Located around 200 km south of Addis Ababa, in Ethiopia’s Great Rift Valley, Lake Langano is a must stop for birdwatchers travelling through Ethiopia. The Lake itself is said to be free of Bilharzia, making it a popular spot for swimming and water sports amongst locals.
Due to its high mineral and sulpher content though it has a milky brown colour and is less diverse in terms of waterbirds than Lake Awassa and Lake Abijatta. However its wooded surrroundings are an important refuge for a wide range of endemic, resident and migratory bird species. Species such as Hemprich’s and Von Der Decken’s hornbills, white-cheeked turaco, little and blue-cheeked bee-eaters, Nubian woodpecker, superb starling, yellow-fronted and African orange-bellied parrots, banded barbet and bare-faced go-away bird are all regualry spotted. While mammals include hippos in the lake and guereza black-and-white colobus, African civets and occassional aardvarks in the woodland.
