Eco-tourism – what does it mean to you?

We have just returned from the most fantastic week, trekking in the Bale Mountains. If the first words that come to mind when someone mentions Ethiopia are famine and drought then think again. The Bale Mountains is described as the best kept secret of Ethiopia – a fabulous land of mountains, with a huge variety of lush vegetation and many wild animals and colourful birds.

There are two main areas for trekking in Bale – one centred around Dodola and another, further east, at Dinsho. Treks from Dodola (altitude 2,400 metres) are organised by the Dodola guides association through an Integrated Forest Management Plan set up in the late 1990’s by a German aid organisation, GTZ. This has to be eco-tourism at its best. At the IFMP office in Dodola you plan your trip and meet your guide (English speaking of course), then you are off. There are currently five huts and one tented camp (with about four others under construction), each managed by local people. You can choose to walk or ride – and you can hire a horse to carry your bags! You hire horses and assistants at each location, sharing the benefit amongst the community.

Anyhow, before we could set off we had to attend another college graduation ceremony! This was the “summer” extension class graduation so the students I had “taught” English were amongst the graduates. It all seems like a distant memory now though I can say that it went on too long and it was very hot in those gowns. I think about 1,200 graduated and we had to sit whilst they all trooped up onto the stage. The best bit, as before, was the circus. Again, no sign of Health and Safety regulations as a small child was tossed about in the air like a football.

Sunday morning we were off from Awassa within ten minutes of arriving at the bus station but only as far as Shashamene, 25km away. We were fortunate to find an almost full bus to Dodola and were on our way again relatively quickly. That was the extent of the speed, however, for we left the asphalt road to jolt for three hours on what is described as possibly Africa’s highest all-weather road! After a while it was hard to breathe as there was so much dust in the air. The bus climbed up onto the plateau the scenery shifting from eucalyptus forest to fields of teff, wheat and barley. Gone were the bicycles of Awassa, replaced by horse if you were lucky but the most common form of transport was by foot.

A note on the comfort of the bus ride – we thought we were doing well when we left Shashamene with only two or three more passengers than seats on the bus but soon discovered that once you get out of town the traffic police don’t operate so we stopped just beyond town and gained another dozen or so passengers. This was nothing compared to the scrum when we stopped at Kofele, the biggest town en route. The spirit on the bus was amazing though – really good humoured, with the whole bus cheering a galloping horseman who rode alongside for some time before disappearing into the distance.

We made it to Dodola in time to have lunch before meeting our guide, horse and assistant and heading off to the hills. The guides are all locals and extremely knowledgeable about flora and fauna, as well as local culture. I have to admit I usually prefer to walk independently but in Bale a guide is essential. Our guide, Hussen, was brilliant – we learnt loads from him and he’s a great cook too (the first Ethiopian male I’ve known who cooks!).

That first afternoon we walked for about 3 hours to reach a tented camp with amazing views.

Wahoro, where we spent Tuesday night.