We are directed to the Harenna forest, but to reach the place we have to climb again the Sanetti plateau and descending the escarpment on the other side.
At least for the morning our aim are not the wolves so we drive a bit faster. The weather is perfect, sun from early morning. As soon as we reach the plateau the first wolves are waiting for us, an entire pack is waiting for us some 100 mtrs from the roads, they are waking up, the adults stretching and the puppies playing hide and seek. It is so cool to see them interacting, they behave very similar to Africa hunting dogs, the same way of begging for food, the same way of running, the only big difference is the colour.
We are again lucky with birds, a Long legged buzzard was soon added to the list.
We pass the same road of yesterday with mountains and pools just before climbing the escarpment down. The road is steep and the view breathtaking, beautiful flowers frame the perfect mountain postcard that is opening in front of us.
From above we see a strange water pool and as soon as we reach that flat bit we decide to walk to the water. The small walking is fun, the bush are so thick that reaching the water is an effort but eventually we arrive, it is a spring, crystal clear with beautiful reflection, and all around Erica and Thyme bushes.
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Back on the car we headed towards Katcha a camp site inside the
We stop the car in the campsite and we go for a walk, is a weird place, huge bare mountains similar to inselbergs in the back, horses are grazing in the clearing and ficus and bamboos in the intricate forest. In the forest still live a population of lions, we see no evidence, the only wildlife visible is birds, amongst them we spotted a White cheeked turaco and an Abyssinian black headed oriole.
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Again in the cruiser we proceed on the main road and we just stop for a piknik in the podocarpus area.
After lu nch we go back towards the escarpment we pass again the upper forest and go for a walk in this narrow belt of it which is totally made of huge trees of Erica arborea, a full forest of tree up to 10-12 mtrs of twisted wood and old mosses. The place look so fairy that you would expect magic creatures to appear anytime.
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Up on the plateau we start wolfing again, many sightings of the canids cannot quench our thirst of them yet. We observed one individual hunting three rodents from the same tunnel within 20 minutes, puppies climbing up and down between rocks and lobelias.
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With the sun the place is very different, a bit less eerie but the same breathtaking.
On the way back we enjoyed the last sightings, a lone wolf with a herd of Nyalas in the background
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