BIRD WATCHING

Day 1: Arrival Addis Ababa

The distinctive ‘flavor’ of Ethiopia is nowhere more apparent than in the capital. A visit to the vibrant local market will be colorful and energetic. Traders argue about the prices of products you have never heard of before, like berbere and tef. Local stalls sell njera (a local pancake-like sour bread) and wat – a spicy stew, while neighbors prepare coffee while scattering the bark of frankincense over coals leading to an intoxicating aroma wafting through the market. After a few hours, your trigger finger will be exhausted and your cards will be full. So we made our way to a comfortable city hotel for the night.

Day 2: Addis to Debre Birhan

We start the day early, leaving the rapidly developing capital (Ethiopia has the fastest-growing economy in Africa), and as soon as we cross the Entoto Mountains on the northern fringe of Addis, we are transported into another world. We will spend dawn in the bird-filled rural farming district of the Sululta Plain. This area is often full of large and charismatic birds, including the elegant endemic Blue-winged Goose, Wattled Ibis, and other photogenic species. Then we head for the cliffs of Debre Libanos, and we will pick up some ‘bones’ from a butchery so that we can create our own raptor restaurant. Our lunch stop is at a spectacular gorge, with cliffs nearby holding breeding Ruppell’s Vultures. Once we scatter the bones these huge and magnificent raptors will come sailing by at regular intervals, allowing amazing eye-level views and photos. Augur Buzzard, Tawny Eagle, and if we are lucky, an incredible and stunning Lammergeier may join them making it a fest of epic proportions. After lunch, we will attempt to find a group of the intriguing Gelada monkeys that roam this area in groups numbering in the hundreds. Despite this, they can still be tricky to find. If we are lucky we will enjoy them for a while, watching their antics and getting some keeper shots of these odd and fascinating creatures. In the late afternoon, we make our way to a city hotel at Debre Birhan.

Day 3: Ethiopian Plateau

This morning we will again be able to focus our attention on some of the high-elevation birds of the Ethiopian plateau. Later we swing back through Addis and drop into the more diverse Rift Valley, where numbers of migrant and resident birds increase exponentially. Shortly after lunch, we head to lakes Cheleleka and Koka, hoping to catch up with the uncommon Black Crowned-Crane, and the myriad migrant Northern Shovellers, Green-winged Teal, and Common Pintail that are mixed in with African resident Hottentot Teal, Red-billed and Yellow-billed ducks. The lake shore throngs with Little Stint, Ruff, Marsh, Green, and Wood sandpipers, and resident Kittlitz’s and Three-banded Plovers. The stars though are likely to be the African Fish-Eagles swooping in for prey, Hamerkop striking a staccato chord as they sing along the lake margins or groups of Yellow-billed Storks fishing. All are ready fodder for the eager photographer. In the late afternoon, we head to Lake Langano, where we enjoy the night in a beautiful retreat on the lake’s edge.

Day 4: Lake Langano and Abiata-Shalla National Park

Although Lake Langano is another of the Rift Valley lakes and is full of waterbirds, the main reason for our visit here is the fringing vegetation, which supports both thorny savanna and fig forest with an excellent collection of tame terrestrial birds nearby that will be our core focus for the morning session. Spectacular Superb Starlings or gregarious Von Der Decken’s Hornbill might drop in for breakfast, while Ruppell’s Weaver, Black-winged Lovebird, or Striped Kingfisher may be some of the smaller quarry we might find. The hotel gardens are good for roosting owls and we will do our best to find one before making our way to the neighboring national park. Here we will visit one of the shallow soda lakes, that is often teeming with birds including thousands of flamingos and many thousands of ducks and shorebirds. Light can be a little harsh here so once we have seen what we need to see and the sun has cranked it up, we will return to the gentler shores of Langano.

Day 5: Lake Langano to Goba

After another morning session near Langano, we will drive to Goba. As we ascend the southern highlands we will soon start encountering birds of the high altitudes. As we near the plains of Dinsho, we shall begin to see some of the more spectacular landscapes of the Bale Mountains, and we shall enjoy searching for Menelik’s Bushbuck, the endemic Mountain Nyala, warthogs, and bold and spectacular birds like Rouget’s Rail and Spot-breasted Lapwing. With a little luck, we may locate some secretive montane owls on their day roosts, allowing excellent opportunities for photographs of these nocturnal creatures.

Day 6: Bale Mountains NP

We spend a full day in the alpine wonderland that is the Bale plateau. Rising early, the chill of the morning will soon be dissolved by the radiant high-altitude light. We shall use the golden dawn to find and photograph Moorland or Chestnut-naped Francolins, or perhaps an Augur Buzzard sentinel on a giant lobelia plant, an Abyssinian Longclaw singing, or an awkward Thick-billed Raven picking at a carcass. The main quarry of this morning’s excursion is the extremely rare, and Endangered, Simien Wolf. With a global population of less than 500 individuals, this is one of the rarest of all of Earth’s predators. Fortunately, their habit of prancing around the high-altitude heathland seeking out their specialized rodent prey means that they are regularly encountered and photographed. This will be our main mission. We may also see and photograph many other birds and perhaps some small mammals as we enjoy the plateau for the remainder of the day.

 Day 7: Bale Mountains NP / Sof Omar

If we would like to spend some more time with the wolves and birds of the highlands, we will return to the plateau. If, however, the beasts performed and we are satisfied with our experience we can head off to the very different countryside of Sof Omar. This natural phenomenon is the largest cave system in Africa, and as the Web River runs through the caves, it creates a surreal environment. So much so that it has been a holy place for Muslim worshipers since the 12C. The surrounding area holds dry scrub with a very different collection of savanna birds, and we will target these in the morning session. Some highlights may be the strange Bristle-crowned Starling, or perhaps a stunning Narina Trogon or Scarlet-chested or Shining sunbirds. The people bathing in the river make for an interesting photographic spectacle in itself.

​Day 8: Goba to Lake Hawassa

After some early morning birding near Goba, we will make for the Rift Valley again, where we can photograph the mix of woodland and waterbirds that exist in the incredible mosaic of habitats that can be found there.

Day 9: Lake Hawassa

Hawassa is probably the single best locality for a diversity of birds and subjects to see and photograph. The active fishing nodes along the lakeshore attract a heady mix of birds, and there are few places on Earth where one can stand just a few meters from Goliath Herons, and Marabou and Saddle-billed storks as they gorge themselves on fish scraps. Hamerkops can be abundant as can the immense African fish-eagle. The waterlilies often hide small groups of pretty African Pygmy-Goose while the reed beds are home to Black Crake and Blue-headed Coucal. Seedeaters include the amazing Northern Red Bishop and cute Abyssinian Waxbill. The terrestrial vegetation, especially the copses of fig trees play host to noisy honking Silvery-cheeked Hornbill, Banded and Double-toothed Barbet, and on the ground the stunning White-browed Robin-chat. The trees are also home to the beautiful Guereza Colobus Monkeys who are charismatic subjects. No matter what kind of subjects pose for the lenses today, we are sure to return to the rooms with cards burgeoning with images in need of downloading, and a heady checklist session before dinner tonight.

​Day 10: Awassa to Lake Ziway to Lake Koka to Awash NP

A final day in the Rift Valley will get us more exposure to the waterbird wonderland of the Ethiopian Rift, and we will track down some Northern Carmine Bee-eaters or Malachite Kingfishers for those final killer shots before we take off and head to the drier areas of the Awash area.

​Days 11-12: Awash NP

Awash NP is one of Ethiopia’s last remaining wilderness areas where one can still see decent numbers of wild animals. Unfortunately, domestic stock still outnumbers ungulates and we are sure to see trains of camels before we encounter our first wildlife. Nevertheless, there are some interesting and unusual mammals to be found in Awash, the most spectacular of which is Beisa Oryx. The handsome beige, black, and white antelope with sweeping black horns is a real stunner. Sommering’s and Bright’s gazelles, Lesser Kudu, and Harar Dikdik may all also be seen and photographed here, with luck. Birds are common, and we will try to find and photograph some of the bustard species that haunt these woodlands. As we head further north to the Alidege NP we can hope to encounter some different species in this stark and open environment. The unusual Sacred Baboon may be the first, but we will also watch out for the strange and delightful Gerenuk and Arabian Bustard and, if we are fortunate, Somali Ostrich. Colorful barbets, bee-eaters, and starlings are also omnipresent in this region and we are sure to have a great collection of sightings and images to contend with once our time at Awash is over.

 Day 13: Awash to Addis

Our final morning will be spent getting a last few species in the awash area before we pack up and return to the capital with a casket full of memories and cards full of images.

​Day 14: Departures from Addis Ababa

Fly back to your home.