The endangered Prince Ruspoli’s Turaco is found only in southern Ethiopia. Photo: Sunbird
Millions of years ago, eastern Africa was subjected to immense and violent volcanic activity. As unimaginable forces pushed the earth’s crust upward in a gigantic dome, great fissures opened in the center, causing large areas to sink back while the outer edges continued to rise. The resulting slash in the surface of the planet became the Rift Valley, which dominates this corner of Africa and runs right across Ethiopia.
The highland plateaus that formed on either side of the Rift represent the continent’s largest area of Afro-alpine habitat and contain some of the most spectacular scenery in Africa. Isolated for thousands of years, these regions have also seen the evolution of many distinct life forms. Mammals such as the Giant Mole Rat and the secretive Simien Wolf haunt a stark and beautiful landscape full of unusual plants. More than 800 birds have been seen in the region, some of them found nowhere else in the world. We hope to encounter many of these endemics as we travel along the Rift Valley floor and across highland areas rightly christened “the roof of Africa.”
Ethiopia, where Africa meets Arabia, sits at a cultural and historical crossroads. The combination of history, stunning scenery, and above all fascinating and easily accessible wildlife makes Ethiopia a captivating destination. Steve Rooke returns in 2009 for an eleventh Ethiopian tour.
Day 1: The tour begins with an overnight flight from London to Addis Ababa.
Day 2: After arriving in Addis we’ll begin our tour by driving south down the Rift Valley toward Lake Langano. Right away we’ll notice Yellow-billed Kites and White-backed and Hooded Vultures overhead, and before long vivid Superb Starlings and White-headed Buffalo Weavers will appear on the roadside. We’ll make a few stops, including one at Lake Zwiay, where we’ll find a good selection of waterbirds including extremely confiding Great White Pelican, Hammerkop, Yellow-billed Stork, African Jacana, African Darter, and African Pygmy-Goose. Black Heron is a possibility here, too, as are Lesser Jacana and Lesser Moorhen, and we are sure to be entertained by Northern Carmine Bee-eaters skimming low over the meadows.
We’ll reach our lakeside hotel after lunch and spend the rest of the day birding the hotel grounds, a mix of tall acacias, dense scrub, and boulder-strewn slopes. We’ll explore these habitats for a variety of birds including the endemic Wattled Ibis, Von der Decken’s, Northern Red-billed, and Hemprich’s Hornbills, Red-fronted Barbet, Bearded and Gray-headed Woodpeckers, Little Rock Thrush, Abyssinian Black Wheatear, Rattling Cisticola, Red-billed Firefinch, Red-cheeked Cordon Bleu and Rüppell’s Weaver. Freckled Nightjars live on the rocky escarpment, and as dusk approaches we’ll look for them and for Grayish Eagle-Owl. Night at Lake Langano.
Day 3: We’ll again spend the morning exploring the bird-rich grounds of the hotel; this is a great place to see Red-throated Wryneck, and as the morning warms up, Lanner Falcons and Tawny Eagles sail up and down the cliff faces, sending the numerous Ethiopian Rock Hyrax scrambling for cover. After leaving Langano, we’ll cross over to another Rift Valley lake, Abiata. Although this lake is suffering from water extraction, the lakeshore can still hold good numbers of waterbirds, including both Greater and Lesser Flamingos, wintering shorebirds, Common and Black Crowned Cranes, and occasionally a small party of Wattled Cranes. The lawn-like edges of the lake are alive with wintering Isabelline Wheatears and provide ideal habitat for Temminck’s Courser, while the adjacent acacia woodland is home to Black-billed Woodhoopoe, Black Scimitarbill, and White-winged Black Tit.
Continuing south down the Rift Valley we reach the wooded slopes of Wondo Genet. This popular site is famous for its natural hot springs surrounded by extensive forest, and we’ll spend the rest of the afternoon pottering around the lush grounds of the hotel. The roof of the restaurant is the perfect place to relax as we scan the imposing Rift Valley escarpment for soaring raptors, which can include Rüppell’s Vulture, Ayre’s Hawk Eagle, and Crowned, Verreaux’s, and Steppe Eagles. Peering into the massive fig trees we might find Bruce’s Green Pigeon or the endemic Banded Barbet. Night at Wondo Genet.
Day 4: We have all day to explore the woods around Wondo Genet. We’ll begin with a pre-breakfast walk to the hot springs and a search for Half-collared Kingfisher. Noisy Guereza Colobus will be cavorting around the scented jacaranda trees, endemic Yellow-fronted Parrots will scream overhead as they leave their roosts, and White-cheeked Turacos will be bouncing around the fig trees flashing their crimson wings.
Later we’ll visit a protected forest always alive with Abyssinian Black-headed Orioles and hulking Silvery-cheeked Hornbills. The mature trees here also shelter more secretive species such as Narina’s Trogon and Tambourine Dove, while a rich warbling song may reveal the location of an African Hill Babbler. A mixed feeding flock may hold Eastern Honeybird and Scaly-throated Honeyguide, whiel another striking feature of this woodland will be the butterflies: the wide trails here are abuzz with some amazingly huge, colorful species.
After lunch our attention will shift to another forest area where we hope to see Little Sparrowhawk, beautiful Blue-breasted Bee-eaters, Gray and Red-shouldered Cuckoo-shrikes, Slender-billed and Sharpe’s Starlings, and, with luck, Scaly Francolin. We may close the day on the restaurant rooftop again, scanning for raptors and watching the sun set across the great African Rift. Night at Wondo Genet.
Day 5: Today’s climb into the Bale Mountains and across the southeast highlands to Goba will take us through some spectacular scenery. Most of the day will be spent on the journey, but there will be time for stops, and as we reach the first highland habitat we’ll encounter Blue-winged Geese and Yellow-billed Ducks on roadside pools and Red-billed Chough, Abyssinian Longclaw, Red-breasted Wheatear, and Thekla Lark along the field edges. Night in Goba.
Day 6: We have a whole day to spend up on the Sanetti Plateau, a wonderful Afro-alpine habitat of pools and small lakes, low flowering bushes, and beds of tiny alpine flowers pierced by spikes of Giant Lobelia. Rouget’s Rails are remarkably tame up here and we’ll have seen dozens by the end of the day; we are bound to see Chestnut-naped and Moorland Francolins. Elsewhere we’ll encounter Ruddy Shelduck and more Blue-winged Geese on the pools, Spot-breasted Plover, flocks of Black-headed Siskins and Red-throated Pipits, Alpine Chat, African Snipe, and, with luck, a pair of stately Wattled Cranes. Despite all these avian attractions, the star of today’s show may be the elegant Simien Wolf, an endangered canine that clings to a fragile existence only here and in the Simien Mountains to the north. The wolves’ main prey is the comical Giant Root Rat, and it is quite common to see them actually hunting these goofy rodents.
Leaving the high moorland behind, we drop down into some good forest, and we’ll wander slowly downhill searching for Abyssinian Woodpecker, Abyssinian Ground Thrush, Abyssinian Catbird, Abyssinian Slaty Flycatcher, the skulking Cinnamon Bracken Warbler, the dazzling Tacazze Sunbird, White-backed Black Tit, Brown-rumped Seedeater, Mountain Thrush, and Yellow-bellied Waxbill, among many others. We may also find the local Bale race of Brown Parisoma, considered by some to be a full species. Night in Goba.
Day 7: Today we retrace our steps back up onto the plateau and follow the highest all-weather road in Africa across the roof of the continent. As we leave the highlands we descend into some rich forest, where we’ll have another chance to look for any forest birds missed the day before, as well as seeking some new species such as the tiny Abyssinian Crimsonwing. Our destination is the town of Negelle, where we expect to arrive in the late afternoon. Night in Negelle.
Day 8: In the early 1890’s a certain Prince Ruspoli collected a stunningly beautiful turaco somewhere in Ethiopia. Unfortunately, he died before he could reveal the exact location, and it was not until the 1940s that the world finally came to know where Prince Ruspoli’s Turaco could be seen. This striking bird remains rare and much sought-after, confined to remnant habitats around Negelle, and we’ll devote part of this day to looking for it. Nearby can be found another endemic, although one nowhere as colorful as the turaco: Sidamo Lark is yet another bird restricted to a tiny area in Ethiopia, the open grassy plains close to Negelle. We’ll look for this as well as for Somali Short-toed Lark and Plain-backed Pipit out on the plains; other birds in the region could include White-headed Vulture, Black-headed Oriole, and Speke’s Weaver. Night in Negelle.
Day 9: Leaving Negelle we embark on a wide loop through the south of Ethiopia and to the town of Yabello. There will be stops on the way in the very bird-rich habitats of dense acacia and Commiphora scrub broken by small fields and more open savannah punctuated by towering brick-red termite chimneys. Gangs of Vulturine Guineafowl roam through the scrub, and we are guaranteed at least one encounter. This is good bush-shrike country, and in addition to Rosy-patched, Gray-headed, and Sulphur-breasted, we have a very good chance of finding Red-naped Bush-Shrike, a rare species found only in parts of East Africa. Other range-restricted species we hope to see include Pringle’s Puffback, Scaly Chatterer, Pygmy Batis, and the striking White-crowned Starling. Along the way we’ll be on the lookout for Crested Francolin, Somali Courser, Orange-bellied Parrot, Abyssinian Scimitarbill, Golden Pipit, gorgeous Golden-breasted Starlings, Shelley’s Starling, Tiny Cisticola, Pale Prinia, Foxy Lark, d’Arnaud’s and Red-and-yellow Barbets, Somali Long-billed Crombec, Black-capped Social Weaver, and Marico and Variable Sunbirds. A riverside stop may give us two additional East African rarities, White-winged Dove and Juba Weaver, along with Magpie Starling and Black-bellied Sunbird.
The Yabello region is perhaps best known for two birds entirely endemic to this tiny part of southern Ethiopia: the bizarre Stresemann’s Bush-Crow and the elegant White-tailed Swallow, both of which we should see before the day is out. In the evening we’ll venture out after dark to look for Donaldson-Smith’s Nightjar, and we may also find some cute Somali Galagos clambering energetically through the acacias. Night in Yabello.
Day 10: We have the morning to explore the countryside around the town of Yabello. This is a region rich in birds, and species we hope to find in the acacia scrub and around the fields tended by the local Borena people include White-bellied Bustard, Eastern Pale Chanting Goshawk, Gabar Goshawk, Bateleur, Bare-eyed thrush, Somali Golden-breasted Bunting, Spotted Morning-Thrush, Shelley’s Starling, Banded Parisoma, Boran Cisticola, Purple Grenadier, Straw-tailed Whydah, and Black-cheeked Waxbill. After lunch we’ll begin the long drive north to Awassa, where we’ll spend the night.
Day 11: Our lakeshore hotel grounds have a distinctly tropical feel, and we’ll spend the morning searching the lake edge vegetation for waterbirds such as Black Crake, the dashing Malachite Kingfisher, the drab Lesser Swamp Warbler, and Thick-billed Weaver. Small pools along the lake shore are good places to find wintering shorebirds such as Marsh Sandpiper and Temminck’s Stint, as well as Hottentot Teal and White-faced Whistling-Duck. The tall gray-barked acacias are the perfect habitat for that most elusive of African birds, the Spotted Creeper, and diligent searching should reveal at least one. Elsewhere in this pleasant setting we should find Blue-headed Coucal, the endemic Thick-billed Raven, Red-fronted Tinkerbird, Double-toothed Barbet, White-rumped Babbler, Gray-headed Batis, and Common Wattle-eye. After lunch we’ll head north once more to return to Lake Langano, where we’ll spend the night.
Day 12: There will be plenty of new birds to look for on this return visit to Langano. Before breakfast we’ll wander around the acacia scrub and tall trees surrounding the hotel. The endemic Black-winged Lovebird can be common here, as can Blue-naped Mousebirds. Gangs of Rufous Chatterers scurry through the vegetation, and the calls of Striped Kingfisher echo around the rock faces where Blue-breasted Bee-eaters hawk insects. Northern migrants could include Common and Thrush Nightingales, Masked Shrike, and Black-eared Wheatear, while raptors seen here in the past range from a dashing Bat Hawk to the more stately Verreaux’s Eagle. After breakfast we’ll drive north along the lake shore to another lodge, where we can see Slender-tailed Nightjars at a daytime roost and, with luck, find a pair of Clapperton’s Francolins. In the afternoon we drive on to Nazaret for the night.
Day 13: An early start will take us toward the famous plains of Awash. Evidence of volcanic activity will be very obvious as we approach the extinct Fantale Crater, and we’ll stop at a vast lava flow to look for Chestnut-eared and Chestnut-headed Sparrow-Larks, Desert Lark, Blackstart, the endemic Sombre Chat, Shining Sunbird, and House Bunting before crossing the plains to reach our lodge. In the immediate vicinity of the lodge we can find regional specialties such as Yellow-breasted Barbet, Nile Valley Sunbird, and Ethiopian Swallow, and we shouldn’t have to go far to find at least one Arabian Bustard, a normally rare species that seems to be quite common here. The lodge overlooks a large marsh covered in dense reeds, where Marsh Harrier and Collared Pratincole can often be seen and flocks of Northern Carmine Bee-eaters hawk for insects. Nearby we’ll search the open scrub for wintering migrants from the north, perhaps including Black-eared Wheatear, Rufous Scrub-Robin, Siberian Stonechat, and Barred and Ménétries’s Warblers; with luck we might encounter a Black Bush Robin. Night at Bilen Lodge.
Day 14: The acacia thornscrub here is remarkably rich in birds, and we’ll spend the morning seeking out such species as Buff-crested Bustard, Senegal Thick-knee, Heuglin’s Courser, Lichtenstein’s and Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse, Northern Crombec, Fan-tailed Raven, and Steel-blue and Eastern Paradise Whydahs. Later we’ll continue to Awash National Park, stopping on the way to view a vast plain where we should see a good selection of raptors, including perhaps a Saker, and our only Ostrich of the tour. In the past this region has produced some surprises, including Pale Rock Sparrow and Bimaculated Lark. Reaching the Park we’ll spend one night at a tented camp located among some lush woodland right next to the impressive Awash Falls. As dusk descends and the camp fire crackles to life, the distinctive call of African Scops Owl echoes around the camp. Night at Awash campsite.
Day 15: Within a few hours of sunrise, Awash Park turns into a shimmering haze of savanna as temperatures soar. This means that the plentiful bird life is most active just after dawn, and we’ll make sure we are out before first light to catch all the activity. On the open grasslands we’ll look for Secretary Bird, Hartlaub’s and Kori Bustards, Red-winged and Singing Bush Larks, Ashy Cisticola, Somali Fiscal, and Southern Gray Shrike. Among the denser bushes we may find Gillet’s Lark, Red-fronted Warbler, Green-winged Pytilia, and Gray Wren Warbler, while raptors range from the tiny Pygmy Falcon to the massive Lappet-faced Vulture. This is also a good place for mammals, and with luck we should find Beisa Oryx, Soemmering’s Gazelle, and Swayne’s Hartebeest before we begin our return journey to Addis. On the way we’ll stop a huge lake, where waterbirds could include Southern Pochard, Fulvous Whistling-Duck, and Comb, White-backed and Maccoa Ducks. Night in Addis.
Day 16: Today we drive north across the Solulta Plain to Debre Libanos. The endemic White-collared Pigeon is incredibly common on the plain,and we’ll also search for the endemic Erlanger’s Lark and seek out the few pairs of Red-chested Swallows that breed here. Debre Libanos is an important monastic center for the Orthodox Church, where the 13th-century monk and mystic Telehaimanot is reputed to have stood on one leg for seven years. There will be no such hardships for us as we search this spectacular location on the edge of a massive gorge for Lammergeier, Rüppell’s Griffon Vulture, Verreaux’s Eagle, Erckel’s Francolin, the endemic Black-winged Lovebird, Rüppell’s Chat, White-winged Cliff Chat, and White-billed Starling, as well as Long-billed Pipit and Cinnamon-chested Rock Bunting. The open fields of the plain are a great place to see a variety of birds, from Black-winged Plover to Groundscraper Thrush, while any small stream will bring wintering Ortolan Buntings in to drink. Night in Addis.
Day 17: We’ll transfer to the airport in time for our flight back to London, where the tour ends later the same day.
Updated: 04 December 2008
Prices
- 2009 price about $5,880
- Single Occupancy Supplement $230
- 2010 price not yet available
Notes
This tour is limited to 14 participants with one leader and one local guide. Both will accompany the tour irrespective of group size.
We recommend starting the tour in London. Participants who prefer to meet the group in Addis Ababa should contact the WINGS office.
Those wishing to stay in Ethiopia and visit some of the cultural and historical sites in the north of the country, such as the rock-hewn churches at Lalibella, should contact the WINGS office.
This tour is organized by our British company, Sunbird.