Gambella National Park

Gambella covers several thousand square kilometres of the Baro and Gilo river basins in the western lowlands, a landscape of seasonally flooded grassland, swamp and woodland quite unlike highland Ethiopia. Its significance is a migration: white-eared kob move through this system in enormous numbers, hundreds of thousands of animals, along with tiang and Nile lechwe, a movement documented by aerial survey and ranked among the largest ungulate migrations remaining anywhere. Elephants, buffalo, lions and the shoebill in the swamps also occur. Despite that the park has almost no infrastructure, has faced pressure from settlement and agricultural leases, and is very rarely visited. Anything here needs to be arranged well in advance with operators who know the region.

What you actually see

• White-eared kob - the migrating antelope in very large numbers.
• Nile lechwe and tiang - the other wetland antelope of the system.
• Seasonal floodplain - grassland and swamp along the Baro and Gilo.
• Shoebill - the swamp bird sought by specialist visitors.

When to go

December to March, the dry season, when tracks are passable and the herds concentrate. Outside that the floodplain is impassable. The migration's timing shifts with rainfall and is not predictable to the week.

Honest expectations

There is essentially no visitor infrastructure: no lodges, no tracks worth the name, and everything must be arranged through specialist operators with vehicles and supplies. The lowlands are hot and humid with malaria risk. Access to the region requires current local advice before committing.

Nearby

Gambella town is the base; the highlands rise to the east.