Birding VE1Tour Code: VEH-17
BIRDING BY ROAD 18DAYS AND17NIGHTS.
Your Tour Scheduled
Day 1: Arrival in Addis Ababa, and transfer to your hotel.
Day 2: Awash National Park. After breakfast drive from Addis to Awash National Park through the awe-inspiring crater lakes of Debrezeith for birding. Then continue to Awash for afternoon birding, OVERNIGHT LOCAL HOTEL.
Day 3: Awash National Park. Birding in Awash National Park, located in the rift valley. It is enriched with many species of birds and mammals, OVERNIGHT LOCAL HOTEL.
Day 4: Ziway. Early morning leave Awash for Langano via Mojo. In route birding at Lake Ziway and Koka dam. Among some bird species you will see, OVERNIGHT HOTEL.
Day 5: Bale Mountains National Park. After breakfast, continue driving to Bale Mountains National Park and it is here you will visit many of the endemics birds, OVERNIGHT HOTEL.
Day 6: Goba, A day excursion to Sof Omar. After an early breakfast start driving to Sof Omar, about 120 km from Goba. Along the route you will have some stops for birding, OVERNIGHT HOTEL.
Day 7: Goba, excursion to Senate. Leave Goba early in the morning towards Sanete Plateau. While crossing a lush green forest, you will enjoy the Semien Wolves, endemic mammals. Then you will walk slightly down and down across a moorland landscape dotted with white and yellow cushions of flowers, colorful lichen-covered rocks and sparse Giant Lobelias. You will visit many water birds in the small lakes, OVERNIGHT HOTEL.
Day 8: Awassa. After an early breakfast drive to Awassa. En route in Awassa, you will see lots of species, (over 200), OVERNIGHT HOTEL.
Day 9: Wondogenet. After an early morning birding at Awassa drive to Wondogenet, via Shashemene. Wondogenet is a green and lush area, inhabited with lots of Grivet Monkeys, Colobus Monkeys and many species of birds. On the other hand, Wondogenet is an excellent place for fresh tropical fruits and hot spring, OVERNIGHT HOTEL.
Day 10: Yabello. Head South to Yabello, birding en route. In the late afternoon, we head into woodland west of Yabello, in search of the endemic Stresemann’s Bush Crow, OVERNIGHT HOTEL.
Day 11: Yabello. Full day birding (picnic lunch) in Yabello Wildlife Sanctuary, where we expect to see the white tailed swallow, Abyssinian Bush Crow, and if luckily, Prince Raspoli’s Turaco, OVERNIGHT HOTEL.
Day 12: Negele. Morning birding around Mega, then we drive east to Negelle, birding en route, OVERNIGHT HOTEL
Day 13: Negele. Here, you will spend the day exploring different localities for birding, OVERNIGHT HOTEL.
Day 14: Langano. After an early breakfast full day drive to Lake Langano, this is the best place for birding many species, OVERNIGHT HOTEL.
Day 15: Langano. These three neighboring lakes in the central Ethiopian Rift Valley could not be more different from each other. The medium depth reddish-brown Lake Langano, Abijatta, and the extremely deep, blue Shalla, once a volcanic crater and now home to several bubbling hot springs, are all superb birding localities. You will spend today exploring woodlands of all three lakes, and we will find different bird specious, OVERNIGHT HOTEL.
Day 16: Alem Ketema. After a final morning birding around the cliffs surrounding the hotel, you will drive to Addis Ababa, thus completing your southern loop. Continue driving beyond Addis Ababa across the Sululta Plains, OVERNIGHT HOTEL.
Day 17: Alem Ketema to Debre Berhan via the Jemma Valley
An early departure from Alem Ketema is essential in order to be at our chosen site when the endemic Harwood’s Francolin is at its most vocal, thus providing our best opportunity for seeing this elusive species. We will have a picnic breakfast at the river and bird the surrounding woodlands, OVERNIGHT HOTEL AT DEBRE BERHN.
Day 18: Depart in the morning depending on your flight schedule.
Code: VEH-17
