Abijatta Shalla Lakes National Park

Abijatta-Shalla Lakes National Park is in the southern Oromia region of Ethiopia, about 200 km south of the capital of Addis Ababa.

Understand

History

Landscape

Thousands of flamingoes create pink carpets in the blue bays of the lake; great white pelicans soar in from Lake Shala to enjoy the fishing and execute their fantastic ballet; pied kingfishers hover and dive; fish eagles protect their territory with their eerie cry; cormorants and darters fill the dead acacia trees silhouetting strange and beautiful shapes against the sunset. Here are tall marabou stalks and sacred ibis. Snipe, stilt, avocet dwell sometimes in the hundreds of thousands, the black heron searches the shallow water in the shadow created by his black umbrella.

Flora and fauna

Boars, ostriches and flamingoes are common.

Climate

The National Park and this part of Ethiopia as a whole can be visited during the rainy season: dirt roads in the area not that slippery, even at the end of July or the beginning of September.

Get in

By car

Routes through Abijatta Shalla Lakes National Park

From Addis Ababa, Abijatta Shalla Lakes National Park is 210 km via Modjo, using the Addis Ababa–Adama Expressway (3 hours 15 minutes drive), or it's 228 km via Butajira (3 hours 45 minutes drive).

The 🌍 park entrance is in between the two lakes, on national Highway 6, 47 km south from Ziway and 41 km north from Shashemene.

Fees and permits

Ethiopian National Park fees

  • Entrance fees:
    • Ethiopians - 20 birr
    • Children <12years old & Ethiopian students of any age - 10 birr
    • Residents - 50 birr
    • Non-resident foreigners - 90 birr
  • camping fees - 10 birr/person

As of September 2015.

Get around

See

Do

Buy

Eat

Drink

Sleep

Lodging

No lodge exists inside the park. The possibilities within less than 1 hour's drive are to find hotels in Ziway or Shashemene or to go to one of the expensive resorts of Lake Langano. The closest town, Bulbula, doesn't seem to have any hotel.

Camping

Backcountry

Stay safe

Go next


gollark: Not that I think it would have been reasonable even if they actually had said it was "their" bug.
gollark: With an obvious link to your binary even.
gollark: They just posted it on an issue report almost nobody else will ever read.
gollark: They didn't.
gollark: This is part of why I don't want you as owner.
This article is issued from Wikivoyage. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.