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The natural beauty of Ethiopia amazes the first-time visitors, Ethiopia is a land of rugged mountains, some 25 are over 4000-meter-high, broad savannah, lakes and rivers. The Great Rift Valley is a remarkable region of volcanic lakes, with their famous collections of birdlife, great escarpments and stunning vistas.
With nine major wildlife national reserves, Ethiopia provides a microcosm of the sub Saharan ecosystem, birdlife abounds about 860 species, and indigenous animals from the rare Walia Ibex to the shy Wild Ass, room free as nature indeed.
Here we will try to mention briefly, one of the most interesting Ethiopia’s national parks, Nechisar National Park that enable the visitors to enjoy the country’s scenery and wildlife, birds and mammals some which exist only in Ethiopia conserved natural habitats and offer opportunities for travel adventure.
The name of the park translates “white grass” and it is one of the most scenic and accessible parks at a distance of about 500 km from capital Addis Ababa. Valued by many visitors as the finest park of the country it borders on the city of Arba Minch. The city – meaning 40 springs – has quite a choice fo convenient lodges located on a ridge overlooking the park.
The park measures about 51,400 ha and covers an isthmus (land bridge) between Lake Abaya and Lake Chamo. Locally, it is known as the “Bridge of God”. Park elevations range from 1108 masl at Lake Chama and 1650masl at Mount Tabala, renowned for its hot springs.
A picture is worth a thousand words. Most of our hundreds of pictures are favored in Google! Why? Because no other website has so many beautiful high resolution pictures, taken by ourselves. Our pictures not only show you the beauty of Ethiopia, but they also show that we go everywhere, photographing wildlife, plants, people and culture.
They show our professionalism, our keen eye for detail and our passion for the culture and nature of Ethiopia. So why consider booking our our Ethiopia Culture & National Parks modules? Because we don’t mislead you like many tour operators do. When the Blue Nile falls are dry…. we tell you. When fog clouds the lava lake of Erte Ale? We let you know. Just drop us a mail and we will check it out for you.
Our tours take you to ALL famous cultural places of Ethiopia, and on top of that, you get to see up to 12 large nature reserves accompanied by a conservation forester. There is nothing similar on the market.
As Ethiopia can be combined with other East African countries, we organize tours in modules. Destinations Overview: Historical Circuit; Danakil Depression; Eastern Route; Simien Mountains; Bale Mountains; Southern Parks Safari; Gambella; Addis Ababa. BUT WAIT: if you buy your international ticket with Ethiopia Airlines, they will sell the internal flights at a price that you can’t even ride the bus for.
But you MUST plan it all in one package and making changes may be very costly. So let us help you plan your entire trip and book your local flights for an incredibly low price after you booked your international flight with Ethiopian Airlines!
About 15% of the park is water, the main water bodies being parks of Lake Abaya, 1160ha, in the North and Lake Chamo, 350ha, in the South are both rich in fish – particularly the Nile Perch and Catfish.
Other waters are the Kulfo River and Sermale River. During the dry season, both rivers are less than 10m wide and 1m deep, but during the rainy season the water can rise considerably, inundating the floodplains and sometimes blocking access to the park.
Landscape
Nechsar’s landscape includes extensive grasslands on the high plains, shrub and tree savannah in the hills and a very special Fig forest along the flood plains of the Kulfu River and the lowlands along Western Lake Chamo, where enormous Fig trees, Ficus Sycamorus, grow trunks of up to 4m wide and 30m high.
Climate
Mean annual temperature is around 21C. The highest temperatures are from January to March with daily maxima about 35C; November and December have the lowest temperatures, around 28C. The average annual rainfall is about 900mm. The rainy season is from March to May with a minor period from September to November.
Mammals of Nechisar National Park
Mammals of the park include: Swayne’s Hartbeest, Burchell’s Zebra, Grant’s Gazelle, Guenther’s Dik Dik, Greater Kudu, Hippopotamus, Grey Duicker, and Common Bushbuck and Lion, Leopard.
The lakes support stocks of Nile perch and cat Fish. Unique features Nechsar is named after the creamy white grass that covers the park in the central plains area. Hot springs found in the eastern part of the park and the “crocodile market” located on the northwestern shores of lakes Chamo are an added attraction.
Birds of Nechsar National Park
333 bird species have been recorded for the park, of which are 3 endemic: the Thick-billed raven; the wattled ibis; and the mysterious Nechisar Nightjar, Caprimulgus Solala. Other interesting birds are the Lesser Flamingo, Pallid Harrier, several Kingfishers and Storks, Pelicans, and African Fish Eagles.
Nechisar Nightjar, Caprimulgus Solala, Viewing Safaris
In 1990 visiting ornithologist Stafford cut the wing from a road kill bird which he took home. Several years later he recognized the wing to be different from any other African Nightjar and it was the bases for describing the species in 1995.
As there are only a handful of ornithologists in Ethiopia, and good visiting birders are rare, the area does not get studied much. Moreover, being a nocturnal bird, few birders get a chance to stay overnight to reconfirm the presence of the species, although several visiting birders claim they have, but no solid proof has been provided. Upon request we organize special Nechisar Nightjar Viewing Safaris.
SOURCE:-
www.nationalparks-worldwide.com
The Ethiopian Herald 22 January 2021
