Addis and the Rift Valley (and a few photos!)

Fasilidas castle in the Royal Compound at Gonder....

The Royal Baths in Gonder ..... water to follow once finished. One of the rock hewn chuches of Lalibela.... St Georges church and the view from Lalibela.....

The Aksum equivalent of the Rosetta stone.....

The largest standing monolith in Aksum's Stele field. The tomb of the false door in Aksum (no hidden levers).

A budgie, parrot bird like thing in the hills above Gonder. The hills North of Gonder....

7 March 2007

A lazy day on the banks of lake Tana. Spend most of the morning trying to get my laptop to work properly as it either wont start up or freezes as soon as I start typing. Needless to say the continuation of this blog is very much dependant on a working laptop and I certainly don’t want to stop now I have got this far. Other than that its been time spent sorting photos for Tom and Dave and getting washing done. Did go for a walk round Barha Dar but did not really achieve much.

8 March 2007

Very much heading back on ourselves so its back to the top of the Blue Nile gorge for the evening. A strange old place and we are all slightly nervous as Dave is cooking. While a very good cook Dave has a reputation for making things ‘a little cheeky’. For those not familiar with Dave’s cooking this means sneaking in as many chillies as he can get away with and then telling everyone he has put two in the pot when four have gone in. He is the only person I have ever met who can order the hottest of curries and have a pile of ten raw and vicious chillies as a side dish. Tonight Dave is strangely subdued and the chillies are kept at bay an we retire to the bar for the evening where Tom and I try to liberate the 5ft ‘Sensations’ advert which is a cardboard cut out of Miss Ethiopia. There is no doubt she would be a great accessory for our journey and would fit nicely in the back window of the truck. Unfortunately, while the bar staff are keen to do a deal, the manager is somewhat less than cooperative and refuses to discuss terms so she stays put. One of the locals does offer us her phone number should we want to contact her on our arrival in Addis but the real thing is no substitute for the cardboard 2 dimensional version so we politely decline.

9 March 2007

A bumpy ride back through the stunning Blue Nile gorge and it takes us nearly two and a half hours to do the 37km of valley sides. The steep ascent on the far side of the valley sees the petrol cut out such is the angle of the truck. Peter is left to hitch a lift to the local town while we sit and play cards. Arriving in Addis around 3 we have a special treat…..yes it’s a trip to Bimby’s supermarket! Lots of goodies including proper cheese for the first time in months. Unfortunately Mrs Greenfield there were no pastries although Tom and I did search high and low eventually having to make do with some of Mrs Ball’s Hot Chutney. A South African classic to be recommended for anyone travelling to the Cape. A farewell party is being held at the 7 room hotel so we camp on the small lawn. 5 locals are emigrating to Israel and the send off is lively and very good natured and even though the Amharic language barrier is significant we are made to feel very welcome. Much to our amusement Su fights the almost overwhelming urge to get up and dance when two locals serenade her for almost half an hour. An evening out for curry at the Amber restaurant where the whole bill for food and drinks for 7 is less than £18. Why on earth would you emigrate from Ethiopia?

Su resisting the almost overwhelming urge to get up and dance!

10 March 2007

The journey south from Addis leads us through dry open plains and it certainly feels more like the stereotypical Kenya rather than the Ethiopia we are used to. Our plan to stop at one of the Rift Valley lakes (Langano) takes a knock when the three hotels we try are either too expensive or not finished so we push on another 100km to the Unique Park Hotel on the shores of Lake Awasa. A very nice welcome from the staff in the hotel and the huge Maribou Storks that sit in the trees outside. This however pales into insignificance when we discover that the bar has satellite TV from South Africa which can only mean one thing ….. Six Nations! Pure bliss although none of us can quite get our heads round Dave’s rather divided loyalties. Born in England he supports Scotland but has an Irish passport. This means he wants Scotland to win but does not mind when they lose to Ireland and when the Wales v Italy game comes on he wants Wales to win but has a lot of Italian friends so is not bothered when they lose. All very odd and he is ridiculed for the full 160 minutes….not that he is bothered a jot! Bangers and Mash for tea….

Early morning in Addis........

Camels oin the way South to Langano......

11 March 2007

I decline the offer to travel 20km to see the Rasta museum in Shashemene (too much Bob Marley for five lifetimes) and spend some quality blog time in the leafy bar area watching the weaver birds and footy on the telly. Right…been here a while so time for a few Ethiopia facts. 5 times the size of Great Britain Ethiopia has three main languages – Amharic (baffling), Tigrinya and Oromo although a fair number speak English (good job really)! Part of a region that is known as the Cradle of Humanity Ethiopia is unusual among African countries for never having been colonised in the great European scramble for Africa in the 19^th and 20^th centuries despite being overrun by Mussolini’s troops in 1936 (they stayed until 1941 before eventually reversing their tanks all the way home). The only other African country that can boast such independence is Liberia. After the overthrow of Haile Selassie in 1974 a clique of junior army officers imposed a military dictatorship. Mengistu Haile Mariam emerged as leader of the Derg, the new governing party. He threw out the Americans (if only!), instituted some radical reforms, banned church activities and appealed to the USSR for economic aid. Months of chaos and excess followed as the country slipped into disorder. The Eritreans stepped up their guerrilla campaign and the Somalis invaded and claimed the Ogaden desert. While the regime was at the point of collapse it retained power through the massive intervention of Soviet and Cuban troops. 1990 saw the end of the cold war and Russia withdrew troops from all fronts, another major famine ravaged the country and the Derg collapsed. Despite battles on all sides and 6 million facing famine the new regime somehow managed to turn the corner moving Ethiopia towards democracy and the first ever Parliamentary elections in 1995. If you want to know more…get an encyclopaedia or go to a library! 30,000 words plus….the blog continues.

The rest of the afternoon is pretty lazy and spent watching Spurs throw away a golden opportunity against Chelsea in the cup quarter final. My request to watch the Rugby afterwards is declined as ‘Ethiopians prefer National Geographic’ this I can cope with but when the channel is turned over so they can watch Melrose Place my level of understanding drops a little. Eventually we manage to catch the last 25 minutes of the match! Hugely worthwhile and nice to take the Grand Slam off the French. Still not sure who Dave was supporting but as usual with Dave there was a hint of Garlic and Onions in his allegiance. To the Tower with him I here you say!

12 March 2007

Some kindly sole has waltzed off with my phone so the first port of call is to the Internet café in Shashemene (given to the Rastas by Haile Selassie) to report it stolen before heading south west on a very dodgy road to Arba Minch which sits on the southern tip of Lake Abaya a rich and fertile area with banana and tobacco plantations and livestock a plenty. One suicidal cow tries to throw itself under the truck by making a sharp left when we are less than 5 metres away. Not sure how Peter avoided it! On arrival in Arba Minch we try out 5 hotels before finding one with any space. The one Overland Club used last time is now a beauty college. Tom is still keen to stay there but there is only so much they can achieve when still learning their trade! And, more importantly Tom and I are cooking tonight…the first time we have cooked on charcoal. Not the quickest of operations and the chilli and pasta takes a good two hours. Good scran though even if I do say so myself.

13 March 2007

Wake at 5 to the sound of the local church who are competing with the local Mosque in the call for prayer. Two hours of singing/wailing which is blasted out to the entire town through loud speakers strapped to the tower. Luckily our hotel is only 30 yards away so we feel the full benefit! Our plan today is to go and see the Mursi tribe. They may be familiar to you at home as they are the ones who wear the lip plate. At the time of writing cost seems to be a major issue as the want $150 a day which is extortionate given Ethiopian prices.