Set in a lush, fertile stretch of the Rift Valley, Arba Minch (Forty Springs) is the largest town in Ethiopia’s deep south. It has a stunning setting, below a mountainous escarpment that rises to 13,000ft, and overlooks lakes Chamo and Abaya, both protected within the Nech Sar National Park.
Discover Arba Minch
The springs for which Arba Minch is named are enclosed in a dense swathe of groundwater forest that hosts a varied birdlife and three species of monkey, notably black-and-white colobus.
The most popular day excursion from Arba Minch is a boat trip to Lake Chamo, where you can expect to see hippos, a wealth of aquatic birds, and some truly gigantic crocs.
Nech Sar National Park is named after the wide open Nech Sar (‘White Grass’) Plains, which can be driven to along the mountainous ‘Bridge of God’ that divides Lake Chamo from Lake Abaya. Wildlife here includes Burchell’s zebra, Grant’s gazelle, Swayne’s hartebeest, greater kudu and possibly even a few itinerant lions.
For serious twitchers, the mysterious Nechisar nightjar, a nocturnal bird known only from a single wing collected in 1990 until the first live specimen was observed in 2009, can be seen only if you camp overnight on the Nech Sar Plains.
The chilly highlands west of Arba Minch are home to the Dorze, whose traditional beehive-shaped homesteads stand up to 30ft tall and are entered via a protruding frontal extension. Hand-woven shama cloth from Dorze is said to be the finest in Ethiopia.
