A day tour to Debra Libanose Monastery via Sululta Plains which have a large number of wintering palaearctic passerines and a variety of Afro-tropical species including the endemic Black-headed (Abyssinian) Siskin, White-billed Starling, Ruppell’s Black Chat, Lanner Falcon, Verreaux’s and Tawny Eagle. The Egyptian and White-backed Vultures, Lammergeyer, Erckel’s Francolin, Rufus-breasted Sparrowhawk, Little and Common Rock Thrush, Red-collared Widowbird, Abyssinian Woodpecker, White-backed Black Tit, White-winged Cliff Chat and Brown Woodland Warbler are among the species we may see. The beautiful endemic Gelada Baboon can easily be seen at the edge of Debra Libanose gorge. We drive back to Addis Ababa in late afternoon. O/n Addis Ababa

Leave from Addis Ababa in the morning to Awash NP. This morning we stop at Cheleklaka wetland near Debra Zeit where we may see a great numbers of ducks, waders and few arboreal species including Tufted Duck, White-backed Duck, Red-billed Teal, Wood Sandpiper, Marsh Harrier, Lesser Spotted and Steppe Eagles, Laughing and Red-eyed Doves, Chestnut-backed Sparrow-larks, Red-throated Pipit, Common and Crowned Cranes. The Isabeline Wheatear, Knob-billed Duck, Ferruginous Duck, Masked Weavers, Avocet, Red-tailed Shrike, Glossy Ibis and others. We reach Nazareth at midday for lunch. After lunch, we proceed to the superb low land of Awash. A the roadside stop we may see birds including the Brown Snake-Eagle, African Pygmy Falcon, Black-chested Eagle, White-bellied Bustard, Acacia Paradise Whydah, Abyssinian Roller, Black-crowned Tchagra, Red-and-yellow Barbet, different weavers and vultures. O/n Awash Falls Lodge

A full days birding in the thorny bushes of Awash National park including the riverbank forest by the Awash River Falls. It is one of the best birding sites in the Ethiopian Rift valley. More than 380 bird species have been recorded in this game park: Chestnut-bellied and Lichtenstein’s Sandgrouse, Three-banded Courser, Orange-bellied Parrot, Steel-blue and Straw-tailed Whydah, Rosy-patched Shrike, Great Gray Shrike, Kori Bustard, Buff-crested and Hartlaub’s Bustards, Gray Wren-warbler, Green-winged Pytilia, Yellow-billed Hornbill, White-faced Scops Owl, Pearl-spotted Owlet, Ruppell’s and Black-headed Weavers, Swallow-tailed Kite, Bateleur, Lappet-faced and Egyptian Vultures, Shikra, Gabar Goshawk, Red-winged Bush-lark, Ashy Cisticola, Pygmy Sunbird, woodpeckers, Grey-headed Batis and Somali Fiscal are among the birds inhabiting this wonderful low land. Not only birds can seen in Awash but also mammals like the Besia Oryx, Defassa Waterbuck, Sommerings Gazelle, Salt’s Dik-dik Greater and Lesser Kudu, Warthog, Hamadryas Baboon, Black-backed Jackal, the endemic Swayne’s hartebeests, Bat-eared Fox, Spotted Hyena and (if lucky) Lions. O/n Awash Falls Lodge

Leaving Awash National Park we drive down to the lakes region to Langano. Before leaving the park, we will have excellent morning activities. We will have lunch at Lake Ziway, where we will spend more time this afternoon. Lake Ziway covers an area of about 447 sq. km and it is one of the bird paradises in the Ethiopia Rift Valley. It has a great number of aquatic birds.  Lesser Black-backed and Grey-headed Gulls, Lesser Jacana, African Skimmer, Redshank, Black Heron, African Pygmy-goose, Temminck’s and Little stints, Common  Snipe, Woodland Kingfisher and Black-tailed Godwit are some of the species that may be seen here .Late afternoon we drive down to Langano Resort for the night. En route we may have one short stop at the acacia woodland of a cattle development ranch for a few species like the Black-billed and Black Wood-hoopoes, Yellow-vented Eremomela, Grey Flycatcher, Oliveceous and Buff-bellied Warblers, Red-faced Crombec, White-headed Buffalo-weavers and Ring-necked Dove. O/n Langano Resort

A pre breakfast birding in the acacia woodland near Langano Resort. This woodland provides many birds like the Black-cheeked and Common Waxbills, Abyssinian Black Wheatear, Diederik and Klaas’s Cuckoos, Boran and Rattling Cisticolas, Red-billed and Von der Decken’s Hornbills, Banded Barbet, Spotted Eagle-owl, Red-headed Weaver, African Pygmy Kingfisher, Nubian and Bearded Woodpeckers, Brubru, Grey Flycatcher, Northern Black Tit, Hemprich’s Hornbill and others. After breakfast, we drive to Abijata Lake, the feeding site for thousands of flamingos and a great number of aquatic birds. The Southern Pochard, Common and Red-billed Teal, Tufted Duck, Purple and Goliath Herons, Saddle-billed and Yellow-billed Storks and different species of plovers are among the birds inhabiting the lake. We come back to Langano Resort for lunch. Then we proceed to Wondo Genet for two nights. En route, we will have a short birding stop at the park HQ.  O/n Wondo Genet

A full day bird watching in the Wondo Genet forests. The Yellow-fronted Parrot, Abyssinian Woodpecker, Double-toothed Barbet, Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird ,Half-collared Kingfisher, Narina Trogon, White-cheeked Turaco, Red-shouldered and Emerald Cuckoos, Yellow-bellied Waxbill, Scaly Francolin, Abyssinian Ground Thrush, Spectacled and Grosbeak Weavers, Lemon and Tambourine Doves, Silvery-cheeked Hornbill, Steppe Buzzard, Crowned Eagle, Ayer’s Hawk-eagle, Fantailed and Thick-billed Ravens, African Little Sparrow Hawk, Crested Eagle, African Harrier Hawk, Sharpe’s Starling, Broad-billed Roller, Blue-headed Coucal, Scaly and Lesser Honeyguides, Mountain Wagtail, Blue-spotted Wood Dove, Abyssinian Hill Babbler, Red-winged Starling, Hadada Ibis, Olive Pigeon, and Grey Cuckooshrikes are some of the excellent birds we expect to see in this lush forest. O/n Wondo Genet


We make an early start with a packed lunch to go to the Bale Mountains National Park some 215 km from Wondo Genet. We will have a few roadside stops where we hope to see highland bird species. We will have a lunch stop at Washa River before we start ascending the mountain range. Red-capped Lark, Augur and Steppe Buzzards, Long-legged Buzzard, White-headed Vulture, Gambaga Flycatcher, Abyssinian Ground Hornbill, Stonechat, Tawny and Steppe Eagles, African Black Duck, Black- headed Siskin, the beautiful Spot-breasted Plover, African Snipe, Abyssinian Longclaw, Chestnut-napped Francolin, Slender-billed and Red-winged Starlings are amongthe species we encounter. As we enter the park boundary we hope to see a few mammals that are restricted to the southeastern mountain chain of Ethiopia. The elegant endemics of the Mountain Nyala and Menelik's Bushbuck are the beauty of the Bale Mountains NP. We will reach Dinsho, the park HQ, in the late afternoon and then after we pay all the necessary fees we continue to Goba where we will stay for two nights. O/n Goba

Today we will have a full day of birding in the forests near Goba and on Sanattie Plateau. Sanattie is the largest moorland tract in the whole of Africa. Abyssinian Woodpecker, Abyssinian Catbird, White-backed Black Tit, Abyssinian Ground Thrush, Yellow-crowned Canary, Somali Chestnut-winged Starling, Olive Pigeon, Mountain Buzzard, African Snipe, Thekla Lark, Malachite Sunbird, Mottled and Alpine Swifts, Moorland Francolin, Golden Eagle, Lanner Falcon, Wattled Crane, Cinnamon Bracken Warbler, Ruddy Shelduck, Verreaux's' Eagle, Yellow-bellied and Common Waxbills, Tropical Boubou, Rufous-breasted Sparrowhawk, Abyssinian Slaty Flycatcher, Black-winged Lovebird, Bale Parisoma and Slender-billed Starlings are among the interesting birds of the Bale Mountains National Park. The beautiful Ethiopian Wolf (endemic), Abyssinian Hare, Klipspringer, Giant Mole Rat and different species of grass rats are some of the mammals that we expect in this magnificent moorland region. We return to Goba this evening. O/n Goba

he long drive will take us today to Lake Awassa, the smallest and shallowest lake of the Ethiopian Rift System. Today we may not make any special stops unless we see special things in order to get enough time in Awassa this afternoon. The Heuglin's (White-browed) Robin Chat, Willow and Lesser Swamp-warblers, Red-breasted Wryneck, Woodland and Grey Kingfisher, Spotted Creeper, Painted Snipe, Purple Swamp hen, Western-banded Snake-eagle, Giant Kingfisher, African Thrush, Senegal Thick-knee, Greenshank, Black-headed Batis, Little and Spectacled Weavers, Red-shouldered Cuckoo shrike and beautiful sunbirds are among the most interesting birds inhabiting Lake Awassa and the surrounding woodlands. O/n Awassa

We will go birding along the lakeshore before breakfast. After breakfast, we proceed to Yabello in search of few localized endemics. Yabello is about 300 km south of Awassa on the main road to Kenyan border. Our roadside stops may provide us a few resident and localized birds like the endemic Stresemann's Bush-crow and African Golden Oriole. O/n Yabello 


We will have a full day birding in the thorny bushes of the Yabello area where there are many excellent birds. The Gray-headed Social Weavers, Banded Parisoma, D'Arnaud's Barbet, Abyssinian Scimitarbill, Black-breasted Barbet, Shelly's and Golden-breasted Starlings, Rufous Sparrow, Pale Flycatcher, Bare-faced Go-away-bird, the endemic White-tailed Swallow (very difficult to see because it is increasingly threatened), Vulturine Guineafowl, Black-capped Social Weavers, White-crowned Starlings, Orange-bellied Parrot, Martial Eagle, Yellow-rumped Serin, Yellow-necked Spurfowl, Red-fronted Barbet and African Black-headed Oriole are some of the bird species we may see in this superb lowland area. We drive back to the hotel before dark. O/n Yabello


Driving back to Lake Awassa. We will have a short stop in the thorny bushes of Yabello before we leave for Awassa. O/n Awassa