Oromia and southern Ethiopia
Bale Mountain Lodge
Within the Harenna Forest of the Bale Mountains National Park, one of the largest remaining Tropical Cloud Forests in Africa and Ethiopia’s premier National Park, you’ll find the warm and welcoming Bale Mountain Lodge.
The lodge sits at 2,380 meters above sea level, on a small hill within an eight-hectare plot overlooking a mountain stream and forest clearing. The lodge offers views of the 1500-meter-high Harenna escarpment, with its volcanic outcrops rising dramatically above the forest. It is generally cool and damp from late April to September but warm and drier from October to mid-April.
All of the rooms offer comfortable beds, private decks and wood-burning stoves. Each is hidden from view from any other to permit guests to feel totally isolated whilst being safe and warm. Some rooms are tree houses built on stilts with outside showers and wonderful forest settings but are located a short walk from the main building. There are also disabled and limited access rooms located next to the main building. The lodge is a superb location from which to explore the forest and the nearby Sanetti Plateau, both of which offer walking and 4WD safaris in the company of a knowledgeable guide. The plateau is around a 40 minute drive away and there are trails into the Harenna Forest leading out from the lodge itself.
The lodge is a spectacular spot for viewing a variety of wildlife nearby.
Facilities
An onsite restaurant and bar, firepit, patio deck, free Wi-Fi internet in the main building, laundry service available and guided tours.
Local Wildlife
Around the lodge itself a variety of mammals occur including guereza black-and-white colobus and the endemic Bale monkeys, warthogs, Menelik's bushbucks, tree hyraxes and African golden jackals, while further afield giant forest hog, bushpig, and lion and leopard are even occasionally spotted. Birdlife is also plentiful with white-cheeked turaco, African emerald cuckoo, Abyssinian catbird, silvery-cheeked hornbill, mountain buzzard and African crowned eagle to name just a few. Travelling on to the Sanetti Plateau (around 40 minutes away) it is possible to see Ethiopian wolf, giant mole rats, Ethiopian Stark’s hares, klipspringers, blue-winged geese, spot-breasted lapwings, Rouget's rail, lammergeier, golden eagle, augur buzzard and much more.
Optional Activities
The lodge is most popular for its wildlife viewing and birding but guided hiking, horse riding, fishing and cultural activities such as village and market visits and honey collecting can all be arranged.
Visiting the Rift Valley, with its camel markets and dry, dusty conditions, is a mere 45-minute drive to the south and the Sof Omar caves, Africa’s largest limestone cave system- a return day trip to the North.
Jonathan Morris
Area Specialist
For those with more limited mobility, one of the rooms next to the building is better while those keen for more privacy would enjoy one of the treehouse rooms located down a small forest path and overlooking the lush forest.
If you have any questions regarding our Ethiopia tours, please feel free to contact me on +44 (0)1803 866965
