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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