Travel Guide Lac Chamo

Half the size of Lake Abaya (551 km2), it is no more than 10 m deep and home to an impressive crocodile population. Lined up on the Azzo Gabaya shore, known as the Crocodile Market, dozens of Ethiopian Nile reptiles - among the largest in the world - can reach up to 6 m in length! They bask in deceptive immobility. Disturbed from their siesta, they suddenly stand up and, in a surprisingly lively movement, glide towards the waters of the lake. Without a stir, eyes soon appear on the surface, here and there, as if on the lookout for hypothetical prey. Their jaws can crush them with a pressure of 266 kg/cm3, compared with 70 kg/cm3 for the hyena, which already breaks bones, and 13 kg/cm3 for man. When it catches prey, it turns on itself to increase pressure and drown its prey. There are thought to be around 2,000 crocodiles in the lake. At the last count, 346 were counted on the banks during the day - a third of the population on 41 km of banks - and 117 hippos at night. There are many more crocodiles and hippos in Lake Chamo than in Lake Abaya, as there is much more phytoplankton, and therefore more fish, especially tilapia and catfish, but few Nile perch, as there has been overfishing in the past. Further on, a cove shelters a colony of hippos, traditionally hunted by the Ganjulé ethnic group.