Pics of a Super Sixer

Tinbar Waterfall in Simien Mountains - Too close to edge for comfort!

The "Super Sixer" - Simien Mountains Campsite

Church in Lalibela

Birthday lunch at Simien Lodge

The paddlers

Pics from Uganda to Ethiopia

Rose amongst the flowers

Suncats

Chapatti maker- note the rolling pin!

Tom - the stick-in-the-mud

A Simien wolf in the Bale Mountains

Photos from way back - Uganda

Photos of:
The spotty animals go game viewing at Murchison Falls.
Coffee stop - Our standards are still very high!
The 3 of us at the Hot Springs at Lake Bogoria
Kaz and Rebecca at the Murchison Falls

Painting Sudan Red

Gonder Revisited
The day after we got back to Gonder we spent in and around Belegez doing
washing and catching up with journals and stuff. As a treat, we took
Rebecca to the Debre Berhan Selassie Church by tuk-tuk (not sure what
they're called in Ethiopia). The church was very interesting and highly
decorative with 104 smiley faces, all pretty Mona Lisa-ish, looking down at
one from the ceiling. Eat your heart out Leonardo!
The walls were also painted with various New Testament stories.
We got back to Belegez and ordered pizza for dinner. I had a beer, my last
one for a while as it was next stop Sudan.

Bye bye Ethiopia
We had heard some horror stories about the road to the border town of
Metema but no-one had told us what a stunning road it was scenery-wise. We
also made Ethiopian history on this road. We stopped for coffee and no-one
came to ask us for anything, in fact no-one came to see us at all! We
dropped from the lofty heights of Gonder at around 1800m to 500m above sea
level. The mountains were magic and the road was pretty good too. It just
goes to show, if you want the real facts, go check for yourself!

Sudan – Simply NOT for Sissies
We crossed into Sudan at about 3pm. We walked into Immigration to find
everyone lying down on the chairs watching a soap on the TV. One did get up
to help us though. They took photos off us and tried to get us to part with
SdP 390, about R1600 for something or other, we think a time extension on
our visa. Luckily we declined and were told to register in Khartoum.
Cleared Customs after the "head master" had come back from saying his
prayers. Travelling during Ramadan certainly does come with some
challenges, but also some interesting experiences.
We had to hand over another photo and be fingerprinted by the security
police before we were finally able to get on our way.
At sunset we were flagged down to break the fast with some villagers on the
side of the road. We declined as we wanted to get some more distance in
before dark. We were stopped at numerous police checkpoints along the road,
at some we had to have our passport details entered into a book at others
we had a chat and were waved on. It does get rather tedious especially as
this is the first country were the tourist is targeted by the police, all
the previous countries seem to have issued a directive saying – leave the
tourists alone.
We finally stopped in a village called Sabun and after asking for
permission to camp, we did so and spent our first night in Sudan free
camping. The natives did get quite restless during the night sounding
pretty militant at one point but they seemed to sort themselves out and all
quietened down just after midnight. We did wonder how they could go to
sleep so late especially if they had to be up before dawn to eat. We soon
found out! Outside all houses, shops, police outposts, you name it, there
are bedsteads in the shade and this is where everyone spends their
afternoons kipping!
Wow, much hotter than Ethiopia, The country so far is really flat and hot.
We bypassed Gedarif and hit Wad Medani for fuel for us and Tom Cruiser. He
simply loves the tar roads and the lower altitude. He starts better and
without a plume of black exhaust.
We managed to change money at the UA Exchange, the Bank of Khartoum either
didn't offer this service or the person I spoke to just couldn't be
bothered.
Diesel costs the equivalent of R4.65 a litre, what a pleasure! Food is a
bit dearer though.
Khartoum
We drove into Khartoum along the best roads into a capital city thus far –
tarred, signposted and new traffic lights - and headed for the Blue Nile
Sailing Club on the banks of the river. We had been warned about staying
here as there are nightly Ramadan parties nearby and it gets really noisy.
We hadn't seen any other alternatives so thought we'd take our chances. We
were lucky though. The party ended before 9pm and we had some cooling rain
overnight which resulted in a good nights sleep.
Someone from the club brought us a 2 litre bottle of ice cold grapefruit
juice – it was delicious! Kitchener's gunboat Melik is high and dry in the
grounds of the club and decaying gracefully.

The Alien Jameses
As tourists are fairly low on the pecking order and are obviously not to be
trusted, we had to find our way to the Alien's Registration Office to
register, aliens nogal. This little episode set us back over 2 hours and
another R320 each. This, after R500 for a visa, is starting to rankle!
We then had the rest of the day mapped out for us:
1. Buy tickets for the 1 October ferry
2. Visit the Omdurman souk
3. Find a nice shopping centre and Internet Café
4. Organise a car service
5. Decide whether to stay at Blue Nile Sailing Club or seek alternative
accommodation.
So, off we went to the ferry offices in Khartoum North. Once we found them,
and found someone who worked there, and with the help of the cleaner who
translated, we discovered that there was no 1 October ferry. It was a
holiday to mark the end of Ramadan and the earliest ferry after that was
only on the following Wednesday, the 8th! This meant that both our Egyptian
and Sudanese visas would have expired and we'd be up the creek without the
proverbial paddle! We finally ascertained that there was a ferry leaving on
Sunday, 28th September. As it was already the afternoon on Monday, 22nd, we
had just 5 days to get to Wadi Halfa, a trip of about 1300kms along roads
of unknown quality.
So, after a quick family meeting, we decided to hit the road immediately.
The only unresolved matter was Tom Cruiser's travel arrangements. These
would only become clearer in Wadi Halfa as he needs to be accommodated on a
cargo ferry. We did a quick circuit over the bridges from Khartoum North to
Omdurman to Khartoum City to see the convergence of the White and Blue Nile
Rivers and then plotted a course to the Pyramids of Meroe, our Khartoum
to-do list not done, but, hey, that's life.

Magical Meroe
As always, there is a bright side. We got to the pyramids at sunset. We
drove around the pyramid complex to the northern boundary, about 800 m from
the main road and set up camp for the night. We had sundowners and
reflected on how lucky we were to have a workable solution to the ferry
problem and to have such a beautiful campsite under a starlit sky. Kaz and
I sat up in the cooling air until after 11pm, watching Scorpio, chatting
,drinking coffee and eating chocolate and spotting shooting stars. I can't
remember when last we'd had the opportunity to do something like this.

Are we getting soft or what?
I hope that anyone who knows us well is sitting down at this stage. If not,
sit down now!
We used Tom's air conditioner for the first time today. The temperature is
well over 40 degrees. A far cry from the chilly mornings in the Simien
Mountains.
Weather is too hot to really eat, we are surviving on water, fruit and
bread rolls. The fridge in the car is working overtime. We are purifying
water at night, storing it in the fridge and then using it during the day.
The second battery usually drains overnight and then charges up again as we
drive the following day. The temp at our coffee stop was over 50 degrees,
so needless to say the aircon is on all the time now. Luckily at this price
for diesel, we don't care!
Nothing soft about Kaz though. So as not to upset the locals or tread on
any religious sensitivies, our shorts-and-vests gal has covered up! She has
worn skirts and a long sleeved shirt over her tops all the time in the
Sudan and in this heat this is a real feat!

The road to Wadi Halfa
Luckily, the road has been tarred all the way to Dongola via Atbara which
means that we have been able to chew up the kilometres quite smartly, well
as quickly as a 4.2 litre diesel donkie can anyway. We have managed to camp
wild each night in some beautiful spots in the desert but are now starting
to dream of a shower! Our bush toilets are generally preferable to the
normal smelly squatting long drops provided in campsites.
At Atbara, we needed to catch a car ferry to the western shore of the Nile
River to head down towards to Karima where a new bridge carries one over
the river towards Dongola. From Dongola the last 400 km stretch to Wadi
Halfa is untarred and very corrugated in sections. There are stretches of
soft sand and, as the wind blows constantly in these 'ere parts, you also
have to contend with sandstorms reducing visibility to nought in places.

Our last night's camping before reaching Wadi Halfa was in a small village
called Farqa. The road moved away from the Nile near here and we preferred
to spend a night next to the river as our previous nights had been spent in
the desert. We had searched for a secluded spot but to no avail. Our
presence was soon noticed and we had the village busybody/beggar come
scrounging around. Some time after that a man from a nearby house came past
and invited us to his house to break the fast at sunset. His name was, yep,
you guessed it, Mohammed and he lived with his mother, her sister and his
brother and sister. His English was marginally better than our Arabic, but
we were on a par with the rest of the family. It was very nice to be
invited in. They seem to sleep in a covered shelter or in the courtyard.
Dinner consisted of fuul (a bean dish) which you scoop up with the
ubiquitous pita bread, some other little beans eaten on a spoon, some
greenish flakes mixed with sugary water, dates and some orange juice made
with powdered orange and nice untreated Nile river water. The meal finished
with some sweet black tea.

We retired to our tent and had a good night's sleep, the wind less intense
and the heat slightly less too, thank goodness. We seem to be experiencing
a berg wind at the moment. The temperature ranges from 30 deg at 8 in the
morning, screaming into the fifties and sixties (if the phone temp is to be
believed) and then plummeting to early forties by 7 o clock in the
evening, and people choose to live here??

Driving along the Nile has been really interesting. The houses all have
flat roofs and courtyards and I'm sure haven't changed much from biblical
times. Ramadan seems to be a time for renewal so many of the houses are
being given a new coat of paint. Some villages settle on white and brown,
others yellow or orange. The gate posts and doors are generally colourful
geometrical shapes, often in blue, white and black. The crocodile is an
important totem around here and also appears on walls and gate posts. We
haven't seen a real live one, nor the Egyptian plover which is the
crocodile's dentist, but there is still time.

Wadi Halfa
Wow! We really did get a move on. We arrived in Wadi Halfa at Thursday
lunch time. We were spoiled by a 40 km stretch of tar just before the town.

We met the man from the ferry company, Ali Salih, who was not particularly
helpful. In fact, he was pretty clueless! We then sent a text message to
Mazar Mahir, the local Mr Fixit, who we'd been in contact with some time
before and met him in the main street. Someone had alerted him to our
arrival, shades of Biruk from Ethiopia! After chatting to him we are still
none the wiser regarding Tom getting to Egypt but at least we are confident
that all will be sorted in due course. Nothing happens on Friday here
except that we'll visit Mazar's house to use his internet to get this
uploaded and check emails. On Saturday we'll do Tom's oil service which is
overdue and will keep him going until Cairo. On Sunday we should have
finality on Tom and we leave on the passenger ferry in the afternoon, did I
mention, First Class! Mmmm….! Not expecting the QEII though.

The sudanese people are magic. We have felt perfectly safe camping anywhere
and the fact that they open their houses to complete strangers, whiteys at
that, is nothing short of fantastic. I can think of many places in SA where
I wouldn't stop, let alone pitch a tent!

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Northern Ethiopia

Northern Ethiopia
After much deliberation we decided to take the scenic route to the north
via the Blue Nile Gorge and Tis Isat (the Blue Nile Falls) even though it
meant some backtracking and we are very glad we did. The gorge was
impressive: the road winds its way off the escarpment and drops about 1000
metres down towards the river and then winds its way all the way up on the
other side. The road was good tar except for some sections where landslides
and wash-aways have turned the tar into crinkle cut. We had our lunch
overlooking the river and the new bridge being built by the Japanese. Hope
their adherence to deadlines is better than the Chinese! The road was
generally populated by the normal suspects: people, cows, donkeys, horses,
sheep and a couple of motorised vehicles. Rivers we crossed were muddy
brown from the erosion as the top soil was being washed away.
Just after 7pm we drove into the grounds of the Ghion Hotel in Bahir Dar on
the shores of Lake Tana. A long drive of 580 kms was behind us. We camped
in the grounds and ate dinner in the restaurant. This place is definitely
on the tourist route as we saw more white faces than normal. We had the use
of a room for showering and were very glad we had stayed in our nice clean
and snug tent. After breakfast we set off for Tis Isat. It was a Sunday,
apparently the best day to visit the falls as they don't divert water for
the hydro-electric scheme on a Sunday. Confused? Me too!
We dodged the guides both at the ticket office and the car park and took a
nice walk to the viewpoint. Funnily enough, we also shared the path with
cows, goats and flute sellers. The falls were nice to see; they were
flowing down in 4 separate places and were very brown. On the way back to
Bahir Dar, we bumped into Fabian who we'd met at the Sudanese embassy. He
had overnighted along the way and was on a mission to get to Sudan. We
found some diesel (luckily we haven't experienced the shortages we'd been
warned about) and had juice, coffee and cake at the Blue Bird Café before
setting off to Lalibela. We had a nice tar road to Werata and then turned
onto a 260km long bumpy road. Not as bad as our Kenyan experience but bad
enough to bring back some of those memories and it still took 8 hours to
cover. We also had our first experience of stone throwing in one of the
villages en route when some little should-be brain donors threw a stone at
the windscreen. We stopped and shouted but they were long gone. The road
climbed and wound its way through the mountains. Lalibela is high at 2630m
but we were a lot higher than that a lot of the time. The joy of travelling
at the tail end of the rainy season is that everywhere is looking lush and
green, the downside of course is that there is still a lot of rain around
leading to muddy roads and misty vistas. We stopped around 7pm for a
moonlit picnic supper along the road. It was wonderful and would have been
magical if we hadn't had the normal "give me, give me, give me'. I shouted,
they ran. Rebecca thought it was hilarious and luckily it had the desired
effect. The start of my Ethiopian sense of humour failures.

Lekker Lalibela
We arrived in Lalibela around 9pm and of course attracted the usual
"helpers". One of them, a (so-called) deacon in the church, directed us
down what turned out to be a non-road towards the Jerusalem Guest House
(well, we're still not sure exactly where he was directing us to). I then
had to direct Kaz backwards to something a bit more like terra firma. By
this time, my conversation with the helper had degenerated to: "Stay away
from me! Get lost! We do not need you!" We then made our way to the main
road and then down another road which turned out to be the road out of
town. Here we attracted the help of a boy whose name we didn't catch. I
threatened him with something akin to instant death if he so much as lied
to us, tried to direct us anywhere other than Jerusalem Guest House or took
us down a dead end. He said he wouldn't because he was orthodox. So I got
orthodox (sounds like something out of Asterix, so we liked it) to stand on
the running board, not move and get directing. Of course back in town we
attracted others who decided to catch a lift in a similar fashion but they
too got the sharp edge of our tongues and hopped off. Orthodox then
directed us down to the guest house where he was well compensated for his
trouble. Luckily they allowed us to camp and we were soon sorted and to
bed. A long day and such a pity that the diabolical roads detract from the
stunning scenery.
The next day we walked up to the ticket office where we enlisted the
services of Abiy, a local guide and what a good job we did. I don't think
we would have found half of the churches on our own, let alone got inside
them.
We had been warned about fleas so we smeared our legs with insect
repellent. Abiy said that they had sprayed and removed the straw, which was
the source of the problem, from the churches and hence the problem was no
more and, to be honest, whether it was the repellant or the spraying, we
didn't have a bite.
The churches were fascinating. We looked at the 6 making up the northern
section before lunch and then after lunch we did the 4 in the southern
section and finally St. George which is in a group of its own. To think
that they were hewn by hand from solid rock is pretty mind boggling,
especially considering the precision with which some of them were
chiselled. We had lunch in town watching the Zimbabwe power-sharing signing
ceremony on tv! A momentous occasion, we only hope it works. It was a real
coincidence and how refreshing it is not to be bombarded with all this
newsy stuff on a daily basis.
Rebecca made 2 friends at the guest house and played in the afternoon while
we had sundowners in the car park and then we all ate dinner in their
restaurant. We had checked out 7 Olives as a sun-downer spot but didn't
really like the look of it. Rebecca also gave their loos a big
"thumbs-down".
Lalibela was definitely worth the 520km detour and we got back on the road
early the next morning. Next stop, Gonder, Africa's Camelot!!

Gonder
Ran the gauntlet of the stone throwers again and have a dented door for our
trouble. A nice truck driver also stopped and had a long chat with some of
the locals. The teenage delinquents, of course, were long gone.
We arrived in Gonder in daylight (surprise, surprise) and made our way to
the Belegez Pension where we were allowed to camp in their secure
courtyard. They do good food and great coffee too.
We chatted to a young Austrian girl whose parents have just moved to Addis
and a Dutch doctor who were travelling together. It seems that this country
is not easy for single girls to travel in. Rose, our American doctor also
confirmed this. They asked Rebecca what she was hoping to get for her
birthday and she said: "I will get to see Gelada Baboons".
We packed up our tent and t hen went to find an internet café and walked
around the royal enclosure. It is quite surreal to walk around these 17th
century castles and not be in Europe or somewhere like that.

Simply Simien
We then drove up to the Simien Mountains. We went to the park headquarters
in Debark to find that their fee structure is somewhat different to the
Bale Mountains – read "more expensive". We decided to pay for and stay only
one night which would mean that Rebecca would wake up in the mountains for
her birthday and then we'd return to Gonder in the afternoon.
A scout was compulsory, the reason why was soon to become apparent, so we
had to make room for Abdul, the scout in Tom Cruiser. His English was on
par with my Amharic so we were soon talking the hind leg off a donkey – not!
We set off for the campsite at Buyit Ras, only to find that camping was not
included in the park fees and that we were out of Birr!
The scenery was magic and the campsite was in a great location. We were
treated to brilliant sighting of the gelada baboons on the way in. They
were all next to the road making bird-like noises and pulling up the grass
to eat. Their red triangular markings on their chests were just
fascinating.
We set up camp in the community campsite with the entire community turning
out to see the "Faranji Extravaganza". Abdul now came into his own by
ensuring that the kids were kept out. I got rid of the adults by asking
them for 10 Birr each for the show and they soon up and left. It was really
cold and we stoked up the jiko for tea and a pilau rice and tomato goulash.
We ate in the tent and even filled the hot water bottle!

The BIG "Sixer"
We woke up to a beautiful morning and sang "Happy Birthday" to Becca Weasel
when she woke. She opened her cards and unwrapped her presents and was so
pleased to see what she'd got. We then cooked a fried egg breakfast as per
her request and struck camp. We drove deeper into the park and the scenery
soon changed from rolling hills (all cultivated) to more dramatic gorges,
cliffs and beautiful waterfalls. Our present on Rebecca's birthday was to
see the lammergeyer, a bird that had been eluding us for ages.
We both had a mild panic attack when, at the Tinbar Waterfall viewpoint,
Abdul decided that we needed a photo with him and Rebecca and promptly
picked her up and climbed down to a rock behind which was a 100 metre sheer
drop. I'm sure the photos will be blurred. We were very pleased when they
climbed up again. Aish!!
When the scenery changed back to cultivated fields (can't get used to this
in a national park) we turned around and headed for Simien Lodge for a
birthday lunch. We all had the set 3-course menu and were absolutely
stuffed. After lunch, we set off for Debark where we dropped Abdul and then
twisted and turned our way through the mist back to Gonder.
On the way back we stopped at the Goha Hotel for a drink. Nice view but
another tired hotel. Getting back to Belegez was like getting home. They
were experiencing a power cut so supper was out of the question. Luckily we
were still digesting lunch.
We were in bed early and played Uno until BW, the birthday weasel, was
ready to sleep. We hung her birthday cards up in the tent which makes it
look really colourful.
So she did get Gelada Baboons for her birthday after all!!

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STOP PRESS: Rebecca turns 6

Thank you to everyone who sent SMS or email wishes to Rebecca for her
birthday. She was overwhelmed.
She had a great day as you'll see from the next post.
Keep messages rolling in. Receiving them at the moment is a challenge.
although sending any is impossible!!

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Addis Take 2

Well, it's now Friday 12 September as I write this and we are still at the
Addis View Hotel. The Ethiopian New Year has come and gone. They are now in
2001. Most of the sheep that we saw walking around the capital on and
before New Year's Eve have been slaughtered and eaten. On New Year's Day we
saw the pelts being collected and presumably sold. The butchers face a lot
of competition here, mostly from the man in the street.
The weather has been mixed with loads of rain and we are now ready to move
on. The Egyptian visa was pretty painless and luckily we collected it same
day (after being told to come back the following day) which helped a lot
with the Sudanese side of things as they are only open Monday, Wednesday
and Friday. 8:40 am Wednesday morning found us at the Sudanese Embassy with
Jaco and Morne from SA travelling on their motorbikes and Fabian from
Belgium. Us whiteys were all told to sit together. What followed was a
lesson in how not to manage a process. We handed our passports in and after
a while they came back with a form to be filled in. Of course we needed a
copy of the Egyptian visa so off I went to the photocopy shop down the road
to organise that. All documents were then stapled together and off they
went again. We then settled in for a wait until finally at 2:15pm we were
given our documents back and told to move seats to the payment queue.
We sat there for another hour before a man arrived with a suitcase. We then
handed over the $61 each for the visas and were told to come back Friday
2pm. Luckily I had the exact money as change is something that no-one
anywhere we've been so far has ever got!
So all in all we spent over 7 hours at the Embassy and all we achieved was
to complete a form and pay! Aish!

We visited the National Museum to see Lucy, our 3.2 million year old great-
great- great- great-aunt, the Sheraton Hotel to be relieved of an
exorbitant amount of money for coffee and cake, and the Ghion Hotel to see
if it was nicer than the Addis View and was it? – No way!! More expensive,
very tired-looking and full for some strange reason.
We have enjoyed the free internet access at our hotel and have made the
most of being able to catch up with emails. We've also got Rebecca's
journal up to date which was an amazing achievement. We have drunk copious
cups of the most delicious coffee. We are ready to hit the road and
hopefully get camping again!

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Addis, it's Capital!

Awasa to Bale Mountains
There was a power cut around the Hotel Pinna area and the pastries weren't ready for our breakfast so instead we took a walk down to the lakeside. On the way we found the Lewi Hotel which looked newly built with a great café and power so we stopped there for coffee and doughnuts. We then checked out the lake, drew money and found the telecoms place where Kaz was able to place calls to Pamela in the UK and granny in SA. Not having outgoing communication is a real pain.
Then set off to Dodola en route to the Bale mountains. It is a bit of a trek eastwards and it means backtracking but given that it is the home of the Abyssinian wolf and numerous endemic bird species it is a trip we were determined to do. The road all the way is under construction and it is a real mess. The rainy season compounded by the heavy commercial traffic turns parts of it into a quagmire and real heavy going. The road also climbs over a mountain before climbing again towards the town of Dinsho, near the Bale park HQ. Funnily enough the Chinese, that well known road building nation, have the contract for this road and with a completion date of 12 March 2009 they don't have a hope in hell of completing it…unless of course they are using the Ethiopian calendar, in which case it's still 9 years away, and then they are in with a small chance!
The people in this region remind us of the Basotho with their horses and blankets. They have a penchant for white horses so the car kept resounding with the sound of; "White horse, white horse. Bring me good luck. Cross my fingers till I see a dog." Luckily there was no shortage of these either.
We got to Dodola just as a huge storm was brewing and checking out the dodgy camping option we decided to press on to the national park, a further 70+kilometres. The road and visibility grew worse but we soldiered on. Tom Cruiser was covered in mud and he'd only had a wash in Awasa!

After a 7 hr, 200 km drive we drove through the park gates. Hooray! Now, just to find the campsite.

Tom Cruiser, you old stick-in-the-mud!

We followed the signs to Dinsho Lodge and in the twilight found the campsite sign. We turned up the road and then the fun started. The road was really wet and muddy. We slipped and slid up and over some muddy sections until we got to a point about 300 metres from the top of the road when Tom Cruiser's tyres had turned into slicks and lost all traction. We couldn't go up and because of a large ditch behind us we couldn't go down either. We were well and truly stuck! We walked down to the lodge in the evening gloom to see if we could rustle up some muscle. We tracked down 2 guys who walked up with us to view the damage. Instead of mounting a rescue operation in the dark, we decided to call it a night. We brewed some coffee and hot chocolate which we had with doughnuts and spent a very "slopey" and chilly night in the tent.
The next morning we packed up a wet tent and, together with the help of some visitors staying in the lodge, we managed to extricate Tom Cruiser from the mud and reversed back to the lodge and set ourselves up in the carpark. There was no sign of our so-called Samaritans from the night before!
Of course the road to the campsite is supposed to be closed in the rainy season but it seems to be too much trouble to indicate it as such!

The Bale Mountain National Park is beautiful and the scenery more than makes up for the awful access road. We spent the day in the campsite doing washing (clothes and car) and journaling. We weren't able to walk or go anywhere in the park without a guide so we booked Abu for the following day to drive to the Sanetti Plateau for some wolf and bird spotting.

Abyssinian wolves, Abyssinian catbirds, Abyssinian hares
This country has loads of endemics and we drove off to the Sanetti Plateau via the muddy towns of Robe and Goba to find some of them. En route to the summit, which tops out at 4391metres, we were lucky enough to see 8 of these endangered wolves (they are jackal-like but bigger with orange-reddish fur and a white neck – I'll try to post a picture in due course), blue winged geese, black headed siskins, and more. The vegetation changed the higher we climbed and we ended up in alpine scrub complete with giant lobelias and alpine chats. At the summit we walked around the telecoms installation in an icy wind that threatened to blow us over the edge. We didn't have time to drive down to the Harenna forest and to be honest didn't fancy an additional 80km round trip in a day. If we'd thought about it we could have planned a night's stopover in the forest but that would also have meant another day's guide fee and all the rest. So we can do that next time!
Back in camp we made the most of our daily guiding fee with a short bird walk around the lodge. We walked up to the campsite we had tried to drive to: What a brilliant view, but no facilities!!

The bally road out of Bale

Up early to a rainy morning, great weather in which to face the long drive out of the Bale mountains. At least this time we knew what to expect and again we ended up with a mud be-splattered car by the time we finally made it back to the main road to Addis. We sped along the tar road towards Lake Langano where we planned to camp at the Bekele Molla hotel as recommended to us by the Italians we met at Lake Nkuruba. We found the turn-off and made our way to the hotel that looked like it was besieged by day trippers from Addis. The camping was expensive, the staff obnoxious and the campsite was basically the car park. We took our leave and looked for something nicer. We found it in the form of the Karkaro cottages. The campsite was secluded, uninhabited and right on the water's edge. Just our kind of place. Oh yes, it was also half the price of the Bekele Molla,, never mind the lack of facilities at Karkaro, it was far preferable. We cooked popcorn and then pasta and tomato sauce courtesy of Rose.

Addis Ababa

After more than a week in Ethiopia, we were about to set foot in the capital city. We packed up the tent and manage to cook breakfast before the rain came in from across the lake. We splashed our way back to the main road and Kaz dodged suicidal donkeys, goats and people all the way into the city. Addis did not let us down. The roads into the city are as bad as those into all the other African cities we've driven into this trip. Our first stop was the Egyptian Embassy to see if they were open. Not open for business so we started looking for accommodation. We found the Addis View Hotel not far from the embassy so we decided to base ourselves there for the next day or so while we check out the other options some way away. The hotel has a great view over the city and TV!! Rebecca is in her element; television and an en suite bathroom with a loo that flushes. What bliss!

Ethiopia in sight!

Ethiopia

We got through Ethiopian immigration okay. They have state-of-the-art Dell computers but still write all the details in a book. They actually asked us for our Vaccination cards, that's a first. Customs was another story with Mr. Officious-and-rude on duty. He took ages to get to us, filled out a new customs form for us and then wanted to inspect the vehicle, another first. With that behind us we went to Birruk's house to exchange cash. We had decided not to take a guide into the Omo Valley with us as we were only planning to visit some of the towns in the valley and not venture into either of the national parks, so Birruk was quite disappointed. We also thought we'd rather use that money to upgrade our accommodation in Addis if possible.   

By now the day was drawing in (about 4pm) and we'd decided to push onto Yabello, another 220 kms. One thing in our favour was the fact that it was a tarred road, albeit a pretty narrow one.  We rolled through the countryside on the right hand side of the road feeling a lot younger. The Ethiopian calendar is a bit different to ours and they are in December 2000.  That means that Rebecca is yet to be born, Kaz and I are nearly 8 years younger!

 

It was already dark when we rolled into the Yabello Motel for the night. We were shown to the campsite, well, the grotty bare patch of yard already occupied by a donkey and a couple of cows. We then ate in their restaurant. Kaz and Rebecca had pasta (spaghetti bollonize and spaghetti nappollonize)and I had my first taste of classic Ethiopian fare. It was injera and all sorts of different sauces, marked on the menu as "local verities dish". Injera is a large grey pancake, quite rubbery and rather tasteless. It serves as a plate for the sauces and also a spoon as you break a piece off and then scoop up the sauce and pop it all in your mouth. I don't really see it making the big time.

 Tooth fairy hits Ethiopia

The next day (30 August) Rebecca lost her second tooth and, yep, she swallowed it again!!! This time we suspect on a piece of French toast. Luckily we moved straight into a well practised drill. Write letter, carry it around the car a couple of times, pop it under the pillow and hope for the best. The next morning the letter was gone and a 5Birr note was found in its place. A miracle!! 

 How green is my Omo Valley
Before heading off for the Omo Valley, we wanted to have a drive through the Wildlife Sanctuary to see if we could spot 2 endemic bird species that occur in this area. Never mind spotting the birds, we couldn't even find the sanctuary! We were spotted though, by some customs officials who pulled us off the road to check our customs declaration form. We called it quits and headed off for the Omo Valley. Most of the roads are being worked on and are tarred in parts or being prepared for tarring which means loads of diversions; as if the roads aren't windy enough!

We planned to head for Turmi for their market day on Monday. Unfortunately Tracks4Africa had a Turmi and a Tumi, We headed for Turmi and ended up in the wrong spot. Turns out Tumi on Tracks should be Turmi and Turmi should be "only they know". It was too late in the day to get to the real Turmi so we headed for Key Afar, the closest village. We are very glad we did as our experience there turned our preconceived views of the locals on its head. There was no "you!, you!, you!" we were told to expect. Instead it was; "do you need a campsite? I'll show you where". When we found the spot they directed us to, it was to be our first night of wild camping and in Ethiopia of all places. We were in a clearing between some mango trees just off the Jinka road. We got our camp set up with about 12 or so very interested onlookers. Kaz couldn't help as she had 2 little kids holding her hands the whole time. We started the Jiko to cook some pasta and one of our ringleaders ran home to bring us more charcoal, another went to bring some burning coals and then one of the girls took up a position fanning the fire. Not once did any  begging hand come out so our preconceptions went crashing out the window and we then realized that we were directed to Key Afar for a special reason. No doubt we'll get to see the other side too but this was a nice intro to the country. The next morning we headed off to the Real Turmi and found a great camping spot at Kaske Campsite on the banks of the dry Kaske riverbed just outside the town. We visited the market and had lunch in town before retreating to our campsite.

The Omo valley is really beautiful and the people are very different. We didn't venture too far into the valley as we were guideless but our time there was really special. The Hamer and Banna people were predominantly the tribes we saw as they live around the Turmi and Key Afar region. After 2 nights at Kaske where we also met an American doctor, Rose, travelling alone and an Italian couple, we headed out of the valley to Arba Minch. Rose has had a tough time travelling alone as she was always mobbed by the villagers and then charged spurious entrance fees which we didn't really experience at all.

Sitting out around our fire that evening with Rose after our macaroni & tomato sauce/baked beans on toast meal, we suddenly heard water running! We got the maglite, looked out and the Kaske River had started running! We couldn't believe it. The catchment area must have been up north because the Omo Valley was pretty hot and dry.  It was still running in the morning but not so much that Tom Cruiser couldn't deal with on our way out.

Omo to Arba to Awasa

Leaving the beautiful and remote valley, we received a text message letting us know that Kaz's aunt in Manchester, Pauline, had died. Devastating news. It is at times like these that we feel so helpless and isolated from everyone. We wished we could have been closer and able to play a more immediate supporting role. We sat at dinner that night overlooking the lakes and drank a toast to Pauline and sent love to all the family through the ether. After a long days drive to Arba Minch, we camped at the Bekele Molla Hotel overlooking 2 lakes Chamo and Abaya, still part of the Rift Valley. We ate in the hotel and had an early night. Nothing really to keep us in Arba Minch so after breakfast again at the hotel (splashing out here!) we set off for Awasa. This was a monster drive of about 280 kms and on these roads quite a challenge for Tom and his crew. Most of the early driving gave us some good views of Lake Abaya, it is massive and a reddy-brown colour which looks quite strange. It I caused by a high concentration of ferrous something-or-other. OK enough of the technical details. In Awasa, also on a lake, yep Lake Awasa, we wanted to stay at the Adenium campsite but unfortunately it has closed as the German proprietress and her Ethiopian husband have gone back to Germany. No other camping options presented themselves so we have taken a room at the Hotel Pinna. It seems to be a favourite with the tour operators and while not "The Grace" it will do for the night.  

 Ethiopia so far

Some things that stand out for us after being in the country for a couple of days. These are:
Roads are not for cars…don't be silly, they are for cattle, goats and people. Even the ones being constructed in the Omo Valley are well used even before they are finished.
Ethiopian coffee is fantastic and soooo cheap. A coffee or really the equivalent of our espresso costs about R1.50.
Food is cheap. Bowl of spaghetti bolognaise is about R18 and really good.
Italian rolls and nice bread has made an entrance. Probably the best rolls since we left Mocambique.
Kids do a stupid dance on the side of the road and then expect to be paid?? Who stops to give these kids money or stuff for this? Someone must otherwise they wouldn't do it…would they??

Well, that's it until hopefully another update when we get to Addis.

 

 

 

Communication

Communication here is tough. Text messages that were sent to us on Sunday, we only received on Tuesday. We are unable to send text messages and we don't seem to be able to access our emails on the phone. There is only one service provider and so we are at their mercy.

We have been able to access and clear the large emails in our inbox in Awasa so we can again receive emails. Please keep the contents small and attachments to a minimum.

We will try to check again in Addis but we have been warned that broadband and wireless here makes South Africa's offerings look stratospherically speedy!!

Goodbye Kenya

Kampala to Kenya

We finally dragged ourselves from Red Chilli Hideaway and plotted a course to Kenya. This after a bit of a saga getting our Cadac gas bottle filled. This was done after much wailing and gnashing of teeth caused by some idiot who had collected the bottle unnecessarily and then deciding to pay himself an undisclosed R50 handling fee. Not a lot of money, but the principle!!

 The drive from Kampala led us back onto the diabolical Jinja road which we did in the pouring rain and amidst road works. Unfortunately the guys who manage the traffic flow generally wave both the red and green flags at you so you are none the wiser. They also directed us onto a road with newly laid tar but more of that later. The border crossing was uneventful both sides and even the self-appointed helpers took one look at us and stayed away. We were both pretty grumpy. We got back to the car only to find that an entrepreneurial car washer had had a go at the car wiping off the mud but leaving a tar bespattered car. I explained to him that we did not have a contract, verbal or otherwise, and left him penniless. Madam was driving and he got short thrift there too!

 We were heading for Naiberi River camp near Eldoret and eventually arrived there at 9pm: for the third time on this trip breaking our "no driving after dark" rule. Luckily the road condition on the Kenyan side wasn't too bad and the going relatively painless. Hooted at the camp to get in and were glad to get our tent up and crash.

 With the help of Raj, the campsite owner, we got hold of Winam body shop and I spent the next day in Eldoret watching the car being de-tarred and polished. It was a real mess and took 3 guys most of the day to clean it. Very annoying as it had only been cleaned 2 days previously after its service. Of course the gleaming Tom Cruiser and I went through a monster storm on the way back to the campsite! Aaaargh!!

 Eldoret was quite chilly so we dug out the star-shaped hot water bottle Jodie had given us and popped it under the duvet. What bliss!

 Tooth Fairy visits

On 22 August, Rebecca lost her first tooth without even knowing it. We think she lost it biting into a doughnut at our side of the road coffee stop. Of course not having proof for the tooth fairy is fairly serious and calls for some rather drastic action. At the Kembu Campsite outside Nakuru, we quickly penned a quick note of explanation for the tooth fairy which she then had to hold up high and circle the car 5 times. We then popped the letter under her pillow and hoped for the best.
Luckily tooth fairies are pretty sharp and the next morning the note was gone and in its place was a shiny KSh 10 coin. Fantastic!

 We caught up with Glen, Thandi and family at Kembu! It was great to see them all. They are heading home after 6 weeks in Ethiopia and we have still that to look forward to. The kids were in their element. They played and played until 9pm both nights we were together. It is amazing how Rebecca and Galen just clicked from the first time they met at Peponi. Can you believe that Kembu is back in the Southern Hemisphere? I think this must be the fourth time we've crossed the Equator, pretty sure that this will be the last time for a while.

 Eldoret to Nakuru and beyond

The road from Eldoret southwards was horrendous, made worse by the fact that this was the main Kampala-Nairobi road. The Kembu campsite is on a working dairy and thoroughbred horse stud farm. We went on a tour of the farm and while watching the cows being milked our little princess was holding her nose, so I think that probably puts paid to her career as a farmer!

After a leisurely breakfast with Glen and family, we set off for Lake Bogoria, hoping to also meet up with Matt and Sue who, like Glen, were making their way southward albeit at a more relaxed pace.
We took a short cut to the lake, coming into a little used south gate. We then handed over all our shillings for entrance fee, vehicle entrance fee, camping fee, being alive fee, mzungu from a foreign country fee etc..
We checked out Fig Tree campsite where we lit a quick fire and had mince jaffles. As we were leaving to check out the other camping options, who should we drive into? Yep, Matt & Sue!
It was great to catch up with them at Acacia campsite which was in a great location and the banks of the lake were full of lesser flamingos. They looked like a packet of marshmallows, all pink and white.

The next morning we visited the hot springs, not as impressive as Rotorua but then not as smelly either. We then went our separate ways, Matt and Sue to Uganda and us moving ever more northwards.

We were about to set off along what will probably be the worst roads we'll face on our trip, bar none. It looks like: good roads to Maralal, poor roads to Loiyangalani on Lake Turkana, bad road to Marsabit and shocker to Moyale. The good thing is that we only have to do them once unlike those who loop into Ethiopia and down again.
Just north of Lake Bogoria, we stopped for morning coffee overlooking Lake Baringo, also with hot springs but without the flamingos.  

 Camel country

Our next stop was Maralal where they hold an annual camel derby. What a pity, we missed it by about 3 weeks, it was held early August. Nice campsite, but shocking loos. The road out of Maralal towards Loiyangalani was quite a challenge, really rocky in places, a bit like van Zyl's pass in places but on a smaller scale. We climbed rapidly up to over 2500m and then down again through the Samburu Hills. The landscape is amazing and what better way of chewing up the kilometres than to put the Lion King soundtrack on full belt as we sped (well; crawled, rattled and shook) through real Lion King country.  

As we'd left Maralal later than expected after shopping, drawing money and filling up with diesel, we didn't want to arrive too late at Lake Turkana so, at about 4pm, with about 90 kms to go, we stopped at the Teiyo River community campsite in Kurungu, just outside South Horr for the night. Once we got the campsite cleared of all undesirables and got the tariff sorted, we cooked and had an early night. Rebecca watched her Alice in Wonderland DVD.     

 Lake Turkana

With only 90 kms to go we took a leisurely drive to the lake. The road was rocky and the last 25kms especially so, with layers of sharp lava rock being called a road. Our coffee stop was in a dry river bed and gone is the cold weather of Kampala and Eldoret, this has been replaced by heat and wind, lots of it!

It is no surprise that they call Lake Turkana, the Jade Sea. Its colour gives it away. The shore of the lake is made up of volcanic rock and while it looks the most hostile of environments, it is home to about 6 different tribal groups and their donkeys, camels and goats. We came across many settlements made up of tiny beehive huts covered in all sorts of material, from grass to old material to plastic bags.

Boy, does the wind blow here! We are camped at the Shady Palms campsite which is fine except no view of the lake at all. It's a good job the road hugs the shoreline for 20 or so kilometres otherwise you may not get to see it. After reading the Lonely Planet who raved about the meal but thought the accommodation expensive, we decided that a drink and lunch at Oasis Lodge would be in order. Well, this place seems to be run by a descendant of some Nazi wanted for war crimes that has being lying low out here in the sticks. It was only 12:46 but we were too late for lunch! Lunch takes 2 hours, he says. OK, we say, how about a drink then? Well, this is a private club, he says. Get knotted, we think and off we go to our campsite for our own drinks and lunch. It is amazing how wrong Lonely Planet is about most things. Half the time they should be called "some other planet".

Shady palms, my eye. More like "windy palms". We hardly slept as we were convinced that the tent was going to be torn from the roof rack. The poles holding the fly sheet were bent double and we were both up in the night to secure the roof. Not sorry when morning came and we had a quick breakfast and got on the road. Another 230km or so day.

We are now busy with our big "push" northwards. Some heavy driving lies ahead. From Loiyangalani to Marsabit and then the supposed "worst road in Africa" from Marsabit to the border town of Moyale and then Ethiopia here we come.

 Turkana to Marsabit

We took a "short cut" from the lake which cuts out some of the southern road to the junction with the Marsabit road. While it was probably shorter distance wise, it certainly wasn't time wise. It was a challenging road but good fun. We shook, rattled and rolled along the road which ranged from sharp volcanic rock to corrugations to large boulders.

 We were all really tired when we got to Henry's Camp in Marsabit. There we met the Yorkshire couple of Andy and Edie whom we'd heard about from the Italians at Lake Nkuruba. They were easy to spot as their green Defender has a white front door. We were hoping for a good nights sleep but Andy told us that Marsabit is also a very windy spot. They had the same tent as us and they'd removed the entire top cover. The Marsabit environment is a pretty hostile one: Thorn trees, yellow grass and loads of wind. Why Henry, a Swiss guy, has lived here for 30 years I don't know. Not sorry he does as Mrs Henry runs a bakery and we stocked up on delicious rolls and loaves of bread. Knackered from lack of sleep at the lake, we did sleep marginally better. Kaz did some washing and boy is this good drying weather.

 Marsabit to Moyale

Andy and Edie set off at first light and we had a quick breakfast and followed them around 8:30 once we'd drawn money from the brand-new KCB ATM and filled up with diesel and air. Stanbic has not been so great for us in Kenya. Its branches are few and far between. We were expecting a long day's drive to Moyale and were actually really pleased with the road and our progress. We had a great coffee stop in the middle of nowhere watching herds of camels on the plains. No bandits and no really bad stretches of road. It was bone-shaking in parts but at least we could rattle along at around 55kms/hr. Far better than our average speed on the main Kampala-Nakuru road in Kenya where we were lucky to go over 20kms/hr and that's supposed to be a main road. We had planned to overnight at the Kenyan Wildlife Society campsite on the Kenyan side of the border but when we trundled in at 2:30 we thought it too early to set up camp so we decided to push on. Bought some fruit and cold drinks with our last Kenyan shillings and headed for the border. We cleared immigration and customs relatively quickly on the Kenyan side once the man with the stamp had been tracked down anyway. In no-mans land we were "found" by Birruk, the Ethiopian guide whom Glen and family had used in the Omo valley.

Goodbye Kenya…hello Ethiopia!!