Elsewhere
Lake Region of the Rift valley
Coming to BMNP from Addis, one should not miss the Langano, Ziway, Abijatta and Shalla lakes. The bilharzia-free lake Langano is a major recreation area for residents of Addis Ababa, and has a number of catered and self-catering lodges and hotels on it shores.
Lake Ziway, and its five little volcanic islands, is home to numerous shore-birds, with Great white pelicans and Yellow-billed storks a common sight.
Lake Abijatta and Lake Shalla together form a national park. Although both Abijatta and Shalla are thermal lakes and geographically are very close to each other, they are, in fact, quite different. Abijatta is very shallow with a depth of only 14 meters and provides habitat for thousands of flamingos and it is a popular feeding ground for aquatic birds of the area. Shalla, on the other hand, is the deepest lake (260 m) of the Ethiopian Rift Valley and provides on its islands a habitat for the continent’s most important breeding colony of Great white pelicans.
Sof Omar caves
The Sof Omar Caves, 145 kms from the Bale Mountains National Park head quarters, are one of the world’s most spectacular and extensive underground caverns – set in a landscape of termite hills and thorn trees. The 15km-long cave system, created by the powerful Web River, is named after the saintly Sheikh Sof Omar, and is an important Islamic shrine and still a place of religious worship.
The Holy Shrine of Diree-Sheikh Hussein
The holy shrine of Diree-Sheik Hussein is located in north eastern part of Bale Zone, on the edge of Wabe Shebele river gorge,180km from the Bale Mountains National Park headquarters. The shrine of Diree Sheikh Hussein is named after an ancient Muslim holy man called Sheikh Hussein Bin Malka who was renowned for his religious teaching, high devotion and remarkable miraculous deeds. Muslim pilgrims from all over the country come on foot, on horseback and by mule from distances of up to 600 kms to pay homage and to partake in ceremonies organized in memory of their religious leader. This pilgrimage takes place twice a year, once in June to celebrate the anniversary of the death of Sheikh Hussein, and once in October to celebrate his birth. Sheikh Hussein, who lived in the thirteenth century, is considered a mystic prophet and his body lies buried in the town that bears his name.
Adaba-Dodola Mountain trekking
Tourism development in Adaba-Dodola is being promoted by GTZ-IFMP, an Integrated Forest Management Project. GTZ-IFMP is an Ethio-German technical cooperation project in the northwestern Bale Mountains of Ethiopia. Its mission is to conserve forest remnants in Bale - developing ecotourism is one component of the project’s strategy to generate alternative income for forest dwellers. Dodola and Adaba are gateways to the Bale Mountains, and one of Ethiopia’s main attractions in the southeast of the country. Since 1998 the Adaba and Dodola treks have become two of the country’s most popular destinations, allowing visitors to experience the “other” Ethiopia: off the historic northern route and the southern tribes and people.