Limalimo Lodge

Limalimo Lodge was founded by two mountain guides who ran their own trekking companies in the Simien Mountains and wanted tourism to reach the households living inside the park boundary, not just pass through them. Opened in 2015 with support from African Wildlife Capital, the 14-room lodge sits on a 10-hectare escarpment site built from rammed earth, thatch and local wood, blending into the landscape rather than standing out against it. Each room has a private terrace facing the gorges below, and the lodge runs on sustainable power with recycled garden water.

Guests trek the highlands and lowlands in search of gelada baboons, Walia ibex and the endemic birdlife the Simiens are known for, or spend an afternoon visiting Limalimo village nearby for a coffee ceremony. A $10 nightly conservation fee, developed with the African Wildlife Foundation, funds projects across Simien Mountains National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Evenings gather around the fire pit on the terrace, the mountains fading into some of Ethiopia's clearest night skies.