Crocs, Pelicans, and Hippos - Oh My!

After our daily two hour lunch break, we spent the afternoon on a boat trip. This was again, refreshingly un-American. We stopped in town, our guide got out and found our boat captain (a weathered Ethiopian man) and another mystery man (I think maybe to guide us on the winding paths through the brush down to the lake). They hopped in the back of our jeep, we nodded, and took off. The drive down to the Lake Chamo was the best 4-wheeling I've ever done (okay, I guess the only real 4-wheeling I've ever done). There was a web of muddy trails and as I looked out my open window I saw monkeys, got hit in the face with mud, dodged branches whipping by, and wondered how on earth I was able to do this. Suddenly the brush cleared away. We saw a hut and the lake and the boats. The one we rode in is the one on the far right - pretty small, with a 20 horsepower engine. We walked on back to it, balancing on logs or partially submerged rocks, to avoid the sludge. 

We knew were told that Lake Chamo has the largest crocodiles in Africa, as well as hippos and pelicans. Our trip started off mild enough. First with a glimpse of this fish eagle. (well, actually I think it was on the way back, but it works better at the beginning) 

The whole lake is surrounded by mountains and absolutely beautiful everywhere you look.

There were lots of pelicans. By lots we mean they were covering miles of the shore.

Pelicans and crocs.

And hippos. See that white spot on the left? We asked about that because it was moving. Our guide told us it was a fisherman. 

The fishermen come and live on Lake Chamo (with the crocs and hippos) and sell their fish to the town. Apparently they make good money, but don't have anywhere to spend it - as they are quite secluded for months at a time here. They float around on rafts of logs tied together bringing up their nets, or walking the shoreline.

At one point our captain turned off the engine so we could hear as well as see the animals. It felt like we were in some nature film. No sign of civilization and just the flap and quacks of thousands of pelicans, occasional groans of hippos, swishes of crocs, and the lapping of the waves against our boat. It was incredible!

We saw crocs throughout the lake and on the shore. Some looking like dinosaurs, some with their mouths WIDE open, some three feet wide. We got close to them. Um. Very close. 

We repeated the turning off the motor trick and let the wind blow us gently where it would, which happened to be right into a crocodile. Thankfully it was only mildly annoyed at us and swam off with a swish and splash. We don't have any pictures or video of that because we were somewhat engulfed in the moment, though thankfully not permanently.

This is where we came back to sit and stare over the cliff for hours. It was a beautiful view and we didn't have the energy to do much else.

This was the culprit of the snorting we heard behind some bamboo walls on the grounds - the resident warthog.
We stayed at Paradise Lodge and had one of these huts to ourselves. The first night there a party arrived in a van. We heard them singing before we saw them and they kept on singing all through grounds, eventually making it up to the rip-roaring bon-fire. We found out they were from the Konsol tribe (don't know how to spell that) and were invited to come entertain us, which they did with total gusto. They laughed and danced and sang around the bon-fire and I thought, I love this place!