Ethiopia - Part 5

Friday, 9th November

Well, we certainly never thought we would still be here at this point but Ethiopia keeps having a hold on us.

We left Harar last Monday for Addis Ababa. The plan was to wait here for Heather and Ian who were going to follow on as soon as Heather was better. We drove into Wim’s camp where we had stayed before and were greeted by a couple of new overlanders, Shelly and Luke who are on their way north having travelled pretty much the whole of the west coast of Africa and are heading to the UK via Egypt/Turkey.

As soon as we drove in Luke could hear that there was something amiss with our suspension and a visit to the local Toyota garage the next day confirmed that our truck had two damaged shock absorbers L Now almost five days and several phone calls and emails later we have managed to get the company (Iron Man) to DHL the spare parts to Addis and if all goes well they should be fitted on Monday. Meanwhile Heather and Ian arrived back only a day after us and we are all pleased that Heather has made a full recovery.

So what is there to tell you this week? Well, until yesterday pretty much nothing but then Don & I went to have a haircut and I just have to tell you about our experience. 

I was finished almost within 20 minutes so I sat with Don and watched a ritual which had me in stitches...

First there was the hair cut lasting about 40 minutes. Next, his hair dresser took off the drape to give it a shake and as Don tried to get up he was firmly pushed back into the chair and the drape put back on. Out came a warm damp facecloth and the guy proceeded to wipe Don’s head, face, eyes, ears and neck. Then another taking off the drape-Don-getting-up-being-pushed-back-drape-put-on, out came a special tool to clean out nasal hair, ear hair and the bits where the hair line joins the neck. Drape off for a shake, Don trying to get up, Don being pushed back, drape back on. Out came a special kind of gel which was massaged into Don’s face. The above picture shows how Don reacted to that one!

Massage finished, another taking off of drape, Don trying to get up…you get the picture now!

Out came the HAIRSPRAY! Hair spray goes on, hair gets ruffled Bart Simpson style, drape off for a shake, Don trying to get up, agitated at this point…..

Back in the chair the guy starts cutting again….., then combing....then ruffling but settles on combing for the final result. The whole procedure lasted about one hour but it was priceless in entertainment value. Anyway, here is the evidence:

The face wash

The ruffle

The massage

The hair spray

The hug

                              Another tough day in Africa!