Impromptu Ethiopia - Day 2

After a fantastic nights sleep I awoke early. I wanted to have a trek down to "portuguese bridge" at first light before breakfast. We had had an amazing Thuunderstorm the night before and had watched, huddled around a wood fire, the most amazing electrical activity.  This morning the view I was presented with was stunning !  Stood at the top of the gorge there was a layer of cloud below me in the valley,  to my regret I did not have my pocket camera with me and a 500mm lens just would not have captured the scene.   Spent most of the early morning in this location and at nearby Debre Libanos before heading off to Jemma Valley.  This would mean a descent from around 3500m and to around a 1000m and a significant increase in temperature !

Some pics from the Portuguese Bridge and Debre Libanos locations :

Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu (Uraeginthus bengalus)

Pied Crow ( Corvus albus)

African Goshawk (Accipiter tachiro )

 

African Goshawk (Accipiter tachiro )

Brown-throated Wattle-eye (Platysteira cyane)

Mountain Wagtail (Motacilla clara)

Speckled Mousebird (Colius striatus)

White-billed Starling (Onychognathus albirostris)

Speckled Mousebird (Colius striatus)

We then moved on down into Jemma Valley,  this was a beautiful journey descending into the valley.  The road down was a little hairy in places but added to the fun !!  At the bottom was a river bed and as it was only just the start of the rainy season the flow of water was not too strong.  With plenty of space to walk along side.   However my stride was soon halted with the site of what I believe to be Nile Crocodiles !  Fortunately they were keen to get into the water as I approached closer,  something I was quite happy about and made sure I did not get too close to the water's edge !!  Some pictures taken on the way to the valley and in the valley.    You can see many more of my Ethiopian Images here :  Flikr or here Pbase

Hammerkop (Scopus umbretta)

Tawny Eagle (Aquila rapax)

Abyssinian Siskin (Serinus nigric)

Spur-winged Plover (Vanellus spinosus )

Senegal Thick-knee (Burhinus senegalensis)

Nile Crocodile