Gazing down at the range of towering, craggy peaks spread out at your feet is a sensation that helps you realise your own insignificance in the vastness of the world. It’s a feeling enhanced when you notice great birds – transformed by distance into sparrows - wheeling effortlessly on thermals, beneath you.
Stay at Simien Lodge during your luxury, tailor-made holiday to Ethiopia and you’ll have plenty of similarly inspiring moments. Like when come face-to-face with a 500-strong troupe of fearsome-looking gelada baboons. Or spot your first Walia Ibex. Or visit the ancient monastery of Saddique Amba, clinging precariously onto a sheer cliff. Or discover the centuries-old Deresge Maryam church. Or retire after an absorbing day, to the profound comfort of one of Simien Lodge’s stone-built, thatched, round houses.
Simien Lodge, at a glance
- Luxury hotel set at 3260 metres, high in the Simien Mountains
- Choice of 13 charming, stone-built tukels – round houses with thatched roofs
- Two bedrooms with en suite shower rooms, per tukel
- Quaint, semi-circular rooms with large windows
- Sheltered balconies with vast, panoramic views over the escarpment
- Herring bone design, wooden ceilings
- Tiled floors with underfloor solar heating system
- Circular restaurant with log fire centre piece, serving an a la carte menu of Ethiopian and European food, plus bar with central fireplace
For leisure and pleasure
- Mountain and escarpment trekking from stunning scenery, forests and grasslands
- Hiking around Imet Gogo, Bwahit and campsites at Geech, Sankabur and Chennuk
- Wildlife excursions to see gelada baboons, hyena, leopard, Simien wolves, ibex and birds like lammergeyer and tawny eagles
- Mountain biking and camping gear hire
- Climbing to the summit of Ras Daschen
- Extreme sports like canyonning and base jumping
- Cultural visits to meet local people
