Saturday October 9, 2010

Our day is planned to enjoy one of Ethiopia’s great natural landmarks, the Simien Mountains National Park.  The great news is that the day starts clear with sunshine and blue sky.  We load up in our cars with our scout about 9:00 a.m. and head off to explore the park.  Not far from the Lodge, near one of the first vistas, we meet about 20 local children who have set up a handcraft display of hand woven items.  Everyone in the group, including our drivers contributes to the local economy.  One young boy was the spokesperson for the group and clearly a tough negotiator!

One of the major attractions in the Park is a large colony of Gelada Baboons.  The Gelada’s are native to this area, and they are the only grass-eating baboon of the specie.  They are generally very docile and spend most of their day eating grass and roots.  The adults will consume between 1 and 2 kilos of grass per day.  No more than a couple of miles into the park, we encountered our first (of several during the day)  group of geladas.  

As normal, they were busy eating…..so we were able to get very close and walk among the families.  We were able to observe them in their daily routine.  The families usually consist of a dominate male with several females and their children.  The male is very protective of the family, so we were careful not to get between them and their family group.  The females tend to the young with a very strong motherly instinct.  You can often see them carrying the young on their back and holding them to their stomach area as the baby gelada nurses.  

The males are easy to pick out as they have a much thicker mane around their head area.  The young gelada are very playful.  We saw them chasing and tumbling with each other, climbing trees and doing flips, all under the watchful eye of the dominant male.  In some of the vista pictures, you will see many of the sharp cliff that dominate the Simiens.  To protect their young, and themselves, from the local predators (primarily hyenas) the gelada retreat to the sheer cliffs at night for their sleep.  All in all, it was incredibly fascinating to watch the groups interact and go about their daily routine. 

The Simiens contain the highest mountains in Ethiopia.  Our lodge was located at 10,500 feet and our trip into the park took us to approximately 13,000 feet elevation.  Our trip into and out of the park covered about 80 miles.  Everything was very green and local flowers and plants were in bloom, so there was magnificent beauty at every turn.  We were able to see waterfalls, sheer cliffs, distant farming valleys, mountain peaks…..all intermingled with the local people and their grazing livestock. The pictures show some of the striking views that we were able to enjoy, but in no way can the pictures do justice to views.  Absolutely stunning and magnificent.

About two-thirds of the way into our journey, we visited the Ambaras Primary School Project, one that was implemented by a Glimmer of Hope and the Amhara Development Association.  Over the last two years, several school blocks, a library and a science lab have been constructed for this very remote and isolated community.  Since it was Saturday, school was not in session, but, as always, foreigners draw a crowd out of nowhere and this was no exception.  After arriving, we soon had more than 50 men, women and children gathered around to check us out, as we checked out their school.  Rennie especially made connection with a number of the women and children.

Our farthest point into the park was at Checken.  This is a popular campground for hikers and trekkers who are exploring the Park on foot.  When we arrived, a lot of preparation was underway in setting up tents and preparing food for the night.  

The temperature in this area will reach near freezing each night.  We were more interested in snuggling up to our hot water bottle so we started on our trip back to the lodge.

As you might imagine, at this elevation, the weather can change quickly and you get unusual occurrences.  As we were driving back, the wind pick up again, an began pushing the clouds up the valleys and over the road.  Almost instantly, we were covered in a thick layer of clouds, so much so you could see no more than a few feet in front of the car.  Since people and animals can walk on and across the road at any moment, this slowed our progress to a crawl.  Fortunately this passed in about 10 minutes and resume our trip back to the lodge.

After getting back, we were able to enjoy an hour or so of relaxing time before dinner.  After dinner, we grabbed our hot water bottle and headed up a small hill to room……..only to be treated to another one of His magnificent creations.  On a clear night, with no chemical or light pollution, at this elevation it feels like you can reach out to touch the stars.  The sky was filled with stars and the Milky Way was vividly visible.  Once again, it reminded us how incredibly blessed we are to be on this journey for water.

Dick Moeller