“Sabana Beach Resort”:http://www.sabanalangano.com/ was situated down a 2.8km dusty track off the main road from Ziway to Shashemene in Southern Ethiopia. After a welcome juice we were shown to our bungalow (206) situated on the hillside in rows overlooking Lake Langano. Our room with its rush matting roof was spacious and well equipped with simple but effective, furnishings and hangers. There was plenty of space to open and live from our two suitcases, the plug points were in the right place, the bed was large and there was some interesting art on the walls. The floor was practical stone and there was a desk and chair and two other chairs and coffee table as well as a verandah with two sea-side style deck chairs.
The bathroom was a good size, with shower and loo and there was space to put out out toiletries. Although there was a sign telling us the mini bar prices, the mini bar was missing. Room service was also available but there was no fan (not even a free standing one) but we didn’t get too hot in the evening. As we discovered was common in Ethiopia, there was no hot water in the basin.
There was a lovely huge circular dining room/bar on two levels. Our package included a set dinner and we chose soup and shared an excellent, thin and crispy margarita pizza and salad – apparently the hotel was Italian owned.
Breakfast didn’t start until a rather late 7.30am and was pretty chaotic even though we were nearly first in. The food display was too cramped, the toaster was not plugged in and appeared to flummox the staff, the egg chef wasn’t ready and we waited 10 minutes for butter. Staff appeared to be more engaged to trying to keep the birds that fly into the restaurant away from the food.
On our second visit, we were allocated room 101 on the front row with good views of Lake Langano. The lakeside beach was reached by either a relatively steep road, that cars could drive down or a set of steps: there was a sign for a funicular lift but it wasn’t working. Whilst the sand wasn’t pure white, it wasn’t the stones of Brighton. The muddy brown lake was relatively shallow and as it was Saturday, there were lots of local families enjoying the experience as this Rift Valley Lake is Bilhazia free unlike many of the others. There was a covered area with deck chairs on the beach reserved for hotel residents and plenty of shady trees in the gardens for enjoying a drink from the bar.
Because we’d seen so many families on the beach we anticipated having a noisy dinner but our guide had chosen a quiet table away from the family groups and although it was next to the bar, it was nice and peaceful.
During the night we left the bathroom light on for navigation only to wake at 1am to find ourselves in total darkness. We assumed the blackout would only last for a couple of minutes as it had when we were getting ready. But no, it continued and didn’t come back on until we left at 9am. Meanwhile, our Rastafarian guide had got up at 6.30am to wash and dry his dreadlocks before meeting us. Just as he’d soaped up, the water stopped and he had to be moved to another room to be able to rinse off. He met us just a little cross and with his dreadlocks still wet!
