Wondrous Wenchi

Travel experience of visiting noted African crater lake, Wenchi, 35km off Ambo, Ethiopia.

Wenchi crater lake - a distant view. 

When in Ethiopia you are on the bosom of Abyssinia – part of the world that bears the glory of giving birth to first human race. It was from here nomads scattered to different locations reaching even to the farthest of the south east Asia. This, of course is a fact that ratifies the resemblance seen between south Indians and Ethiopians.  What you will not see among south Indians is the atypical African curly hair Ethiopians have. Having stayed for nearly a year in Ambo, an Ethiopian highland town with village ambience, it was our ardent desire to explore the natural splendours of this engrossingly ethnic African country.

Entourage: (From left) Dr. Akhila S. Nair, Dr. Salma Zuberi with baby Ruben, Astrid van Agthovan and Amel; Dr. Masud Ilahi, Prof. M.I. Zuberi and author. 

In Ethiopia to decide upon a tourism destination is always puzzling. There are plenty of places that a curious visitor can endeavour upon. If the Blue Nile and Lake Tana beckon you from the north, you get an irrefutable call from the sprawling Bale Mountains in almost the middle of the country. Bale mountain ranges carry yet to be unravelled relation between Himalayas especially in its formation and opulent fossil reminiscent. When you leave the Capital City, Addis Ababa – considered as the world’s third highest Capital from the sea level – towards the west, you reach our town Ambo, at a distance of 120km. The road connecting Addis Ababa and Ambo is an asphalted spiralling one, but without any potholes or bumps. Thanks to the Chinese whose graciousness it is.

Author with driver Abera (left) and Teklu (centre).

You will definitely enjoy a ride from Addis Ababa to Ambo, a two-hour-long one that unveils before you the undulating topography. Nothing obstructs you from seeing unto the horizon. The well-built road unrolls like a black ribbon – looking tapered from far and widening as you approach. On both sides of the road you find traditionally built houses with roofs thatched with grass. The walls of the houses are mostly made of soil paste filling the gaps of wooden logs. This structure, according to natives have long endurance.

The highland climate of Ambo has a characteristic scorching heat outside but salubriously colder inside. Even under a small patch of tree shade you enjoy the cold of breeze, but beyond there, you will find bearing the intensity of sunlight very difficult.   

Ambo fame

Ambo is famous for three things: quality of the natural mineral water, natural hot springs and Wenchi, the crater lake just 30km away. Our fantasy for Ambo mineral water was already satisfied with litres of it we have consumed. Ambo mineral water is noted for its international quality, popularity and export. The manufacturing unit is just 10km away from our residence. And the hot springs – it is on the banks of Huluka River that is the town’s shining necklace. These hot springs had even fascinated the Kings of Ethiopia who used to frequent the town for enjoying a celestial bathing experience. Now the portion of the hot springs is controlled by a privately owned Ambo Ethiopia Hotel, who has appropriately named the area as ‘Paradise Park’. Having experienced mineral water and hot springs, only thing left before us was the magnificent volcanic lake, Wenchi.

Climb up this hill to have a first and distant view of Wenchi.

We shared our Wenchi dream with Prof. M.I. Zuberi, who is a Bangladeshi professor of Environmental Sciences with the Ambo University. He was so excited and started offering more tempting facts on the lake. The mounting enthusiasm was then transferred among the professor’s wife, Dr. Salma Zuberi, a plant scientist; his younger brother, Dr. Masud Elahi, a hydrologist and his Dutch wife, Astrid van Agthoven, who is station manager of UNICEF in Tanzania.

Thus formed was an ambitious team to visit the crater lake. But before setting out for the expedition, we had to wait till Christmas season for Dr. Elahi and Astrid to join us. We were in fact anxious about their 4-yearl-old girl Amel Elahi and 5-month-old baby boy, Ruben. How will the toddler and her baby brother face the trials and tribulations of a trekking through a challenging environment? But the couple were firm and confident. Let the buds start learning life very early, was their theory.

Amel and Ruben: Tender footprints on the banks of a big lake...

So the team is ready. Now who will guide? Our enquiry ended at Teklu – a young, newly joined instructor with the Biology Department of the Ambo University. Taklu had his PG from Addis Ababa University and had his dissertation in biodiversity under the guidance of an Indian professor, M. Balakrishnan. The youngster was really possessed with a mind inclined to investigating more on the biological diversities. Taklu managed to get Abara, a young driver with an omnibus for our journey. My wife, Dr. Akhila S. Nair and Prof. M.I. Zuberi got their leave granted from the university.

Tuesday trip

It was a fine Tuesday. At 7.45am we reached Hotel Keeberoon opposite to the University to pick Dr. Elahi, Astrid and their children. In the previous night, like all other hotels around, this hotel too had the upbeat pomp of a pub – drinking, meeting, eating, dancing… In the morning it is a quiet, decent place with well set seating arrangements. Gentlemen with overcoats are seen seated comfortably and enjoying ‘daboo’ (bread), ‘Injera’ (thin circular staple food made of locally opulent ‘teff’ flour. Injera for Ethiopians is like ‘Dosa’ or ‘Chapati’ for Indians). “We had bread, scrambled egg and Amel took two boiled eggs”, Dr. Elahi said. He had a bag containing bottled water, bread and banana fruits. Yes. We should carry enough water and food while going to Wenchi. Visitors to the lake have to walk for two long hours downward to reach the shore and another two hours upward to reach back the upper station. Vehicles are not permitted, but one can hire a horseback – but no horse cart, please.


Driver Abara and Taklu positioned on the front seats. We were also seated at our convenience. The Omnibus had 13 seats with double seats on one side, single seats on the other and folding single seats through its aisle. A jerk and the vehicle started moving.  A brief stop at the fruit shop – it’s for procuring some bananas for Abara. When everyone goes for trekking, he has to sit alone in the vehicle for hours together.  “What did you buy?” I asked and Taklu said “One kg of development”. “Development?” “Yes, in our language ‘bedana’ means development. Banana and bedana sounds similar” Taklu laughed. Everyone laughed at the fun behind the homophonous words. The vehicle passed Ambo Micro Business College and turned right to take a road opposite to the telecommunication office. Our monthly travels to Addis Ababa and back has been through the straight road. But now a different turn. New experiences begin here.


(Below) Gravel road to Wenchi.

Even though there was tarmac, the surface was not as smooth as the one leading to Addis Ababa. We felt shaking. Two kilometres passed and there was a gathering of people. It was a ‘gaba’ (country market). One more kilometre, and the tarmac ended. Ahead of us was a dusty, gravelled road with rolling pieces of stones. When vehicles pass, there is a cloud of dust and triggering of stones in all directions by the wheels.

We were experiencing truly village ambiences. Children waved their hands from their huts. Some huts were too dilapidated. Some were as if abandoned. “No. there are farmers residing. They might have gone for farming”, Taklu’s comment was in true ratification of the pastoralism prevalent in Ethiopia. Along the road, some equestrians showed their skill by riding their horses faster. Some trailed behind our vehicle.

Love at first sight

Farmer turned tour guide, Wolesso pointed to Wenchi, giving our eyes the first majestic sight.

Abara stopped the vehicle. On the left there is a steep hill and on the right, a deep gorge. “This is ‘gaara’. Climb up and watch Wenchi lake from distance” Abara asked us. “Gaara?” I could not get the Oromo word. “Gaara means hill. Visitors to Wenchi lake climb up this hill and get their first view of the whole lake from the distance. Let us go”, Taklu made it clear. Some of us were a bit confused as to what should be done first – climbing the hill or taking a snap with magnificent valley as background? “No. we will take photos from down latter. First we climb up”, Taklu insisted. When we started walking upward, a local person joined us and started voluntary help. “This is good way”, “Don’t go there” he started guiding us. “Maqaa ke enyu?”, one from my feeble stock of Oromo language to get the stranger’s name. “Wolesso”, he answered. Then my question on his age: “Umri?” Answer: “soddoma” (thirty).  Wolesso was a local ‘kothabula’ (farmer) turned tourist guide. His behaviour and body languages were impressive. He became our friend quickly. He plucked bunches of leaves from a bushy plant that were growing lavishly in the hill and gifted to us. Its aroma was refreshing and rejuvenating. Gents reached the top first and ladies a couple of minutes later. At the peak, Wolesso pointed to a distant place. Wow!! There is Wenchi lake in all her beauty. She shined like a blue pearl encircled by a black and greyish ridge. The sight was amazing. That was our first visual experience of a crater lake. “Magnificent” “Wow! Beautiful” “Marvellous”, commented each one of us. We were searching for the best word to describe the fascinating scene. Our cameras blinked their eyes to catch the images of the beautiful lake.  We descended. Down near the vehicle, Walesso, his wife, Birkkee; three girl children, Radio Direbe, Bashannano, Kabbanese waved hands to us. The farmer-family’s baby boy, 6-month-old Gammada threw a hidden smile for us.

Beauty of the hilltop from where we first saw the beauty of the volcanic lake.

Eco-tourism

Children who gathered in front of the WETA office. 

After two hours of travel through golden yellow farms of barley and teff; and the violet of potato flowers, our vehicle came to a stop near the sign board of Wenchi Eco-Tourism Association (WETA).  Local children encircled us with flowers – fresh and dried ones. Their mission was to sell them to us and get one or two Birr (currency of Ethiopia). Some children needed our pen. Their innocent faces were dotted with dust and flow from the nose.  We felt pity of them. But the officials of the WETA requested us not to encourage them. “Because if you give, their parents will not allow them to go for education anymore”, was the rationale one of the guides had.

WETA is an admirable initiative with people’s participation. Its office had a traditional ambience. It was on the right side of the road on an elevated place. The office was built of soil and wooden logs. There were wooden doors and windows. The roof was thatched with metal sheets – one of the common sights in Ethiopia. On the rear side there was a local type of latrine. It was nothing more than a pit covered with pieces of wood with a hole in the centre. Pieces of plastic sheets on four sides hardly covered the place. But in the native scenario, this is nothing unusual.

We met four young official guides there – Dawit, Fayera, Kebede and Ayale. All of them were nicely behaving and had the readiness to serve the visitors. Their limited competency in English language, was but enough to satisfy curious inquirers.  WETA office works throughout a week. A handwritten poster vividly showed the rate of inflow of tourists, countrywide visitors, and the income generated. The approach of the WETA was enough to give us an impression that things are rather transparent.

Taklu and Prof. Zuberi had serious deliberations with Fayera, the WETA official on the trekking, boating and things of interest with Wenchi.  We hired one horse for the toddler girl Amel to use. Then a to and fro boating for visiting an island was also reserved. All payments had to be made with the WETA office. 19-year-old Kebede joined us as an official WETA guide. Our vehicle could move only one more kilometre from there. From there onwards no more permission for automotives. On the right side of the vehicle stop point, was beautifully built cafeteria of Ambo Abebech hotel. It is a place for the travellers to sit and relax. Earlier there were a dozen of traditional huts for the overnight stay of the visitors. They are almost abandoned now. On the left we had our second sight of Wenchi lake. Now she is a bit closer. Awe inspired by the sight, we started trekking.

Trekking experience

Amel and Dr. Salma Zuberi seated on the horses named Magal and Buzu; and others walking. Payment for the extra horse should be paid to the official guide. Baby boy Ruben found a comfortable seat on a baby-carriage mounted on the back of his father, Dr. Elahi. The dusty pathway was full of rubbles and loose soil. Till the lake, it is almost a downward trail. Literally there was no chance for a trekker to be absentminded or careless. Cost of absentmindedness, as I had experienced once, was a free fall and then a slide down a few feet forward! I expected breaking of my back, but I was bit lucky. Thanks to a couple of feet thick bed of fine dust! I got my specs immersed in the dust.

As you walk down, majestic sceneries unveil before you. During entire span of your trekking you find steep mountain on one side and deep valley on the other. Mountains and valleys are covered with flora of diverse colours and varieties. In the valleys you find barley cultivation. Ethnic vegetations, like Hyginia abyssinica a tree covered with green leaves and red flowers, give you a refreshing break under their shade. “Essence of this tree, seen only in Ethiopia, is used for curing intestinal problems. Hence the name, Hyginia abyssinica”, Taklu explained. ‘Colobo’ monkeys with black and white hair gestured at us. I glanced only once at them. Who wants to look at monkeys and fall down?

At many places mountain surfaces are exposed – a clear evidence for soil erosion. “Erosion takes place even due to wind because of the loose and dry nature of the soil” Dr. Akhila commented. Pointing to the rings of layers found on the exposed mountain parts, Prof. Zuberi said, “See this is a layer of clay, this is a layer of pebbles. White patches indicate calcium”. According to his observation, all these mountains were once submerged under water. “Layers of this kind could be formed only due to sedimentation under water”, he says. 

Two-hour-long trekking accompanied by an Environmental Sciences professor and hydrologist was thoroughly enlightening.  After each stunning sight they would comment something that would inspire your thoughts. Thousands of years back a huge volcanic eruption occurred. Hot lava flowed for a long time. Whole place and its surroundings were boiling! Once everything was cooled down things started settling down. Lava created rocks. Mouth of the volcano turned into a ridge with rainwater collecting inside. No way to run out, the water has been staying there stagnant. The quantity of water and the frequency of replenishment by rain are very large so that the usual problems with stagnant water are not applicable for crater lakes. Magnificent truths – I thought.

On the way, we found four tourists from China. They were so delighted to know that we were from India and Bangladesh. “China and India are friends”, shrugging, one of them said. During our downward trekking, wherever we got a chance, we competed each other to get the best snaps of the lake. After two hours, we were on the shore of the majestic lake. There were not more than a dozen of tourists and a couple of boats on the shore.  The shore was also spotted by a lone building. When you look from outside, inside of the building is perfect dark. I went inside and saw some people sitting on wooden chairs and chatting. Grass leaves were scattered all over its floor to form traditional carpet – an indication that something auspicious a meeting it was. It was a meeting of the local boat owners, our guide Kebede said.

Sailing on celestial waters

Now, time for boating. There were two small open boats near the shore. One was with wooden body and metal covering inside. The other was smaller fibre boat with two oarsmen. We were led to the smaller one. “What is the seating capacity?” I asked. “Six” replied one of the oarsmen. We are already eight including official guide and it is 10 if we count oarsmen also. Amel and baby Ruben are extra. This arithmetic was enough to switch on my water phobia. As the boats moved, it was celestial a beauty unfurling for us. What a beautiful world the almighty has created! We never blinked our eyes, but kept our camera lenses blinking and blinking.  At the middle of the lake, one of the oarsman, Asfa Meconin shared his acquired knowledge: “Here the lake is 75 metres deep”. Everyone was thrilled at the fact. To me it was an inconvenient truth.  After a few minutes we reached the island.

Nestled on the bosom of a pristine crater lake 3380 meters above the sea level, the island was so tranquil. There was a trail through the woods. It ended at a Christian monastery. The church was closed. “This church opens only if devotees come”, Taklu said. Nobody stays there – even not the priests. The island is owned only by birds and trees. Here silence is the hallmark and peace of mind is a gift for every visitor. We sat down on the grass-covered terrain, against the lake. Birds started singing songs to entertain us. Every one of us felt so tired and wanted to eat something sitting on this heavenly piece of land. Oarsmen Asfa and Abeta joined us. “If you want we are ready to boat you a full circle around this island”, Abeta put forward an idea. Everyone endorsed it, even me. But Astrid wanted to sit lonely and feed baby Ruben. “Is it safe for her to sit here alone?” Taklu asked the oarsmen. “Definitely, there is no problem for her. She will be safe”, WETA guide Kebede assured.

We had one full round sailing of the island. It was even more beautiful and captivating. Submerged plants played hide and seek around our vessel. Water sparkled like jade. “Deep colour of the water shows that the lake is too deep”, observed Dr. Elahi The ridge around us stood aloft with all its grandeur and multiplicities of colours.  After a round we joined back Astrid and Ruben on the island. Astrid was sitting on an old log of wood and on her lap was a sweet smiling Ruben. Which baby on this earth dislikes scintillating beauty of nature!

Time for go back. There was a fern-covered old tomb. Mounted on it was a black and white image of the deceased throwing a frozen but friendly smile to us. Rest in peace! We got into the boat – this time the wooden one. There was a new traveller. He wanted to take a photo of him sailing the boat. When he attempted to get the oar, the boat tilted a bit.  Island of monastery went far and far away. Approaching was the shore showing us the way back. During return trip Akhila also needed a horse. Three ladies on three horses and we followed. “Cow girls!” someone commented. Hiking was still more difficult. We took intermittent rest, drank plenty of water. Reached back the vehicle stop point. Had one more view of the Wenchi lake. At 3.45pm she was more bluish. The entire blue sky was reflecting over her body. She is beckoning.

- K.P. Sivakumar