HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: Seeing a soda lake and hundreds of flamingos
BUMMER OF THE DAY: Falling over at the hot springs in front of about 30 locals
WORD OF THE DAY: Konjo-beautiul
DISTANCE TRAVELLED: 79KM
The good thing about deciding to stay another night here was we didn’t have to pack and another day off Ethiopian roads today. We were visiting a national park today that is renowned for its flamingo’s which I love as a bird for some strange reason and was going to be a highlight for me today.
Breakfast was the best so far, with a chef there to make your eggs any which way you want. As usual I got mine scrambled. I have eaten so many eggs the last 4 weeks I am surprised I haven’t started to grow some wings or start clucking. Their uniquely designed hut shaped restaurant has an open section in the middle of the roof about 10m wide, which provides access to the morning birds to enter and exit the restaurant as they please. They are cheeky things as we saw some of them swoop on to plates as guests went to get more food from the buffet. I got some great photos of them over breakfast and it felt quite tropical eating breakfast with these little birds flying around chirping. I did think briefly about them doing a doo doo in mid-flight but lucky they were cute and it didn’t worry me for long.
When we left the building there were around 20 birds of all varieties under one of the trees, and the resort was putting a bird bath together. There were some really cute grey and blue birds and one of them made his way right over to my foot; he was only like 2cm away from my Havianna.
The National Park entrance was only a 25 minute drive from the resort. The Abijata-Shalla National Park is composed of two of the Great Rift Valley Lakes, Known as Abiyata and Shalla. The park is absolutely a paradise for bird watchers. The park is originally created for protection of the aquatic birds that live on the two lakes, Abiyata and Shalla. The Park is 887 Sq.kms. wide, is wet land reserve bird sanctuary. Over 350 bird species reside here. The most common ones being , the great white pelicans, flamingos, Egyptian gees, Marabou storks, yellow billed storks, eagles, herons ,plovers ibises and egrets. Vast number of endemic and exotic birds that migrates from Africa, Asia and different parts of the world wander here. Islands of the deepest Lake in Ethiopia, Lake Shalla, are the continent’s most important breading colony of great white pelicans. The shore of this Lake is also a source of several sulphurous hot springs often used by the local people as a cure for ailments. One can enjoy the magnificent views of the surrounding areas from selected vantage points.
Situated in the Great Rift Valley, only 200 kilometers (124 miles) south of Addis Ababa, and in the lake Langano recreational areas, the Abijata-Shalla Lakes National Park attracts numerous visitors. Using Lake Langano as your base, it is an easy trip to Visit the National Park. The altitude of the park ranges from 1540 to 2075 meters, the highest pick being mount Fike, situated between the two lakes. Both lakes are the formation of volcanic eruptions and they are both creator lakes and there is also hot springs. These lakes are best preferred for bird watching and excursions and the best time of the year to visit them is between November and December.
We arrived at the park entrance just before 9.30am. The fee for Zeme and I was 6.20AUD total and we paid extra money to have a ranger come with us to show us around and his services was a grand cost of 3.88AUD for the 3 hours that we had him. Insane I’m telling you, insane. As soon as we drive through the gates there were massive ostriches just wandering around. They roam freely in the park but they also had a fenced off section where they had 2 families enclosed. Se we were allowed to hop out of the car and make our way to the fences to have a look at the babies. On one side the babies were 1 month old and the other side they were 6 months old. They were so cute and small compared to their very protective parents that made it quite clear that they didn’t want us there with a display of the massive feathers a hissing noise and walking up to the fence. They are MASSIVE and I wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of one that is for sure. Their legs are massive and look so strong, I am sure a kick from one of them would do some serious damage that is for sure.
The Ostrich is one or two species of large flightless birds native to Africa. Ostriches share the order Struthioni forms with the kiwis, emus, and other ratites. It is distinctive in its appearance, with a long neck and legs and the ability to run at maximum speeds of about 70 kilometers per hour, the top land speed of any bird. The Ostrich is the largest living species of bird and lays the largest egg of any living bird (extinct elephant birds of Madagascar and the giant moa of New Zealand did lay larger eggs).
The diet of Ostriches mainly consists of plant matter, though it also eats invertebrates. It lives in nomadic groups which contain between five and fifty birds. When threatened, the Ostrich will either hide itself by lying flat against the ground, or will run away. If cornered, it can attack with a kick from its powerful legs. The Ostrich is farmed around the world, particularly for its feathers, which are decorative and are also used as feather dusters. Its skin is used for leather products and its meat is marketed commercially.
Ostriches usually weigh from 63 to 130 kilograms with exceptional male Ostriches weighing up to 156.8 kilograms. The feathers of adult males are mostly black, with white primaries and a white tail. Females and young males are greyish-brown and white. The head and neck of both male and female Ostriches is nearly bare, with a thin layer of down. At sexual maturity (two to four years), male Ostriches can be from 1.8 to 2.8 meters in height, while female Ostriches range from 1.7 to 2 meters. During the first year of life, chicks grow about 25 centimeters per month. At one year of age, Ostriches weigh around 45 kilograms and their lifespan is up to 40 or 45 years. Ostriches formerly occupied Africa north and south of the Sahara, East Africa, Africa south of the rain forest belt, and much of Asia Minor. With their acute eyesight and hearing, Ostriches can sense predators such as lions from far away. When being pursued by a predator, they have been known to reach speeds in excess of 70 kilometers per hour and can maintain a steady speed of 50 kilometers per hour, which makes the Ostrich the worlds fastest two-legged animal. When threatened, Ostriches run away, but they can cause serious injury and death with kicks from their powerful legs which can only kick forward. Contrary to popular belief, Ostriches do not bury their heads in sand. This myth likely began with Pliny the Elder (AD 23-79), who wrote that Ostriches "imagine when they have thrust their head and neck into a bush, that the whole of their body is concealed."
Ostrich eggs are the largest of all eggs (and by extension, the yolk is the largest single cell), though they are actually the smallest eggs relative to the size of the adult bird. On average they are 15 centimeters long, 13 centimeters wide, and weigh 1.4 kilograms, over 20 times the weight of a chicken's egg. They are glossy cream-colored, with thick shells marked by small pits. The eggs are incubated by the females by day and by the males by night. This uses the coloration of the two sexes to escape detection of the nest, as the drab female blends in with the sand, while the black male is nearly undetectable in the night. The incubation period is 35 to 45 days. Typically, the male defends the hatchlings and teaches them to feed, although males and females cooperate in rearing chicks. The survival rate is low for the hatchlings, with an average of one per nest surviving to adulthood. They are an amazing bird and we just walked through and around about 10 of them heading back to the car, but they didn’t seemed to concerned with us which was nice after reading how fast they can run, we would have no chance if one of them flipped out on us.
The ranger knew of where there may be some Gazelles, so we only had to drive 5 minutes and we got out of the car again and walked into the dry shrubby vegetation and only after around 10 minutes we found around 15 of them. They knew we were there and kept moving in a direction away from us for about 5 minutes and then they stopped to have a munch on some of the trees. We got within around 30m of these guys and as we were observing them a family of 4 warthogs, travelling single file trotted past them like they were on a mission to be somewhere. Throw in a few endemic bird sightings on our way back to the car it was a great start to the National Park.
We drove through a gate we had to close and then stopped at a magnificent view point that over looked Lake Shalla to the right and Lake Abijata to the left. It was a magnificent view and we spent a few minutes here just soaking it all up. I am in Ethiopia, with someone I love looking at the deepest lake in the country on a perfectly clear day and not a care in the world. Does it get any better than this?
We then drove down to the base of Lake Shalla where you can also find some hot springs. These aren’t the swim in them type of hot springs, they are natural pools of different degrees of temperature water in rocks. The first small pool we went to the water was 90C and an egg cooks within 5 minutes. The locals use this to cook their food occasionally and there were a few children following us and there were around 15 locals sitting under a tree as we descended the springs. As we made our way down the embankment, you guessed it my thong slipped on some moss and water and I fell. I am sure it was an elegant fall as I basically just slipped straight into my bottom, and the first thing I remember was a gasp from everyone that was within hearing distance. I was so embarrassed and Zeme felt terrible that he wasn’t there to help me, I was just about to ask him for a hand when I slipped. I was so embarrassed, the camera got a bit if mud in it as I had it in my hand when I fell, but besides a few small weeny scratched on each elbow and my pride I was okay. It was no-one’s fault and as we walked towards Lake Shalla Zeme and I had a good laugh about it and I am thankful that the locals didn’t have a laugh, they seemed quite concerned which was sweet.
Lake Shala (also spelled Shalla) is 28 kilometers long and 12 kilometers wide, with a surface area of 329 square kilometers. It has a maximum depth of 266 meters and is at an elevation of 1,558 meters. As such, it is the deepest of Ethiopia's Rift Valley lakes. Known for the sulphur springs on the lake bed, its islands are inhabited by Great White Pelicans, one being known as Pelican Island. Lake Shala is surrounded by hot springs filled with boiling water, and the earth surrounding the lake is filled with cracks due to erosion and earthquakes. Due to steam rising from the boiling water in the springs, the atmosphere around the lake is relatively foggy. At the southern end of the lake, there are various species of flamingoes and birds that frequent the lake. There were stones that we collected on the shore of the lake but they just crumbled in your hand, so I guess it must be something to do with the sulphur. There were a few flamingos around and pelicans flying past but this lake has no fish and the water is not drinkable and the ranger said it is such a waste it is so useless.
So with my head held high we walked back to the car for the 25 minute drive to Lake Abijata. This is where we were promised the flocks of flamingos. As we got closer to the lake the car stopped around 1.5km from the lakes edge and this was as far as the car could. Since the lake had receded recently and the ground was so soft that the car would get stuck if we went in any further. We were now on a flat plain and as far as the eye could see not a tree in sight. It was green though, so there were a lot of cattle grazing and there would have been over 20 herds all scattered on the plain. As anywhere in the world when you stop a vehicle people just seem to come out of nowhere. There were 4 children and 2 male locals to start with. So the ranger stayed with the car and Zeme and I walked with one of the locals heading as far as we could to the water’s edge and you could see hundreds of flamingos from the car. The ground was actually quite scary as it was cracked from the sun, but when you walked on it moved like it didn’t seem very stable, keeping in mind I weigh probably double than the locals do, when my foot fell through some of the dry earth at one stage, I was terribly worried that it would happen again. As we got closer to the water, the cracks were still there and it got a little slippery at times, but thank goodness I was able to keep my feet the 40 minutes we were out near the water. As we got closer to the water we had picked up an additional 4 men and we had to keep telling them to be quite as they were scaring the flamingos. We couldn’t get right to the water as it was just too dangerous to walk there, but we were around 30m from the edge and I still got some good photos. It reminded me of the Salt Plains in Bolivia with the sheer whiteness and flatness.
Lake Abijata also lies in the Main Ethiopian Rift Valley. The lake is 17 kilometers long and 15 km wide, with a surface area of 205 square kilometers. It has a maximum depth of 14 meters and is at an elevation of 1,573 meters. Along the northeastern corner of this lake are a number of hot springs, which are important both as a tourist attraction and to the local inhabitants. There is also a soda ash operation on the shores of this lake, which produces 20,000 tons of sodium carbonate. Proven reserves at Lake Abijata, and the neighboring Shala and Chitu lakes exceed 460 million tons and I guess this explains the whiteness. It is one of the shallowest in the Rift Valley and is a soda lake. Grass and acacia woodlands surround its crystallized white shoreline. The lake is home to vast flocks of flamingos, which from a distance create a pink carpet effect across the lake. This is an excellent place to look for birdlife, as many species come to feed on the prolific algae found in the lake's waters. Usual species include greater and lesser flamingos, white pelicans, white necked cormorants, herons, stocks, ibises, spoonbills and terns. It also has a resident population of fish eagles as well as a few antelope and smaller mammals around the shore. It was a pretty cool place and we got our local guy to take a picture of Zeme and I and the other 5 guys all crowded around to watch, it would have made for a good photo as they talked to each other to get the perfect shot.
We made our way back to the car and some more locals had appeared and some more children as well. I guess they don’t get too many farangees this time of year, so it is a bit if a big deal to see the car and a foreigner out on the plains. As it goes we tipped out guy as we were about to drive off and the other 4 men wanted something as well. I just told Zeme to given them some money and they could split it between them. There was a bit of a ruckus on who was to initially get the money to split it with 3 pairs of hands flying in the window but they sorted it out and we drove off with a wave and a thanks. We had to drop the ranger back to the main gate and we also tipped him and it was his lucky day as we only had a 50 birr note so we gave him that when the normal tip would have been 10-15 birr. In monetary terms for me it is only 2.50AUD but it is a lot of money for them.
Back to our fabulous resort for a fabulous lunch with fabulous service and then after we ate and we had dessert, which is an ice-cream sundae with nuts and chocolate sauce, we rolled back to the bungalow to wile away the afternoon and we were going to head back to the beach later in the afternoon. Well you could imagine our shock when we woke up and it was 7pm!!! Holy moly we must have been tired! So we missed the beach and made out way back to the restaurant for dinner. Why not! As this was officially the last night of tour, on behalf of the group (me) I thanked Zeme for taking me around his marvelous country and for a fantastic programme. We both ordered a cocktail each and toasted the last 17 nights and 18 days that we had spent on the road together. You think, it is a pretty intense time, 24 hours a day for 18 days and we made it through with flying colours. If you want to make sure that you get along with someone throw them into a car for 18 days in a foreign land and see if they sink or swim. I had an amazing time and this was the best thing I did by taking a leap of faith, leaving my South America tour for 4 weeks and making the 34,000KM journey to Africa. It was totally worth the time, the effort and the money. So this is a MASSIVE THANK-YOU to my boyfriend, my friend and my soul mate for taking the time to show me around and I cannot wait to come back to start my new life here and with him.
It was a lovely way to finish the tour and with another round of a chocolate sundae’s for dessert and 2 cocktails under our belts it was safe enough to say that we slept like babies at the wonderful Sabana Resort with the realization that we are heading back to Addis tomorrow, which in turn means we are closer to my departure day on Saturday. It has to happen at some point and we have spoken about it a million times and we are both happy about the short 131 day separation, so it is all still positive. Yeah let’s see how long that lasts on Saturday when we’re at the airport!!!!
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