Simien National Park: The Roof of Africa

00:00:00: Imagine standing on the roof of Africa surrounded by stunning peaks and massive cliffs.

00:00:05: Welcome to Ethiopia's spectacular Simeon National Park!

00:00:09: Home to rare mountain wolves, and iconic bleeding hard monkeys this fascinating landscape was among one-of-the-burst war heritage sites in Africa.

00:00:19: We've gathered a fun fact history an essential travel tips for these high altitude paradise.

00:00:25: let scale these peaks right after the intro.

00:00:32: Welcome to World Heritage Rookies, the podcast where we explore UNESCO World Heritage sites one episode at a time.

00:00:40: We are Lina

00:00:41: and Ralph And we will travel alongside you some of the most stunning sights our world has to offer.

00:00:47: Each week we dive into history, fun facts & reasons why World Heritage Sites matter for humanity Sharing all our own discoveries on travel tips along the way.

00:00:58: So let's dive in and learn about some World Heritage together.

00:01:11: Hello, everyone to our nine episode of World Heritage Showcase.

00:01:15: My name is Lina and if you're here for the first time welcome.

00:01:20: I hope we... You will find that conversation entertaining

00:01:25: And my name is Ralph.

00:01:26: hello i'm gonna be your host in a way To today's episode and If you are returning listener thank you very much and well come back.

00:01:34: We hope you enjoy this episode as lina already mentioned.

00:01:38: Yeah, I might be a bit biased because today it's again my episode.

00:01:41: And I have to admit that this was the episode where i used so far most amount of sources To come up with a full picture.

00:01:48: So curious what you will think

00:01:52: in the end.

00:01:53: Why?

00:01:53: why are there many sources?

00:01:55: It is good for having more sources Of course but I am really curious about how it was a little harder than research.

00:02:01: It wasn't hard and also For me...I could not find many sources that by themselves were able to answer all the questions that popped for me up during their research.

00:02:12: So

00:02:13: I see no, No, That's totally understandable and I think we started this exercise where We're trying to imagine it.

00:02:20: What question is other person going do?

00:02:22: because sometimes you really knowing questions?

00:02:25: I have no answer.

00:02:26: so i always now try to say like what will ask in this section?

00:02:31: thats very interesting Because im coming with same approach.

00:02:34: What question could Lena ask?

00:02:36: And I do not want to be there and like, eh.

00:02:39: I don't know.

00:02:40: sometimes it will still be but i'm trying to figure also out in the so has become sort of a competition right now who can better prepare the other?

00:02:48: that's what married life is about.

00:02:49: you're in constant competition after feeling ready.

00:02:52: just for the record.

00:02:53: I am winning

00:02:55: always!

00:02:56: Just make it easier for me.

00:02:58: The wife is always winning

00:03:00: Of course, of course.

00:03:01: So let's see if you are answering all my questions today.

00:03:05: so what we're going to talk about?

00:03:08: Oh yeah!

00:03:08: We didn't even mention it in this episode but um... Today I am actually traveling back to Ethiopia something that we have visited already for the past episodes and we will go to Simeon National Park which I think is a good transition already in our way.

00:03:27: Lina, what do you know about Simeon National Park?

00:03:30: Because i have to admit before I did this research... ...I had absolutely no clue about Semyon National park!

00:03:54: you will be able to learn something hopefully in this episode along our listeners.

00:03:58: I'm gonna start into the history or a bit of background information about Simeon National Park, so first stating like to locate it.

00:04:10: So Simeone Mountains national park as official name is located northern Ethiopia And it is overall known for its very unique and specific landscape consisting of deep valleys, canyons... ...and also a very specific biodiversity which I will discuss more in details later.

00:04:31: It's located in the northern Ethiopian highlands etymotological context, I think that's the correct word.

00:04:41: This region is traditionally home to the Amhara people who are an ethnic group that is indigenous to the Ethiopian highlands and they are when it comes to their long-standing history well known for their agricultural traditions and overall rich cultural heritage which still associated with this area of Ethiopia today in the Ethiopian Highlands.

00:05:05: Interesting also like the name Simeon, it means apparently north in modern Amharic language.

00:05:13: But I found a statement from an historian called Richard Pankhurst that notes that term would mean in ancient language

00:05:22: G.S.,

00:05:23: which is associated to Ethiopia and Eritrea to the kingdom of Aksum And there originally meant south Because from the perspective of that ancient axomite kingdom and its capital of Axum, the mountains lay to itself.

00:05:42: So it meant at the same word means a different direction just from where their main center of origin is coming form.

00:05:50: but thats how interesting because he's the same war that symbolized two completely different cardinal points into different languages.

00:05:57: Yeah, that they're obviously related but it shows you like how again what influence It makes.

00:06:03: What is the ruling system or government?

00:06:08: Or whatever and how it can influence.

00:06:11: And uh yeah.

00:06:13: so since political also sort of cultural heart of Ethiopia shifted more southwards over the centuries then words meaning reversed.

00:06:23: Good!

00:06:24: Then

00:06:25: history about natural world heritage has always a bit tricky because, well you need to go far back.

00:06:33: What I learned about the geological origins of the Simeon Mountains range is that it's really old!

00:06:43: The whole area in the mountain range we find today was originally born from volcanic forces and most sources are saying important stuff happened during the so called only jocene period which was forty to twenty five million years ago.

00:07:02: And there you had a huge activity of volcanoes and all these eruptions after volcano stay just covered the whole region with basaltic lava layers that overtime got thicker and thicker and thick and think until they reach thickness off several thousand meters, When the volcanic activity after some time finally waned off, then the landscape cooled down and hardened into this basaltic rock.

00:07:31: And left behind a vast plateau of really lava and dormant volcanoes.

00:07:38: That means that the soil today is really rich in minerals I guess?

00:07:42: It's really fertile because normally volcanic soil with time becomes one of the most fertilized.

00:07:50: Well, we're still talking here about rock still.

00:07:53: So it is limited in a way obviously of its fertility.

00:07:57: so We know that okay like volcanic soil by itself as far I know for a certain time period It's really rich in nutrients.

00:08:04: i'm not an expert in geology so in case i'm sharing wrong information i'm sorry but to my understanding That Is.

00:08:10: But Obviously Here We're Talking About A Rock That Has Yeah Shaped Over Thousands Of Years.

00:08:17: You will see in the Simeon mountain range, you will see plants and natural life obviously but it's not like a jungle area or anything.

00:08:26: And yes so after we had now this shaping of thousands of meters of volcanic rock over the next millions years that you have all the natural forces well shaping stuff on our planet so wind water tectonic shifts they sculpted rock landscape into what we see today, which is like a combination of really specific peaks, ridges cliffs and everything that just shows you okay.

00:08:57: What happens when over millions of years?

00:08:59: You have all these natural elements working on the stone And the result is what you can marvel at today, this like really cinematic highland panorama which tells you about a history of our planet for millions and million years.

00:09:20: This has been already huge jump in time because I have to admit sparse information that could find out historical usage.

00:09:33: It's generally assumed that human presence in the Simeon Mountains can date back to about two hundred thousand years, which would actually make it one of Ethiopia's oldest continuously inhabited landscapes.

00:09:50: Two millennia now even more.

00:09:52: the local communities have been adapted really also to them or harsh terrain, especially when it comes to agriculture because since invention of agriculture for.

00:10:03: for humans, we said okay how do you deal with this?

00:10:05: and apparently like.

00:10:06: You have generations over generations of farmers that have carved stone terraces into the soft mountain side cultivating especially hardy crops because what many people might not think about it's actually pretty cool up there cause they belong to some high located areas within Africa, I will talk about this in a minute and more detail.

00:10:34: But until today you can find these sort of ancient techniques like plowing with oxen, threshing different and making sure that you are cultivating these hardy crops by hand possibly into stone terraces within the area.

00:10:51: You can still find this until today in the rural community and in the villages that you find around.

00:10:57: This area, towards more modern communities are living within a park.

00:11:04: so the National Park itself or the Simeon Mountains National Park how it's called?

00:11:08: It was founded officially in the year in nineteen sixty nine.

00:11:12: It was mainly meant to protect the endemic valia ebics, which is kind of a wild goat.

00:11:17: Which I will also talk about more detail later.

00:11:20: from that negative impact on hover hunting and as i mentioned before human settlement continue until this day within the park.

00:11:29: Apparently in nineteen ninety four there was a census of about fifteen thousand people that lived or farmed inside the park boundaries then.

00:11:45: In a sense as I understood it was done in two thousand six at but three thousand.

00:11:49: two hundred residents across nine villages were recorded within their property, the latest information and found what's talking about twenty thousand peoples to living in this area.

00:11:58: But they still depend heavily on the land and agriculture for survival, and livestock grazing.

00:12:06: So I guess... They are big jumps in numbers.

00:12:09: so from three thousand to twenty thousand it's quite a lot

00:12:14: Yeah but i could have something with the census taken.

00:12:17: So I do not know for sure if they have looked at the same area in census.

00:12:25: That's what is said like, The information that i found was a bit inconclusive but uh...I assume it might've been related to way data was recorded

00:12:36: Errors on the sense and.. I do have question.

00:12:39: Is this Not affecting the conservation of the park?

00:12:43: Because we are talking about living communities that use resources most likely hunt and over.

00:12:54: That's actually funny because I noticed this format like ask it as a question to Lina, what do you guess might be todays impact on the conservation efforts of these situations?

00:13:05: So coming again to the fact anticipating that other person is asking seems like i am winning.

00:13:12: my dear wife jokes aside really

00:13:16: weird comment but sure sometimes

00:13:18: yeah.

00:13:19: So I'm pretty sure it's really heavy in the sense that... It is hard to restrict or limit the impact of living communities inside a natural area.

00:13:33: Because sometimes, and from maybe some people who live here would see this community and they'd be like oh okay!

00:13:40: We need another crop we have to increase our income let's use a little bit more of soil.

00:13:48: And this will be by three thousand people, twenty-thousand depending on who is actually right in the numbers and then it becomes huge

00:13:58: number.".

00:14:00: It still is a challenge today.

00:14:01: so as I found out conservation efforts they are trying to balance this one way heritage preservation versus obviously respecting local communities their way of living because it is impacting the way off, leaving.

00:14:18: The main things as I understood this like first offering relocation actually so trying to incentivize people to move somewhere else or offer them alternative places and also thinking how can you try to make it more sustainable?

00:14:34: So I did not actually found really details on how this is conducted but i assume designate certain areas as off limits for grazing, or you might try to limit the impact that you have on certain areas by making sure hey.

00:14:51: You can use this um For this period of time and not but it is still a challenge.

00:14:56: And as I saw from some of the sources That i've been looking at It Is also something where obviously The local communities are.

00:15:04: well what?

00:15:05: What Are we supposed To do?

00:15:06: We're dependent On This.

00:15:07: so there's Still A bit Of Tension and Conflict here and This is Also Coming then later to the reasons why it is still considered a bit critical at that moment.

00:15:18: I see,

00:15:19: yeah but great question definitely because this as we know having to strike the balance between making something preserved for heritage reasons and at the same time respecting local communities.

00:15:33: We will encounter these very often as friction point forward heritage sites both positive and negative impact they can bring on local communities.

00:15:44: Yes, so just a little bit about the historical background for the region coming now into a few fun facts an interesting stories that I found during my research.

00:15:52: So i sort of mentioned it before already.

00:15:55: but The area is very often called also the roof of Africa, with a background that Ethiopia actually contains eighty percent of all land on the African continent above three thousand meters.

00:16:12: Its highest peak off the Ethiopian highlands.

00:16:15: it's called Ras de Gen if I'm pronouncing correctly its little bit more than four thousand five hundred meters.

00:16:23: It is the highest point of Ethiopia by itself, not the highest part on a point over Africa.

00:16:29: I think it's only like in the top ten but i think its important to keep in mind that this really highly located and therefore quite cool and chilly actually there.

00:16:40: You might, if you have not been to the region or are not that aware of climate in Ethiopia ,you may think okay it's an African country is pretty hot here.

00:16:50: well this area has really really cold temperatures especially at night.

00:16:54: so keep these in mind for later when we come also traveling.

00:16:58: apart from that I found one story.

00:17:01: Since I found this only on Wikipedia, i'm not one hundred percent sure how true it is.

00:17:06: So disc disclaimer!

00:17:08: I mentioned it before because I found it cool but I had struggle to track down the original source.

00:17:15: so just mentioning here that in The Highlands there's apparently a legend of the soul called Genvaratris which was as an astute piece of local folklore recorded at the early eighteen hundreds by a traveler.

00:17:31: He noticed that there are small trees, often human-shaped from a distance and the local people actually avoid cutting them because they believe these trees are harboring spirits or souls expelled by humans.

00:17:53: If you leave them alone do not cut them – they're harmless!

00:17:58: But if you're cutting one of those trees, it said that the spirit that was entrapped with them.

00:18:03: They are going to seek out revenge on you and enter the body off a bystander.

00:18:09: interestingly apparently not have the person who I mean Spirit possession is doesn't sound like the nicest fate but what i found really interesting is like It says they will not necessarily enter The Body Of The Person Who Cut The Tree Just A Person Who Is There.

00:18:25: if you are unlucky and just stand there when somebody decides to cut one of those trees, they're like oopsie.

00:18:35: How interesting that this is.

00:18:37: okay yes your gonna be caught but the actual person who's going get the consequences maybe was just going through?

00:18:46: Yeah so again I'm not a hundred percent sure how true this legend is.

00:18:51: Again, if somebody who's more knowledgeable than me I will admit that about the region please let us know of an actual local belief!

00:18:58: Another local believe related to one of the most important figures in Ethiopian Christianity Saint Kiddus Yaret which is telling that the very iconic local goat I talked before, the Valiya ebics.

00:19:17: It was brought actually into the mountains by this saint when he has been using them as pack animals to carry his holy books during his journeys and this was the reason why they became endemic to this location again.

00:19:32: it's a local story but Ethiopian Christian saints can play within the history.

00:19:42: So we've talked about this a little bit in our episode, about The Rocky and Churches In Lalli Bela where we talked about how they are still really actively used also for Christian traditions within their countries but that I also found quite interesting.

00:19:56: And last but not least Which will come more so to importance later?

00:20:03: The Semen Mountains National Park.

00:20:06: it was When it was first established, only about one hundred thirty six square kilometers large but recognizing the urgency to protect its most iconic endangered species especially the Ethiopian wolf and the valia ebex.

00:20:23: It was later expanded um...to cover about four hundred twelve square kilometers.

00:20:29: But if you know how uh..the process for UNESCO works You might No, perhaps in advance.

00:20:36: What I will discuss later?

00:20:38: Could you imagine it or do have a... You are at the moment not sure what might be talking about that how this could impact that originally was only one out of thirty six square kilometers and now its four hundred twelve square kilometers.

00:20:50: Well ,what i know is that It's really common And we had talked already In other episodes How UNESCO The UNESCO organization tried to expand their territory in order to make it even, to invest more in protection in a larger area.

00:21:09: So I guess that is exactly the case... In this park?

00:21:16: It isn't in a similar approach.

00:21:18: so jumping a bit into it actually why you will find Simeon National Mountains also on the tentative list at the moment of Ethiopia because Part of the World Heritage Site is the original size off-the-park, the one hundred thirty six square kilometers.

00:21:39: But since it has by now tripled more than its sites to more then four hundred square kilometers It's not reflecting these boundaries at that moment for UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

00:21:53: So this really interesting because the park has been expanded in two thousand fourteen but it has not been harmonized yet with the World Heritage status.

00:22:02: So this is why the boundary modification, as at the moment still an ongoing process within the whole UNESCO World Heritage topics and that's what you will find in the moment, Simeon National Park also on the tentative list of Ethiopia!

00:22:18: What a special case because that means that it was a World Heritage site... But since its size of the park is so different from

00:22:26: original

00:22:28: subscript, let's say.

00:22:29: Uh now they are.

00:22:31: it is this weird status of like.

00:22:34: it isn't working at that sites but it is the jet I work here inside

00:22:38: exactly.

00:22:40: so what It means Is Like you can be in The park and just officially speaking when You're moving through the Park?

00:22:46: You Can Be Moving from an Area That Is Officially Designated UNESCO World Heritage Site And Then Your Still In The Park But You Might Not Be Officially On A World Heritage site Anymore which I found very interesting and it's showing a bit also about the bureaucracy obviously with the process for UNESCO.

00:23:03: You have to, yeah i understand that you have to make sure that its adequate but I find this is very interesting because... Also like wait why are there two simian national parks associated to Ethiopia?

00:23:13: Because Why Is There One Like Yeah Inscribed in?

00:23:23: But interesting, it will be really interesting to see if there is any other cases like this.

00:23:29: I'm

00:23:29: quite sure that you had so many cases where afterwards modifications were made and we'll also talk about World Heritage sites in the podcast where modifications are being made and borders are extended.

00:23:42: So for sure these happened a lot of places in the past.

00:23:47: It was just now for me first time when i encountered especially this situation right now on the actual list and on tentative lists.

00:23:55: Interesting,

00:23:56: really interesting!

00:23:58: And that is a good transition to the next section of why?

00:24:02: Is it UNESCO World Heritage sites?

00:24:04: so usual question how many criteria does it meet?

00:24:08: do you think?

00:24:09: well cannot be more than four.

00:24:11: we know that.

00:24:12: um So I will say because It's i mean he has the Geological aspects but its really old also too

00:24:23: Yep.

00:24:24: I always hit it on

00:24:27: are you sure?

00:24:28: You're not just looking up before the episodes that you were pretending?

00:24:31: Oh, I do not know but I'm

00:24:33: I don't.

00:24:34: so I just I'm a just rational person.

00:24:36: No one you are.

00:24:38: Um no i'm obviously happy for you of getting all the guesses right there.

00:24:44: Jokes aside um yeah absolutely right.

00:24:46: uh It meets two criterias.

00:24:48: First one is criteria number seven, the exception attribute.

00:24:52: What I described before like with this whole really interesting and fascinating mountain landscape shaped by millions of years like just a really unique look and feel.

00:25:04: You will hopefully be able to see a few pictures that we are gonna post on our Instagram at world heritage.

00:25:11: rookies for our companion posts where you can find some supporting visual material, especially alongside the episode.

00:25:18: marketing again nailed right?

00:25:20: I mean smoothly integrated into the episode.

00:25:22: We're being as smooth as you can say.

00:25:25: yes absolutely smooth but yeah in some highlights are areas like cliffs that are as high as one thousand five hundred meters.

00:25:38: So this is extremely peaky, obviously when you think about it.

00:25:43: It has apparently all or is apparently home to the longest waterfall of Ethiopia that has a height of about five hundred metres.

00:25:52: .It also ,as I mentioned before, a home of the highest peak of Ethiopia and the highest mountain.

00:25:59: you will see, because of all this a really interesting combination of alpine mountain beauty and rocked cinematic vistas that are allowing to look like wide-and far.

00:26:20: It does also include forest, grasslands and vast plains because as you can imagine going from these different levels of height also the whole natural landscape changes a lot.

00:26:33: Yeah!

00:26:33: And apart form that it is meeting criteria number ten The biodiversity in wildlife protection.

00:26:39: so As I mentioned before the main reason for founding this whole area was the protection off the valia ebics This really specific endemic goat-like animal And it is until today a really important location to protect threatened and especially endemic species.

00:27:01: Because you can imagine, It's fostering Endemic Species because they're so isolated that are very unique in its height level of altitude.

00:27:12: Today more than twenty species have large mammals with about one hundred thirty plus species of birds live there.

00:27:21: You have a few endemic small animals and endemic bird species.

00:27:27: And you will also find various plants that might just be there, so I record they're officially more than one thousand.

00:27:35: two hundred plant species grow in the park and three species occur only in the Simeon Mountains National Park.

00:27:41: So this is then the wildlife protection and some of the most iconic, so I will always not go through all the animals you can find there.

00:27:48: but alongside the most iconics species.

00:27:51: You have as i mentioned before multiple times the valia ebix which is sort-of a wild mountain goat that is endangered um and it's really found only in this area nowhere else And it is known for its very impressive backwards curving horns.

00:28:10: As you can imagine of a mountain goat, it's agility and grace for going over cliffs.

00:28:16: They are apparently living on an altitude between two thousand three hundred to four thousand meters so they're really graceful when navigating the whole highlands

00:28:27: Really?

00:28:28: I have to watch this video because goats in the mountains one of them was entertaining things.

00:28:32: So I'm pretty sure that a lot of people visit also the part just to see from a distance, I hope are really good distance or safe distance.

00:28:43: The behavior of the goats

00:28:45: if you're lucky enough to catch them because it's not so easy in danger and obviously as wild animals.

00:28:52: they might be shy towards you but i know what.

00:28:56: Because also in Europe during the Alpine region, we have mountain goats.

00:29:01: Obviously different ones but it's so fascinating when you see them... I saw them so far obviously only in zoos Yeah!

00:29:07: But when you can see them jumping around and how they are able to balance on tiny pieces of rock that like any kind of human apart from someone really experienced would probably just be like Ah, fall down.

00:29:19: And this is something that I also find very interesting.

00:29:22: if you ever want to entertain yourself?

00:29:24: I recommend you two a watching YouTube like mountain goats hiking.

00:29:30: I think they're going to be entertained by four hours.

00:29:35: That is definitely.

00:29:36: goats in general can be super entertaining.

00:29:37: I mean it goes are awesome animals mountain or normal goods?

00:29:42: Yeah, next to the valia ebex you have also the Ethiopian wolf or sometimes called interestingly the Xemian fox which is considered their rarest canid.

00:29:51: So canids I think are like wolves dogs and everything else belong to this section as i understood.

00:30:00: And also this species is just endemic to Ethiopia's highlands.

00:30:05: it A specialized rodent hunter, so focusing on animals like mice and rats.

00:30:14: And it has for this reason a really elongated muscle or snout I think is also the long limbs... ...and it has striking red coat.

00:30:23: So that might be why its called also Fox even though to my understanding technically speaking a wolf.

00:30:32: The estimates are at moment only about four hundred two five hundred twenty individuals remain in the wild, and they are apparently across six isolated mountain ranges.

00:30:42: So it's a really rare species even harder to find than the Valiya ebex.

00:30:49: Then another iconic one which as I understood you will not have that much trouble when visiting the highlands is the so-called Gelada monkey mistakenly called also the gelada baboon because it's directly speaking not a good baboon, but It is a primate.

00:31:08: Also that Is very unique in The way?

00:31:11: That is mostly focusing on eating grass and its also sometimes Called the bleeding heart monkey Because it has A bright red chest patch.

00:31:20: so when you will I'm quite sure research some of the pictures afterwards And also for our companion post You Will understand How how it earned Its nickname.

00:31:31: and They are quite famous for the, because they're known to form enormous social groups.

00:31:38: So I learned that sometimes there can be up in one thousand individual monkeys.

00:31:44: Social

00:31:45: animals?

00:31:45: Yeah

00:31:46: really social animals apparently considered some of the largest primate aggregations on earth and they are apparently pretty common and approachable within The National Park.

00:31:57: so it is Most likely that you will find some of those monkeys when you're visiting and they are also quite Yeah, approachable in a way.

00:32:07: That it will not directly shy away from you.

00:32:09: So this is also something I found quite interesting.

00:32:12: And apart from that another famous Animal is the bearded vulture or what else if an interesting.

00:32:21: Apparently its English name can also be lemma Gaia which is actually a German word and this is a huge raptor, so hunting bird that has wingspan at over two meters.

00:32:35: And it's famous for eating bones which will drop large bones from the height of thirty to forty metres onto rocks to crack them open afterwards.

00:32:45: access an eat the marrow And additionally, like yeah as I mentioned it's also home to some other species of monkeys.

00:32:52: you can find leopards there hyenas jackals ravens and Other kind of animals but i think if i would go into detail now To everyone every animal.

00:33:02: You Can Find There It Would Extend This Episode Even Longer Than Normally?

00:33:16: Excited to see if you were on a tour in Simeon National Park.

00:33:20: I mean, the goats is always amassed but i will say...I'm quite interested in the wolf fox-like and um..i think that's something i would like to see especially to understand why they are called uh...uhm....like a tiny fox or like a...a fox?

00:33:39: Yeah, the Simean Fox yeah The

00:33:41: Simeo Fox Though also im quite interested in the Siemens because I found them really interesting and i think that is really cute.

00:33:53: That...I mean, I want to see their hearts.

00:33:55: Adda da gelada mankisen?

00:33:57: Yeah, it's not Siemens sorry!

00:33:59: yeah..i personally agree with you will be most interested in The Wolf.

00:34:05: understanding there are super rare again here.

00:34:08: coming back this YouTube.

00:34:10: We did it.

00:34:11: I watched that woman was lucky enough to see both the e-packs and the wolf actually, has included into her video And...I think the reason behind its name as a fox is really just because he's got a striking red fur and seems like a fox.

00:34:33: Interesting

00:34:34: Definitely.

00:34:35: So then A little bit of status updates about its development as a world heritage site.

00:34:42: So, As you can imagine from the description I had before it was for time on the endangered list exactly speaking of the years nineteen ninety six till two thousand seventeen and this relates to your question before.

00:34:53: okay how can't work together with the living people there at that same time being in national or like a World Heritage Site?

00:35:03: so it was added to the World Heritage and Danger List in nineteen ninety six because we had a declining population of the valia ebics which are iconic animals around there.

00:35:13: you have, the usage, a loss of biodiversity.

00:35:18: You had expanding human settlements overgrazing by the by the herds and the stock animals off to people around there.

00:35:25: And also the impacts of new road constructions which is as we know sometimes negative effect you might have with increased tourism toward heritage sites that are also the infrastructure too accompanied these.

00:35:37: tourism is then yeah increasing side.

00:35:42: Nevertheless, in two thousand seventeen it was removed from the danger list after really multiple and strong conservation actions.

00:35:51: From the Ethiopian government one of them being the boundary expansions that I talked before on the habitat protection efforts to ensure that especially the population off the ebex for example is kept under control if possible.

00:36:05: but Still, this website that I mentioned before the IUCN World Heritage Outlook still classifies the Parks Conservation Outlook as significant concern.

00:36:16: Mostly because of human pressure on a landscape.

00:36:22: so you have communities who live there that lived there long before the park was created.

00:36:27: And obviously it's going to shape their ecosystem because, as I mentioned before still they're livestock is gonna use the area for grazing.

00:36:35: you will have agricultural expansion.

00:36:37: when people need more food You'll have farming inside the park boundaries.

00:36:42: and what also a challenge.

00:36:45: there is still the risk of regular fires within their countries for land management, because you know very often people will use fire in order to prepare them for farming area.

00:36:53: And this is something especially when it gets out of control that can pose a significant danger into whole park areas and obviously would hope that these can be managed over time.

00:37:07: but its definitely a challenge around here.

00:37:12: Still as bit positive outlook is that by today's understanding, both the Gelada monkeys and the Ethiopian wolves they show a stable population thanks to this like dedicated monitoring in conservation efforts.

00:37:27: And also the extension of the park areas.

00:37:31: unfortunately the Valle Ebec still has a decline in its populations so it's currently assumed compared to the last measurement, there's about a thirty percent decline which is concerning and it will obviously be further observed.

00:37:51: And this one of reason why I just currently assigned these statuses.

00:37:57: As mentioned before, the whole topic infrastructure construction and power line constructions to advocate for living areas around that can also influence.

00:38:07: so Still not super critical at the moment, but something to keep an eye out for.

00:38:14: And yes this leads me then into the last section which is talking a little bit about travel tips and insights.

00:38:21: How do you travel?

00:38:22: I'm quite interested because i think that it's as a natural parki does.

00:38:28: their accessibility normally tends difficult, and I've seen other cases or work heritage we already have talked about that are quite hard to be accessed by tourists.

00:38:41: So i'm quite interested in this section.

00:38:44: it is so as a bit of let's say basics regarding the best seasonality its generally assumed you should try explore the siemens between October & May because when weather conditions are still better You should avoid the rainy season, which is apparently from June to mid September because it can turn stuff around a really muddy or like you could make the rivers dangerous.

00:39:12: And for example also I learned that some of all campsites within the park they close from June till August due to safety concerns and as i mentioned before cold.

00:39:24: It can be really, really cold up there.

00:39:26: So the Siemens they are one of the few places in Africa that regularly receive snowfall and especially the nights above a height of like three thousand five hundred meters are extremely cold with frost coming into early morning.

00:39:41: so if you go to bring warm layers like jacket hat gloves And really something that keeps your warm because for the majority time.

00:39:51: If you're traveling within them You will be camping and you do not want to be called by campaign, let me tell you.

00:39:58: Good!

00:39:59: Then as mentioned how-to get there.

00:40:01: so it lies in northern Ethiopia about nine hundred kilometers from the capital of Adis Ababa.

00:40:13: Major City is Gondar, which you will probably then go there by domestic flight.

00:40:19: And from Gondariu we have to travel about one hundred ten kilometers to a place called Debak... ...which also has the administrative entrance and... You need to start your trip actually there in this national park office and then debug because they you need to purchase the Park entrance permit.

00:40:40: You cannot purchase a permit at the park itself, so it is really important that your starting point will be this town called Debug and afterwards organize logistics and drive further like fourteen kilometers until official entrants where tracks normally begin into the park.

00:41:01: There is a lot of companies organizing these kind of tracks, or it's something that normal tourists do by themselves.

00:41:08: You cannot do this yourself because every visitor entering the park for trapping you must be accompanied with an official park scout who will be there during the whole time.

00:41:21: they are carrying weapons so rifles like often Kalashnikovs.

00:41:24: why don't we think about

00:41:27: them?

00:41:27: I hope it is not because there are hunters all around.

00:41:34: But the animals that we mentioned before, they don't seem to be aggressive in any way.

00:41:39: so i dont think its because of the animal itself but because of their hunters.

00:41:44: It's actually a combination of both.

00:41:45: So as I understood There have been no major incidents at the park.

00:41:50: but first make sure you're protected.

00:41:54: Thieves or hunters or poachers.

00:41:55: theoretically there is dangerous wildlife.

00:41:58: So I mentioned in a side sentence before but they are leopards There are jackals, there are hyenas.

00:42:03: so and they also supposed to protect you from the wild life.

00:42:07: Also What does positive side effect it?

00:42:10: Is ensuring employment in the region.

00:42:12: so you will have a lot of people who next to their Let's say normal live as farmers Or anything else might then act as those scouts and its insuring.

00:42:22: Yeah, work for the local community.

00:42:23: So this is also what was very often said.

00:42:25: This is probably the main benefit you have from this activity.

00:42:29: so The scouts are necessary.

00:42:31: guides are optional.

00:42:34: I found that really interesting because i mean What do say?

00:42:37: it's not?

00:42:37: That there is a president of like violence or like u being unsafe in any way but It's really good to have they In case scout.

00:42:48: So what do you mean?

00:42:50: guides are not necessary?

00:42:53: You have just really an arm gun like they has to come in about, but like you can theoretically as understood ,you can walk by it yourself .

00:43:00: But obviously As I understood like the majority if you go around there, a typical tracking team should have the mandatory scout guide.

00:43:16: You might also have a chef who will then accompany for ensuring food in different camping areas because they are camps throughout the park where can stay between nights especially if you take longer trips, You will be multiple days in the park and also mule men.

00:43:35: And they're accompanying mules that would carry all of their equipment and food for you while your trekking in the Park.

00:43:40: so this seems to be like a typical combination or like A good party to travel into The park?

00:43:46: and...you can um Decide how long you want to stay.

00:43:51: So as I understood most travelers They were spent about two to three days In the mountains.

00:43:55: but longer tracks are possible especially if you want to go the highest peak rastitian, it takes around four or six days.

00:44:07: If you wanna be there only for one day and do this also as day trips but they are obviously less immersive.

00:44:15: so apparently some lodges that Inside the park is one as I understood and also won like really close to it where you then can just go for day excursions, but within The Park itself.

00:44:31: You can't travel each day between different basic campsites.

00:44:35: To give a bit of an insight price range, if you go for a four day trek that will cost about one thousand US dollars with everything associated.

00:44:47: For really long nine-day trek You may pay up to three thousand US Dollars as I understood from my research.

00:44:54: What?

00:44:55: I do not think That's expensive because we are talking About having the person for security Having maybe a person who is gonna help carry this stuff.

00:45:04: If you're going to have a person that is gonna cook for you, I think already having three persons accompanying your group or you as the traveler it's quite good!

00:45:14: That means their salaries do not range really high.

00:45:19: Yeah i agree.

00:45:20: what kind of thing would be interesting?

00:45:23: Would you prefer only like a day trip excursion full hiking experience to the highest summit.

00:45:31: I mean, honestly if i'm traveling there...I will be for a full experience!

00:45:34: We'll go at least more than four days for sure between four and five or six days maybe because otherwise it doesn't make sense.

00:45:45: Also what you said like..it's really hard to see some of the endemic animals.

00:45:50: having only one day really reduces the probability that you actually are seeing them.

00:45:57: Yeah, I agree.

00:45:57: I think i would probably for me personally prefer something like a two or three day trek just because we have mentioned that.

00:46:03: I'm not the biggest fan of hiking and I know myself after six days of hiking guys gonna be like but I guess that's a personal problem.

00:46:13: So, and you are right in experiencing the majority of

00:46:19: everybody is going to be made by somebody else?

00:46:21: This is a little bit like Luxus kind of hiking and tracking.

00:46:26: so come on!

00:46:28: Okay got it.

00:46:29: if we're gonna go into the highest peak understood?

00:46:34: yes then apart from that just some things keep your mind when visiting obviously its environmental protection zone.

00:46:41: keep it safe, so no littering.

00:46:43: Do not touch or remove any of the plants.

00:46:47: do not disturb the animals around there and for god's sake don't anything that could cause a fire because as mentioned before It is a really high area, so between two thousand and four thousand five hundred meters.

00:47:08: Use

00:47:08: warm clothes

00:47:09: use warm clothes but also think about altitude sickness.

00:47:12: So this can be really challenging And cause shortness of breath headaches nausea.

00:47:19: Try to get some information beforehand how you can mitigate This from my own experience when I went To more higher locations like okay take it slow, drink a lot of water.

00:47:31: Try to see perhaps if it makes sense to have one day before to acclimatize the region but again check with somebody who might be more professional about this.

00:47:41: and yeah... Again mentioned in multiple times bring multiple layers of clothes!

00:47:47: It can't be cold!

00:47:49: Me coming from really high city Always remember that you shouldn't be doing physical activity at least twelve hours after your arrival.

00:47:59: This is the bare minimum, I'm pretty sure.

00:48:01: for the park they are specific recommendations.

00:48:05: so please check it out before.

00:48:07: and yeah do not go directly to track in the first day when you arrive

00:48:12: Yeah then... You will just be like bloop!

00:48:15: And then like your whole trip might be cut short anyway because you're just...

00:48:19: Don't take the risk!

00:48:20: Pissing out here Yeah, and last but not least the National Park is also a good location to combine it with some other UNESCO sites that are in the area of Ethiopia.

00:48:31: So what I've already mentioned now multiple times The Rockune churches of Lallibela Are accessible.

00:48:38: apart from that You can also experience Gondar itself That i mentioned before as one Of the starting points when you're getting there.

00:48:49: so Gondar is also actually designated as a World Heritage Site, at least one of its parts.

00:48:56: The Royal Enclosure or the Royal Complex.

00:48:59: and Also you can find the ruins or historical complex of Aksum which was As I mentioned before the capital of the Aksu with Empire.

00:49:10: So these are if your interested in combining world heritage sites some of the trips You Can perhaps tackle afterwards in your grander Ethiopian tour.

00:49:21: That sounds great actually and I think that it's, It makes sense because normally you wouldn't just go for a trekking of six seven days.

00:49:29: Normally You would try to see more off of Ethiopia And i think then doing the tour and having some days In prior To the piece to depart its something.

00:49:42: but you should definitely do?

00:49:43: I

00:49:44: agree yeah This was it about Simeon National Park, something I think both of us didn't really know anything before we did the research.

00:49:55: What are your thoughts?

00:49:57: When you start this project... We always focus on historical work heritage sites and visit many of them But I think that i'm getting more and more interested in natural work heritage sites.

00:50:13: And Simeon National Park seems a place, I really want to go!

00:50:17: Yeah...I agree it's again coming the problem.

00:50:20: It tells you just too much about.

00:50:22: okay where do you want to Go?

00:50:24: Now with the combination of having talked about Alibela.

00:50:27: Okay so we have to go to Ethiopia.

00:50:31: Obviously, again at the moment there is a little bit of political instability.

00:50:35: So as always before you're given to her place check out also what does that travel advisory from your home country?

00:50:41: But it should not keep you from enjoying.

00:50:45: We have our friend who recently went least to Ethiopia and from the pictures he posted on Instagram I was like hi!

00:50:53: Yeah yeah...I wanna go there as well.

00:50:56: He has an amazing life.

00:50:57: so if ever hear us shout out to you as your doing great.

00:51:02: You know who we're talking about when we were mentioning like this.

00:51:06: so yeah the only thing that I can say is always go, i mean try to get into these amazing places.

00:51:12: there's a reason why they are world heritage sites and it its only possible really seeing them when you visit by yourself.

00:51:20: thats true.

00:51:22: That was it from my side for this episode.

00:51:25: Next week, It is again your turn Lina some hints or some insights?

00:51:31: what we're gonna talk about?

00:51:32: We are going to jump back to Europe.

00:51:34: that's something I can tell you and its actually a little bit of longer episodes because these plays have alot history.

00:51:42: shout out to Europe!

00:51:44: And yeah looking forward also see you next time.

00:51:52: Thank you, goodbye.