Travel Guide Lac Ziway

163 km from Addis Ababa, Lake Ziway (Dambal in Oromo), covering 424 km2 and with a maximum depth of 4 m, is the largest of the five islands in the Upper Rift Valley. Of the five islands, some of which are home to only a few people, Tullu-Guddu is the largest and most densely populated. According to tradition, it was here, in a ruined monastery, that the Ark of the Covenant, accompanied by a large escort, took refuge after fleeing disaster-stricken Aksum in the 9th century. The presence on the island of the small Zai community, speaking a dialect of Semitic origin close to Tigrayan, could attest to this history. The shores of this fish-filled lake are home to a rich ornithological fauna (swans, Senegal graylings, geese, fishing eagles, egrets, ibises and sometimes even cranes), while a large hippopotamus colony is concentrated in the quieter coves, close to the meadows where the imposing plantigrades graze at night. Lake Ziway offers a refreshing break on the fast route from the capital to Shashemene.