Travel Guide Dinsho

Dinsho is the starting point for excursions into the Bale Mountains National Park. It's a small, somewhat artificial mountain village built in the style of the "Wild West" towns found in other Ethiopian mountain tourist areas, with dwellings and restaurants along the main road. Electricity has arrived in the village, but there are frequent power cuts. Its only attraction is that it is the headquarters of the Bale National Park, from where excursions can be organized. Travellers arriving in Dinsho by chauffeur-driven car can arrange to meet on the Goba-Dolo-Mena road, near the Sanetti camp. The road from Goba to Dolo-Mena is the highest on the continent and crosses the national park almost from north to south. It represents a good alternative for an expedition to the Herenna forest, as well as providing a stopover on the Sanetti plateau. It is possible to continue beyond Rira to Dolo-Mena and from there to Neguélé. The roads to the south of Dolo-Mena, which are not very busy, are often difficult to negotiate. A stronghold of the OLF (Oromo Liberation Front), the southern Bale region was for a long time known as a preferred territory for shifta, a type of highwayman, now extinct. Today, trekking is possible in complete safety.