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Simien Mountains

ስሜን: Hiking on the roof of Africa

By Northern Adventures

November 13^th, 2014

Introduction

(Sat Nov 8th - Fri Nov 14TH, 2014)

It was in the Backpacker magazine’s special issue called “The World’s Best Hikes - Our International Life List” where I discovered this amazing area located in Ethiopia, Africa.

I have been to Morocco two times, and spent a week in Lagos on business - but still, these trips cannot be described as a proper African adventure.

The Semien Mountains (in Amharic ስሜን or Səmen; also spelled Simien and Simen), in northern Ethiopia, north east of Gondar, are part of the Ethiopian Highlands. They are a World Heritage Site and include the Semien Mountains National Park.

The mountains consist of a plateau separated by valleys and rising to pinnacles. The tallest peak is Ras Dashen (4,550 m). Because of their geological origins the mountains are almost unique, with only South Africa‘s Drakensberg having been formed in the same manner and thus appearing similar. Notable animals in the mountains include the walia ibex, gelada, and caracal. There are a few Ethiopian wolves.

We wanted to go to the Simiens after the rainy season, when everything turns green and flowers are in full blossom. And so we did.

In just a small group of two, having being decimated by family and other reasons of the others, we spent six days in the Simiens, hiking both on the plateau at the escarpment line and in lowland rural areas. We arranged the trek well in advance, wanting to avoid the usual hassle at the park’s head quarters - and that’s also why we got an excellent guide, a hard working scout, and a very good chef.

Which means, this was not a hike of hard and tough backpacking.

We got mules to transport our stuff, but still it was a challenge: we found ourselves hiking in the thin air (elevation around 4,000 meters), with strong African sun during days, and freezing temperatures during nights.

The Journey

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We traveled to Addis Abeba, Ethiopia with Emirates, having a stopover in Dubai. Then we took a local flight operated by Ethiopian Airlines from Addis Abeba to Gondar where we were met by Jemal, a friendly and easy-going owner of a local travel agency called Simien Park Tours.

The short flight to Gondar was nothing less than spectacular: we were flying across a rugged landscape of plateaus, canyons, fields and small villages.

Jemal took us with his Landcruiser to Debark, a usual starting point of excursions to the Simiens. Here we were met by Getenet Akalu, our guide. It did not take us long to realise that we got the best guide we may ever had.

He was the man up to the task: being raised up in the Simiens and having spent years in the education industry, he knew everything and everybody.

Day 1: From Debark to Sankaber

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Having lunch, we continued driving from Debark to the east, slowly riding on a narrow and winding road to the plateau of the Simiens. It was already late afternoon when we set out on the trail.

First views from the plateau were phenomenal. From the very beginning of the trip, we felt we were hiking at the end of the world, in a unique and breathtaking area that is only known to a few.

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Soon, we reached a meadow with a big herd of gelada baboon monkeys.

With the golden light of the upcoming sunset, it was a fairy-tale African scene. Us, geladas, and majestic views.

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We spent the first night in a camp called Sankaber.

We were not alone here; there may have been around thirty other hikers, plus their crew. Still, it was not a touristy place - we were in Africa, on a plateau at the elevation close to 4,000 meters, and it was freezing throughout the night.

We had a tent and proper sleeping bags we brought with ourselves from our homes. Getenet, our guide, had a tent with a sleeping bag as well. Our scout got neither a tent nor a sleeping bag. He used a polythene mattress and a few blankets; a brave man truly ;-).

Day 2: From Sankaber to Geech

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The morning in Sankaber was cold in the beginning yet fortunately sunny afterwards.

Really interesting to witness, the temperature rose to twenty degrees Celsius from the levels below the freezing point very quickly.

Another beautiful day on the roof of Africa started.

We continued hiking along the escarpment line in the eastern direction, enjoying the Grand-Canyon-like views all the time.

I have seen Grand Canyon both at sunrise and sunset, but it's fair to say that this place in Africa rivals it without any doubt.

Offering no roads, no buses with Japanese tourists in suits and trekking boots, and throwing in some solitude instead of tourist crowds, there is some additional magic offered here that the American wonder lacks.

After a few hours, we descended to a small plateau with a view of a narrow yet magnificent Jinbar waterfall. Difficult to photograph in the midday sun and haze, it was still a beautiful nature sight to admire.

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Then we continued hiking to the east, sometimes ascending and sometimes descending while crossing the plateau, and finally we took a rest at a river flowing through a small and narrow valley.

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Soon, we came to the first village the trail passes through - and this one was a Muslim one.

We learned from Getenet that all the villages and inhabitants from the national park are about to be relocated to Debark, mainly due to nature protection reasons.

It was not a long walk from the village further to a camp called Geech, where we found our tent pitched and afternoon tea and some biscuits prepared by our crew.

Shortly before sunset, me and Getenet set out on a short walk to a viewpoint at the edge of the escarpment called Kadavit.

There were horses on pastures around the camp, and the setting sun illuminated the landscape with its golden colours.

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Views from Kadavit were awesome.

I am not sure whether I have ever witnessed anything similar to these scenes, but it was truly a magical performance that was happening in front of your eyes.

I stayed at the viewpoint during sunset and upcoming twilight, admiring evening magic, continuous change of colours and fairy-tale mood of the landscape.

The night in Geech camp was even colder than the previous night in Sankaber.

The moon was shining so intensively that it looked like the sun.

Day 3: From Geech to Chenek

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We woke into another sunny yet cold morning - these are the usual mornings in the Simiens. We had breakfast that our caring crew prepared for us, and after some time we set out on the trail again.

It was a different terrain we were about to cross - hiking across a grassy plateau, we were not at the escarpment line any more.

On the third day, a magnificent viewpoint called Imet Gogo was the highlight on the itinerary.

Not for the first time, we met quite a few (mainly American) doctors during our hike. Trying to save the world as part of whatever voluntary organisation, they were enthusiastic about everything, prepared for anything, carrying medicine to treat whatever may happen.

They should rather save our dying western civilisation and protect it from the illness of political correctness and multicultural craziness, I was thinking when they were passing by, expressing inexhaustible spirit of willingness to help, impolitely invading into solitude of the other walkers.

(Obviously, I'm exaggerating here, and I'm also far more liberal and tolerant these days than I was 10 years ago).

Me and Jan standing at Imet Gogo viewpoint, photographed by Getenet Akalu.

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From Imet Gogo, the trail led us in the southern direction, firstly descending to a nice grassy valley among rising cliffs.

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From the floor of the valley, we started to ascend to the highest point of our trail, Inatye (4,070m).

It took us some time to reach the top; we didn’t want to rush, the air was thin - and views along the way too beautiful.

The panorama view from Inatye was awesome.

More than one kilometre below us, there were fields and villages that looked like in SimCity PC game I played in the 90’s.

Top of the world, it was really like that, with majestic cliffs around and deep abyss falling down right in front of us.

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From Inatye, we continued hiking to the south-east, slowly descending towards another camp called Chenek where we were about to spend our third day in the area.

Again, it was a beautiful journey - eagle-eye views, beautiful light, and friendly locals we were meeting during the way.

We were hiking in the ancient-times landscape that has not been changed much during the past centuries; unspoiled, beautiful, unknown, and incomparable.

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Shortly before sunset, I did a short walk around Chenek camp, aiming to find Walia ibex species around.

It is kind of a mountain goat endemic to the Simiens, where only about 500 individuals survive.

Once more did I realise that we would not be able to survive in the wild. Even with my telephoto lens, I was not able to locate walia ibex our scout had found using just his eyes - he saw far much better than myself with the 250mm lens. Luckily, however, I finally managed to locate the ibex as well - and took a few shots…

Day 4: From Chenek to Tsyon

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Sunny morning at Chenek camp was as beautiful as previous mornings we enjoyed in the area.

From the line of the escarpment, we admired beautiful peaks and valleys of the Simiens, with bright and dark areas created by the morning sun.

I spent some time at the escarpment before breakfast, aiming to fix and memorize views from the plateau to the lowlands in the north.

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From Chenek, we started to descend to a valley among the hills, leaving the high-altitude plateau behind.

Soon, first houses and small scattered settlements appeared, and quickly everything became rural. No eagle-eye views any more, and instead of that farmers and children - and very often their very first encounters with white “ferenji” men.

Back in Debark during the trek planning, we were not happy with the lowlands part at first, but finally we let Jemal and Getenet persuade us. Here, however, we felt thankful for their choice - it was a completely different experience than on the plateau, and our journey was spiced by the fact that there were no other hikers at all.

Getenet told us that it may have been months or even years since the last visit of ferenjis in the area. For local people, we were a joyful attraction in the same way they were for us.

In a village called Tsyon, we pitched our tents in the small courtyard of the local school. And of course, we became an immediate attraction of everybody: children, teachers, and other locals alike.

So we smiled, photographed, talked, and enjoyed the place we got to.

We bought a sheep and let it slaughter by our cook.

Consequently, there was a lot of meat for dinner - for the whole crew, for teachers from the school, and for some other locals as well. Of course, once again we realized that an absolutely basic thing for the locals, killing an animal, is something we wouldn't be able to do, not knowing how...

Evening and night were calm and warm - at the elevation of around 2,500 meters, there was no night freeze any more.

Day 5: From Tsyon to Beles

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The fifth day was another day of hiking in rural lowland areas, in the middle of the crop season that was just culminating. We were meeting local farmers and their children, and these funny and lovely encounters continued throughout the way.

We learned a lot about local life here, about history of Jewish communities relocated to Israel, about old traditions, and about how Muslims and Christians may peacefully live together.

In Beles, we were invited to a local house of one of Getenet’s relatives for a coffee.

Lovely and special time indeed - and the coffee was delicious.

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We pitched our tents in a courtyard of the local medical centre, inevitably causing attraction among local children.

Then we set out on a short stroll through the village, being followed by tens of children in a really funny way.

No one wanted anything from us; not used to white ferenji people, there were no expectations of gifts or money among the children and adults. They were just happy to have us with them, and so were we.

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In the evening, we visited the local pub.

We were drinking beer whereas the locals opted for a strong locally-made spirit we were not brave enough to try.

Getenet was translating from English to Amharic, and it was a lovely chat about those things they (and us) had ever wanted to ask when in such a situation.

Evening and night were peaceful; we fell asleep soon, knowing we have to get up early to set out on the trail before dawn.

Day 6: From Beles back to Debark

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It was a long and sometimes strenuous climb back to the Simien plateau we had to make.

The higher we hiked, the better were the views across the lowland rural valleys. At the top of the plateau, we were met by an pre-arranged jeep that took us back to Debark.

Shortly before that, it was time to say goodbye to our crew. We were very thankful for their professional services, and were told that the same was applicable to us, as visitors they were guiding and serving. Tipping time followed, and after that we left back to civilisation.

In Debark, a well-deserved and long-awaited beer time followed.

We had a few beers with Getenet and our chef, watched Ethiopian TV, and enjoyed the mood of the local pub place.

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Rock-hewn churches of Lalibela

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After the Simiens, we had one more place in Ethiopia on our itinerary - the Unesco World Heritage site of Lalibela.

The rural town is known around the world for its churches carved from the living rock, which play an important part in the history of rock-cut architecture. Though the dating of the churches is not well established, most are thought to have been built during the reign of Lalibela, namely during the 12th and 13th centuries.

Lalibela market

Regular Saturday market in Lalibela couldn’t be missed as well.

Each Saturday, people from the settlement as well as from nearby villages gather to sell and buy everything one may imagine.

Afterword

From Lalibela, we flew back to Addis Abeba where we spent our last day in Ethiopia.

Our Ethiopian adventure was one of those trips that will never leave our memories; it was just way too unique.

The Simien mountains are magnificent and magical; a special place for hikers and nature lovers. We hiked for six days on the roof of Africa, and then we saw wonders of an ancient civilisation. And not just that; we also got a chance to get to know another civilisation, which is both different is some aspects and very similar in other areas.

These days, when I'm asked in a fancy hipster café in Prague what coffee I would like, there as one rule I strictly follow: if there is a chance to taste Ethiopian coffee, I go for it no matter what the other choices are.

Practicalities

We found Bradt guide for Ethiopia to be very rich source of practical information about this beautiful African country.
As for the Simien national park itself, the vast majority of visitors opt for the full-package way of exploration of the national park i.e. scout, guide, cook and transportation (mules & mule boys). That being said, only the (armed) scout is mandatory, and we saw one group of hikers opting for such a setup. From my perspective and putting cost aside, the full package is far much convenient; on the contrary to the scout, the guide is English-speaking, having meals arranged is luxurious, and hiking in thin air at the elevation around 4,000m without heavy backpacks makes the overall experience far much enjoyable.
Regarding the cost, the price back in 2014 for such a trip (5 nights) was around $1000 for the group, everything included (scout, guide, cook, transportation, meals, drinking water, etc.). Tips are expected though not mandatory, and I recall each of us tipped $150 (on top of the agreed price); the tip is typically given to the guide who then does the distribution to all the other crew members. The sheep I bought in Tsyon was I think $100.
Though it is very much possible to arrange the trip i.e. scout, guide, cook etc. on the spot i.e. directly in Debark, this would most likely be with a bit of hassle and improvisation. To avoid that, we opted for pre-arranging the trip in advance; different guide books or Trip advisor forums may be convenient sources of information about reliable travel agencies. Based on our experience, we can only recommend Jemal Hussien's Simien Parks Tour agency.
Though we skipped summiting Ras Dashen (4,553m; the country's highest peak), we didn't really regret that since the views from the northern escarpment are arguably a bigger draw, with rock faces falling away hundreds of meters from summits like Inatye, Imet Gogo or Kadavit.
The Simien mountains are perfectly safe; the armed scout is more like an African-guiding stereotype than a useful safety measure since there are is no dangerous wildlife on the Simien plateau. Also, all the people we met - not just in the Simiens, but across the country - were friendly and we didn't experience any real uncomfortable or even dangerous moments, besides a few cases of unavoidable hassle which is frankly unavoidable in Africa.
I would also recommend to include visiting some of the villages outside the main hiking route (Sankaber - Geech - Chenek) into the itinerary; the less visited by tourists, the better. We really liked the experience of visiting two of the villages in the lowlands (Tsyon and Beles).
Unfortunately, there is a civil unrest / partial civil war ongoing in Ethiopia these days (2022); be sure to check the actual situation though it's not necessary to over-panic. Actually, our original group was comprised of three guys, yet one of us got afraid of Ebola pandemic no matter it only happened thousands of kilometres away in Ghana.
The GPS track of our route is available on Wikiloc.

Footnotes

All images are exclusive property and may not be copied, downloaded, reproduced, transmitted, manipulated or used in any way without permission of the author.

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FootNotes

All images are exclusive property and may not be copied, downloaded, reproduced, transmitted, manipulated or used in any way without permission of the author.

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