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Rift Valley
The
park is in the chain of seven lakes which run from Debre Zeit south
toward Lake Turkana in Kenya. The park is about 200 kilometres south
of Addis Ababa, and consists of two lakes, just to the west of Lake
Langano. They are particularly attractive stretches of water, and
they are very different in character to each other. The main
interest is the extensive bird life that the lakes attract, with
over 400 species recorded.
Wildlife
There are a few mammals on the shores of lake Abiyatta, including
Grant's gazelle, warthog and oribi.
Birdlife
The water of Lake Abiyatta is alkaline and among the birds attracted
to feed on the algae are greater and lesser flamingoes and white
pelicans, white-necked cormorants, herons, storks, fish eagles,
spoonbills, ibises, ducks, gulls and terns. Surrounding woodland
contains trogons, turacos and weaver birds. In the northern
hemisphere winter the lake is host to migratory ducks and waders
from Europe and Asia. Lake Shala is particularly famous for its
colony of great white pelicans, (about 15,000 pairs), ibises,
Abdimi's storks, and the white-necked cormorant. The lakes are
important breeding grounds for several species of birds, especially
the pelicans.
Attraction
Senkello Swayne's Hartebeest Sanctuary is close to the park, and is
administered by the staff. It contains about 2,000 of these
hartebeest, which are endemic to Ethiopia.
Lake Abiyatta is the more northern of the two lakes, and is about 20
kilometres across. It is shallow and surrounded by grass-covered
shores and acacia woodland.
Lake Shala is 260 metres deep at maximum, and it is surrounded by
black peaks and cliffs. There are two lots of hot springs on the
margins of the lake. One, Ghike is close to the park HQ at Dole and
the other is further round the lake on the southern shore.
Accommodation
Closest accommodation is at Lake Langano where there is the Langano
resort complex, Bekele Mola Hotel, which also allows camping, and
Ghike guest house.
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