Ethiopia

We crossed into Ethiopia just over a week ago after a challenging drive on the notorious Marsabit to Moyale road out of Kenya. This is probably the worst road we have travelled on so far and yet, it is the main road between Kenya and Ethiopia.  It took us six hours to do 250 km and at times we were literally crawling over rocks. The landscape is mostly desert with the Great Rift Valley mountain ranges on the left of us. Every truck passing us totally engulfed us in sand like the one approaching below.

About half way into the journey we encountered our first sandstorm and you could actually feel the dust between your teeth despite all the windows firmly shut. It is hard to believe that people live in such a hostile environment but we saw these little settlements along the way so they obviously do.

The road is notorious also for random bandit activity so we were advised to form a convoy with other cars.  We teamed up with a South African couple, Pete and Charlotte, who are on a one year overland trip to Europe and who had been waiting just south of Marsabit to join a convoy. Apart from the terrible road conditions the country side was stunning and not something any of us had ever seen before. You can see for yourself in the picture below and imagine this 360 degrees around you with the odd camel here and there.

The day had been long and we were all relieved to reach the Ethiopian border. There we were kept waiting since the border officials had gone for lunch. This being the main border crossing from Kenya into Ethiopia!

We finally left the border post at 4pm and were slightly disheartened when our GPS didn’t show a campsite for at least 120km. It gets dark here between six and seven and one of our golden rules is not to travel in the dark. We pushed on feeling strong in numbers and were immediately struck by the difference in landscape. Everything was lush and green with the road winding up and down the mountains. And it was a tarred road which was such a relief. However we soon discovered that the main way of transport in Ethiopia is walking (bicycle in Malawi, moped in Tanzania) and walking in the middle of the road as much as possible. The same goes for dogs, goats, sheep and cattle.  We also noticed children of all ages suddenly running across the street right in front of our cars and found out the next day that this is one of their favourite dare devil games.  So were back travelling at impossible speeds despite the good road. Every few hundred meters or so you see dead animals lying in the middle of the road.

We reached our final destination at around 8pm feeling utterly exhausted. It was a lodge which didn’t really have a campsite but allowed us to camp in their car park just off the main road and use their toilets and showers. Heather and I reached a bit of a low point in our struggle with long drop toilets at this point. There is a thing here I have never seen before where the toilet is also the shower if that makes sense. So you go in to have a shower and someone will have just been to the toilet which is no more than a hole in the floor but you won’t believe the smell in some of these toilets/showers. In this particular establishment boys and girls shared and there was no way of locking the door.

As we headed further inland the next day the countryside became more and more spectacular.  What also strikes you is that everybody is busy here. Men are working the fields with ploughs pulled by oxen, you see children as young as five herding cattle and goats, woman carrying containers of water or bales of hey and firewood, sometimes bend over in half to cope with the load. Little girls carry babies on their backs. And everyone is smiling, with each other and with us.  When you stop anywhere the car is immediately surrounded by children who obviously want money, sweets or food but it is all very good natured and they are mostly excited to see foreigners. One little kid couldn’t stop stroking Ian’s beard. This little guy in the picture below jumped up to our car window and just wouldn’t jump off even as we made attempts to drive off. Look at that smile! My favourite country so far!

 Today is Thursday and we have been in Ethiopia for 4 days now. We are making our way slowly up to Addis Ababa which we would love to avoid but Don & I will try and extend our Ethiopian visas so there is no way around it. We have spent the last two nights and days in a camp called Paradise lodge and that is exactly what it was. It is a camp high up in the mountains overlooking a lake and on arrival we were greeted with a large drink of pure papaya juice and a damp hand towel.  For the first time in days we had the use of a proper hot shower and proper toilets, bliss! And a free laundry service so everything got washed whether it was dirty or not. Screws and bolts were tightened yet again after that terrible road out of Kenya. Yesterday we treated ourselves to a game walk with our very own game ranger.

Today we are on the road again and our destination is the Bale Mountain National Park which lies at an altitude of 4380m so tonight we will have to get the winter pygamas and hot water bottles out. We will literally be travelling 2000 meters up from where we are at the moment and expect a temperature drop of about 20 degrees. The highlight of this park is said to be a pack of Ethiopian mountain wolfs and the fact that you can drive all the way to the top with apparently spectacular views.

The South African couple who joined us in Kenya are still travelling with us. We are enjoying each other’s company very much and as long as we are heading in the same direction it makes sense to stay together. The great thing about overlanders/travellers is that you start sharing things the minute you meet them, tools, food, water, anything you have\need really.

view from our camp in Bayle mountains

our camp in Bayle mountains

It is now day three in our camp in the Bayle mountains and we woke up to a very wet day, something we havn’t really had to deal with so far. When it rains here IT RAINS!  Our camp is at an altitude on 2300 meters so it was very cold last night. Yesterday we took a drive to the highest point of the mountain range 4300 meters but sadly, when we got to about 4100 I got altitude sickness and Don and I had to head down again. The rest of the group managed to go all the way up. We did see two wolfs though so it was worth the trip.

It is now Sunday morning and I am sitting in our rooftop tent with a cup of coffee waiting for the rain to stop so we can pack up and move on. No internet access for the next few days so this blog is just getting longer and longer…