Today transfer to the airport for your flight Arba Minch arriving mid-afternoon. Arba Minch (Forty Springs in Amharic), is the largest town in Southern Ethiopia, lying at an elevation of around 1,300m in the foothills of the Rift valley wall. Taking its name from the bubbling streams which spring up amid the undergrowth of the luxuriant groundwater forest that covers the flats beneath the town, in Arba Minch, whenever you walk and at whatever time of day, there are stunning views in all direction.

On the way to the city, make a short detour to visit the home of the Dorze people at Chencha. Renowned cotton weavers, the Dorze are also known for their tall beehive-shaped dwellings which are among the most distinctive traditional structures to be seen anywhere in Africa. The shama cloth produced around Chencha is regarded to be the finest in Ethiopia: plain white gabbi robes and brightly coloured scarf-like netalas are sold along the roadside.

Then drive to Arba Minch to check into Paradise Lodge, a boutique hotel built by local people using local materials, which boasts fantastic views over the twin lakes of Abaya and Chamo.

Today after breakfast, explore part of the Nechisar National Park with a boat trip on nearby Lake Chamo, which has striking blue water and sandy beaches. Full of Nile Perch and tiger fish, the lake attracts hundreds of hippos and the world’s largest Nile crocodiles, which sunbathe on the lake’s sandy shores, always on the lookout for their next meal. Birdlife is also a highlight, with hordes of yellow weaver birds flitting through the trees and vividly-coloured kingfishers skimming the lakes where great white pelicans, storks, ibises, hornbills and cormorants plumb the waters for food. With piercing echoing cries, black and white fish eagles swoop down from their tree perches to snatch up unwary fish in their talons.

We shall start heading back to Addis this afternoon by road, a journey of two parts of which we shall complete the first 300km today. Ethiopian domestic flights are unreliable and as we have designed this tour to coincide with Meskel we didn’t want to risk flying back on the same day as Meskel.

After a drive of around five hours we shall arrive in Lake Langano and check into the Sabana Beach Resort on the shores of the lake for the night.

Today after having breakfast we will complete the second section of the drive back to Addis, arriving in time to attend the Meskel festival with your guide. Watch as Sunday school children and priests in their bright vestments sing a special Meskel song while circling the Demera (bonfire).

We have arranged for a day room at the Jupiter Hotel and dinner this evening, after which the tour ends. Those taking TW’s recommended flights back to London will be transferred to the airport to catch a flight overnight to London, departing after midnight.

Those who require an overnight stay in Addis can pay a small supplement to convert today’s day room into an overnight stay.

Those taking TW’s recommended flights to London will take off at 01:05 and arrive London at 06:05.