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There was no sign of Lake Beseka at the end of the 19th century, when the building of the first and – up to now – only railway track on the Horn of Africa began.
Then suddenly a tiny, stinking swamp emerged. Within half a century it expanded into a 35 km² lake. In 1990 the trains from the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa to Djibouti at the Red Sea still rattled along the northern bank of the lake. Nowadays, the track goes right through Lake Beseka, a lake that is expanding – and this in the hot lowlands of
the Main Ethiopian Rift. This could actually be a blessing – if only one could drink the water or at least use it to irrigate the fields. But for this it is too salty. The Karajus have lost a great deal of land due to Lake Beseka. Their large herds of cattle and camels can hardly find enough food. Although the nearby Awash National Park is actually
forbidden territory for these animals, the semi-nomads have almost no other choice than to take them there again and again. Conflicts with the Park administration are thus always on the agenda. But the Park Rangers
tend to beat a hasty retreat whenever they en counter the trigger-happy Afars, who also bring their cattle to graze in the National Park.