Lake Langano is a good three hours (250km) drive south from Addis Ababa. The lake is one of a series running south down the Ethiopian Rift Valley and then on into Kenya.
Bordering the eastern shore of Lake Langano is East Langano Nature Reserve, a beautiful lakeside forest and home to a variety of birds and mammals, including warthogs, baboons and the occasional hippo. The area is a delight to explore on foot or on horseback.
The forests are mainly podocarpus and wild fig trees, full of Colobus Monkeys and over 300 species of birds, 7 of which are endemic to Ethiopia. There are also numerous wild mammals recorded, although in low populations due to seasonal traditional hunting of the forest by local communities.
On the western shores of Lake Langano, the Wabi Shabele and Bekele Mola hotels can be found. There the lakeside beaches are marginally better than the eastern, but you will find that due to deforestation most of the acacia forest has now gone, largely due to the illegal production and sale of charcoal.