Photograph of Gelada Baboon

Gelada Baboon by Brian Field.

ETHIOPIA

Best Wildlife in Ethiopia

Mammals
Gelada and Sacred (Hamadryas) Baboons, Ethiopian Wolf, (Eastern) Black-and-white Colobus Monkey, Beisa Oryx, Gerenuk, Soemmering's Gazelle, Walia Ibex, Olive Baboon, Bale, Grivet and Vervet Monkeys, Common Warthog, Lesser and Greater Kudus, Mountain Nyala, Klipspringer, (Swayne's) Hartebeest and Giant Root Rat. Also a chance of Lion, Leopard, Caracal, Serval, African Wild Cat, Spotted and Striped Hyaenas, Grevy's Zebra, Aardwolf, Aardvark, Bat-eared Fox, Crested Porcupine, Grant's Gazelle and Impala, and an outside chance of (Somali) Wild Ass.

Birds
(Somali) Ostrich, Lesser and Greater Flamingos, African Fish Eagle, Lammergeier, Black and Goliath Herons, Saddle-billed Stork, Hamerkop, Arabian, Kori and other Bustards, Wattled, Black Crowned and Common (mostly Nov-Mar) Cranes, Vulturine Guineafowl and Golden-breasted Starling, 30 or so endemics (including Eritrea) such as Spot-breasted Plover, Stresemann's Bushcrow, Blue-winged Goose, Wattled Ibis, Rouget's Rail, Black-winged Lovebird and Prince Ruspoli's Turaco, as well as Ruddy Shelduck, African Pygmy Goose, francolins, Great White and Pink-backed Pelicans, African Darter, vultures, African Swallow-tailed Kite, Bateleur, African Crowned, Steppe, Tawny and Verreaux's Eagles, Pygmy Falcon, African Jacana, Black-winged Stilt, (Pied) Avocet, Temminck's and Heuglin's Coursers, sandgrouse, Bruce's Green Pigeon, Orange-bellied Parrot, turacos, owls including Verreaux's Eagle Owl, nightjars including Freckled, mousebirds, Narina Trogon, kingfishers, bee-eaters including Blue-breasted and (Northern) Carmine Bee-eater, Abyssinian and Lilac-breasted Rollers, Hoopoe, woodhoopoes, hornbills, Abyssinian Ground Hornbill, barbets including Red-and-yellow, batises, White-crested Helmetshrike, Grey-headed, Sulphur-breasted and Red-naped Bushshrikes, shrikes, African Paradise Flycatcher, (Red-billed) Chough, larks, Spotted Creeper, chats including Blackstart, Groundscraper Thrush, starlings including Superb, Red-billed Oxpecker, sunbirds, Mountain Wagtail, weavers, bishops, waxbills and whydahs. Also a chance of Golden, (Eastern) Imperial and Martial Eagles, Secretary Bird, Somali (Cream-coloured) Courser, Great Black-headed Gull, Egyptian Nightjar, Giant Kingfisher, Somali Bee-eater, Black Scrub Robin and Golden Pipit.

Reptiles, Amphibians and Fish
Nile Crocodile.

Plants
The Afro-Alpine vegetation includes the impressive Giant Lobelia.

Best Sites for Wildlife in Ethiopia

Best Times for Wildlife in Ethiopia

The driest time of the year is usually October to March. This is the best time to visit, especially October-November when it is usually sunny but relatively cool and many flowers bloom in the highlands. The peak rainy season is normally July to September.

Recommended Books etc. for Ethiopia

Mammals of Africa by M Andrews. Collins, due 2011.

The Kingdon Field Guide to African Mammals by J Kingdon. A & C Black, 2003.

The Kingdon Pocket Guide to African Mammals by J Kingdon. A & C Black, 2004.

Birds of the Horn of Africa by N Redman et al. Helm, 2009.

Birds of Africa south of the Sahara by I Sinclair and P Ryan. C Struik, 2011 (Second Edition).

Birds of Eastern Africa by Ber Van Perlo. Harper Collins, 2009 (Second Edition).

Where to Watch Birds in Ethiopia by C Spottiswoode, M Gabremichael and J Francis. Helm, 2010.

Birding Ethiopia by K Behrens et al. Lynx Edicions, 2010.


Kingdon eGuide to African Mammals.

Trip Reports for Ethiopia

Many trip reports, some for Ethiopia, are posted on the websites listed here. On some of these websites some reports are independent and some are posted by tour companies who organize tours to Ethiopia. These tour companies and others also post their own reports on their websites, which are listed under 'Some Organized Tours to Ethiopia' below.

Local Guides and Tours in Ethiopia

The costs of organized tours partly reflect the quality of the tour leaders. Some leaders are certainly better than others and many companies claim their leaders are the best but even the best rely at least to some extent on the exceptional skills of the local guides they employ. If you are travelling independently, employing such local guides will greatly increase your chances of seeing the wildlife you wish to see.


Accommodation in Ethiopia

Some Organized Tours to Ethiopia

There are many tour companies who organize tours to see mammals, birds, other wildlife and other natural wonders. The cost of these tours vary considerably according to such variables as the airlines used, the number of days the tours last, the number of sites visited, the number of people in the group (an important consideration if you wish to see such wildlife as rainforest mammals and birds), the number of tour leaders, the standard of accommodation and transport, and the percentage profit the company hopes to make. Generally, where the number of days tours last and the number of sites visited are similar, the cheapest tours are those that use the cheapest airlines, accommodation and local transport, that have the largest groups with the least number of leaders, and that make the least amount of profit. The most expensive tours tend to be those which are exceptionally long, use the most expensive accommodation (ridiculously lavish in some cases, even for single nights) and which make the most profit. Some tour costs partly reflect the quality of the tour leaders. Some leaders are certainly better than others and many companies claim their leaders are the best but even the best rely at least to some extent on the exceptional skills of the local guides they employ.

While tour companies organize tours with set itineraries many also organize custom tours for individuals and private groups who instead of taking a tour with a set itinerary want to follow their own itinerary to suit their own personal tastes, whether it be mammals, birds, other wildlife, other natural wonders or even man-made attractions, or a mixture of them all. Many organized tours with set itineraries are also fast-paced and target as many species as possible, whether they are mammals, birds or other wildlife or everything, which usually leaves little time to enjoy the best sites and individual species, but on a custom tour those taking part can specify the pace and the sites and species they wish to concentrate on. Custom tours also suit people who like to travel with people they already know, rather than with a group of strangers, and people with partners with different interests. Individuals and small groups will almost certainly have to pay more than the price of an organized tour with a set itinerary but a large group of friends may be able to travel for less than the price quoted for a set tour.

Tour companies who run organized tours or can arrange custom tours to Ethiopia include the following.