Into Ethiopia we go

Sunday 15th July

We got going at 7am as we knew we had a long day ahead of us. Dave and I were in the lead and the day was a full 10 hour trip to Marsabit. We passed through various terrains, from volcanic wastelands to desert sand with camels, saltpans and finally more desert strewn with volcanic rock. The day was fairly uneventful except for us having to do further running repairs on our radiator. There was a pleasant campsite on the edge of Marsabit just outside the gate to the National Park where we spent a quiet evening after dusting our vehicles. The dust is unbelievable and I think this is just the beginning – we have Sudan ahead of us after Ethiopia.
Our thoughts have been with David Johnson all day – Daryl phoned us last night to let us know he had been in a serious car accident – we pray that he has a speedy recovery.

Monday 16th July

Blue Monday or rather a day out of hell is what we have had! We set off at 7am once again, as it was a long haul to get to the border and into Ethiopia. The road was appalling with corrugations like I have never seen before, and Neville set a break neck speed as he was afraid of bandits! Absolutely everything rattled like hell and the noise was ear shattering. Eventually at the first stop we asked him to slow down as things were going to get damaged – already Brian’s fresh water tank and our shower tank are leaking. Our radiator continues to spout leaks on a regular basis and the solder is running out so we are not sure what we are going to do.
After 2 or 3 stops to solder our radiator, our next mishap was our CB radio which stopped working – stop to find that the aerial plug had come out of its socket! A few more kms down the road and we stop to discover that the cover of our roof top tent had almost blown away – unfortunately we are at the back today so there was nobody behind to see this and we had lost our shower cubicle which is stored under the cover! Luckily, we had not lost the cover itself. The shower cubicle is dispensable as we generally shower after it is dark and don’t bother to use it anyway! A bit further down the track, and we hear a knock in the engine – stop and it is the right front shock rubber – we have replaced this before but I suppose these roads are just too rough. Really, Dave and I had a terrible day. Will has also discovered a leak in his one diesel tank so we are not the only ones with damage but we just seemed to have ongoing troubles today. Anyway, we are now through the border and are in Ethiopia. We have booked into a hotel room tonight and we are all going to a restaurant for dinner tonight, after our bath in a bucket of water!! Trust me, when I say ‘hotel’ don’t get excited - these hotels are really just second rate hostel rooms, but at least the bedding is clean – if it isn’t we just hire the room for the ablutions, and then sleep in our roof top tent anyway.
We walked to the hotel down the road to their restaurant and ordered local Ethiopian food. Dave had meat and vegetables, which was a spicy goat meat stew with the odd chilli in it. I had roasted goat meat which came in an earthen ware dish with red hot coals below the meat, very effective. The meals were all served with injera which is a large pancake made from tef which is a nutty tasting grain unique to Ethiopia. The tef dough is fermented for up to 3 days before it is cooked so the ‘pancake’ has a bubbly, spongy texture. You tear a bit of injera off and dip it in your food or sauce and eat it. My roasted meat came with a dish of sauce called kai wat which was red and very hot flavoured with beriberi(peppers), onions and garlic. All in all everyone enjoyed their meals and we look forward to trying some more Ethiopian dishes in another town.

Our costs in Kenya for 36 days were

Border fees R1 001
Camping R2 565
Groceries R1 703
Drinks R1 641
Eating out R 433
Petrol R7 700
Purchases R 993
Firewood R 53
Sightseeing R1 900
Internet R 46
Parking R 14
Vehicle repairs R 178
Bank charges R 27
Guards R 119
Tips R 48
Ferry R 115
Pilli Pipa Cruise R1 295
Medicine R 34
Boat petrol R 149
Cell charger R 96



Tuesday 17th July

We are spending the day here in Moyale to fix all things broken! Brian and us started with getting our water tanks repaired at the welding shop. Then we went and bought more solder, bush rubbers and brake pads to keep as spares. Dave also bought a new shock absorber which he has fitted on the right front hand side. They only had one in stock or else he would have replaced both front shock absorbers. It is not actually the shock that is broken, but rather the thread on the top of the shock mounting that is stripped, and Dave can no longer get a bolt to hold the rubbers and the shock in place.
Ingrid and I walked down the road to the internet café but it was off line! We caught a taxi back up the hill which was fun. Then at 2.30pm Biruk, the local guide that the group has employed, took us to his home for a coffee ceremony. It is really humbling when you see how simply many people in this world live. They rent a very small home, but Shamire, his wife, graciously invited us in – the ladies to sit on a mattress on the floor and the men to sit in the few lounge chairs! Shamire, then proceeded to roast green coffee beans on some open coals right there in this very small lounge – 3x4metres! She roasted the beans till they were perfectly shiny brown in colour – as Dave says, he would have burnt them for sure! Then she lit incense sticks and threw some incense granules on top of the coals, she put a kettle on the coals and then set about grinding the beans in a mortar and pestle. Once that was done, she put the ground coffee into a clay percolator pot with some of the water out of the kettle, and put the percolator on the coals. The entire time there was a very loud Gospel Dvd playing on the TV, against which, we all made conversation! Shamire also kept offering us handfuls of popcorn to snack on. Finally, she set out miniature cups & saucers, into which she added sugar and the first round of coffee. We said grace and then all enjoyed our first cup of black coffee, it was sweet and aromatic – quite delicious. She percolated a further 2 pots of coffee so we all had 3 cups in total – each cup getting a little weaker. Apparently, it is customary to always have the 3 cups of coffee. The coffee ceremony took 2 hours but it was a pleasant experience.
We then went back to camp and out to dinner again, as a meal only costs about R15, and Biruk and his wife were going to join us.
Biruk informed us today, that the government of Ethiopia, has blocked ‘sms’ capability on Ethiopian cell phones – this is a political tactic, as apparently the opposition were using text messages to drum up support and organize themselves. We had not realized yet as we are in Moyale, which is just over the border, and we are in fact still picking up Kenyan signal.


Wednesday 18th July

After buying bread and beer, we finally left Moyale, with Biruk in the Karg’s vehicle. The other 3 are going on a 5 day excursion down to the Lower Omo Valley but Dave and I have decided to work our way directly to Addis, as our radiator is not behaving itself and we need to get it pressure tested again and or buy a new one. A little way up the road we stopped at a village called Dublock to see a ‘singing well’ – water is retrieved from a deep well by a row of up to 50 men who sing and chant as they pass buckets from one to the other. Unfortunately, it is not the dry season now, so the water was quite near the top of the well, and the line of men was fairly short, but we still got the idea. We all traveled together as far as Yabello and then the others waved us goodbye.
We filled up with petrol in the local fashion – bucket and funnel – and we think we were ripped off by about 6 litres, but when there is no bowser there is no option. We then headed for Konso. We arrived in Konso at about 3 o’clock and booked into a seedy hotel – the best on offer! I am really sick of these hotels as they have no water or electricity! This one had electricity from 6.30pm till 10pm and a trickle of water from 6pm till 6.30pm which was hardly enough to shower under. On top of this, the car park was unsuitable for us to camp in, so we had to sleep in their grotty bed! At times, this trip is quite taxing.
We did have time to quickly do some laundry, which entailed Dave hauling some water up from a well in an old paint tin!


Thursday 19th July

At 8am Gurasho, a local guide met us to take us to a traditional Konso village. First, we drove 17 kms out of town to Gesergiyo where there is a dry gorge with sculptured sand pinnacles which resemble a row of skyscrapers and the gorge has been nicknamed New York. Local legend is that the chief had his ceremonial drums stolen and enlisted the help of God, who swept away the earth from where the thieves had buried the drums, creating the sand formation when he un earthed the drums. To this day, light-fingered Konso youths are taken to Gesergiyo as a reminder that God doesn’t like thieves, and will uncover their doings!
Then we drove into the hills to the village of Mecheke. It is a traditional village, set on top of a hill and enclosed by a 2m high stone wall. Within this wall, there are lower stick-and-stone walls enclosing each individual family compound. There are leafy moringa trees which they use the leaves of to make a stew with, and then add dumplings made from sorghum flour. The entire village is a labyrinth of narrow, shady alleys. A few families make up a sub-community and they build a large ‘mora’ or community house. This is a sturdy, tall, thatched hut. The downstairs is used as a meeting place while the upstairs platform is used for all men and boys over 12 years to sleep in. This custom meant that the men were easily mobilized during the night, to fight off enemies or fire, and it helped with family planning, as even married men spent a large time in the community house, rather than with their wives!
Konso people also follow the ‘Kata’ generation set, where every 18 years a new generation is initiated. The older generation step down and make beer for the party, while the younger generation (8 – 25 years old) erect a ‘generation pole’ in the villages ceremonial square and take over the leadership of the village. You can calculate the age of a village by counting the number of generation poles and multiplying by 18.
Victory Stones are also erected in this square – tall ones for a victory and short ones for a defeat!
The other identifying feature of the Konso are their carved wooden grave markers called waga, erected for heroes in the community. Unfortunately, these have, to a large extent, been damaged or stolen by foreign collectors!! So now they can only be viewed in the regional tourist office.
We left Konso at lunch time after visiting Gurasho’s home and the local market, and headed N towards Arba Minch N 06 00.316 E 037 33.095 which is set on a hill overlooking 2 scenic lakes. The southerly Lake Chamo is only 10 metres deep and is blue in colour, while Lake Abaya on the north, is 13 metres deep and reddish brown in colour due to ferrous hydroxide in the water. The strip of mountainous land seperating the 2 lakes is called the ‘Bridge of God’. We are camped in the grassy grounds of the Bekele Mola Hotel overlooking these 2 lakes and there is water in the taps all the time- Heaven!! Dave and I washed Garfield and did a whole lot of laundry – it seems to be never ending.

Friday 20th July

We left Arba Minch and headed N but took a detour up to Chencha, a highland town set at 2 900m, from where we got a spectacular view over the 2 lakes and we also saw the distinctive, tall beehive-shaped dwellings of the local Dorze people. They are renowned cotton weavers and we bought 2 scarves at a road side stall. I was starting to feel nauseous and it worsened as the day progressed. It was a long drive over pot holed roads to Shashemene and then down to Wondo Genet – a hot springs resort – where we spent the night. I was really ‘woman down’ and went straight to bed, leaving Dave to sort himself out. Carmen-Jo let us know the exciting news that she has bought herself a Polo Playa and we are thrilled for her – thank you Derek for all the help. It seems we can receive text messages on our cell phone here in Ethiopia, but we are unable to text out. This is very frustrating and I feel much more cut off from my family and friends. Our satellite phone’s charger is broken and so we are very limited in its use – we are hoping to buy a new sat phone charger in Addis.


Saturday 21st July

I am still feeling very tender so we are taking it very slowly. We went down early and had a swim in the pool at the hot spring and then we packed up, or rather Dave did most of it as I am feeling so weak. Yesterday, we met a Scottish couple on the road, who are driving from Scotland to Cape Town – the exact opposite of us! They told us about a lovely campsite in Awassa run by a German lady, Jana. So although this is 25 kms back down S, we decided to come down here, just to relax for the day.
In Ethiopia, there are not so many bicycles as elsewhere in Africa. The ladies seem to have replaced the bicycle, and everywhere we go we see woman laden like pack horses, bent double under the load. We have been told that they carry 50-60kg on their backs! Nearer the bigger towns, we see donkey carts and horse dawn carts – it is like going back 100 years in time! The national sport seems to be table tennis, and all along the roads, just on the side in the open, are table tennis tables with enthusiastic players.
The campsite in Awassa is run by a German lady and her Ethiopian husband, it is very clean and secure, and we just relaxed all day so that I could recuperate
N 07 04.627 E 038 29.050
Happy 21st to Darren Driemeyer – we have no cell signal so are unable to sms you Darren, but our thoughts are with you – hope you have a wonderful day!


Sunday 22nd July

Well, it was a clean pleasant campsite, but it was terribly noisy – first there was a very noisy, wailing church service, then dogs barking, then the night watchman doing his laundry with running water right next to our tent and then of course the 4am mosques! Anyway, at least I am better this morning – it is wonderful to feel strong again. We left at about 9am and headed N back to Shashemene and then turned E towards the Bale mountains. The 175kms took us 5 hours to do, but it was really scenic. There were wonderful fields of blue and yellow wild flowers splashed with patches of red-hot pokers, all set against a backdrop of craggy peaks.
We have come here to see the Ethiopian wolf and some endemic birds so hopefully tomorrow when we drive around to the Sanetti Plateau at 4 000m altitude, we will be lucky. Tonight we are camped at the campsite near Dinsho on a hill with a panoramic view over the Bale Mountains and it is just Dave and I – so we feel as if we are in the middle of nowhere! The chill is already staring to set in, at 4.30pm it is 12 degrees, so we are looking forward to a camp fire and then snuggling together in our roof top tent – we have hauled out the extra crocheted blankets that my Mom made for us! I also wanted to mention to my girlfriends at home, that I am absolutely delighted with the bird book that I bought with the money you girls gave me – we use it all the time as it covers ALL the birds of Africa.
Our campsite tonight N 07 05.760 E 039 47.548 Altitude 3 235m
We are having a goat meat curry cooked in ‘Baby’ over the coals of our camp fire!


Monday 23rd July

It was a chilly night, going down to 6 degrees, but we were snug and warm. We packed up by 7.30am and our guide arrived who was going to accompany us for the next 2 days into the Sanetti Plateau and back. We set off but not 200m down the track, we had our 1st problem! The left front shock rubber needed replacing. That done, we set off again, a couple of kilometers and water was spraying out our radiator! Dave had a look and said it was bad, on top of that, he said the brakes did not feel right, so we had to make the decision that it was now time to really head straight for Addis – in retrospect, we had made the wrong decision coming to Bale, but we had not realized what bad roads it entailed. Anyway, one is always clever in hindsight. So, as disappointing as it was, we had to drop our guide off, paying him compensation, and start wending our long and tortuous trip back to the main road! The trip was scenic once again, and the wild flowers beautiful, but we had not achieved our goal of getting to the plateau and seeing the Ethiopian wolf. I, especially felt very down in the dumps, and the bad roads, longing for my children and home really got to me- I was ultra depressed and just wanted to give up and come home!
We reached the main road after 3 o’clock and headed further N to Lake Ziway passing Lakes Shala & Abiata on our LHS and Lake Langano on our RHS. These are all Rift Valley lakes that run through Ethiopia.


Tuesday 24th July

We got going early and went down to a causeway on Lake Ziway where we looked at birds for a while which was very enjoyable and then we headed W towards Butajira and then on up N towards Addis Ababa. We stopped at a small village, Tiya, to see some stelae – mysterious engraved gravestones up to 2m high that mark the mass graves of people between 18 and 30 years old that were buried in the foetal position about 700 years ago. It was very cold as we walked around and this added to the eerie feeling of the sight.
We then traveled a further 40kms before stopping to see Adadi Maryam, our first rock-hewn church and the southernmost one in Ethiopia. It was 19x16m and entirely carved out of solid rock, below ground level! It had 24 windows and 10 doors and remains in active use today. The church is dated somewhere between the 12th and 14th centuries and was really interesting to see.
Then it was straight to Addis where we found the Itegue Taitu Hotel N 09 01.812 E 038 44.234. This was the first hotel established in Addis named after the Empress Taitu(wife of Menelik II) and completed in 1907. It is amazing with high ceilings, creaky wooden floors and steeped in ancient character. We have a large room with a lounge area and there is a very big secure parking area for Garfield (within our sight) and there is a 24 hour internet café within the hotel! So I am a happy chicken. The staff are very helpful and within an hour or two, a mechanic came here and removed Garfield’s radiator to take it for testing – this is a great bonus as Addis is impossible to drive around. So for Birr138 per night, which is about R120, we are happy and will be here for a few days.