Nech Sar National Park Ethiopia

Located between the rift valley lakes of Chamo and Abaya, Nech Sar Park ranks top among the most visited Ethiopia safari National parks. Established in 1974, the park covers a small area of 514sq km of savannah, swamps and muddy lakeshore and rolling hill plains of up to 1650m above sea level on Amaro Mountains.

Kulfo River runs in the forest that brings the two lakes of Chamo and Abaya although its under intense human clearing!

Wildlife

Wildlife species in the park include Greater kudu,Ethiopian

Swayne’s Hartebeest

,

Burchell’s Zebra

,

Grant’s Gazelle

,

Guenther’s Dik-dik

, black backed jackal, g

rey Duiker,  wild boar, gureza and the endangered African hunting dog

. Some of the primates in the park include bushbuck, vervet monkeys, Anubis baboon and many others

Both Lake Abaya and Chamo have substantial fish populations, notably Nile perch, which forms the basis of the local fishing industry. Crocodiles inhabit both lakes and there is a crocodile farm near the south shore of Lake Abaya which is popularly known as the Crocodile Market. At Chamo crocodiles are exploited for their skins.

Nechisar National Park is considered an important habitat for bird populations particularly those migrating. It has a noted population of kingfishers, storks, pelicans, flamingos and fish eagles. Other birds in the park include Abyssinian Ground Hornbill,

Grey Hornbill

and kori Bustard among others (about 340 different species)

Getting there

The Park is located 510km outside Arba Minch town south west of Addis Ababa the capital of Ethiopia. There are two camp sites in Nech Sar National Park, but no facilities like toilets or water supply.