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22/04/2009

Our car is now serviced. There were no major problems for which we are extremely grateful. Today we must organise our visa’s.

First stop is the Egyptian embassy because we need to show Sudan which country we are going to before we can get a Sudanese visa.

First we decide to take a walk to the embassy but it turns out to be a very long walk. Then we negotiate with a taxi driver to take us there. After explaining to the staff at the Egyptian embassy that we do not have a carnet and if they can arrange for us to enter the country without one, it at first seems as if they can do it. We leave our passports and are told to collect it at 4 o’clock.

Only when we returned to Holland House did we remember that the Ethiopians are on a different clock. They are 6 hours behind western time so we were not sure whether we have to be there at 16h00 the same day or 10h00 the next morning.

20/04/2009

Jens is a fellow camper and he is travelling from Germany to South Africa. We both leave with Joseph to get our car’s washed before the cars get serviced. The washing bays in Addis are very sophisticated with pressure hoses, oil changes, lubrication and minor repairs done on the spot.

Our car is extremely dirty and the water runs brown from all the mud coming off from the engine compartment and underneath the car. I think we lost another 50kg in dirt.

All we do now is relax. The food and beer at Holland House is very good and reasonable. Internet access in Ethiopia is extremely slow which explains why the website has not been updated in weeks. We use Holland House’s internet connection and it takes about one hour to log onto the mail server and send 2 messages. This is the same for the rest of our stay in Ethiopia.

Addis has some good coffee shop and the one close to us, Adduso has some really good pastries and coffee and is always busy.

Close to new York, New York we also discover an Indian restaurant. I tell the waiter we have limited funds and he organises two platters for us that contains heaps of food for less than 100birr for the four of us.

19/04/2009

Today we will reach Addis. The road is much of the same. Up and down but the countryside is getting dryer the closer you get to Addis. There are some huge flower growers and we see some growers with more than 500 tunnels in which to grow flowers.

One thing that stand out about Ethiopia is that every single person begs for something. Either for 1 Birr or a pen/highlighter. Why the UN don’t bomb the country with 80 million pens is beyond me. It seems to me that if everybody had a pen there will be no need for the continuous begging. Instead you have all these UN Toyota Landcruizer racing around the country from one point to another doing who knows what?

When we reach Debre Zeit, which is only 60km from Addis we want to put in some more fuel but we have no money. Trying to exchange money is a bit more difficult. All the banks are closed and the petrol station don’t want to accept Dollars. Eventually we find a hotel that are prepared to exchange money and offer us a good rate for Dollars.

Entering Addis feels good. It is a big city with anything that you require. There are 6-lane roads, traffic lights and every kind of shop you might need.

First stop is New York, New York. An eatery that serves good western style food at affordable prices.

Now we have to find Holland House. It was recommended to us in Nairobi and is close to the bus station. Eventually we locate it. It is next to the Djibouti train station in, what looks like a restricted road and dead-end.

The place is owned by Wim and Rachel and you will look far and wide to find more friendlier and helpful people. The parking area is quite small but we manage to fit it, and as we saw later, there is space for some really big campers.

We originally planned on checking our car into Toyota for a service and check over but Wim organises for a local mechanic to come do all the work at his place. The guy’s name is Joseph And he is much cheaper than what you will pay at Toyota. Another advantage is that I could spend the whole time with him and learn more about the car.

18/04/2009

Today we want to get to Addis Abbeba and there is only a 100km to Yabello where we will get tarmac road all the way to Addis.

About 30-km before Turmi we were actually allowed to drive on the new tarmac road and it was quite a celebration of people getting out and kissing the road. This was the first tarmac since Isiolo in Kenya.

When we reached Yabello we stopped over at the Yavello Motel for our first traditional Ethiopian meal which consists of Njera and a variety of toppings of dahl and other vegetables. This was not to anybody’s liking to now we are apprehensive of what we are going to eat for the rest of our time in Ethiopia.

Zelda exchanged some Dollars for Birr from some other travellers while in Nairobi so we don’t have enough birr to fill up completely. The exchange rates we are offered in Yabello does not sound to great so we only fill up one tank before heading off on the tar road to Addis. From Yabello to Addis it is 560km but the road is up and down continuously. It is not that winding but you are never on a level stretch of road and there are hardly a few kilometres where there is not a village. The result is that you cannot do this stretch in one day.

When we reached Dilla, which is still 360km from Addis, it was already dark and we had to find a place to stay. The roads are filled with people and there are hundreds of little shops and restaurants. We find the Lalibella Hotel where we can camp in the courtyard. It is a delightful hotel in a quite area. There is even a tv room. The room is a bit more, 70Birr, and the manager won’t budget on the price. We set up our own shower to get warm water.

While waiting for Zelda to prepare supper, Ivan and myself take a walk the few blocks to town. It is busy, with thousands of people who are out for a stroll. We come across a modern coffee shop that even serve confectionary and has an reasonable selection of ice cream.

Just as we finish supper there is a power failure and we all decide to return to the coffee shop. That section of town still has power so we spend a good few hours at the coffee shop. Although disappointed that we did not reach Addis it turns in to a lovely evening in a delightful town. Don’t pass Dilla without stopping.

17/04/2009

From Turmi it is dirt road all the way to Konso although they are busy with a brand new road. One year later and we could have driven on it.

Compared to what we have gone through on the Lake Turkana route this is good road, although corrugated. The scenery is spectacular. Ethiopia is a beautiful country and the country side is green, with big tracts of land being cultivated. We pass through numerous little villages, and what we find quite strange, there is a boom gate at the entrance to the village. Often it is not even a boom but a piece of wire, or rope, across the road and you are supposed to stop. Somebody will then come along, untie the wire/rope and you can pass through. We would not determine the meaning of all this.

On the way to Konso we cross a bridge across the Muhe river. It is a metal bridge but the floor area consists of loose metal beams and if we did not see a big truck pass us earlier we would have thought the bridge unsafe. As it was, there was quite a few of these metal beams missing and our tyres were any narrower the wheels would have got stuck in the supporting beams. As it was it was scary to drive across and watch all the action 50 meters below you through the gaps in the floor.

In Konso, don’t even bother looking for Konso campsite. We could not find it and instead camped in the property of the Konso Edget Hotel. It is situated right at the main circle as you get into town and you cannot miss it. There is a big restaurant/bar situated at the entrance with a very festive atmosphere on the night we were there. A room costs 70Birr (1Birr = R0.90) but we settled on 35Birr because we slept in the car. We could use the toilet and shower in the room, which was clean although with cold water.

When we last spoke with Goldie and Netta in Nanyuke they said we will not find a western toilet in Ethiopia so I was relieved to find one in this room.

As a family we have started our own challenge to see who can buy the best, or most, of anything with $1. At this stage everybody is still playing a strategic game of waiting to see what the other guys are going to buy.

We have also met some really nice people from Europe that has said to come visit them once we reach Europe so we decided to extend our One Dollar Challenge to any person, group or company that feel like making a contribution to our trip.

It basically works like this. You offer us anything you want for $1. We decide whether we want to accept it and if we do then once we meet up we will give you $1 in exchange for whatever you offered.

Example: You offer to buy us a beer when we reach Paris. When we reach Paris and contact you we will exchange you our $1 for a beer.

Of course you can offer anything. Maybe a room for a night, a meal, a guided tour or whatever you are prepared to exchange for $1. Once we take you up on your offer we pay you $1.

If you have something to offer us please e-mail us on ericus@north-bound.co.za Keep in mind we are 2 adults and 2 children.

You can enter your own offer here. Just remember to send us your contact details as well.

We will display everything that anybody has offered us on this page and our heartfelt thanks to everybody that has taken the time and trouble to respond.

Play along. It can be fun.