HOT SPRINGS, A LAKE AND OUR LAST NIGHTS ON THE ROAD

WEATHER: Hot and 30C

HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: The beautiful Sabana Resort

BUMMER OF THE DAY: Reality check I only have 4 nights left with Zeme

WORD OF THE DAY:  Gooda

DISTANCE TRAVELLED: 103KM

We didn’t have far to travel today, so another leisurely breakfast and a noon departure from the hotel.  I only have 4 nights left in Ethiopia and with my beautiful Zeme.  Two of those nights will be spent in Addis as we have some things we need to do before I leave, so as our time draws to a close both Zeme and I are being positive about the goodbye and figure what is 131 days till we next see each other compared to the rest of our lives when we start our new life together in August.  This is what keeps me happy and all those sad thoughts at bay, well for now anyway.  I trust Zeme with my life, I know it is the right thing and as hard as it is for people to understand I have found my soul mate.  As Zeme put it “it feels like we have known each other for 4 years and not 4 months”.  EXACTLY.  I was telling Shelly I can now understand what people say when they have met their soul mate as I have met mine.  My heart gets heavy at the thought of leaving but I remind it that we will be back and we come to a compromise and will count the days together.  Sounds corny, but I don’t care.  This is a woman who is in love and is loved back with no inhibitions. 

Back on the road for our last stop before heading back to the big smoke of Addis Ababa.  Our first stop was going to be some hot springs on the way to Lake Langano.  People, who know me, know I am not a swimmer.  I can sit on a beach all day, sit by a pool with the best of them and I must admit I have done a lot of swimming on my trip to date.  I can swim, once I am in the water I enjoy it, I just don’t have the perfect swimming body and am quite self-conscience in my swimmers and shorts.  I generally am not one to ‘miss’ something, so snorkeling off the coast of Zanzibar, snorkeling with sea lions in the Galapagos, swimming in the warm water of the Greek Mediterranean, hot springs at Machu Picchu or at swimming in the Atlantic in Paraty off the coast of Brazil, I will be there with the best of them, but today I had to draw the line in indulging in a dip at the hot springs.  As I mentioned yesterday, In get enough gawking and stares as it is in public which I am sure is partly because I am white, I have an Ethiopian boyfriend (which we don’t flaunt in public due to cultural respect) and because I am a ‘little’ larger than any of their own female compatriots.  I understand all this, I accept that I look different and there are parts of Ethiopia that still don’t see a lot of farangees so this just goes with the territory.  BUT when I can control who stares at me, there was NO WAY IN HELL I was going to be getting into any kind of swimwear to hop into an Ethiopian hot spring.  This has nothing to do with the cleanliness of it but ALL to do with there would have been a woman ration of one to 50 men.  That to me was just asking for stares and I knew I wouldn’t feel comfortable, and no matter how much Zeme said it would be okay, I declined and sat under some shady trees with my book, a coke and my camera armed to take photos of the local birds.  I was prohibited to take photos of Zeme in the pools as he wasn’t feeling ‘perfect’ in his words and it is nice to know that men have ‘off’ days with their looks as well. 

A hot spring is a spring that is produced by the emergence of geothermal heated groundwater from the Earth's crust. There is hot springs all over the earth, on every continent and even under the oceans and seas. In general, the temperature of rocks within the earth increases with depth.  Ethiopia has a lot of hot springs.  The Great Rift Valley passes through the country, and there is a short distance from the crust of the earth to the actual ground, making many “hot-springs” available.  The hot springs were in amazing condition and were even better than the hot springs in Machu Picchu in Peru.  I would have loved to have gone for a dip and I even though Zeme felt bad leaving me, it was exactly what his muscles needed to relax after all the driving we had done for the last 3 weeks.  They have 3 pools all in varying degrees of temperatures and he spent a well-earned 1.5 hours rotating in the pools to refresh.  I was more than happy to wait as long as he needed.  The scenery was great with a running stream right past my table and the birds chirping it was a relaxing way to spend the morning.  Just as we were getting ready to leave 2 buses of university students from Gondar entered the springs.  Thank goodness we were leaving and thank goodness I wasn’t in a swim suit with 70 pairs of eyes to feast on my lily white skin.  Yeah it was never going to happen.

After a late lunch we needed to find some accommodation for the night.  The main draw card for where we were going to stop is the Abijata-Shalla National Park and with it being a major tourist attraction there were a lot of lodges on this stretch of road and in the area.  Luckily Zeme had stayed at a few before when on trips but wanted to make sure I was happy we were going to drive to a few to check them out.  Most of them are located 6-10KM off the main highway accessed by dusty roads and the first one we drove into was like an oasis tucked away in a dusty desert.  It was a breath of fresh air and something you would not expect with the dusty drive in past a small village, donkeys and children herding goats and sheep.  I didn’t need to see any other lodges this one was going to be just fine with an magic view of Lake Langano I didn’t care that they didn’t have Wi-Fi.  It was probably a blessing in disguise so we were pre-occupied on the computers for our last two nights.  We were originally going to spend one night here and then one back at the lappest of luxury hotel in Nazret for out last night, but this resort had a really great vibe and we decided to stay both nights here.

All the bungalows are situated on a cliff top, each having their own distinctive view over the expansive Lake Langano with the Arsi Mountains in the background.  Our bungalow was on the second level and the last one in the row.  They are custom designed to ensure a relaxing and home-like atmosphere, and the bungalows are built with local materials and simple designs to blend comfort with originality.  Surrounded by green grass, acacia and palm trees, local flowers and a sandy area the atmosphere is set for true relaxation.  It was amazing.  The ventilated thatched roof design ensures an ideal room temperature at all times and the large verandah is conveniently shaded during the afternoon, where I sat and read my book in one of the comfortable chaises-lounges during the afternoon as Z got an afternoon nap.  The water supplied to our bungalows is filtered lake water, guaranteeing a safe use for all bathroom needs.  It was something I totally didn’t expect to see and a grand surprise.

After an afternoon nap we walked down to the beach of Lake Langano.  It was a black sand beach and littered with lots of small stones but it was nice to wiggle your toes in the sand and just walk along with the lake water lapping at your feet.  The 200m long sandy beach and had a boat jetty to access the watercraft.  It is absolutely safe to swim in Lake Langano. The depth of the water increases relatively slowly, however, it is advisable for those not too confident with their swimming not to attempt going too deep, far off the beach.  While we were walking I found a silver ring, talk about lucky.  It is just a silver band with engraved leaves on it, but it is 925 silver and I promise to whoever lost the ring that it has gone to a good home.  A nice keepsake, even if it is at the expense of someone losing it. 

Langano is a lake in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia, exactly 200 kilometers by road south of the capital, Addis Ababa.  It is located to the east of Lake Abijatta in the Main Ethiopian Rift at an elevation of 1,585 meters.  Lake Langano is 18 kilometers long and 16 km wide, with a surface area of 230 square kilometers and a maximum depth of 46 meters.   The lake has a catchment 1600 square kilometers in size, and is drained by the Hora Kallo river which empties into the adjacent Lake Abijatta.  As it is free of Bilharzia (schistosomiasis), unlike all other freshwater lakes in Ethiopia, Lake Langano is popular with tourists and city-dwellers. The lake is brown in color but safe to swim in. There is a variety of wildlife around the lake, which includes hippos (rare), monkeys, baboons, warthogs, and a huge variety of birds. The area around the lake is largely deforested.  Two earthquakes had their epicenter near this lake, the first in 1906 (a magnitude 6.8 on the Richter scale), and the second in 1985 (magnitude 6.2).   After the earthquake of 1906 there formed a 25 - 30 m tall geyser on Edo Laki Island on the northern part of lake. Geyser disappeared circa 1966 - 1970, leaving a hot spring.

Lake Langano is part of The Rift Valley lakes, which are a group of lakes in the East African Rift which runs through the whole eastern side of the African continent from north to south. These lakes include some of the oldest, largest and deepest lakes in the world, and many are freshwater eco-regions of great biodiversity, while others are alkaline or soda lakes supporting highly specialized organisms.

The Rift Valley Lakes are well known for the evolution of at least 800 cichlid fish species that live in their waters. More species will be discovered.  The World Wildlife Fund has designated the African Rift Valley lakes one of its Global 200 priority eco-regions for conservation.

The East African Rift came into being approximately 40 million years ago as the African tectonic plate began to split. Lakes such as Lake Malawi and Lake Tanganyika have formed in the various valleys of the rift zone, including the huge Lake Victoria.  The Ethiopian Rift Valley lakes are the northern most of the African Rift Valley lakes. In central Ethiopia the Great Rift Valley splits the Ethiopian highlands into northern and southern halves, and the Ethiopian Rift Valley lakes occupy the floor of the rift valley between the two highlands. Most of the Ethiopian Rift Valley lakes do not have an outlet, and most are alkaline. Although the Ethiopian Rift Valley Lakes are of great importance to Ethiopia's economy, as well as being essential to the survival of the local people, there were no intensive and extensive limnological studies undertaken of these lakes until recently.  The major ones are

Lake Abaya (1162 km², elevation 1285 m), the largest Ethiopian Rift Valley lake, Lake Chamo (551 km², elevation 1235 m), Lake Zway (485 km², elevation 1636 m), Lake Shala (329 km², elevation 1558 m), the deepest Ethiopian Rift Valley lake, Lake Koka (250 km², elevation 1590 m), Lake Langano (230 km², elevation 1585 m), Lake Abijatta (205 km², elevation 1573 m), Lake Awasa (129 km², elevation 1708 m)

Lake Tana, the source of the Blue Nile, lies in the Ethiopian highlands north of the Rift Valley and is not a Rift Valley lake.

Sabana Beach Resort was exactly that.  A resort to rival anything you would find back home.  The resort’s unusual landscape offers both a serene beachfront as well as a vast cliff-top with a breathtaking view over the lake.  Dinner was in their uniquely designed hut shaped restaurant overlooking the lake.  We sat at a table next to large picture windows with a hurricane lamp for light and ate what was probably the best food we have had all trip.  It was 5 star all the way, it had a 5 star price tag as well but compared to what you would pay at home for the same thing it was still peanuts and at this point a 40AUD dinner for 8 vodka’s, main meal and dessert with the exceptional service, the amazing food along with the company I could not think of a better way to finish off our road trip than here.  Tomorrow we are off to the National Park and our last night of the Zeme Tour programme before heading back to Addis Ababa.