20 Nov 2019: Ziway

The rather degraded and overgrazed Ali Dege Plains are inhabited by a mixture of Afar and Somali tribes which periodically settle their disputes with AK 47s. It was a bit unnerving to come across these AK wielding herdsmen while traversing the Plains. We dropped our game ranger, also armed with an AK47, at his headquarters in Andido. I had the feeling that the armed guard was more for our protection against possible bandits than against dangerous animals. Midmorning we headed southwards some 500 km to Ziway. The long drive did not allow for much birding. In the town of Adama we had to crawl our way out of a traffic jam. The streets were congested with Bajajs – motorised three-wheel rickshaws – that most of the locals use for public transport. In the process Solomon, our driver, sideswiped a Bajaj and calmly continued driving. The unwritten rule of the road is that the larger vehicle has the right of way, and the onus lies on the smaller vehicle to get out of the way. While crawling through one of the traffic jams a street vendor threw a few stems of khat into our vehicle – probably hoping for some return business.

Khat is an amphetamine-like bitter leaf that is chewed to produce a sense of euphoria. It is commonplace and even predates the use of coffee in Ethiopia. Many coffee shops lined around the country double as khat houses where patrons sit and chew. Chewing sessions will typically last 3–4 hours. Everywhere one travels the streets are filled with mostly young people achieving merqana, - the high one gets from chewing khat. An estimated US$80 million is said to change hands in the khat trade during every 24-hour period, but it is impossible to determine the true numbers. Observing the trance-like state and daze of many in the streets, I chose to stick with coffee as my drug of choice.

Abyssinian Roller, Adama

Outside town an Abyssinian Roller, the Ethiopian equivalent to a Racket-tailed Roller, was sitting on a power cable – a new bird for the year list. Further down the road, at Lake Koko, we birded a causeway and found White-browed Scrub Robin, Western Marsh Harrier and Blue-spotted Wood Dove. An Eastern Olivaceous Warbler (race elaeica) revealed itself by calling from a large acacia while pumping its tail – another great new bird for the year-list.

Ziway was reached in the late afternoon where we booked into the Ziway Bethlehem Hotel. The adjacent Lake Ziway, a slightly alkaline lake in the central section of the Ethiopian Great Rift Valley, often supports over 20,000 waterbirds on a seasonal basis. During a quick excursion to the nearest shoreline we managed to tick Great White Pelican, Common Tern, Three-banded Plover, Grey-headed Gull, Common Moorhen and Willow Warbler.

Great White Pelican, Ziway

This brought my African bird total to 1448, and I realised that I still had some serious birding ahead in order to reach my 1500 target before the end of the year.

Malachite Kingfisher, Ziway