Bishangari Lodge at Lake Langano

We’ve been looking forward to doing this post, as I think it was both Jrock and I’s favorite part of our trip to Ethiopia.

For five days, we stayed at Bishangari Lodge, on the shores of Lake Langano.  The lodge is  a 5+ hour drive from Addis, south of Adama, but well worth the travel distance. It’s situated in an eco-reserve, with gorgeous tall, huge trees filled with monkeys and amazing birdlife.  Many don’t know that Ethiopia is amazing for birds - it’s one of the best places in the world.  There were baboons eating ants on the paths between cabins, and often in the open places in front of the open-air restaurant.  Warthogs came down from beachy higher places to graze in the bush near our cabin every afternoon.  To get a sense of what it is like to stand in the trees, you can listen to an audio file I took. Click here, save, then play: Standing in the trees at Bishangari.

The “lodge” is actually a collection of godjos (cabins,) with a central open-air restaurant, a tree bar, traditional tukuls (huts) for coffee ceremony and massage, and a small village of traditional tukuls that you can stay in too.  We too the luxury route and stayed in one of the godjos, and it was perfect.  By the way, in my line of work I often gauge the authenticity of a place that calls itself “eco-tourism” - and these guys are legit.  Not only do the cabins have solar hot water and light, the food is cooked with biogas from a large biodigestor filled with food waste.  They have a preservation lease to keep the land in its pristine state, and do a darn good job, with no paving between the godjos and litter baskets on posts everywhere.  They  hired local people to build the place, under the direction of three engineers from Addis, and then retrained the people to be birding guides, waiters, reservation agents, etc.  And in contrast to other places I’ve been, the service standards were exceptional! The even bring farmers in from the surrounding area to teach them about conserving the value of the surrounding woods and grazing land, and are making real headway.  Just awesome.

So what did we do while we were there?  Well, we ate great food, including talapia and other fish right out of the lake.  We swam every day, as Lake Langano is one of the few places in Ethiopia you can swim without getting sick. We hiked through the woods, met local farmers and herders, went birdwatching in the tall trees, sat on the banks of the lake and watched hippos at sunset, played soccer and swung in the hammock, and generally had a fantastic relaxing time.

I could go on and on, but needless to say, we will be returning to Bishangari again. And we’ll bring our relatives too!

I  will do further posts about rural Ethiopian life and Ethiopian wildlife in susequent posts, as they deserve attention all their own. Keep watching!