Ethiopia with Abiy. 2014 (1 Viewer)

[Jeanie]

Many thanks to Tom Lawson and to Ann for advice re planning a trip. We are going next year with the following itinerary.

21 Feb: Arrive Addis Ababa at 2050 on LH598.I will wait for you at arrival holding a piece of paper your name written on and transfer to Destiny Addis hotel for overnight stay. o/n Destiny Addis hotel.
22 Feb: Morning birding at Gefersa Reservoir. Afternoon, birding at Lake Cheleleka in DebreZeit. O/n Destiny Addis Hotel
23 Feb: Leave Addis Ababa for DebreLibanos en route birding at Sululeta Plain. O/n Ethio-German Lodge
24 Feb: Birding at Jemma Valley and leave for DebreBirhan. o/n Eva Hotel
25 Feb: Full day birding around DebreBirhan, Ankober serine site. o/n Eva Hotel
26 Feb: Early morning birding at MelkaJebdu, and leave for Nazreth. o/n Safari Lodge
27 Feb: Full day Awash N.P .O/n Awash Falls Lodge.
28 Feb: Birding around Bilen area. O/n Awash Falls Lodge.
01 March: South down the Rift Valley via Nazaret, stopping at another part of Lake Beseka, the bridge over the Awash River and Lake Zway. O/n Wabe Shebelle Hotel
02 March: Morning birding at Abiata/Shalla N.P. Birding at Wabeshabelle Hotel in late afternoon. O/n Wabe Shebelle Hotel. Here we will shift to BekeleMolla Hotel if they make it ready by the time.
03 March: Birding at BekelleMolla Hotel early am. Then drive to the Bale Mountains N.P via Dinsho and Robe. O/n Wabeshabelle Hotel, Goba.

04 March: Full day on the Sanetti Plateau, Bale N.P. o/n Wabeshabelle Hotel, Goba.

05 March: Excursion to Sanette Plateau and onto Harenna Forest. o/nWabe Shebelle Hotel
06 March: Return drive to Awassa. Overnight United Africa Hotel.

07 March: Awasa fish market then leave for Wondo Genet. Late afternoon birding in the nearby forest. o/nWondogenet Lodge.
08 March: Full day birding at Wondo Genet. o/nWondo Genet Lodge
09 March: Leave Wondo Genet for Wolliso with stops en route for birding. o/n Negash Lodge, ideal place for birding

10 March: Morning Gibe Gorge. Lunch in Wolliso, and leave for Addis Ababa where you will have day room to freshen up yourself, dinner and transfer out for final departure on LH599 which departs at 22:35.

 

[Jeanie]

Not a great start to this trip. Strike by security staff in Frankfurt means we have missed our flight and after many hours queueing at the airport am now in a hotel near Frankfurt!
So first birds of the trip are a wood pigeon and a great tit in a local park.
Now on different flight with Turkish airlines via Istanbul with no veggie food ordered. Great!

 

[temmie]

Too many wabe shabelle hotels for my liking, but if I would have to skip something, it would be Abiata Shala as there are no real target birds over there. Also, consider doing lake Chelekleka on the way back to Addis, and not spending too much time at e.g. Debre Birhan if you have found Ankober Serin in the Jemma Valley, and not spending too much time either on lake Beseka (check my report on cloud birders for the easy-and-quick Sombre Rock Chat site).
I also wonder why you are doing Gibe gorge, but not e.g. the Wadera - Negele - Yabello area for the Bush-crow and White-tailed Swallow?

 

[Jeanie]

Hi Temmie, Apart from the delayed start and the fact that one of our cases got lost, we picked it up today 4 days late, we have had a great time and have seen over 150 birds already. We don't really have targeted birds since this is our first bird watching in Africa so most of the birds are new to us. We have seen several endemics but they mean no more than the other great new birds that we have seen.
Abiy has changed one of the Wabe Shabelle hotels to the Sabanah which has a great reputation. Tomorrow we head for Awash.
Having done many bird watching trips to India and to other places world wide Abiy has been up with the best. What a beautiful place Ethiopia is!

 

[secondnature]

Sorry to hear that you had a miserable journey,but I hope that the delights of Ethiopia have already made you forget the problems.It really is an extraordinary country.
Do give Abiy our best wishes and tell him that we are still waiting for him to come over to the Birdfair so that we can show him something of the UK.
Enjoy the rest of your trip.

Tom Lawson

Hi Temmie, Apart from the delayed start and the fact that one of our cases got lost, we picked it up today 4 days late, we have had a great time and have seen over 150 birds already. We don't really have targeted birds since this is our first bird watching in Africa so most of the birds are new to us. We have seen several endemics but they mean no more than the other great new birds that we have seen.
Abiy has changed one of the Wabe Shabelle hotels to the Sabanah which has a great reputation. Tomorrow we head for Awash.
Having done many bird watching trips to India and to other places world wide Abiy has been up with the best. What a beautiful place Ethiopia is!

 

[njlarsen]

Tom, welcome to Birdforum!

Niels

 

[Jeanie]

We are back

Now back in the UK and having time to reflect on the great time that we have had in Ethiopia. I would highly recommend it as a place to birdwatch and I would also highly recommend Abiy as your guide and trip organiser.
If you have ever bird watched in India there are similarities but also differences.The scenery is stunning and varied. Dry mountain tops to lush valleys with hot springs.
It had shades of North India, Sattal Pancott etc. It had shades of Gujarat, the salt pans full of Flamingoes.
The tarmac roads were excellent and once out of Addis nearly traffic free. The bumpy roads were bumpy but took you to great sites.
The accommodation was mixed. Some of the most basic rooms were in great places, eg. Ethio German Lodge.
Abiy made some changes to the itinerary. He put us up at the Sabbana at Lake Lagano which was 4/5 star luxury and on the second last night we broke our journey north and stayed in an excellent small hotel called the Bethlem near the entrance to Lake Ziway. This allowed us to go on a boat trip were we saw 5 hippos. Astonishing moment when they popped up around the boat! We saw other great mammals such as a Cervil Cat, Wolves and a Bat Eared Fox.
But of course the trip was about bird watching. We saw 400 of which 280 were new. Not only were the birds different but they were abundant. Abiy was keen for us to see the endemics and near endemics. Rod is working on the bird list so at this moment not sure how many we got but will post when completed.
The cost compared to India On the face of it, the trip did seem expensive. However, it included all meals, most soft drinks, a lot less tipping that you do in North India and we spent less on a daily basis than we generally do in India.
We had an excellent 4x4 and 2 great drivers. One for the first 3 days in the north and the other for the rest of the journey.
We had no upset stomachs, embraced the local food injeria, missed diet coke but found some sugar free tonic.
Abiy was great, patient, very helpful re the suitcase going missing and changing the trip around a bit to suit our needs.
If you are dithering about going to Ethiopia, go for it.