Climbing the Bale Mountains offers an adventurous journey through stunning landscapes, including the Harenna forest, the woodlands, the Erica belt, and the breathtaking Sanetti plateau. {Bale Mountain National Park} covers an area of slightly over 2,000km². The elevation rises to 4,377 m. Vegetational zones are clearly marked as you gain altitude. The forest covers a lower altitude of 1,700m to 3,000 m.
Harenna forest
The forest covers a lower altitude of 1,700m to 3,000 m. The bamboo belt in the northern part is under pressure from illegal harvesters. However, in the southern part, the largest extensive forest lies on the escarpment. The lower grounds are drier, growing wild forest coffee (Arabica spp) but as you reach over 2,200m the slopes get gentler and wetter. Fern pine {Podocarpus glacilior} and fig trees (Ficus spp} growing up to 30m form a closed canopy.
Due to the forest density, it offers homage to the elusive wild game. If you are lucky, you will see lions, leopards, wild dogs, monkeys, bushbucks, forest hogs, and bushpigs. Also, the nocturnal hyena, porcupine, civet, and genet can be sighted. The birds are equally elusive: hill babbler, oriole, white-cheeked turaco, crimson-wing, Ayre’s hawk-eagle, yellow-fronted parrot, and Narina trogon. Palearctic warblers and other migrant birds can be spotted
In the north, the Gaysay grasslands rise from 3,000m to 3,500 m. This area is relatively flat and dominated by swamp grasses and sledges. Shrubs of Artemesia, Helichrysum, and wild fennel are common. The most spectacular flora sighting is the endangered mountain Nyala. Wild game includes reedbuck, warthog, duiker, serval, jackal, and hyena. It is also a haven for birders, with Abyssinian catbirds, hornbills, long claws, winding cisticolas, marsh harriers, plovers, and rails, among others.
The woodlands
The juniper woodlands cover the northern slopes of the Bale massif. The dominant fauna is Hagenia abyssinica, Juniperus procera, Hypericum revolutum and rosa abyssinica. The animals sighted include mountain nyalas, warthogs, bushbucks, olive baboons, and colobus monkeys. Likewise, Wattled Ibis, white-backed black tit, Abyssinia ground thrush, thick-billed raven, gold-mantled woodpecker, and red-breasted wryneck are some of the common birds.
Erica belt
Moorlands and the forest. This is just above the tree line, about 3,400 to 3,800 m. It consists of heather species of the Erica and Phillipa genera. The giant heather growing up to 5 metres dressed with moss and lichen similar to the old man’s beard.
Afro-Alpine meadows (Sanetti plateau)
This is the world’s most extensive Afro-Alpine moorland. The main plant species is the giant lobelia growing up to the peaks of 4,377m. Furthermore, the alpine rodents – mice, rats, hyrax, Starck’s hare and giant molerats persevere in the cold weather. The Ethiopian wolf, buzzards, eagle, falcon, kestrel and vulture prey on the rodents.