Of all the African countries Ethiopia is one of the few that are not famous for their wildlife but instead for a rich culture and a long history. The places like Lilibela and Aksum are the real attractions of the country but that does not mean that it totally lacks any exotic wildlife. The country is also getting famous with the trekking enthusiasts mainly because of its Simien Mountains range where most of the peaks measure higher than 4,000 meters.
Its highest peak of mount Deshan measures 4,535 meters making it the fourth highest in the continent. The numerous tracks within this mountain range provide an awesome trekking experience and has an added advantage of viewing some of the rarest species of the eastern Africa like the Gelada Baboon and Walia Ibex.
Most of the tracks in the Simien Mountains are easily accessible and will not demand a lot of physical effort from the tourists to get there. If you are flying from abroad then you will be taking a cheap flight to Addis Ababa the capital of Ethiopia from where you can hire a car for making the rest of the journey to the mountains. The tour operators of Addis Ababa can arrange a tour to the mountain for you. The recent increase in the tourists traffic to the mountains have resulted in an ever increasing number of the new hotels that have opened up in the region.
Most tourist prefer to take a drive to Gondor the largest city in the region from where you can hire a 4wd to take you to Debark from which is used as the base camp by most of the expeditions going to different routes in the mountains. You can either hire the equipment and porters from Gondor or from the Debark.
The route leading to Ras Dehan is the toughest of all but it can be a little too demanding for the tourists that are physically fit enough. The easiest route is the one that leads from Debark and goes to Sankaber, although this 30 km track does not provide the best view of the mountains it has quite a few campsites and a mud road for traveling on the 4wd instead of walking the stretch. The track leading from Sankaber to Chenek which can be traveled by road as well is the second easiest route to take and provides some great views of the mountains.
From Sankaber you can also travel to Gich which will be a tougher task as you will need to make the journey by foot and the steep track is only for the tourists that are physically fit enough. The last leg of the track that goes from Gich to Ras Deshan is for the specialists really but you can surely try it if you think that your body can handle it. You will get the best view of the mountain from Ras Deshan and there are a couple of campsites in the area of Ras Deshan.
