Harenna is the green southern face of the Bale Mountains, and getting there involves one of the most spectacular drops in Africa. The road crosses the Sanetti Plateau, a high, cold, open tableland at over 4,000 metres, studded with giant lobelias and small lakes, where Ethiopian wolves, among the rarest canids in the world, hunt for rodents in the grass. Then, at the edge of the plateau, the road plunges south through a series of bends into a forest, losing about a thousand five hundred metres in a few kilometres, and the air thickens, warms and fills with the smell of damp earth.
The Harenna Forest is among the largest remaining tracts of moist tropical forest in Ethiopia, a dense, mossy realm of ancient trees, tree ferns, bamboo and strangler figs, shrouded in mist. It is part of Bale Mountains National Park and a hotspot for biodiversity, with species found nowhere else, such as the Bale monkey, and it shelters leopards, giant forest hogs and black-maned lions, rarely seen. Wild Arabica coffee grows in the understory here, and Ethiopia is considered the original home of the plant.
The riding is hard. Much of the road is gravel, rough in places and slippery when it rains, which is often in the forest, and the descent from the plateau is steep and has sharp bends. The altitude and cold at the top can be a shock, with frost possible in the morning, and the contrast with the humid forest below is startling. Fog can obscure the road, so go slowly. This is a ride for someone with experience on rough tracks and a bike that can take them.
Services are almost non-existent, so carry fuel, water, food and a repair kit, and remember that mobile coverage is unreliable. The nearest reliable fuel is at Goba or Robe on the northern side, and it is worth filling every container you have before crossing. The park charges a fee at the gate, and rangers are helpful. Birdlife is exceptional, with Abyssinian catbirds and woodpeckers, and early morning is the time for the chorus. Visit between November and February, when the dry season gives the best chance of a passable road.