How do you visit Lake Ziway, Langano and Abijatta-Shalla by car?

The Rift Valley lakes south of Addis Ababa sit right along the main road to Hawassa. Lake Ziway comes first, about 160 km from the capital and roughly two and a half hours by car. Lake Langano and Abijatta-Shalla National Park follow at around 200 km. Each is different: Ziway for birds, boats and fish, Langano for a swim, Abijatta-Shalla for flamingos, soda lakes and hot springs.

Our drivers drive this road to Hawassa and the south regularly, so the simplest way to see the lakes is as stops on that trip: out of Addis in the morning, a break at Ziway, a look at Langano or the park, and on to Hawassa before dark. We agree the plan with you in advance and give you one fixed quote for the whole car.

How long does the drive take?

From Addis Ababa you take the expressway towards Adama, turn south at Modjo and follow the road down the Rift Valley. Parts of a new Modjo–Hawassa expressway have opened in stages alongside the old road, and the last section to Hawassa was still unfinished in late 2025, so journey times depend on which stretches are open and on traffic.

Road times change with roadworks and traffic, so we confirm them before you set off. We plan every long drive to finish in daylight.

What is there to do at Lake Ziway?

Ziway, also called Batu, is the closest of the big Rift Valley lakes to Addis. It is a freshwater lake of about 440 square kilometres with the town on its western shore. The easiest highlight is the jetty where fishermen land their catch: pelicans and marabou storks gather there waiting for scraps, and you can watch them at close range.

• Birds and hippos. Boat trips go out from the jetty to look for waterbirds and hippos.
• Fresh fish. Small places near the jetty fry freshly caught fish; it makes a good lunch.
• Tullu Gudo island. One of the lake's five islands has a monastery, Debre Tsion, which local tradition says sheltered the Ark of the Covenant in the ninth century and which keeps old manuscripts. Getting there takes a longer boat trip, so it needs more time.

Can you swim in Lake Langano?

Langano is the lake people swim in. Its water looks brown because of its minerals, but it is widely described as free of bilharzia, the parasite that makes swimming in most Ethiopian freshwater lakes a bad idea. Resorts and eco-lodges line parts of its shore and it has long been a weekend escape for people from Addis. If you plan to swim, ask a travel clinic for current advice before your trip.

What can you see in Abijatta-Shalla National Park?

Abijatta-Shalla National Park was set up in 1974 around two very different soda lakes, separated by a few kilometres of hills. Abijatta is shallow and its level changes a lot; at the end of the rains it can draw huge flocks of flamingos. Shalla has rocky shores, with hot springs that send steam over the water and great white pelicans on the lake.

Be realistic about the wildlife. Much of the acacia woodland around Abijatta has been cut for charcoal, and large animals are few, though the park still has gazelles, warthogs and hundreds of bird species. Most visitors spend a few hours here while travelling through the Rift Valley rather than staying overnight. Expect to pay an entry fee at the gate.

Is it safe to stop at the lakes right now?

Hawassa and the south are busy with ordinary life, and our drivers make this trip regularly. The lakes are all in Oromia, where official advice is stricter in places. UK advice exempts the main A7 road from the Addis–Adama expressway down to Hawassa from its warnings for the surrounding East Shewa zone, but advises against all but essential travel to the rest of that zone. The US currently advises against travel to Oromia apart from Bishoftu and Bale Mountains National Park.

In practice that means treating the lakes as stops on or close to the main road, not detours into the countryside. Before every trip outside Addis we run our own security check using reports from our drivers across the country; we often know about a change before it reaches the news. We talk it through with you and decide together which stops make sense that day, what time to leave and when not to go. Always check your own government's advice too, because your travel insurance may depend on it.

How should you plan your lake stops?

1. Leave Addis early. An early start lets you spend time at Ziway and still reach Hawassa in daylight.
2. Pick one or two lakes. Trying to do everything in one day makes it a long day in the car. Ziway plus one more stop is plenty.
3. Stay a night if you want more. A night in Hawassa, or on the way, gives you time for a boat trip or a swim without rushing.
4. Bring the basics. Sun protection, water, binoculars for birds and some birr in small notes for boats, fees and lunch.
5. See a travel clinic first. The lakes are lower and warmer than Addis Ababa, so ask a travel clinic about malaria and other health precautions before your trip.

Tell us your dates and we can also book your Hawassa hotel for you in birr, so you pay us one amount in US dollars or your own currency for the hotel and the drive.