Lake Afambo is one of a chain of lakes into which the
Awash River
The Awash (sometimes spelled Awaash; Oromo: ''Awaash'', Amharic: አዋሽ, Afar: ''We'ayot'', Somali: ''Webiga Dir'') is a major river of Ethiopia. Its course is entirely contained within the boundaries of Ethiopia and empties into a chain of i ...
empties its waters. It is located at the eastern end of the
Afar Region
The Afar Region (; aa, Qafar Rakaakayak; am, አፋር ክልል), formerly known as Region 2, is a regional state in northeastern Ethiopia and the homeland of the Afar people. Its capital is the planned city of Semera, which lies on the pave ...
of
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
.
Overview
The lake lies on a roughly north–south axis, 13 kilometers long by two wide, having 1760 hectares of open water. Afambo receives its inflow from
Lake Gummare
Lake Gummare is one of a chain of lakes into which the Awash River empties its waters. It is located at the eastern end of the Afar Region of Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Iti ...
from a channel at its northern point, and has its outflow in the swamps on its southwest shores where it empties into
Lake Bario
Lake Bario is one of a chain of lakes into which the Awash River empties its waters. It is located at the eastern end of the Afar Region of Ethiopia.
Lake Bario lies in the middle of a swamp, through which it receives its inflow from Lake Afambo ...
.
The first European to visit Lake Afambo was
Wilfred Thesiger
Sir Wilfred Patrick Thesiger (3 June 1910 – 24 August 2003), also known as Mubarak bin Landan ( ar, مُبَارَك بِن لَنْدَن, ''the blessed one of London'') was a British military officer, explorer, and writer.
Thesiger's trav ...
, who explored the course of the Awash to its ultimate ending point in 1935. Thesiger led his party along the eastern and southern sides of this lake. This area did not see another visitor from outside Ethiopia until Pele Thompson retraced Thesiger's steps in May and June 2001. There had been a bridge over the channel linking lakes Gummare and Afambo at Ebobe, but it had "collapsed some time ago." Further, while Lake Afambo had been a
fresh water lake when Thesiger visited in, it has since become very saline due to the amount of water diverted upstream for irrigation purposes.
[Philip Briggs, ''Ethiopia: The Bradt Travel Guide'', 5th edition (Chalfont St Peters: Bradt, 2009), pp. 402f]
References
Afar Region
Awash River
Lakes of Ethiopia
Lakes of the Great Rift Valley
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