16 Nov 2019: Into Ethiopia

The question all humanity has to ask itself is: How can such visibly inspiring creatures, so spiritually and emotionally important, be allowed so carelessly slip into oblivion – as easily as a song never sung; a symphony shelved?

Harvey Tyson

My flight arrived an hour late in Addis Ababa and the luggage took another hour to arrive on the carousel, so it was a very relieved driver who finally met me at the airport’s taxi rank. Our destination was the Babogaya Lake Viewpoint Lodge at Bishoftu. This resort town, formerly known as Debre Zeyit, is well-known for its five crater lakes and is situated about 50 km south of Addis. The lodge is owned by a Belgian expat, Jan Jackers, who has been living in Ethiopia for 15 years. His company, Flamingo Tours Ethiopia, runs birding tours throughout Ethiopia utilising local guides and drivers. Joe Harwood of Escape to the Wild had arranged that I was to be his client for the next three weeks.

Babogaya Lake Viewpoint Lodge, Debre Zeyit

The smell of freshly brewed coffee welcomed me at the lodge. A lady was roasting green coffee beans on a traditional coal fire in the reception area. I immediately knew that I was going to like this place as I am a serious coffeeholic with an unhealthy dependence on my daily shot of undiluted caffeine.

The setting of the lodge was magnificent. A vast, stand-alone dining area under thatch delivered an exquisite view over a crater lake. Kerry and Simon Turner, a delightful birding couple from Wales, were also guests at the lodge. They were at the end of their birding tour and shared some helpful tips concerning local birds. After a couple of cold beers, I concluded that one could easily while away the hours enjoying the antics of hundreds of Yellow-billed Kites roosting in nearby trees. An accommodating Western Black-headed Batis in the garden was my first new tick for Ethiopia.

Western Black-headed Batis, Bishoftu

Late afternoon I birded some nearby grasslands with Mekemen, my assigned guide for the next two weeks. We soon found a pair of Black-crowned Cranes foraging and displaying in the grass. I was fascinated by these majestic, jet-black birds with their shiny feathered crowns. An African tradition tells of these imposing cranes winning their golden crowns by saving a king lost in the Sahara. The thankful king rewarded them with crowns of real gold. This turned out to be more of a curse than a blessing. Greedy hunters now killed the cranes to steal their crowns of gold. Heartsick, the king decided to save the cranes by exchanging their golden crowns with splendid crowns of shimmering feathers. The cranes now lived happily – but not forever after – because they still are under severe threat from us humans. Of the 15 main species of cranes in the world, nearly all are under threat, with half of these close to extinction.

Black-crowned Crane, Bishoftu

The sun dipped in the west as hundreds of Common (Eurasian) Cranes passed overhead on their way to their roosting site in the nearby wetlands. Silhouetted against a darkening sky their loud, trumpeting calls filled the air. Daily their bugle-like sounds resonate over the veldt at dusk and dawn. An avian symphony that must never be stilled…