My girlfriend Lindsay and I volunteered in Equatorial Guinea for the winter of 2014-15. On the way back we decided to take a 6 week layover in Ethiopia. A coworker, Ashleigh, who was volunteering in Ghana, joined us for most of the time. We were able to see most of the places we wanted with the exception of Gambella, which was expensive to get to, and potentially dangerous due to the civil war in neighboring South Sudan. For the first 23 days we rented a car and driver and toured the southern bird watching route. We mainly targeted mammals and scenery, which our driver took awhile to figure out.
Our first stop was Awash National Park, which is a desert park east of Addis Ababa. There is heavy grazing by local livestock in the park, with little left for the native wildlife. We still managed to see several species of mammals. Birds were spectacular here as well.
Beisa
Beisa by curtisfrommichigan, on FlickrSoemmering’s Gazelle
Soemmering's Gazelle by curtisfrommichigan, on FlickrWe saw our first Salt’s Dikdiks of the trip.
Salt's Dikdik by curtisfrommichigan, on FlickrThis was my first Lesser Kudu
Lesser Kudu by curtisfrommichigan, on FlickrWe saw a few Black-backed Jackals.
Black-backed Jackal by curtisfrommichigan, on FlickrWe visited the hot springs in the park and managed to see our one and only Waterbuck of the trip.
Waterbuck by curtisfrommichigan, on FlickrOne of the park buildings has a night roost for a couple species of bats.
Sundevall’s Leaf-nosed Bat
Sundevall's Leaf-nosed Bat by curtisfrommichigan, on FlickrEgyptian Tomb Bat
Egyptian Tomb Bat by curtisfrommichigan, on FlickrWe then headed north to Ali Deghe reserve, as it is a great place to see Gerenuk, among other mammals.
Geranuk by curtisfrommichigan, on FlickrGolden Jackal, or African Wolf as it is now called.
Golden Jackal by curtisfrommichigan, on FlickrGrevy’s Zebra, the rarest species of Zebra, were quite skittish.
Grevy's Zebra by curtisfrommichigan, on FlickrBetween parks we saw a few Hamadryas Baboons.
Hamahydras Baboon by curtisfrommichigan, on FlickrWe visited a lodge, but didn’t stay near Ali Deghe and saw a few Common Warthogs.
Common Warthog by curtisfrommichigan, on FlickrAt a couple stops along the way we managed to see Gambian Sun Squirrel.
Gambian Sun Squirrel by curtisfrommichigan, on FlickrAs well as a Mauritian Tomb Bat.
Maurition Tomb Bat by curtisfrommichigan, on FlickrAt Sof Omar Caves we saw several bats as well as some primates.
Large-eared Mastiff Bat
Large-eared Mastiff Bat by curtisfrommichigan, on FlickrEgyptian Slit-faced Bat
Egyptian Slit-faced Bat by curtisfrommichigan, on FlickrGrivet
Grivet by curtisfrommichigan, on FlickrOur next stop was headquarters of the Bale Mountains National Park at Dinsho.
Common Reedbuck
Common Reedbuck by curtisfrommichigan, on FlickrMountain Nyala
Mountain Nyala by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr
Mountain Nyala 02 by curtisfrommichigan, on FlickrWe then headed up to the Senetti Plateau, with it’s abundant rodents.
Bale Mountains Rodents by curtisfrommichigan, on FlickrEthiopian Mole Rat
Ethiopian Mole Rat by curtisfrommichigan, on FlickrStarck’s Hare
Starck's Hare by curtisfrommichigan, on FlickrAnd of course, a few Ethiopian Wolves.
Ethiopian Wolf by curtisfrommichigan, on FlickrComing down the far side we came across a couple of Klipspringers.
Klipspringer by curtisfrommichigan, on FlickrIn Harenna Forest, we found some Mantled Guereza
Guereza Colobus by curtisfrommichigan, on FlickrBale Mountains Monkey
Bale Mountains Monkey by curtisfrommichigan, on FlickrAs we were leaving very early in the morning, we were EXTREMELY lucky and ran into this African Wild Dog.
African Wild Dog by curtisfrommichigan, on FlickrWe drove south east that day and saw some Striped Ground Squirrels.
Striped Ground Squirrel by curtisfrommichigan, on FlickrIn the evening we went spot lighting and saw a couple Senegal Galagos.
Senegal Galago by curtisfrommichigan, on FlickrThe next day we came across a couple sounders of Desert Warthog.
Desert Warthog by curtisfrommichigan, on FlickrWe saw Gunther’s Dikdik often in the south.
Gunther's Dikdik by curtisfrommichigan, on FlickrMago National Park was nice, and we could have spent more time there.
Olive Baboons
Olive Baboon by curtisfrommichigan, on FlickrGuereza Colobus
Guereza Colobus 2 by curtisfrommichigan, on FlickrHeart-nosed Bats
Heart-nosed Bat by curtisfrommichigan, on FlickrCommon Genet
Common Gennet by curtisfrommichigan, on FlickrAt Nechisar National Park we were able to photograph Grant’s Gazelle
Grant's Gazelle by curtisfrommichigan, on FlickrPlains Zebra
Plains Zebra by curtisfrommichigan, on FlickrWe visited a reserve that is only known for its Swayne’s Hartebeest.
Swayne's Hartebeest by curtisfrommichigan, on FlickrOribi
Oribi by curtisfrommichigan, on FlickrOur last morning with a car we went to a lake to check out some Hippos.
Hippo by curtisfrommichigan, on FlickrWe then headed north to the Danicle Depression, mainly to visit Erte Ale. Here’s the volcano.
20150416_222823 by curtisfrommichigan, on FlickrI did manage to see three new mammals.
Speke’s Pectinator, which is an awesome name.
Speke's Pectinator by curtisfrommichigan, on FlickrCairo Mouse
Cairo Spiny Mouse by curtisfrommichigan, on FlickrDorcas Gazelle
Dorcas Gazelle by curtisfrommichigan, on FlickrThe last stop of the trip was three days of hiking in the Simien Mountains.
We saw lots of Geladas.
Gelada 02 by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr
Gelada 03 by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr
Gelada 04 by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr
Gelada 01 by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr
Gelada 05 by curtisfrommichigan, on FlickrLast mammal of the trip, Walia Ibex.
Walia 01 by curtisfrommichigan, on Flickr
Walia 02 by curtisfrommichigan, on FlickrSpecies List
Yellow-spotted Rock Hyrax
Rock Hyrax
Senegal Galgo
Grivet
Vervet
Bale Mountains Monkey
Guereza Colobus
Olive Baboon
Hamadryas Baboon
Gelada
Striped Ground Squirrel
Unstriped Ground Squirrel
Gambian Sun Squirrel
Ethiopian African Mole Rat
Northeast African Spiny Mouse
Black-clawed Brush-furred Rat
Ethiopian Arvicanthis
Blick’s Arvicanthis
Ethiopian Vlei Rat
Speke’s Pectinator
Naked Mole-rat
Crested Porcupine
Abyssinian Hare
Starck’s Hare
Egyptian Rousette
Sundevall’s Leaf-nosed Bat
Heart-nosed Bat
Lesser Mouse-tailed Bat
Mauritian Tomb Bat
Egyptian Tomb Bat
Egyptian Slit-faced Bat
Large-eared Giant Mastiff Bat
Caracal
Serval
Common Genet
Slender Mongoose
Egyptian Mongoose
Common Dwarf Mongoose
White-tailed Mongoose
Golden Jackal
Black-backed Jackal
Ethiopian Wolf
African Wild Dog
Bat-eared Fox
Spotted Hyena
Aardwolf
Plains Zebra
Grevy Zebra
Desert Warthog
Common Warthog
Bush-pig
Hippo
Hartebeest
Dorcas Gazelle
Grant’s Gazelle
Soemmerring’s Gazelle
Gerenuk
Gunther’s Dikdik
Salt’s Dikdik
Klipspringer
Oribi
African Buffalo
Lesser Kudu
Bushbuck
Mountain Nyala
Greater Kudu
Common Reedbuck
Bush Duiker
Waterbuck
Beisa
Walia Ibex
