Bale Mountain Lodge

by far the best lodge in the area

Bale Mountain Lodge is located in the Bale Mountains National Park area of southern Ethiopia.

The lodge is centred on a large main building under thatch, containing the main lounge and dining areas, with cosy log fires for cold evenings.

Outside broad verandahs take advantage of the warmer days and there’s a plunge pool below a small natural waterfall.

The furniture throughout the lodge was all made in the local villages and the overall feel is that the place has been really carefully and thoughtfully put together.

The food here is unusually good. The kitchen and menus were put together by a chef from The Savoy Hotel in London and are now delivered by an excellent and experienced Ethiopian team. There are usually set menus for lunch and dinner.

Guests are invited to dine together, which certainly adds to the feeling of this being a proper safari camp, although separate tables are certainly an option too.

Guest accommodation is in eleven detached stone and thatched rooms, three of which are closer to the main building, the remaining eight being tucked away inside the forest. Each room has a cosy fireplace, a conventional bathroom and a private verandah with broad views.

One of the rooms is nicknamed ‘The Treehouse’, as it’s slightly elevated and has views into the surrounding forest.

There is also a three bedroom unit which is usually used for friends and family, but which is sometimes made available for groups of up to six guests, with a central shared lounge area.

The owners have gone to great pains to make the lodge as environmentally sensitive as possible, with power coming from a wonderful mini-hydro plant, organic waste feeding a biogas system, heat-pump hot water systems and a natural filtration waste water system. Do ask to take a look at these installations, they are very impressive.

Activities

This very special upland area contains a unique variety of landscapes and ecosystems. It has been officially designated as a ‘biodiversity hotspot’, as it contains so many rare and endemic mammal, bird, reptile and plant species.

For most people the main highlight is seeing the Simien wolves (also known as Ethiopian wolves), which famously hunt endemic giant mole rats up on the high plateau.

As well as vehicle safari and hiking within the national park, the surrounding area offers some really good opportunities for cultural interaction.

A visit to the Bale Mountains tends to feature more commonly in longer trips to Ethiopia, or ones where the focus is rather more on wildlife than culture.

Activities at Bale Mountain Lodge are mainly focused on shorter walks in the forest around the lodge and longer expeditions by vehicle up to the Sanetti Plateau.

The Bale Mountains area is usually visited as part of a private-guided overland safari, starting in Addis Ababa and exploring the southern parts of the country, including any or all of Awash, Aledeghi, Harar, the Bale Mountains and the Southern Omo Valley, over the course of one or two weeks.

A visit to the Bale Mountains tends to feature more commonly in longer trips to Ethiopia, or ones where the focus is rather more on wildlife than culture.

The usual stay duration is three nights, but there are some really interesting lesser activities that could easily justify at least a couple of extra nights.

Seasonality

The best time to visit the Bale Mountains is generally considered to be during the Oct-Mar dry season, when you can expect cool mornings and warm days, but with clear skies bringing cold nights.

During Apr-May the evenings get a little bit cooler and there can be some light rain around.

June tends to represent a break in the rains, but with cooler dawns that warm up quickly through the mornings.

The Jul-Sep period is the main rainy season, when conditions at these altitudes can be very changeable and potentially adverse.

Getting around

The Bale Mountains area is usually reached by means of regular daily flights from the capital Addis Ababa. If you are coming down from the north of the country then it’s usually possible to connect directly through, without having to overnight in the capital.

It’s also possible to drive down from Addis Ababa, a pretty tough journey of around 7 hours.

If you are connecting on to the Southern Omo Valley, then chances are you will need to charter a plane.

Where to stay

The Bale Mountains area is fortunate enough to contain two decent accommodation options.

The first is the British-owned Bale Mountain Lodge, which is located in the Harenna Forest to the south side of the plateau.

The other really interesting option is Bale Expedition Camp, a mobile operation which can be set out for the exclusive use of up to eight guests. This has the advantage of being up on the main plateau and able to access the Webb Valley, where the wolves usually den.

In an ideal world it is best to combine both properties over maybe 4-6 nights, which would give you the chance to really explore the area properly.

mainly features in longer explorations of southern Ethiopia