Abaya And Chamo

Arba Minch meaning ‘forty springs’  is situated at an elevation of around 1300m in the foot hills of the Rift Valley and  amid a country with abundant water, on a high, cool ridge overlooking two of the southern Rift’s most beautiful lakes Chamo and Abaya. The town is directly opposite Nechisar National Park entrance. ‘Nech’ means white and ‘Sar’ means grass- and the combination ‘white grass’ clearly describing the broad plains area of Nechisar National Park supporting a good number of mammals including, the large greater kudu, with spectacular spiral horns and white-striped flanks, the tiny Guenther’s dik-dik, usually seen in pairs, herds of Burch ell’s zebra, which mingle with Grant’s gazelle and an occasional Swayne’s hartebeest – an endemic subspecies.

The two lakes are divided by a hilly ridge with the delightful name of the ‘Bridge of Heaven’. . Many small rivers empty into both lakes. Crocodiles and hippos abound and hippo hunters from the local Ganjule and Guji tribes carry on a lucrative trade in those parts of the lakes not inside the national park. There is also a crocodile market at the mouth of the small Kulfo River which flows into Lake Chamo. Further north on the shores of Lake Abaya is a crocodile farm, also outside the park boundary.

The birds of this area are many and varied, reflecting the different habitats within the park. Hornbills are particularly striking; the fish eagle is ever-present; kingfishers are numerous along the Kulfo River, and rollers can be seen in the bushes. The shores and islands of Abaya and Chamo are populated by farming peoples such as the Ganjule and Guji, both of whom also have ancient traditions of hippo hunting.