Day 03: Awash National Park
A full day bird spot in the Awash national park. The thorny bushes of Awash National Park have many varieties of birds. Over 380 species of birds have been recorded in this superb lowland. The Martial Eagle, Swallow-tailed Kite, Grasshopper Buzzard, Bateluer, Lappet-faced Vulture, White-faced Scops Owl, Secretary Bird, Gabar Goshawk, Spotted Eagle-owl, White-backed and Ruppell’s Griffon Vultures are among the excellent birds of prey we should see. There are also many important species that we expect in Awash, such as the Buff-crested Bustard, Hartlaub’s Bustard, different woodpeckers, Ashy Cisticola, Little Bee-eater, Abyssinian Roller, Orange-bellied Parrot, White-browed Coucal, Eastern Gray Plantain-eater, Bristle-crowned Starling, Three-banded Courser, Blue-naped Mousebird, and Red-fronted Tinker birds. We also expect to see a few animals like the Lesser and Greater Kudu, Olive and Hamadryas Baboons, Besia Oryx, Sommerings Gazelle, Swayne’s Hartebeest (endemic), Black-backed Jackal, Defassa Waterbuck among others.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Transportation: 4x4 Air-conditioned vehicles
Accommodation: Overnight stay in Awash Falls lodge.
Day 04: Drive from Awash National Park to Langano
We will have an early breakfast in order to give enough time for morning birding before we leave the park. It is about 260 km to Langano where we will stay for a night. En route, there will be many roadside stops including one major stop at Koka Dam (Awash River Bridge). The Awash River Bridge (Koka Dam) area offers a variety of water and woodland birds. We spend the afternoon at Lake Ziway, which has an excellent variety of bird species. In the woodland near the lake it is possible to see birds like the Masked Shrike, Carmine Bee-eaters, Wattled and Superb Starlings, Black-headed Batis, African Thrush, Beautiful and Marques Sunbirds, Nubian and Bearded Woodpeckers, African Harrier-hawk, Verreaux’s Eagle-owl, Slender-tailed Nightjar, Diederik and Klaus’s Cuckoos, Black-billed Wood-hoopoe and other species. The lake itself has many varieties of water birds such as the Lesser Jacana, Lesser Moorhen, African Pygmy-goose, Black Heron, Crowned Crane, Grey-headed and Lesser Black-backed Gull, Common Snipe, Glossy and Hadada Ibis, Little and Temminck’s Stint, Red-throated Pipit, Pink-backed and Great White Pelican.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Transportation: 4x4 Air-conditioned vehicles
Accommodation:Overnight stay in Lake Langano.
Day 05: Drive from Langano to Bishangari
On the way to Bishangari Lodge, we stop at Abijata Shala national park. It’s the feeding and nesting site for a great number of flamingos and pelicans. At Abijata, we expect to see many wintering and inter-African migratory birds: Marsh Harriers, African Fish Eagles, Saddle-billed and Yellow-billed Storks, Purple and Goliath Herons, Common and Red-billed Teals, Pacific Golden and Caspian Plovers, Black-headed Gull, White-winged and Whiskered Terns are some of the species inhabiting this lake. The surrounding acacia woodland has other species: Yellow-rumped Serin, Little Bee-eater, Long-tailed Glossy and Wattled Starlings, African Pygmy Falcon, Crested Francolin, Abyssinian Ground Hornbill, Black-billed and Black Wood-hoopoes, Brubru, Orange-bellied Parrot, Martial and Walberg’s Eagles, White-crowned Shrike, Lilac-breasted and Rufous-crowned Rollers are among the birds we expect to see. Lunch will be at Langano in the late afternoon. We slowly drive to Wenney Eco-lodge some 15 km to the east of Langano from the junction.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Transportation: 4x4 Air-conditioned vehicles
Accommodation:Overnight stay in Bishangari Lodge.
Day 06: Bishangari
A full day birding in the tropical rain forest of Munessa (near Bishangari eco-lodge). It might be the only forest left in the main Ethiopian Rift system. More than 200 bird species are recorded in this excellent forest. The Yellow-fronted Parrot, Banded Barbet, Abyssinian Woodpeckers, Black-winged Lovebird and White-backed Black Tit are some of the endemics we expect to see. The forest also provides a great variety of species like Narina Trogon, Broad-billed Roller, Blue-spotted and Tambourine Doves, Double-toothed Barbet, Black Cuckoo-shrike, Emerald Cuckoo, White-cheeked Turaco, Greater and Scaly Honey guides, Puffback Shrike, Banded Wattle-eye, Giant Kingfisher, Mountain Wagtail, Scaly Francolin and the endemic Black-headed Forest Oriole. The forest also has a few animals like the beautiful Colobus Monkey, Olive Baboon, Common Duiker, and Menelik’s Bushbuck, Dik-dik, Vervet Monkey and others.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Transportation: 4x4 Air-conditioned vehicles
Accommodation: Overnight stay in Bishangari lodge.
Day 07: Drive from Bishangari to Hawassa
Today we proceed to Lake Hawassa, a beautiful fresh water lake quite unlike the alkaline lakes to the north of the Rift valley. Today we enjoy Hawassa’s magnificent spectacle of water and woodland birds. A variety of egrets, Grey-headed and Woodland Kingfishers, White-browed Robin-chat, Purple Swamphen, Lesser Moorhen, White-Backed Duck, Hottentot Teal, Greenshank, Sedge and Lesser Swamp-warblers, Temminck’s Stint, Klaas’ Cuckoo, Giant Kingfisher, Red-breasted Wryneck, Spectacled and Grosbeak Weavers, Banded Snake Eagle, Banded Barbet and Spotted Creeper. The Painted Snipe, Blue-headed Coucal, Violet-backed Starling, Red-headed Weaver, Sulpher-breasted Bush-shrike, Blue-naped and Speckled Mouse birds and many other species are expected. Hawassa is also home to a few mammals like the Hippopotamus, Colobus and Vervet monkeys, Common Duiker, Olive Baboon and White-tailed Mongoose.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Transportation: 4x4 Air-conditioned vehicles
Accommodation:Overnight stay in a selected hotel or resort Hawassa.
Day 08: Arrive to Addis Ababa
We drive back to Addis Ababa. En route, we may have few roadside stops to seek what we have not seen on “day 5”. Lunch would be at Ziway. This afternoon our major stop will be at Hora Crater, some 45 km before Addis Ababa, which is a good site for both aquatic and arboreal species including the Maccoa Duck, Garganey, Reed Warblers, barbets, woodpeckers, White-winged Cliff Chat, Ethiopian Cisticola, Masked Weavers, waxbills and several birds of prey. Arrive at Addis Ababa before dark and Departure.
