SIMIEN MOUNTAINS, ETHIOPIA (PART ONE)
The Simien Mountains are in northwestern Ethiopia, with the higher elevations mostly between 10,000 and 14,000 feet. There is an incredible escarpment towards lower elevations to the north.

This is Part I of the pics--go here for Part II.

We will start with pics from the top of the escarpment, looking north (this area is around 10,500 feet above sea level)...



Zooming towards view (there was lots of dust as this was the dry season--and the far southeast corner of the Sahara Desert is only 100-150 miles away)...



Looking down on a village below...



A slope with dense scrub forest...



Nearby road following the crest...



Another escarpment view to the north, this time with the endemic monkey, the gelada (Theropithecus gelada), and a soda apple (Solanum aculeastrum) with its (inedible) yellow fruits to the left...



A similar view, but with multiple geladas...



More geladas--these were quite common in the Simien Mountains...





Here is a small waterfall--nearly dry towards the end of the dry season...



A bigger view of the canyon that the waterfall goes into (note how big the cliffs are relative to the waterfall)...



Another escarpment view...



There was this rare endemic Ethiopian wolf (Canis simensis). There may be as few as around 400 remaining in Ethiopia. This was at around 12,000 feet above sea level...







One very common plant, mostly above 11,000 feet, is the giant lobelia (Lobelia rhynchopetalum)...



Here is one in bloom...



Lobelias with Hypericum revolutum (the shrub with yellow flowers, sometimes called the curry bush in parts of Africa)...



The East African juniper (Juniperus procera) was common in parts of the Simien Mountains...



Hypericum revolutum...





The Abyssinica rose was quite common (Rosa abyssinica)...





This is a common (and edible) plant in many parts of the highlands of Ethiopia, including the Simien Mountains...spinach rhubarb (Rumex abyssicinus)...





There were some people living in the Simien Mountains...



A village (around 11,500 feet)...



There were even trucks used as buses on the one gravel road through the national park...





Go here for Part II of the Simien Mountains.

All of the above pictures on this page were taken in March 2016 by Brandt Maxwell.

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