Simien Trek Ethiopia – day 3

trip report by site editor Rick McCharles

day 1 | day 2 | day 3 | day 4 | info

Day 3: Gich-Chennek (3600 m), 7-8 hrs walking

A cold night.

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But the sky was blue. People keen to get an early start. This would be the best day of the trek.

I love these high altitude grassy plateaus.

Vegetation changes significantly with altitude. Giant lobelias dominate the landscape from here on in.

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Nadine likes what our guide called Everlast, too. This high altitude plant blooms year round.

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The heart of the mountains. The central viewpoint of the Simien traverse.

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It’s a bit of a scramble.

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It’s from here that some see similarities with the Grand Canyon. Our trip organizer, Nur, joked that Simien is more of a Green Canyon.

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In fact, only South Africa’s Drakensberg were formed in the same manner. That’s the best comparison.

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Spanish Moss. Old Man’s Beard.

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When it’s dry, the trails are easy walking.

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There’s always an EMERGENCY horse waiting. Many fall victim to symptoms of altitude sickness. There are always people selling knickknacks. Their starting price for bartering is usually $8. For anything.

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We stopped for lunch at yet another fantastic cliffside viewpoint.

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The cold encouraged us to get moving again. This is 4000m (13,000+ft).

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I love best the sections of trail walking the escarpment cliff edge.

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The drop is typically 600 – 800m. There is one trail up from the lowlands, using ladders. Park Rangers use it.

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Red Hot Pokers. The prettiest flower on the trail.

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Finally we caught a glimpse of Camp.

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One of the great treats of a guided hike is having hot drinks ready on arrival.

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These are our mule drivers.

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We had hardly seen them as they and their beasts are not welcome at Camp. They were astonished and thrilled with a combined $15 tip. This is likely the only hiking trip they’ll get in a year. There are thousands of horses in the Simien, all waiting their turn to carry tents, stoves and sleeping bags.

At every campsite in the world there’s some camp thief looking to eat your lunch. In the Simien, it’s the thick-billed raven.

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Atypically, the clouds rolled in.

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I felt there was still zero chance of rain. It’s the dry season.

At 5:30pm we headed over to the cliff edge. Waiting.

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At 6:10pm the baboons headed for the cliff.

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Geladas sleep, when they can, on steep slopes for protection from predators, quite near the Ibex. Baboons have excellent hearing. Ibex excellent vision. Either/or may detect a lurking predator above.

I tried to stay up later around the campfire. But it was too smokey.

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Another early night.

more photos

day 1 | day 2 | day 3 | day 4 | info

December 18, 2014December 20, 2014

Simien Trek Ethiopia – day 2

trip report by site editor Rick McCharles

day 1 | day 2 | day 3 | day 4 | info

Day 2: Sankaber-Gich (3600 m), 5-6 hrs walking

I couldn’t sleep.

Tossing. Turning.

My stomach, not perfect on arrival for this adventure, was getting worse.

At midnight I rushed to the filthy toilet with diarrhea.

At about 2am I awoke suddenly, urgent to vomit outside the door of my tent.

Disgusting. But I was too sick and tired to worry about it until daylight.

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Early morning the thick-billed ravens squawked around my tent … eating the vomit. It was entirely cleaned up by the time I finally got up.

These birds are the biggest and noisiest ravens I’ve ever seen, unique to this region. They mostly travel in male/female pairs.

Breakfast is normally a highlight of these guided camping trips. But I couldn’t eat today. As a test I forced down coffee and a couple of bites of scrambled egg.

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Our gear would ride horseback today. A mob of mule drivers crowded around, hoping they would get work.

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There’s a maximum weight / horse. 45kg or thereabouts.

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Back to the impressive escarpment walk. Amazing views.

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Joshua is smiling here, but his stomach was getting worse by the minute. He and I had eaten fish the evening before. We speculated that it was the fish that made us both sick. Why were we eating fish at 3000m in a land that has little refrigeration?

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The vegetation seemed to get more interesting the higher we climbed.

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We tried resting at the waterfall lookout, but Josh was getting sicker. He spoke, for the first time, of possible quitting the hike. Not only was his stomach bad, but he was feeling symptoms of altitude sickness.

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waterfall Simien - Josh and Nadine

Climbing back up to the road, we discussed our options. With an interested local audience.

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Camp tonight was much higher (3600m) and much more remote. If we continued and Josh was to get sicker, there was no road escape route.

We could try descending and see if he improved, but if we waited too long, there may be no vehicles heading back down this afternoon.

There are a few tourists jeeps each day. And these local people movers.

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Finally one of those heading down arrived. Josh made the decision. Hopped up into the truck, paying an absurd $30 for the ride back down to Dabark. Happily one of the hiking guides was in the truck. He promised to get Josh to the mini-bus station and all the way back to Gondar.

It was the correct decision. But it wasn’t easy for Nadine to continue without her husband.

I felt Josh was decided, determined and rational when he scrambled up into the truck.

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Later we learned he couldn’t even remember departing. His mind was confused all the way back to Debarq where he was detained for riding illegally in the truck! 😦

Luckily he was finally allowed to take a cab the 2 hours back to Gondar, all the minibuses having departed.

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At lunch we were visited by hungry goats.

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Baboons live here in conflict with local farmers.

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Farmers grow barley. And it was being harvested. Geladas like to eat barley. Each field has a child who’s job it is to chase away baboons.

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This lovely Muslim village has 1200 people.

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Our scout, Adim, lives here. So he greeted most everyone we met.

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My stomach at this point was 90% OK. I’d eaten almost nothing all day. But I was very tired. It was a huge relief when we finally made camp.

I only wanted to lie down for a nap.

But as I dropped my pack, Paul ran over and said: “What are you doing? The Ethiopian wolf is here.”

We rushed to look.

The Ethiopian wolf is native to the Ethiopian Highlands. It is similar to the coyote in size and build …

Unlike most large canids, which are widespread, generalist feeders, the Ethiopian wolf is a highly specialised feeder of Afroalpine rodents with very specific habitat requirements. It is one of the world’s rarest canids, and Africa’s most endangered carnivore. …

Only about 400 survive in 7 different mountain ranges, perhaps 90 in Simien.

Instead of climbing up to the famed sunset viewpoint with Nadine, I crashed in my tent for an hour.

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Africa sunsets are the best anywhere, however. I forced myself to get up with my camera.

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Nadine got the BIG views up high.

Simien - Josh and Nadine

I ate almost nothing for dinner. Went to bed immediately. The indoor campfire was too smokey.

more photos

day 1 | day 2 | day 3 | day 4 | info

December 17, 2014December 20, 2014

Simien Trek Ethiopia – day 1

trip report by site editor Rick McCharles

day 1 | day 2 | day 3 | day 4 | info

Day 1: Gondar-Sankaber (3250 m), 3-4 hours walking

6:30am Ethiopian coffee

7am pick-up at the (recommended) L-Shape Hotel in the tourist town Gondar. Room about $13 in 2014.

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It was an easy 2hr drive to Debarq, the jumping off point for Simien Mountains National Park. Quick stop at the National Park office.

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We had breakfast at the Great Work Hotel. Excellent Mango juice.

Our car returned with gear, guide, cook and … personal armed Park Ranger. They call themselves Scouts. A guard is still required for each trekking group in 2014, though these days it’s more of a make work project for the Rangers.

We drove through the Park gates and continued about another hour.

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This road is rough. Though it was being improved while we were there.

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We’re HERE. Trekking the Simien mountains. What a thrill.

Simien Ethiopia Map

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I’d joined Josh and Nadine, a couple from Edmonton, Canada who have been volunteering in Burundi for the past 2 years.

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Here’s our excellent Guide, Adoo.

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And our Scout, Adim.

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Immediately we headed for the great escarpment.

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It’s a long, long way down. About 800m here.

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Simien - Josh and Nadine horse

Local people are everywhere. This is a shared use National Park.

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We heard that road and power lines being moved further away from the trekking route. I hope that’s true.

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Adoo detoured from the cliff when he spotted a group of 200-400 Gelada baboons. (more photos)

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Geladas are found only in the high grassland of the deep gorges of the central Ethiopian plateau. They live in elevations 1,800–4,400 m above sea level, using the cliffs for sleeping and montane grasslands for foraging. …

Geladas are the only primates that are primarily graminivores and grazers – grass blades make up to 90% of their diet. They eat both the blades and the seeds of grasses. …

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They mate in May, have babies in November. Females were very protective of their youngest. Some looked like newborns.

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We sat down and let the group graze past us. Some of the toddlers were curious enough to TRY to touch us.

Simien - Rick baboons 600

What a fantastic 2 hours. This might be the best wildlife encounter anywhere in the world. It was my best wildlife encounter ever. 🙂

Simien was one of the first sites to be made a World Heritage Site by UNESCO (1978). Due to serious population declines of some of its characteristic native species, in 1996 it was also added to the List of World Heritage in Danger.

The word Semien means north in Amharic. But the name Simien and the word simian do make a good mnemonic for this hike. Geladas are the highilght. 🙂

Elated, we shuffled another hour or so to Camp 1. Talking about the baboons.

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It’s a very easy half day, yet everyone was huffing and puffing due to altitude.

Popcorn and hot drinks on arrival were much appreciated.

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I rested an hour. (I opted to use my own tent. Not the one supplied.)

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We headed over to the ridge for the sunset, surprised how cold it was in Africa at night.

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Josh got some great pics.

Dinner was impressive: soup, bread, fish, salad, spinach, deep fried banana. I skipped the salad (worried about my health) but tried some of everything else.

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We checked the full moon, then retreated to our tents. There was no campfire. I climbed into 2 sleeping bags. The one provided. And my own. Everyone was surprised how cold it was at night in Simien.

Simien - Josh and Nadine

more photos

day 1 | day 2 | day 3 | day 4 | info

December 15, 2014December 12, 2014

Bale Mountains National Park treks

Ethiopia. Guided.

Nominated in 2009 to the World Heritage Tentative List, Bale Mountains National Park (BMNP) is a national park in Ethiopia with one of the highest incidences of animal endemicity of any terrestrial habitat in the world. …

Bale Mountains National Park is open year-round although the most popular time to visit is November through April when the rains have stopped. The Park can be reached by private car or public transportation from Addis Ababa. Visitors may choose to trek throughout the Park either by horseback or on foot, or alternatively to visit the Park entirely by car. Treks range from one to 12 nights and travel through all the different ecosystems of the Park. …

map

Download the FREE Park guide (PDF):

Treks range from 3,000m to above 4,000m altitude. Explore all habitats of the Bale Mountains National Park as you trek across the home of the Ethiopian wolf, mountain nyala, giant molerat and Bale monkey. Experience stunning Afroalpine mountains and natural scenery while heading deep into the heart of the Sanetti plateau – a floating land.

Explore vast moorland and discover Afroalpine plants as you camp in the wilderness. Hike amongst rock pinnacles etched out of the lava flows by millions of years of ice and winds, and pass waterfalls and alpine lakes. Camping in the Harenna forest may reward you with a sighting of the elusive animals that live there. Wildlife that can be seen along the way includes the olive baboon, warthog, rock hyrax, Starck’s hare, klipspringer, grey duiker, African wild dog, giant forest hog, leopard, lion and birds of prey. …

Bale

December 14, 2014December 9, 2014

Behaeghel – Great Himalayan Trail

Steve Behaeghel and his wife Katrijn, outdoor adventurers, walked long and difficult sections of Nepal’s GHT.

He posted something of a trip report with photos on Sidetracked. A good read.

December 5, 2014November 20, 2014

Makalu Base Camp 2015?

For my 6th trip to Nepal, where should I hike?

Dolpo? Mustang? Kanchenjunga?

So far I’m leaning towards Makalu. You can fly to the start, avoiding horrendous overland travel. 🙂

Known for its rural farming villages and a diversity of flora and fauna, the area receives few trekkers due to its relative inaccessibility.

OVERVIEW

Starting at 400m in Tumlingtar along the banks of the Arun River, you’ll need strong legs to carry you for an elevation gain of 5120m to reach Makalu Base Camp. A rustic teahouse trek (don’t expect deep-fried snickers bars), you’ll find yourself at the foot of Mt. Makalau (8485m), the world’s 5th highest mountain, with Lhotse (8,516m), Everest (8,850m), Baruntse (7,220m) and Chamlang (7,319m) not far off.

It is a culturally rich perspective on Nepal best suited for people who have been trekking in Nepal before.

Trekking Partners

related – 2012 trip report by sathya

December 3, 2014November 20, 2014

hiking Portugal’s vineyards

If you love Port and Portuguese wine, consider a week long guided hiking tour through famed Douro valley.

The pitch:

This fantastic program will get you to one of the most beautiful places in Portugal, de Douro region. From Porto to the Douro slopes you’ll take train journeys who lead you to amazing vineyard terraces scenery, today UNESCO heritage site.

While hiking thru the vineyards, you’ll have the chance to taste some of these wines, world class wine!!! Return in a cruise descending to the river mouth at Porto and, finish the trip at the famous cellars of the port Wine.

» UNESCO World Heritage Sites

» One very good time to taste wines from the Douro region.

Portugal Nature Tours

___

I’ve hiked nearby Peneda-Gerês National Park. Combining a wine walk with this National park on one trip would be idea. Click through for more information.

December 2, 2014November 20, 2014

Great Himalayan Trail

The Great Himalaya Trail is a proposed trail of more than 4500 km stretching the length of the Greater Himalaya range from Nanga Parbat in Jammu & Kashmir to Namche Barwa in Tibet thus passing through Kashmir, India, Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet. When completed, it will be the longest and highest alpine walking track in the world …

It will never be “completed”. There are many GHT routes, higher and lower. They can be hiked continuously or by section.

map

Check out two main websites, both pretty good:

• greathimalayatrail.com

• thegreathimalayatrail.org

The second mostly covers GHT Nepal.

The guidebook I’m researching is from Trailblazer – Nepal Trekking & the Great Himalaya Trail 2011 by Robin Boustead.

He’s got a coffee table book, as well, that I’ve never seen – The Great Himalaya Trail.

Stuart Bilby solo’d the Nepal GHT Nepal in 127 days in 2014, an incredible accomplishment. No cars, buses, planes, donkeys or yaks for transport. Stuart lost 19kg body weight. Actually, the first half he did with Lisa Lee-Johnson.

Linda Bezemer published a (much more reasonable) GHT Low Route electronic guidebook which you could use with an iPad on the trail. 1550km broken into 11 sections.

Seth, Kathleen and John did a 2014 east-west GHT Nepal traverse.

But my favourite is Gerda Pouler’s account of her 2012 very personal adventure – Great Himalaya Trail: 1,700 Kilometres Across the Roof of the World [Kindle Edition].

December 1, 2014November 20, 2014

Great Himalaya Trail – Gerda Pouler

… This path is perhaps the ultimate walk.

In 2012, Himalaya veteran Gerda Pauler set out to walk the length of the trail to raise awareness of autism in Nepal.

Travelling across the country with open eyes and ears, ascending high passes, visiting isolated villages and drinking tea with the locals allowed her to see and hear things many of us might never hear, never experience — and never know.

Beautifully written like many great travel books and with a foreword by Sir Chris Bonington, this is so much more than a travel diary — it is a collection of stories from the very heart of Nepal and its people. From Tibetan tea and local beer to corrupt politicians and child marriage; cold nights and monsoon rain to incredible views and searing heat; and from angry yaks and giant spiders to Mr Bean and Jack Nicholson…

Amazon

home page – gerdapauler.info

October 21, 2014October 22, 2014

climbing Fanispan in a day

trip report by site editor Rick McCharles

“the Roof of Indochina”

AT A GLANCE

3,143 meters (10,312ft), Fanispan is the highest mountain in Indochina
northwest region of Vietnam, near the Chinese border
9km southwest of Sapa (Sa Pa), a gorgeous hill station developed by the French
pine forests, bamboo thickets and jungle

Oct 20, 2014

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Breakfast at the fantastic Unique Hotel starts 7am. Since I was leaving at 5am, the cook awoke early and put together a takeaway breakfast for me. 🙂

I arrived at Sapa O’Chau travel agency at 5:10am for the 5:30 rendezvous. Guide and driver were there already, so we departed instantly.

By 5:30am we were marching briskly up the trail. In the dark.

“Silver”, my guide, spotted a wounded bird near the Ranger Station. Knowing that some dog would dispatch him in the morning, he carried the bird along with us until finding a safer place in the forest.

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We started early because I opted to climb Fanispan in one day US$95, rather than the normal US$180 2-day itinerary.

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Silver quickly decided I was strong enough to make it. I hoped he was right.

The trek is wet. And muddy. At the bottom you are often walking in creek beds and runoff streams.

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Happily for me, it had been very dry of late. My feet did not get wet over the entire day!

The best sections are ridge walks with misty valley vistas far below.

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Surprisingly, long sections of the ridge are protected with concrete railings. They are well built and seem to be enduring the climate very well.

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I asked my guide about poisonous snakes. He laughed, saying the snakes this high are very wary. People don’t see them. But in his village, Kat Kat, there are many, many.

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Just around the next corner we came across that one, bludgeoned to death. Silver was sorry to tell me that his people eat large snakes and kill small ones.

You’ll only see goats and buffalo on this trek. For anything more exotic check the restaurants of Sapa. Some Asians are happiest eating the most endangered species. 😦

porcupine Sapa

Almost everyone climbs Fanispan with a guide. But I did talk to one guy from Hanoi who did it alone. In a day. Much faster than me. Parts of the trail are marked with collapsed signposts and fading red markers.

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It would be easier to follow the trash, however. Only western tourists and guides pack out what they pack in. I’ve always found indigenous peoples to be the very worst litterbugs.

This day we were first to arrive at Camp 1 – 1,500m (4,920 ft). You can buy snacks and drinks here. The guard dog was chained.

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Up and up. Into the clouds. Fanispan’s summit is usually clouded over.

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Multiday hikers normally stay at Camp 2 – 2,800m (9,190 ft). Either in fairly dirty buildings or in much cleaner tents carried by porters.

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We had a meal here on the way up. And on the way down.

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Though I set out my alcohol gel, my guide didn’t use it. Other cooks I saw were equally unsanitary.

Camp 2 is atrociously trashed. The main reason I chose to do a one day climb was to avoid staying here. 😦

If you feel I’m exaggerating, click over to a photo of the toilet.

This is a tough trek. There are dozens of sections where you really need to scramble. Many inexperienced hikers must turn back.

Here’s one essential handhold.

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Though in a hurry, we got stopped high up for 30min because a work crew was blasting rock.

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Turns out a cable car is being built. It will open September 2015 or sooner. There must have been 200 workers living atop this high mountain.

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I took perverse pleasure in seeing this mess, but I’m not going to recommend Fanispan to others. The cable car will further degrade the hiking experience.

We did finally stand on the summit, the highest spot in Indochina.

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