Lake Hawassa - Haile Resort

Sunset at Lake Hawassa

Itinerary Day 21: Arbaminch-Chencha-Hawassa 

After breakfast, we will start driving north to Awassa en-route visiting different villages and some of the most beautiful Rift Valley Lakes. After a short drive from Arbaminch, we will make detour to the mountain village of Chencha, the home of the Dorze people. The Dorze people, renowned cotton weavers whose tall beehive shaped and bamboo woven dwellings are among the most distinctive structures to be seen anywhere in Africa. As we finish our Cehncha Village visit, we will continue our drive to Awassa en-route visiting Welyta at Sodo and Alaba at Tenbaro. After check in to Haile Resort, located on the shore of Lake Hawassa, you can relax along the shore of the beautiful Rift Valley lake or take a relaxing walk, or relax in the swimming pool.

Leaving Arba Minch and starting on the road home.

Journal:
At breakfast we meet a couple of American pilots working for a a private charter company. One used to fly fighters off of carriers.  Sounds like they are keeping pretty busy moving executives and dignitaries around Africa and the Middle East. It's a pretty clear indicator that there is a lot of money and economic activity flowing in and around Arba Minch. 

Arba Minch to Hawassa

 We check out of the Paradise Lodge and begin the drive North.  This is the beginning of the end. Two days to drive back to Addis Ababa and then the flight home.  Tonight we'll be staying at the Haile Resort  on the shore of Lake Hawassa. This luxury resort is a destination in and of itself, so we want to get there for lunch and leave time to enjoy the resort.

We already visited the Dorze a couple days earlier, so they were off the itinerary for today. The only stop enroute was at a Muslim village known for the decorative painting of their thatched roof homes.

Neither Sigrid or I can remember the name of the village or the people who live here.  Perhaps indicative that the trip is winding down and we are ready to go home.

Haile Resort:

Named for the famed long distance runner and Ethiopian hero Haile Gebrselassie, the Haile Resort lives up to its billing as a luxury resort.

 Several restaurants, good food, spa, swimming pool, beautiful facilities, and a room with a view.

Brick oven Neapolitan style pizza and a cold beer hit the spot for lunch.

 Yohanes and Alxe found more fishing line in Arba Minch, so we give it another shot at Lake Hawassa.

I again set up Yohanes with a hand line, and start throwing  flies around. There are fish here - the kingfisher and cormorants are finding them - but no luck. My trophy in Bishigara will be the only catch this trip.

Nice sunset, and with WiFi in the bar and cold beer on tap, I make a small dent in getting the blog updated.  

Editors Note: I intend to pre-load and schedule automated blog posts with the daily itinerary for our Ethiopian adventure. For those interested, this may be an easy way to follow along. Since we will not have internet access for most of the trip, my hope is this will make it easier to add some pics and journal commentary if and when we run across an internet connection. If there are no pics or commentary, you'll just have to wait until we get back. We'll see how it goes.