Before getting started with how to find hiking trails in Ethiopia, let's start by introducing this beautiful country. Ethiopia is located in Africa. The country is entirely within tropical latitudes and is rather compact, with north-south and east-west dimensions that are similar. Addis Ababa, the country's capital, is located near the country's center. Ethiopia is the Horn of Africa's largest and most populous country. Ethiopia became landlocked after Eritrea, its former province along the Red Sea, seceded in 1993. Ethiopia is one of the world's oldest countries, with a long history of changing borders over millennia. It was once centered on Aksum, an imperial capital located in the present state's northern region, roughly 160 kilometers from the Red Sea coast. As European powers encroached on Ethiopia's historical dominion in the 19th and 20th centuries, the current territory was solidified. Ethiopia rose to prominence in modern international affairs after defeating colonial Italy in the Battle of Adwa in 1896 and again when it was invaded and occupied by fascist Italy in 1935–36. The liberation of Ethiopia by Allied forces during World War II paved the way for Ethiopia to take a more prominent position in international affairs. Ethiopia was one of the first sovereign states to sign the United Nations Charter, and it lent moral and material support to Africa's decolonization and the expansion of Pan-African cooperation. These efforts resulted in the founding of the Organization of African Unity and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, both of which are headquartered in Addis Ababa. After all this information, it is time for Ethiopia hiking trips. Let's start!
What to bring for Ethiopia hiking?
Which hiking trails are open? Here are some sites to visit with the guidance of Pickvisa.
Dinsho
If you decide to travel to Ethiopia, consider going to Dinsho. Dinsho is a settlement in Ethiopia's south-central region. This town, at an elevation of 3207 meters, is located in the Bale Zone of the Oromia Region, in the heart of the Bale Mountains. It is Dinsho woreda's administrative hub. Dinsho was once a tiny village located to the west of its current location; Fiona Flintan was shown the lone, elderly eucalyptus tree that marked the original site's marketplace. In 1934, the village was relocated along the main road between Goba and Shashamane, and by 2000, the town had grown significantly, with the construction of roughly 60 dwellings surrounding a new market site on the town's north side. Flintan discovered that Dinso's commercial and retail activity mostly consisted of dwellings, shops, 'hotels,' and tea houses during her visit in 2000. "Poorly stocked with few tinned and few dried foods such as spaghetti and basic cookies," she discovered in the shops. The Wolf's Den Cafe, which provides trekking services, including the hiring of guides and horses, was the main tourist attraction. Dinsho has a primary and secondary school, the former of which was reconstructed in the late 1990s and the latter of which was constructed around 1970. Around 1996, a new health clinic was erected to replace an old one that had become dilapidated. In the town, there are two diesel-powered mills that grind barley. Dinsho had two market days in 2000: a small local one on Saturdays and a larger one on Tuesday that drew people from as far as 25 kilometers away from the town; both markets were conducted in open spaces. Soon after Flintan's settlement, a mosque was built in the heart of town to accommodate the Moslem majority, while an earlier Christian church was "tucked away among trees and the river." The Scandinavian-style lodge was built in the early 1990s to replace the old guest house, which had burned down in November 1982 after being built by a Belgian sheepherder. The village has sporadic access to power. A few kilometers outside of Dinsho sits the Bale Mountains National Park headquarters. For many years, the town was also the major location for the Ethiopian wolf conservation effort, and some wolves can still be seen nearby.
Simien Mountains National Park
Northern Ethiopia's Simien Mountains National Park is an exotic environment with distinctive fauna and breathtaking views of a landscape influenced by nature and traditional agriculture. The natural splendors of this region have traditionally awed visitors from Ethiopia and beyond. The high plateau, which ends abruptly at 1000- to 2000-m deep escarpments, is filled with gentle highland ridges at heights above 3600 meters above sea level where it is suitable for Ethiopia hiking trips, covered with grasses, solitary trees, and the odd Giant Lobelia. Precipitous rocks and steep canyon-style gorges line the edges of this high plateau and create the best hiking in Ethiopia. The escarpment generates minor elevations in several spots, providing excellent natal observation points. The breathtaking views from the observation stations at Gidir Got and lmet Gogo in the park's heart provide unrivaled panoramas of the high plateau and lowland lowlands for the best hiking trails. Views up to a hundred kilometers across the valleys and terraces of the Tekeze lowland basin are possible under the correct climatic circumstances. They alternate and form a vast complex with a thickness of around 3000 meters. This complex was built 20-30 million years ago by volcanic eruptions during the Tertiary Oligocene-Miocene Age, and it has been undergoing uplifting and erosion ever since. The ecosystem of the Simien Moumains National Park is its main attraction: the sheer cliffs and mild climate at the Erica tree line (3600 to 4000 m) have produced ideal circumstances for the survival of an ibex species peculiar to the Simien Mountains for the best hiking trails. Several hundred creatures have persisted to the present day despite severe habitat restrictions over the millennia. Many other animal species, including the rare Simien fox or Ethiopian wolf, various birds of prey, the indigenous Gelada baboon, the Klipspringer, and the bush deer, can be found in the park. The area's rarity became the backbone of the conservation concept, which led to the creation of the Simien Mountains National Park in 1969 and its designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1918.
Gondar
If you got your Ethiopian visa, consider adding Gonder to your list. Gonder is a city in northwest Ethiopia and is the place for hiking in Ethiopia. It is situated at the height of 2,300 meters atop a basaltic mountain from which streams run to Lake Tana, 34 kilometers south. Gonder was Ethiopia's capital from 1632 to 1855, and it has the ruins of castles and palaces built by emperors ranging from Fasilides (reigned 1632–67) to Iyasu II (1730–55). So, if you ask what to bring for Ethiopia hiking, the answer will be just your photograph! Within a walled imperial enclosure, the ruins of these structures can be found. The fortress of Fasilides and the palace of Iyasu the Great (reigned 1682–1706) are the most noteworthy structures. The architectural style of these stone structures shows a strong Portuguese influence, as well as connections to the palaces of the Aksumite dynasty and mosques in South Arabia. Only a few of the 44 churches said to have existed in Gonder in the 18th century are still standing, but the city remains an important center of the Ethiopian Orthodox church, with its wonderfully ornamented 17th-century Debre Berhan Selassie Church still in operation. Gonder was severely harmed during Ethiopia's civil wars (1750–1890), but with the British invasion of Sudan (1899), the town was able to continue its trade with the Blue Nile region. The city's residents are mostly Christians; however, there are a few Muslims in the area. Despite the fact that Gonder is a major commercial center for cereals, oilseeds, and livestock, the surrounding area's economy is primarily based on subsistence farming. Textiles, jewelry, copperware, and leatherwork are all produced by Gonder's artisans. The city serves as a major traffic crossroads and has an airport. A medical university is adjacent to the contemporary hospital, which trains workers for rural clinics.
Great Rift Valley
Another destination, if you obtained your Ethiopia visa, would be the Great Rift Valley. Which hiking trails are open? Great Rift Valley is! The Ethiopian Rift Valley is a branch of the East African Rift that stretches southwest from the Afar Triple Junction across Ethiopia and is considered the best hiking in Ethiopia. It was once thought to be part of a "Great Rift Valley" that stretched from Mozambique to Syria. Between the Ethiopian Plateau to the north and the Somalia Plateau to the south sits the Great Rift Valley, and it is one of the best places for hiking in Ethiopia. During the Miocene Period, the Nubian and Somali plates began to split along the East African rift system, forming the rift. Deformation began around 18 million years ago in the southern end of the Ethiopian rift valley, around 11 million years ago near the Afar depression, and possibly around 6-8 million years ago in the middle sector. The Ethiopian rift valley is about 80 kilometers wide, with huge, discontinuous normal faults on both sides forming major tectonic escarpments that separate the rift floor from the surrounding plateaus. The northern rift valley termination is now thought to be inactive, whereas the southern rift valley termination is still tectonically and seismically active. A sequence of tiny en echelon, right-stepping rift basins of Quaternary to recent age cut the rift floor. These basins are approximately 20 km wide and 60 km long. Extension within the valley in the northern part of the rift is now thought to be primarily along these faulted and magmatically active segments. These segments are thought to be mid-ocean ridge spreading hubs in the making. I am sure that you have obtained all your questions regarding how to find hiking trails in Ethiopia. With the guidance of Pickvisa, it is much easier. So, pick your bag, and take your note given by Pickvisa and enjoy your trip!
