Day trek to Simien Mountains

Meeting Point

Simien Mountains National Park

We will meet you in the morning at Gondar Airport or your hotel in Gondar. Drive from Gondar to Debark, which is the headquarter town for the national park. We will stop here to get a permission to enter to the park and meet the scout. We will have tea and coffee break and visit the local market if we have time. The local market is open every day, and every Wednesday and Saturday is the big market day. From Debark town, we will drive to the park gate, which is about 16km from the town. Then, we are heading about 10km to Sankaber camp, which is the first camping site in the national park. From Sankaber camp, we will trek for about 3 hours. You will trek along the edge with stunning views over the foothills 800m below. The trail passes most vegetated area in the park through a low bush of Giant Heather, Abyssinian Rose, Oliveria, and Globe Thistle. You will most certainly encounter troops of the endemic gelada baboons and see them up-close. You may also see Klipspringer, bushbuck, rock hyrax in the steep rocky and wooded slopes. Leopards live around here and you may have a chance to spot a leopard. The highlight of the trek is Jinba waterfalls, an incredible 500m sheer drop, the longest fall in Ethiopia. From the viewpoint opposite, you will see the different voltures such as Griffen Volture, Hooded Volture, Whitebacked Volture, Lappet-faced vulture and Lammergeyer along the cliff. Lammergeyer is one of the biggest bird prey in the world and feeds bone marrow. This area is the best place for lammergeyer to break the bone. This area is also good to see different small birds such as one of the Ethiopian endemic bird- Abyssinian Catbird. After the sightseeing, we get back to the main road (the place called Kavamesk) where the car stops to drive us to Gondar or Axum.