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

Soemmering’s Gazelle

We saw our first Salt’s Dikdiks of the trip.

This was my first Lesser Kudu

We saw a few Black-backed Jackals.

We visited the hot springs in the park and managed to see our one and only Waterbuck of the trip.

One of the park buildings has a night roost for a couple species of bats.
Sundevall’s Leaf-nosed Bat

Egyptian Tomb Bat

We then headed north to Ali Deghe reserve, as it is a great place to see Gerenuk, among other mammals.

Golden Jackal, or African Wolf as it is now called.

Grevy’s Zebra, the rarest species of Zebra, were quite skittish.

Between parks we saw a few Hamadryas Baboons.

We visited a lodge, but didn’t stay near Ali Deghe and saw a few Common Warthogs.

At a couple stops along the way we managed to see Gambian Sun Squirrel.

As well as a Mauritian Tomb Bat.

At Sof Omar Caves we saw several bats as well as some primates.
Large-eared Mastiff Bat

Egyptian Slit-faced Bat

Grivet

Our next stop was headquarters of the Bale Mountains National Park at Dinsho.
Common Reedbuck

Mountain Nyala


We then headed up to the Senetti Plateau, with it’s abundant rodents.

Ethiopian Mole Rat

Starck’s Hare

And of course, a few Ethiopian Wolves.

Coming down the far side we came across a couple of Klipspringers.

In Harenna Forest, we found some Mantled Guereza

Bale Mountains Monkey

As we were leaving very early in the morning, we were EXTREMELY lucky and ran into this African Wild Dog.

We drove south east that day and saw some Striped Ground Squirrels.

In the evening we went spot lighting and saw a couple Senegal Galagos.

The next day we came across a couple sounders of Desert Warthog.

We saw Gunther’s Dikdik often in the south.

Mago National Park was nice, and we could have spent more time there.
Olive Baboons

Guereza Colobus

Heart-nosed Bats

Common Genet

At Nechisar National Park we were able to photograph Grant’s Gazelle

Plains Zebra

We visited a reserve that is only known for its Swayne’s Hartebeest.

Oribi

Our last morning with a car we went to a lake to check out some Hippos.

We then headed north to the Danicle Depression, mainly to visit Erte Ale. Here’s the volcano.

I did manage to see three new mammals.
Speke’s Pectinator, which is an awesome name.

Cairo Mouse

Dorcas Gazelle

The last stop of the trip was three days of hiking in the Simien Mountains.
We saw lots of Geladas.





Last mammal of the trip, Walia Ibex.


Species 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