Mago National Park

Mago National Park occupies the northern end of the small branch of the main Rift Valley called the Omo Trough. a day’s drive south-west of Arba Minch. The park encloses some 2.162 km² of gently undulating valley floor at about 450 m above sea level bounded on the east. west and north sides by precipitous escarpments that create the spectacular landscapes that visitors see from almost every point in the park. To the south of the park the plain falls gradually away to Lake Chew Bahir. Rising over 2.000 m above the valley floor at the northern end is Mt. Mago 2528nasl.

There is an airstrip near the park headquarters on the Neri River but most visitors travel the 800 km from Addis Ababa by all weather road via Arba Minch. Konso and Jinka. The park headquarters is 37 km from Jinka down a precipitous escarpment road requiring a 4-wheel drive vehicle. Ethiopian Airlines fly to Jinka twice a week.

Mago and Omo are the last protected areas in Ethiopia where the visitor can still see herds of elephant and buffalo and other large savannah mammals once so numerous along the Great Rift Valley. The park is famous for buffalo estimated to number about 2.000 head. A small population of perhaps 200 elephant is resident in he park. Giraffe. waterbuck. bushbuck. lesser kudu. greater kudu. warthog, bushpig, gerenuk, common duiker. lion. leopard, caracal, wild dog, hyena, jackal and baboon are all common. The park is on the northern limit of the Grevy’s zebra range while Burchell’s zebra are common above the escarpment. Even though the park has few areas of grassland many species more typical of the open plains are present, Oryx, lelwel hartebeest, tiang, Grant’s gazelle, serval cat and bat eared fox are commonly seen. There are many small mammals too making up altogether 81 mammal species so far recorded. The area is rich in birds with 153 species recorded to date including 4 endemics:- the white-winged cliff chat. the black headed forest oriole, the thick-billed raven and the wattled ibis.

Omo National Park

The Park is in one of the remotest corners of Ethiopia, covering, with Mago, part of the northern end of the mini rift valley known as the Omo. trough. It encloses some 4.068 km on the west bank! of the Omo river with an elevation on the valley floor of 440 m.

Omo National Park is 870 km south-west of Addis Ababa. The route is the same as for Mago National park, but continues west from Mago up the Mursi escarpment, across the Tama steppe where the Mursi people live and on to the Omo River. The river is crossed by ferry and it is then a 32 km drive to the park headquarters on the Mui River. There is a good airfield.

Omo provides exceptionally good opportunities for game viewing with its variety of riverine forest. savannah woodland, wide open grassy plains, hills and valleys. The large herds of eland-up to a thousand strong are an outstanding sight probably unrivaled anywhere. The plains also support the world’s large population of tiang and large numbers of oryx, lelwel hartebeest and gazelle. Ostrich, giraffe, lions, hyena, wild dog and cheetah are common as well as many smaller mammals. Oribi are common on the hills and greater kudu are sometimes seen. The bushlands contain one of the largest lesser kudu populations anywhere as well as large numbers of buffalo, dikdik, duiker, warthog. bushpig and small mammals. The forest has de Brazza’s monkey, colobus, grivet and many other interesting mammals and birds. Sometimes there are several hundred elephant in the park that come and go from the Sudan. There are excellent views of the park and its animals from the tops of Mizuno and Dirga Hills and tourists like to hike up these hills. Omo is the home of 70 mammal species and 318 bird species, one of which, the black-winged lovebird. is endemic to Ethiopia.

The Ililbai hot spring, the Omo river and the steep escarpments are all natural features that are of interest to both national and international tourists.

Yngudi Rassa National Park

The Yangudi Rassa National Park is located some 375 K.Ms from Addis Ababa towards the east. It covers an area of 2000 sq. K.Ms.

The park is almost on the edge of the Danakil depression. Hence the land is semi-arid with very little rainfall. It is mostly of volcanic origin and is! formed of lava hills and rocks. A 50 km. Strip among the eroded hills on the eastern side of the Awash river contain rich paleontological finds. It was here that the now famous ‘Lucy’ was discovered. This paleontological discovery is! estimated to be over 3 million years old.

This park is the home of the African Wild Ass, an endangered sub-species practically found only in Ethiopia. The other major species are oryx. somemmering’s gazell, ostrich, gerenuk warthod, and lesser kudu, serval cheetah

The Gambella National Park

The Gambella national park is in the west of Ethiopia, approximately 800 K.Ms. from Addis Ababa. It can be reached both by air and land.

The whole area is a vast collection of savannas, untouched forests, fast flowing rivers and wide grass plains stretching to the border of the Sudan. It covers an area of 5061 Sq.kms. Gambella teems with wildlife of a very wide variety. The most common species observed are Nile lechwe, buffalo, giraffe, tiang, waterbuck, roan antelope. white eared kob, ZEBRA, bush-buck, Abyssinian reedbuck. warthogs, hartebeest and elephants, Ostriches occur along with other varieties of birds, The rivers are full of crocodile and hippopotamus.