Harenna Forest

This is the 5th ecotype in Bale Mountains National Park. We go from afro-tundra at the top of the escarpment to rain forest at the bottom. The Harenna forest is a rain forest, the 5th ecotype. It is about the largest natural and mostly untouched woodland in Ethiopia.
This area of the south side of the plateau. Once leaving the agro-tundra and start down the escarpment, you pass throu the erica zone to the woodland zone as expected. But there's a difference. On this side, it's a cloud forest. As moist air hits the escarpment, it rises and condenses, forming a cloud. You can see the cloud moving up the slope. The 1st 2 pictures are in the cloud forest. Those funky trees that look like they should be in the forest around the wicked witch of the west are erica arborea.
The rest of the pictures are different places in the rain forest. The forest is so dense, it was hard to find places to get a sense of it. These give a fair overview of what I saw.
One thing to note. In the last picture, toward the top, there's a black oblong object that seems out of place. It's actually a beehive. Locals make these and hang them to harvest the honey.
Harenna forest extends farther down the mountain where it takes on the woodland speciation typical of the region. I took no pictures as it is essentially the same as the Bale Mountains National Park post.Read more