gain over short distance. Not too far from our
camp our guide spotted an Ethiopian wolf in a distance, probably the same one
that was around our camp earlier in the morning. With help of our guide and
Rasmus (both have good eyesight) we were able to spot it with binocular. Ethiopian
wolf is not very big we were told, not the big size wolf you found in North
America. As we approaching the summit over rock strewn grassland terrain our
guide spotted four Ethiopian ibex, also known as walia ibex. Again our guide
and Rasmus were able to spot it and followed its movement. The ibex’s coat help
it blends in well in the dry brown grass covered slope. Eventually the ibex and
us came close enough for photos.
With our last wildlife encounter behind us, we pushed on again
slowly toward the summit. At this altitude the breathing is definitely tougher
but I didn’t have any symptom of altitude sickness, must be drinking enough
water and acclimatized over the last week or so. With final push Rasmus and I
summited and soon after the German couple arrived. All in all about 2 hours for
3000-feet with stops for wildlife, not bad in this altitude! We lingered around
the summit for photos and our guide pointed our other peaks around the area
including the highest mountain in Ethiopia, Ras Dashen (4,550 meters or 14,928
feet) and the way to next camp for rest of the group. Before we parted, we had
group photos and I gave Rasmus my share of tip for the guide, scout, and cook.
We had two scouts that came up with us so that I can go down with one of them.
On my way down, my scout took the shortest route back to Chennek
camp, which is through thick tall grass, but it was not too bad and we moved
pretty fast, may 45 minutes to get down including a stop for lone ibex we saw. He
was closer to us than the fours we saw on the way up so better picture. There
were other tourists in 4 SUVs around the area looking for ibex. As we
approached our camp we encountered some gelada monkeys, but they were moving fast
so I didn’t take any photos.
The vehicle to take me back to Gondar was already waiting
for me. Since I am the only one with my scout, I had to tip him myself, so much
for sharing the tipping cost at the end. Also the assistant cook was there as
well and going back to Debark with us, but I decided not to tip him since I already
tipped two people by myself and chipped in the tipping pot for the whole service
group! The cook stared at me with an expression of where is my tip.
Yalew had a note telling me not pay for anything for the ride
back to Gondar. There were two other tourists from UK in the vehicle, 1 US and
1 Russian, traveling together for vacation. I don’t mind sharing as it reduces
cost and why waste empty seats. But I think there was some confusion as to how
much the others were paying for the ride and was try to reach may be Yalew (poor
or no cell phone reception) to straighten out their cost and the Russian lady
told me I should chip in $10 to get us moving. I didn’t respond to that
request. Anyway not soon after we were moving, and I got to know about my
fellow passenger a little. He is a banker from Connecticut, but now works in UK
and she is from Russia but also works in UK. I am not sure about their
relationship, but I think may be friends. She got food poisoning the day
before, so she is finally feeling a little better today for some sightseeing.
We stopped by the waterfall so they can go take some photos of the fall and
Gich Abyss. I decided not go with them since I saw it already and there was a
nice small troop of gelada monkey right next to our vehicle for photos.
After the waterfall and before we left the park, we made one
stop at the Simien Lodge, self-proclaim “Highest Hotel in Africa” at 3,260
meters and only hotel inside the park. It sits on top of a ridge with good 360
degree view of the region. And I think the high setting also attracts wildlife
to its ground. We saw a lammergeyer landed right in front of our vehicle as we
approached the hotel. The UK tourists want to have lunch here. They stayed here
the night before. I ordered a cake from the restaurant which was ok. This hotel
is not bad of a place consider the location, but I think it is an expensive
place. So it is good for people don’t care about price and has limited time or physically
not too fit.
After lunch we made our final drive to get back to Gondar
stopping only for dropping off our UK tourists’ guide, assistant cook, etc in
Debark and a quick photo stop between Debark and Gondar. We got back to Gondar
may be between 4 and 5PM, and guess where the UK tourists are going to be staying,
Taye hotel, good choice. But for me I can’t find myself paying $50 or so for
just a quick night. So I went for Quara instead. It wasn’t too expensive and
everything worked and it comes with free breakfast. I didn’t do much except
much needed shower, dinner, and internet. After that I just stayed in my room and
watched TV until I am ready for sleep. I did have a scare when I realized
around 9PM that my trusted and beat up green daypack of over 20 years was nowhere
to be found. In it was my wide angle camera lens. I knew I last saw it in the
SUV as I was getting out, I thought Yalew had helped me take it into Quara, so
I gave Yalew a call, and he said he will call the driver to see if it is in the
SUV. A moment later he called back and to my relief was told that the backpack is
in SUV and the driver will deliver it to the hotel in about 30 minutes. When I
got my daypack back, I gave the driver a good tip since it was nice for him to
deliver late at night (Ethiopian don’t like to drive at night). The funny thing
I noticed is that his eyes were blood shot red, may be a little too much drink
after getting paid for the drive from park to Gondar.
I highly recommend trekking in Simien Mountains and hopefully
in a small group to share the cost. This is definitely a highlight of my trip
ranked just behind the Danakil. I would also put it in the must hike list for
the world!
I can also recommend Yalew as a tour operator; I had no problem
on my tour. Although someone else who also used him a few weeks after I did
complained about some small lies Yalew told for her trip. I guess the key
things to remember when doing budget travel (may be even high end) in Ethiopia
is not expect too much from the tour service and you end up happier that way.
Things are “promised” but just as sort polite gestures as I call it, not necessary
will be follow through. Although generality of the trip itinerary you will get but
details might and well change. O, bring your own snacks!
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