Awash National Park

Is one of the National Parks of Ethiopia. Located at the southern tip of the Afar Region, this park is 225 kilometers east of Addis Ababa, with its southern boundary along the Awash River, and covers at least 756 square kilometers of acacia woodland and grassland.

The wildlife consists mainly of East African plains animals, such as Oryx, bat-eared fox, caracal, aardvark, colobus and green monkeys, Anubis and Hamadryas baboons, klipspringer, bushbuck,  Soemmerings gazelle, kudu and 450 species of bird.

Abijatta-Shalla National Park
It is one of the National Parks of Ethiopia. it contains 887 square kilometers including the Rift Valley lakes of Abijatta and Shalla. The two lakes are separated by three kilometers of hilly land. The altitude of the park ranges from 1540 to 2075 meters, the highest peak being Mount Fike, which is situated between the two lakes.

Besides the two lakes, the primary attraction of this national park are a number of hot springs on the northeast corner of Lake Abijatta, and large numbers of flamingoes on the lake.

Nechisar National Park
Nechisar National Park was established in 1974. Located in the South Ethiopia to the east of Arba Minch, its 514 square kilometers of territory include the “Bridge of God” (an isthmus between Lakes Abaya and Chamo), and the Nechisar (English: white grass) plains east of the lakes. Park elevations range between 1108 and 1650 meters above sea level.

Mago National Park
Mago National Park is one of the National Parks of Ethiopia was established in 1979. The 2162 square kilometers of this park are divided by the Mago River, a tributary of the Omo, into two parts. Its highest point is Mount Mago (2528 meters). The HQ is 26 kilometers southwest of Jinka.

The largest trees are found in the riverine forest beside the Omo, Mago and Neri. Areas along the lower Omo (within the park) are populated with a rich diversity of ethnic groups, including the Aari, Banna, Bongoso, Hamer, Karo, Kwegu, Male and Mursi peoples. The parks perhaps best known attraction are the Mursi, known for piercing their lips and inserting disks made of clay.

Omo National park,
The largest in the country, with an area of 4,068 square kilometers. It is a vast expanse of true wilderness, adjacent to the Omo River, which flows southwards into Lake Turkana and is one of the richest and least-visited wildlife sanctuaries in eastern Africa. Eland, oryx, Burchells zebra, Lelwel hartebeest, buffalo, giraffe, elephant, waterbuck, kudu, lion, leopard and cheetah roam within the parks boundaries.

The Omo Valley is virtually free of human habitation but is rich in palaeo-anthro-pological remains. According to scientific research done in 1982 by the University of California at Berkeley, hominid remains from the Omo Valley probably date back more than four million years.

The Omo River tumbles its 350-kilometre way through a steep inaccessible valley before slowing its pace as it nears the lowlands and then meanders through flat, semi-desert bush, eventually running into Lake Turkana. Since 1973, the river has proved a major attraction for white-water rafters. The season for rafting is between September and October, when the river is still high from the June to September rains. but the weather is drier.

Simien Mountains National Park
Semien Mountains National park is the home of the endemic mammals of Walia Ibex, Semien Fox, Gelada Baboons and many species of birds and plants apart from its spectacular scenic beauty. And also the perfect trekking area, located in the North Gondar Zone of the Amhara Region, covers 179 square kilometers of highland area at an average elevation of 3,300 meters.

Ras Dashen, at 4,620 meters the highest peak in Ethiopia, stands adjacent to the park.It is home to a number of extremely rare species, including the Ethiopian wolf, Gelada Baboon, and the Walia Ibex, a wild goat found nowhere else in the world.

More than 50 species of birds inhabit the park, including the impressive Bearded Vulture, or Lammergeyer, with its 10-foot (3m) wingspan.It was one of the first sites to be made a World Heritage Site by UNESCO (1978). However, due to serious population declines of the characteristic native species, in 1996 it was also added to the List of World Heritage Sites in danger. This national park is one of the best sites for those who love the adventure of trekking.

The Bale Mountains National Park
Is a national park in the Oromia Region of southeast Ethiopia. Created in 1970, this park covers about 2,200 square kilometers of the Bale Mountains, Rising to a height of more than 4,000 meters, the range borders Ethiopias southern highlands, whose highest peak, Mount Tullu Deemtu, stands at 4,377 meters. The establishment of the 2,400-square-kilometre Bale mountain national park was crucial to the survival of the mountain Nyala, Meneliks bushbuck and the Simien red fox. This fox is one of the most colorful members of the dog family and more abundant here than anywhere else in Ethiopia. All three endemic animals thrive in this environment, the Nyala in particular often being seen in large numbers.

The Bale Mountains offer some fine high-altitude horse and foot trekking, and the streams of the park – which become important rivers further downstream – are well-stocked with rainbow and brown trout.

Gambela National Park
is a proposed National Park, the general topography of the Park is flat, with some areas of higher ground where deciduous woodland and savanna occur; these higher areas are often rocky with large termite mounds. About 66% of the area is considered shrubland, 15% is forest, while 17% has been modified by man. Gambela National Park also supports extensive areas of wet grassland and swamps where the native grasses grow over 3 meters in height.

The Gambela Park was established primarily to protect two species of endangered wetland antelopes: the White-eared Kob and the Nile Lechwe. Other wildlife reported as living here include populations of elephant, African Buffalo, lion, roan antelope, tiang, Lelwel Hartebeest, olive baboon, and guereza monkey. Several birds only found in this area include the shoebill stork, the Long-tailed Paradise Whydah and the Red-throated and Green Bee-eaters.

Danakil Depression

The Danakil (Afar) Depression; is a geological depression near the Horn of Africa, in the northern Ethiopia. One of the mostly geologically active. Afar is well known as one of the cradles of hominids, containing the Middle Awash, site of many fossil hominid discoveries; Gona, site of the worlds oldest stone tools; and Hadar, site of Lucy, the fossilized specimen of Australopithecus afarensis.
The Afar Depression includes the Danakil Desert and the lowest point in Africa, Lake Asal (–155 meters or –500 ft). Dallol is also part of the Depression, one of the hottest places year-round anywhere on Earth. Temperatures reached up to an all-time high of 64.4°C (148.0°F) in the 1930s. The area is one of the hottest places on earth.
The Afar Depression is one of two places on Earth where a mid-ocean ridge can be studied on land, the other being Iceland.

One of Earths great active volcanoes the 613 metres tall Erta Ale, is found here. It is the most active shield volcano in the Afar Region of northeastern Ethiopia. The volcano itself is surrounded completely by an area below sea level. Erta Ale is, with a lava lake, one of only five in the world, at the summit. It is notable for being the longest existing lava lake, present since the early years of the twentieth century. The name of the volcano means “smoking mountain” in the local Afar language and its southerly pit is known locally as “the gateway to hell”.