13-Day Ethiopian Wildlife & Bird Watching Tour

• You'll be collected from the airport.
• Accommodation before the tour starts can be arranged for an extra cost.

Addis Ababa (Arrival + City Highlights)

Welcome to Ethiopia! After landing at Bole International Airport (Addis Ababa), our team will meet you and take care of your arrival transfer to the hotel.
In the afternoon, enjoy Addis Ababa sightseeing, including famous viewpoints and local cultural scenes, designed to give you a great first feel for the city and its neighborhoods.
As evening approaches, you can also enjoy a relaxed birding moment around suitable nearby areas (depending on timing).

Main Destination:

Addis Ababa (City)

Accommodation:

Jano Hotel

• Mid-range hotel located in Addis Ababa (City)

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Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Non-alcoholic drinks

Addis Ababa Jimma (Fly + Highland Birding & Culture)

Today you will fly from Addis Ababa to Jimma (instead of driving).
After arrival, head into the green highland landscapes around Jimma where you’ll watch for local birds such as rollers, weavers, sunbirds, and raptors during scenic stops.
Later, enjoy a cultural experience including a visit to key local sites (and time for a traditional coffee experience) to experience the region’s hospitality and traditions.

Main Destination:

Jimma (Town)

Accommodation:

Haile Resort Jimma

• Mid-range hotel located in Jimma (Town)

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Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Non-alcoholic drinks

Chebera Churchura National Park (Arrival + First Birding)

Transfer toward Chebera Churchura National Park, an exciting and lesser-visited birding area with a variety of habitats.
Once settled, enjoy your first birding session, focusing on the park’s woodlands, riverside areas, and grassland edges—great for spotting hornbills, kingfishers, and bee-eaters.

Main Destination:

Chebera-Churchura National Park

Best Time To Go October to March (Little rainfall)

High Season October to January (The park is never busy)

Best Weather

Accommodation:

Chebera Safari Lodge

• Budget tented camp located inside Chebera-Churchura NP

Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Non-alcoholic drinks

Chebera Churchura National Park (Full Day Adventure)

Spend the entire day exploring Chebera Churchura with early and late birding sessions for the best chance at both resident and migratory species.
You’ll move through wetlands, forest patches, and open grasslands, focusing on waterbirds, forest birds, and raptors.
Mammal sightings are also possible—keep your eyes open for **elephants and buffalo depending on the day’s conditions.

Main Destination:

Chebera-Churchura National Park

Accommodation:

Chebera Safari Lodge

• Budget tented camp located inside Chebera-Churchura NP

Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Non-alcoholic drinks

Halala Kella (Scenic Journey + Lodge Birding

Travel to Halala Kella Lodge, stopping along the way for birding in changing landscapes—woodland transitioning to open savannah.
Watch for rollers, shrikes, bee-eaters, and birds of prey as habitats shift. Scenic travel to Halala Kella
- Woodland → savannah birding stops
- Settle into the lodge environment.

Main Destination:

Chebera-Churchura National Park

Accommodation:

Halala Kella Eco Lodge

• Luxury lodge located in Zima (Village)

Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Non-alcoholic drinks

Halala Kella Wolaita Sodo (Road Stops + Local Bird Life)

Halala Kella Wolaita Sodo (Road Stops + Local Bird Life)
Continue to Wolaita Sodo, with birding pauses along the route through farmland, rural landscapes, and forest edges.
This is a good day for weavers, starlings, doves, and other species that thrive near human-influenced habitats.

- Drive to Wolaita Sodo
- Farmland & forest-edge birding
- Good chances for weavers, doves, and starlings.

Main Destination:

Wolayta Sodo (Town)

Accommodation:

Lewi Resort Wolaita

• Mid-range hotel located in Wolayta Sodo (Town)

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Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Non-alcoholic drinks

Wolaita Sodo to Maze National Park & to Hawassa

Head toward Maze National Park for birding. The park’s open savannah, bushy areas, and riverine habitats are productive for birds such as bustards, hornbills, rollers, and raptors.
You’ll also have the chance to look for the area’s iconic wildlife—Swayne’s hartebeest is a key species here.
After your exploration, continue onward to Hawassa.

- Maze National Park birding
- Savannah/bush/riverine birdwatching
- Swayne’s hartebeest.

Main Destination:

Maze National Park

Accommodation:

Haile Resort Hawassa

• Mid-range resort located in Awasa (City)

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Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Non-alcoholic drinks

Hawassa (Lake Birding + Coffee Plantation Experience)

Begin with early morning birding around Lake Hawassa, one of the Rift Valley’s best birding areas.
The lake and wetlands attract pelicans, herons, kingfishers, cormorants, and storks.
Later, visit a nearby coffee plantation to learn about Ethiopia’s coffee culture while searching for sunbirds, turacos, and barbets in the greenery.

- Early Lake Hawassa birdwatching
- Coffee plantation visit
- Look for pelicans, herons, sunbirds, turacos.

Main Destination:

Awasa (City)

Accommodation:

Haile Resort Hawassa

• Mid-range resort located in Awasa (City)

Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Non-alcoholic drinks

Hawassa Bale Mountains National Park (Arrival + Scenic Birding)

Hawassa Bale Mountains National Park (Arrival + Scenic Birding)
Today you’ll travel to the Bale Mountains, one of Africa’s most rewarding areas for bird endemism and habitat variety.
As you rise into the highlands, birding opportunities appear in farmlands, acacia zones, and montane forests.

- Transfer to Bale Mountains NP
- Changing landscapes with birding en route.

Main Destination:

Bale Mountains National Park

Best Time To Visit November to February (Little rain)

High Season October to January (Park is never busy)

Best Weather November to February

Wildlife in Bale Mountains NP

Ethiopian Wolf Common

Mountain Nyala Common

Warthog Common

Menelik's
Bushbuck Occasional

Guereza Monkey Occasional

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Olive Baboon Occasional

Bohor Reedbuck Occasional

Starck's Hare Occasional

Giant Mole-rat Occasional

Bale Monkey Rare

Giant Forest Hog Rare

Golden Jackal Rare

Gelada Monkey None

Walia Ibex None

Accommodation:

Wabe Shebelle Hotel Goba

• Budget hotel located less than 1hr drive from Bale Mountains NP

Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Non-alcoholic drinks

Bale Mountains (Sanetti Plateau Full-Day Birding)

Bale Mountains (Sanetti Plateau Full-Day Birding)
Explore Bale Mountains with a focus on the dramatic Sanetti Plateau, reached via one of the highest road networks in the region (weather depending).
Expect excellent chances for special species, including endemic and rare birds such as spot-breasted plover and blue-winged goose.
If conditions allow, you may also search for the **Ethiopian wolf** in open moorland areas.

- Sanetti Plateau birding
- Spot-breasted plover & blue-winged goose.

Main Destination:

Bale Mountains National Park

Accommodation:

Wabe Shebelle Hotel Goba

• Budget hotel located less than 1hr drive from Bale Mountains NP

Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Non-alcoholic drinks

Bale Mountains to (Harenna Forest Birding Day)

Spend a full day in Harenna Forest, one of the most impressive montane forest areas in Ethiopia.
This is a great day for forest-dwelling endemics and specialty species. Keep an eye out for birds such as the Abyssinian catbird, along with turacos, warblers, and other distinctive forest birds.

- Full-day Harenna Forest birding
- Endemic/forest species focus
- Turacos & warblers.

Main Destination:

Bale Mountains National Park

Accommodation:

Wabe Shebelle Hotel Goba

• Budget hotel located less than 1hr drive from Bale Mountains NP

Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Non-alcoholic drinks

Lake Langano (Travel + Relaxed Birding)

Travel to Lake Langano, with birding opportunities along the way in wooded and open areas.
At the lake you can enjoy birding for both waterbirds and woodland species, such as kingfishers, herons, weavers, and hornbills.

- Drive to Lake Langano
- Woodland & lake birding
- Relaxing lakeside atmosphere.

Main Destination:

Lake Langano

Accommodation:

Rosetta Marina Beach Resort

• Mid-range resort located at Lake Langano

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Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Non-alcoholic drinks

Lake Langano Addis Ababa (Final Birding + Departure)

Lake Langano Addis Ababa (Final Birding + Departure)
Start with a final morning birding session** around Lake Langano.
Then drive back to Addis Ababa, enjoying the scenic Rift Valley views along the way.
Transfer to Bole International Airport for your departure.

- Final birding in Lake Langano area
- Drive back to Addis Ababa
- Airport transfer for departure.

Main Destination:

Lake Langano

Accommodation:

No accommodation (End of tour)

Meals & Drinks:

• Breakfast & lunch (Dinner not included)
• Non-alcoholic drinks

• Additional accommodation can be arranged for an extra cost.
• You'll be dropped off at the airport.