Semien Mountains - Gelada “Baboon”

There was a three day hiking option, but participating in it, would have meant not visiting Axum. Instead we organized a one-day trip, basically to hike a bit, but mostly to see the gelada “baboons”. Gelada “baboons” are a species of Old World monkey only found in the Ethiopian Highlands, with the largest population in the Semien Mountains.

 Gelada are not actually baboons, but members of their own genus. When we arrived at the mountains, the weather was extremely cloudy. We tried hiking, but we couldn’t see anything, when we reached a vista. All we could see was clouds. After spending an hour with the geladas we decided to call it quits, plus one of our group member wasn’t feeling well, so we decided to head back to the hotel. At least we achieved our primary goal – see the Gelada.

 On our way back to town a roadblock delayed us. The head of Ethiopia’s largest dam project was killed the day before. The roadblock prohibited the cars from entering the town where protests and demonstrations were occurring.