(The story of our adventure through the eastern and northern sides of Africa overland in our Landrover in 2007.)
Monday 6th August 2007 Baro Hotel – Addis Ababa
We proceeded back to Addis to the Sudanese Embassy which opened half-an-hour late, and spent four hours applying for the visa (only transit, the full one takes 10 days) which we will hopefully collect tomorrow. We met up with our friends again, who are all confused as they cannot get a transit visa as they are not going to Egypt, and they don’t want to wait here for 10 days for a proper visa.
We are typing this on Word in an internet café, as the computer is still not fixed. This bit has taken us an hour. We are not sure how this blog is going to work with the comms so bad in Ethiopia, but we will try to keep it coming.
Sunday 5th August 2007 AB at Ethio-Germany Park Hotel
We made our way back towards Addis, returning through the “Grand Canyon” and spent the night camping at the above hotel. It belonged to a descendant of Haille Sellasse who fled to Germany 37 years ago when Sellasse’s relatives were being hunted down and killed. He returned 5 months ago to start and run this hotel in a spectacular position overlooking the Jimma river gorge. Also a 700 year-old three-spanned, moss-covered foot-bridge built by the Portugese (of ostrich shells and limestone instead of cement) spans a crevasse through which a fast-flowing stream is cutting its way and falling majestically into the gorge below.
We met two Swiss who are cycling their way to Switzerland from Dar in Tanzania, and they and we had supper with AB and chatted about the curiosities of this amazing country. We sat and watched as the others had supper, (as we had already eaten), which Nev was pleased about because they had injera with raw meat steaks and raw spiced mince. Nev was really glad he had already eaten and had a valid excuse not to partake in this typical Ethiopian dinner eaten by every one except the very poor. (Injera is the teff, sour dough ‘sponge-rubber’ pancake they eat with everything.) Nev’s impressions of Ethiopia so far: He cannot generalise, but some of the 71 tribes work very hard, are poor and are not allowed to enter other areas – very tribal. Others are lazy. They appear good at animal husbandry but have no empathy for working animals. Begging is part of their culture. (confirmed by AB) Kids of 1 years old get taught to beg and it goes on throughout their lives, regardless of their wealth in life, even AB’s step-mother who is wealthier than AB himself, begs from him. There are vast areas of fertile land: some well-utilized, others poorly utilized. They are proud of having 4000 years of history behind them and proud of never having been colonised, and for having repulsed the Italians. The only good roads have been donated by wealthy countries. Telephone and other comms are shocking due to government interference. Their facial features are more Indian/Arab than negroid, although the Ethiopians claim that the Arabs and Indians came from Ethiopia originally. He would not like to live here. Diesel costs Birr 5.44 – at R1=Birr0.80 [ieR6.80]. Fruit and veges are much cheaper than in SA (but not as nice) and everything has doubled in price in the last 2 years since the Bradt book was published.
Saturday 4th August 2007 Debre Marcos – Shebel Hotel
We decided to go through the Blue Nile Gorge, as the others were stalling with their Landys and we didn’t want to miss this section which they were going to see on their way back, so we picked up our Landy and made our way through the misty Eucalyptus Forests of Addis, north towards Gonder. We went to the church at Debre Libranos, once the centre of Orthodox Christianity in Ethiopia, but due to massacres and sacking in the past, had to be rebuilt in the 1950s and lost its status. However the stained glass windows, the murals, and the general feeling of religion makes for an awesome atmosphere. There is a sign which requests menstruating women and people who have had sex in the last 48 hours to refrain from entering. Nev wondered if anyone actually entered honestly, because we didn’t. Honestly, that is.
Anyway, it was worth the entrance fee. There were tombs and graves around, but we felt crowded with all the people there as it was nearly the start of the 14day’s fast of Saint Mary, so headed towards the Blue Nile. We passed through valley after valley and plateau after plateau of wheat and teff at altitudes of 2500m to 3113m. The road was tarred all the way until it started to descend into the Blue Nile gorge.
Then we started, in the mist and drizzle to descend though millions of geological years of deposition and erosion from 3100m down down down to 1010m. over 15 Km. Luckily we descended below the mist and could see the spectacular scenery. The temperature rose from 16 deg C to 28 at the bottom. There the brown Blue Nile, full of silt from the heavy rains snaked rapidly towards its confluence with the White Nile at Khartoum, Sudan. The concrete bridge 80m above the river was wonky, and only one vehicle was allowed to cross at a time. The Japs are building a new bridge next to it. We waited on the side with a video ready to catch a truck causing the bridge to collapse, but it didn’t happen while we were there. Then up the other side we went past a rock with 5m long stalactite-type formations, terraced stoney and tiered lands of poor maize up, up up along a spectacular road to 3100m to Dejen which was cold and rainy again, and the tar started again. All the way down and up the cuttings were unstable with evidence of many rock slides and rocks and sand on the road.
From Sahamene to Addis Ababa to Debre Marcos it was wall-to-wall people. Small village after small village interspersed with youngsters herding their livestock every 200m along the side of the road. To stop induced a mad sprint towards the vehicle from all sides, so the wee breaks were few and fast!! The white-swathed villagers walk along the road with their stick and umbrella. As soon as the rain appears, the umbrellas go up. It looks like Biblical times, 2000 years ago with donkeys and white cloaked population walking along the side of the road. The wheel isn’t being used much here. It rains every day, several times a day during July and August and September here in Ethiopia, so guess what mood the happy campers are in in the mornings!! It is also cold and we have worn jackets and longs for the last 4 days! At Debre Marcos we booked into the only hotel and met up with the father and son team going to Belfast again.
Friday 3rd August 2007 Dere Dama Hotel Addis
We went to the Sudanese Embassy which was closed on Friday, although the sign said open on Fridays!!!, went to Egyptian embassy – come back Monday. Went to Ethiopian Embassy – come back Monday. Highly frustrating. Found our friends at Dere Dama Hotel Birr115, smelly toilets and no water for even cold shower!! Bad hotel!!!
Meantime met a father and son who were emigrating from SA to N Ireland and going from Belfast SA to Belfast N Ireland but going straight through, so no good to us. The first foreign vehicle we have seen since we arrived in Ethiopia 3 weeks ago. We hired a taxi driven by Dereje who took us all around from embassy to embassy, to get parts, to get gas and explained the various monuments at each roundabout (called strangely a ‘square’) of which there were many, eg King Menelik on his horse, the fall of fascism and Italian occupation, socialism, (but now a free economy for 15years). The Chinese are constructing roads everywhere and they regard them as potentially being the ‘new colonists’, but are happy they are here because “We Ethiopians don’t like hard work.” Beggars, cripples, homeless, jobless and orphans abound everywhere in Addis Ababa. Prostitutes, due to AIDS, now rent out their homes for small businesses and beg on the streets. There are few big businesses, there are just millions of small one-roomed shops/factories/businesses everywhere. Donkeys carrying their loads go round the circles the wrong way in the middle of Addis!! However multi-storied buildings are going up all over the place. Tried to turn on the computer – nothing!! Trying to get someone to fix it.
Thursday 2 August 2007, Watma Hotel Addis Ababa
Next morning we packed up just before the skies opened and made our way to see the stelae at Tiya. These are tombstones sunk into the ground which have been carved with various symbols in relief. The overall impression was not dissimilar to a miniture stonehenge. The stelae were up to 2.5m above the ground. The largest, 5m tall, had been broken, and the top bit resides in Addis. They have excavated there and the graves contain bones of people, men and women between 18 and 30 years of age buried in the foetal position, some of the mass graves were 700 years old . It was bitterly cold, but worth the visit and the guide was very informative.
We proceded north to the Adida Maryam Church. This little church was carved out of rock in a hole in the ground. The top is level with the ground outside and we had to go down the steps into the little church which is still being used. This is the most southern of this type of subterranean churches. It has fabric draped over the windows and carpets on the ground. There is a corridor all around with pictures of the saints where the people pray. There was a woman prostrating herself inch-worm fashion while we were there. The guide took us all around this fascinating little place of worship.
Then we went to Addis Ababa.
All the horror stories about the traffic were unfounded for us as we were now seasoned travellers, having experienced the worst in all the other African capitals, so piece of cake. In fact with the help of the Bradt guide we found navigating very easy.
We asked a traffic cop in the middle of the traffic circle for directions to the Sudanese Embassy, and he jumped in our Landy and took us 5Km there, jumped out and went back to directing the traffic!!! 40% of the traffic in Addis are the blue and white taxis and mini-busses. The mini-busses are cheap, but the taxis are expensive.
We asked one to show us the way to the Landy agency and he charged us Eq of R8 to take us round the corner from where we were.
We left the Landy there to get the power steering hoses replaced (worn from the vibrations on the roads), new left shock, new suspension bushes replaced, and the handle on Nev’s door replaced.
We went to SA embassy to get letter of introduction to Sudan and had dinner at Castelli’s. Addis’ oldest restaurant (run by the same family for over 50 years) 5 star!!! And stayed at the value-for-money Watma Hotel for Birr80 hot shower en suite.
Wednesday 1st August 2007 Alex’s garden Butijera-Tiya
It rained all night and we slept in a nice clean room at the Awasha Shebelle Hotel. We left Awassa to go to Lake Ziway where our friends were. Past Lake Abaya we nipped in to a rough road into the reserve and saw 1000s and 1000s of flamingos on the lake in the distance. It was still raining so we didn’t get out. We also passed a maize seed farm, probably government, farm was beautiful but the crop wasn’t great. Also 100s of Ha of flower tunnels of Sher Farm Flowers. Sher Farms were also in Naivasha in Kenya. We passed the horse-drawn chariots again, the taxis around there with the horses shod with rubber and in terrible condition, thin, overworked, whipped into submission with sores on their backs. Horses for transport, donkeys for transportation of goods, and the very poor women transport heavy loads on their backs. The language barrier is so frustrating as we have to do so much guessing and speculating as we have no-one to answer our questions. Egg for breakfast we ordered our eggs ‘poached’and they said they understood we wanted, and we got ‘porridge’ instead.
We found the rest of the crew at Ziway, and they wanted to stay and fix their Landys, so we went for a drive to find the Lake Ziway. We found a very wet and overcrouded and miserable fishing boat launch place which stank, and we couldn’t get anywhere nearer the Lake and gave up.
We decided to go to Butijera, since the others were going to go straight to Addis after Lake Ziway. 20Km along the muddy wet road we heard an ominous knocking. We stopped and found the front right shock rubbers had come off. We had lent our spare ones to Dave for his Landcruiser and didn’t have spares, so we unbolted the shock in the middle of no-where, surrounded by inquisitive men wanting to help. I had to be firm, insisting we could do it ourselves, and kept a beady eye on all the tools as we had already lost some along the way.
We arrived at Butijeras and saw thousands of women coming out of a ‘school for vocational education for women’, which means women, who are mostly still being circumcised and thought of as second class citizens, are slowly being emancipated.
Nothing more to do in Butijera, we chanced finding a hotel further north. About 40Km towards Tiya a hotel we found was closed due to a death, but Alex offered for us to stay in his back yard for the night.
He was so hospitable and set up his sound system outside for us. I wanted to show him some pictures of home and disaster … I knocked my tea over the laptop. We dried the outside as best we could, but tea with milk doesn’t do much for a laptop. I was too scared to turn it on and try before consulting Brian O at home.
That night we slept amid sounds of hyenas, muslems and orthodox Christians.