Last evening we spent the night at the Haile Resort, named after the famous Ethiopian long distance runner, Haile Gebrselassie. It is a special place; Very modern, beautiful gardens, a nice view overlooking Lake Hawassa.  It pretty much has all the conveniences that one could expect in a first class hotel in America.
 
Today we are headed back to Addis.  It will be a 6-7 hour drive, so we welcome a break at one of the national wildlife parks along the way. The park is situated in the Rift Valley lake region, near Lakes Longano, Shalla and Abijatta.
We walk through the park and get to see some of the wildlife up close……..
 
                        
The warthogs were plentiful, but shy……
 
 
Plenty of birds, guinea fowls, etc., including this horned bill bird.
 
 
And beautiful gazelles……
The park is closets to and overlooks Lake Shalla.
 
 
The water in Lake Shalla is alkaline, but the water this morning is beautiful blue as you can see above. Lake Shalla is also the deepest lake in Ethiopia, with a maximum depth of nearly 800 feet deep.

We arrive in Addis about 4:00 pm, in the midst of the Sunday afternoon traffic!  There is always traffic in Addis! When we arrive at the hotel, it is a sad time to say goodbye to some trusted companions over the last 10+ days.  Our team from Diversity Tours (http://www.diversitytoursethiopia.com/) including our expert drivers Jimmy and Demis (you would never believe some of the places they had to navigate!) and our expert guide Johannes.  They were marvelous and made our time together very memorable.

 
 

Last evening we spent the night at the Haile Resort, named after the famous Ethiopian long distance runner, Haile Gebrselassie. It is a special place; Very modern, beautiful gardens, a nice view overlooking Lake Hawassa.  It pretty much has all the conveniences that one could expect in a first class hotel in America.
 
Today we are headed back to Addis.  It will be a 6-7 hour drive, so we welcome a break at one of the national wildlife parks along the way. The park is situated in the Rift Valley lake region, near Lakes Longano, Shalla and Abijatta.
We walk through the park and get to see some of the wildlife up close……..
 
                        
The warthogs were plentiful, but shy……
 
 
Plenty of birds, guinea fowls, etc., including this horned bill bird.
 
 
And beautiful gazelles……
The park is closets to and overlooks Lake Shalla.
 
 
The water in Lake Shalla is alkaline, but the water this morning is beautiful blue as you can see above. Lake Shalla is also the deepest lake in Ethiopia, with a maximum depth of nearly 800 feet deep.

We arrive in Addis about 4:00 pm, in the midst of the Sunday afternoon traffic!  There is always traffic in Addis! When we arrive at the hotel, it is a sad time to say goodbye to some trusted companions over the last 10+ days.  Our team from Diversity Tours (http://www.diversitytoursethiopia.com/) including our expert drivers Jimmy and Demis (you would never believe some of the places they had to navigate!) and our expert guide Johannes.  They were marvelous and made our time together very memorable.