Buratino lake is a relatively small, artificial (man-made) water reservoir near Manglisi town in the region of Kvemo Kartli, Georgia.
We first discovered and visited Buratino lake in the mid-August 2019, after getting directions here from the Algeti Visitors center. Just shortly before getting here we made a short stop at Manglisi cathedral.
The road heading to Buratino lake is not in the best shape, an SUV car is recommended, but I noticed locals get here even by taxi - you could probably hike here or take a taxi from Manglisi town to get down to the lake.
The reason we wanted to get here is quite simple - to have an outdoor barbecue (for that reason we bought meat, barbeque grill and even charcoal while departed Tbilisi, at Tskneti), and to give a little swim to our 13-month old baby girl.(For the baby girl we have floating ring we bough in Antalya, Turkey) We got both.
It should be noted that Buratino lake (at least during the high season) is for a fee - even for the entrance is asked 1 GEL, parking a car inside the territory some 2 GEL). The best - you can ask to the owner (Shoti by the way) to grill meat for you
Buratino lake near Manglisi
I must admit in photos this place looks better than it actually looks in real life while watching the photo above I even got a feeling this place looks like Lopota lake and SPA which is not true.
Next, to the lake, there is a small stream of Algeti River (probably in another season it's not so small anymore)
Algeti river next to the Buratino lake
We saw an SUV (Nissa XTerra) crossing it with ease.
Boat for rent at Buratino lake
The asking price is 3 lari for 30 minutes. The boat is not in the best shape, well the boat is ok, but dulls are ... not the best dulls I have been used. The lake is so small that 30 minutes is more than enough. As we were floating together with our 13 month old baby we were enough after 5 minutes.
Meat grilled and served
Mmm,,, yummy - nothing tastes so good as grilled meat outdoors, right?