Arba Minch

Arba Minch means forty springs, for the water that rises in the groundwater forest below the town and feeds the strip of land between lakes Abaya and Chamo, called the Bridge of God, which is the view everyone comes for: from the ridge above town the two lakes lie on either side, Abaya red-brown with sediment and Chamo blue-green, separated by a wooded neck with Nechisar National Park beyond. The town is spread across two quarters, Sikela below and Shecha on the ridge, and it functions as the base for the park, the crocodile market on Chamo, and trips up to the Dorze villages in the Gamo highlands. It is also the gateway for onward travel to the lower Omo.

History

Arba Minch, "forty springs", takes its name from the more than 40 springs that rise here, and its local name Ganta Garo refers to a place where the Ganta people and their animals live in plenty. The town was founded in the early 1960s by Fitawrari Aemiro Selassie Abebe with Ganta Kawo Alemayehu Arshe, and it replaced Chencha as the capital of Gamu-Gofa, partly to give travellers a resting place after the hot crossing of the Rift Valley. New roads linked it to Soddo and put Addis Ababa a day's drive away, a telephone line to the capital opened on 15 July 1967, and the Norwegian Lutheran Mission opened a station with a trade school in 1970. The town has since served as capital of a succession of administrative units, now the Gamo Zone, and a textile mill opened here on 6 May 1992 (Wikipedia, Arba Minch).

What's there

• The two lakes - Abaya and Chamo from the ridge viewpoint.
• The Bridge of God - the wooded neck between the lakes.
• The groundwater forest - the springs and forest below the town.
• The base function - departures for Nechisar, Chamo and the Dorze hills.

When to go

October to March is driest. The viewpoint is clearest in the morning. It is hot year round at this altitude, and the rains from March to May and June to September affect the roads south.

What to expect

The town itself has little to see and is spread out, with a steep climb between the two quarters. The famous viewpoint is on hotel grounds in places and may be charged. Heat is significant. Malaria precautions are relevant in the lowlands here.

Nearby

Nechisar National Park is across the neck; Dorze lies in the hills above.

Key facts