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| 02/05/2009 |
We sleep in. Nobody bothers us because they probably think we are booked into the hotel. Debark is also a big place and today is market day. The streets are busy with everybody going to the market with their goats, sheep, cattle, food and whatever else they want to trade.
Tickets to enter the Simian National Park costs 150Birr. That includes the fee for the car, the compulsory guide and two adults. We have stopped paying for the children. First there is an argument about the guide. Why is it necessary? There is no place in the car. Who feeds him? Where does he get water? Etc. etc. There is no way out of it. You have to take a guide even if you are just visiting the Simian Lodge which is close to the entrance of the park.
I am assigned a guide but insist on a smaller one. The big one takes it in a good spirit.
Before we can leave we try and find spare tyres. Nowhere in Debark can we even find a second hand tyre. I also want to check the oil in the car and then realise that Joseph, the mechanic from Addis, has tightened the oil cap so severely that neither I, nor 3 other Ethiopian volunteers can loosen it. Eventually I get it loose by using my belt for leverage.
Just a tip. Don’t let Joseph tighten the oil cap on the engine. He is crazy and he over tightened mine to such an extent that he damaged it.
Eventually we are off into the Simian park. The guide sits quietly in his designated spot. We are only taking a drive up to the lodge where we have a beer and take a few photographs. To really see the mountains you have to go on a hike. For this you pay per day and you have to take a guide and a scout.
On our way out of town we have to pass through the market. You literally have to drive through the market because there are thousands of people together with the stalls all over the road. I drive through slowly because the last thing I want to do here is accidently touch somebody or drive over somebody’s foot.
It is very cold at the Lodge. We enjoyed a quick beer, some hot chocolate and pancakes and headed back to town. The road to Gonder is waiting.
The roads are all dirt roads but very rocky and hard driving. At about 15h00 in the afternoon the exhaust breaks off just beneath the manifold. It is a terrible noise. Luckily somebody stops and joins the two pieces with a piece of rope. The next town is only 4km away so we will try and have the two pieces welded together there.
When we reach Dabat we find a guy who can weld it, but the town only has electricity after 18h00. Sounds like South Africa. So we drive through town to try and find someplace quiet where we can relax for a few hours. To find somewhere quite is not easy but eventually we find a training centre where the guys allow us to park inside.
In the mean time I remove the two pieces of the exhaust that needs to be welded and we discover that there is another welding shop just 100 meters from where we are parked. At 18h00 the power goes on and 30 minutes later the exhaust is repaired and I have fitted it back on. We have a quick shower at the training centre and off we go again.
We arrive in Gonder without any further problems. This is another big town where accommodation should not be a problem. Unfortunately if you arrive so late it makes it difficult to shop around and we had to settle for some crummy hotel where we stayed in a cramped parking area.
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| 01/05/2009 |
We leave Axum and Zelda is driving. The first town we get to is Wurkro and here we get a flat tyre. Not just a puncture. The complete tyre is destroyed and unusable. 17000 km into the trip and our first flat. That’s not bad considering we got 60000km out of this BF Goodrich.
No problem to replace the tyre but it adds to the affair if you have 50 people watching you, 4 guys offering to help and another 3 telling you what to do. Eventually I draw a line in the sand and direct the spectators to one side while I work on the other. If one person put his foot across I’m on him in a flash and direct him to the other side. It works well and they learn quickly. Changing a tyre is teamwork. Zelda starts loosening the spare wheel. Ivan get’s the jack and Zante looks after the nuts and protects all our stuff from fast fingers, not that there was any.
It was now that I discover that the high-lift jack has been broken. It will teach me to lend out my equipment. Luckily I also packed in a hydraulic jack so it’s not a catastrophe.
We try and replace the tyre in the same town but besides the fact that BG Goodrich is not stocked in Ethiopia, it is a problem getting our size tires.
We still have another spare and is took 17000km to get one flat, we reckon it will be some time before we get another. Wrong. This is Africa. Always be prepared for the unexpected.
Debark is still a long way off and we are still going through mountain range after mountain range. It is impossible to describe the countryside if your vocabulary is as limited as mine. It is absolutely amazing and there is not one part of the 250km from Axum to Debark that can be described as uninteresting or boring. There are even some old burnt out tanks left over from the Eritrean/Ethiopian war.
It is already dark and we are still continuing. It is pitch black, no other traffic, no people. Just us and this winding road. The lights just point out dark abysses leading who knows how far down. And then, at 11h00 our second flat tyre of the trip. We are not fazed by anything. Everybody knows there job. Zelda starts loosening the spare, Ivan gets the jack, Zante looks after everything and serves water. Even this late, it is still in the 30 degrees and stifling
Then, suddenly, in the middle of nowhere, in pitch black darkness, there is a voice ‘you, you you.’ Out of the darkness steps 3 guys with AK47’s. They are friendly and like true Ethiopians just want to watch us work. We let them be. 15 minutes later we are back on the road. Now we have no spare tyres left.
At last we reach Debark at 01h00. This night driving is becoming a routine but it’s difficult for us to get some distance without doing it. Our travelling speed is extremely slow.
In Debark the GPS points us the wrong way to the Simian Hotel which is located in town. Eventually we get there and we just park outside the gate. It’s cheaper. Would you believe it… another knock on the door. You, you, you. Can we look after the car? What for? To look out for other people. But there is nobody here but you and if you leave us alone we can rest in peace. Aha. That makes sense so at last we can have some rest.
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| 30/04/2009 |
Axum is supposedly the site of Queen Sheba’s palace. There are also a few stellae’s, the most famous of which was returned by the Italians in 1998.
It is worth a visit because the church is supposed to contain the Ark of the Covenant but I could not talk them into showing us this. Apparently the Ark is guarded by one priest only and nobody else is ever allowed into the room.
There is a good museum at the church containing the crowns and ceremonial dress of quite a few emperors. Nothing is for sale though. At the stellae park there is also a small museum which is worth a visit.
We also take a drive out to Queen Sheba’s palace. It is build of stacked stones and the craftsmanship is really outstanding for something this old. One thing that there is no shortage of in Ethiopia is stones and the Ethiopians are adept at stacking these to form walls and houses. The palace however is even better than the structures they build today. Originally it was a two story building but only the one level remains today.
Queen Sheba’s bath is as big as a Olympic size pool and today it is used as the town’s reservoir.
Lunch was another special affair lost in translation and lasting 2 hours. The food was terrible and the place not memorable else I could have warned you against it.
It was a really good day sightseeing and the children enjoyed the history as well.
travelled from South Africa to Ethiopia and will return again, just taking a slightly different route.
We also meet up with our Italian friends again. They stay in the expensive hotels while we camp out in the parking lots of the cheap hotels.
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| 29/04/2009 |
Early in the morning I get up so we can leave. The parking lot is empty, except for us. How is that for making yourself inconspicuous? Nobody come to ask us any questions or for money so off we go to the real Yohannes for breakfast. The restaurant is still closed but next to it is a modern coffee shop so it’s coffee and cake for breakfast.
From Mekele we head off to Axum. The plan is to visit the ‘men only monastery’ just pass Adigrat. At Adigrat we however neglect to enquire about the correct way because we carry on straight towards Axum and take a turnoff from that road, instead of taking the new road from Adigrat to the monastery.
If we did not already have experience of bad roads we would have turned back. The road to the monastery consists of deep and fine powder that seeps in everywhere in the car. It does not matter that all the windows are closed. Zelda and the children sit in the back with their faces covered in sarongs and still they just breathe in dust.
The road is busy with construction vehicles and they drive at speed. Each time one passes us we have to stop and wait for the dust to settle because you cannot see a thing. In the mean time you just hope that the next construction vehicle will be able to see you on the road.
We reach the monastery and as it is men only, Ivan and I take the walk up the hill to the base of the cliff from where you are supposed to climb to the monastery. The car is immediately surrounded by women and children with outstretched hands so we are happy to get away.
It is a steep walk to the base of the cliff. When we get there it is price negotiation. 100 Birr each plus something for the guide. We settle on 200Birr inclusive.
I’ll go first. According to the guide book it is a 15 meter climb which you can climb out “like a monkey”. It is actually more like 30 meters and you cannot climb it like a monkey, more like an experienced rock climber. They tie a rope around you and then some guy above hoist you up while you do your best to climb up. This is not for me. All the way up I think why did I negotiate about the price. Once I’m up there how will I get down? They will insist I pay them more to let me down again. I don’t want to go up anymore. The guy pulling on the rope above won’t let me down and it becomes a tug of war between us. Him at the top and me 10 meters above the ground. Eventually I make it down again. The guide thinks it is funny and tells me about the 140kg guy that made it up there. Good for him, but I’ll wait till they install a lift.
So we take the long walk back again, and then in the car for the dusty road back and to Axum.
In Axum we find the Abnet hotel which has a big parking area at the back of the hotel. Electricity and water is available and they have a restaurant. The owner claims they serve western style food but when the kids order a pizza they get pizza with potato toppings. It is not to their taste.
Tomorrow we will explore Axum.
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| 28/04/2009 |
When we check out of the hotel the price has suddenly changed to 150 Birr per night. Well we refuse to pay and eventually everybody is happy with the original price of 80Birr per night. It is better in Ethiopia to insist that the price is written down when you reach agreement. Unfortunately foreigners are marked for easy money and most of them just pay up because in Euro or Dollar we are talking about very small amounts.
For us it is a matter of principal to argue over 1Birr and we stick to our principals.
Just outside Lalibela there is another group of travellers overtaking us. Whilst driving we introduce ourselves to Claudia and Luciano. It was not another 10km when we came around a bend to find all four vehicles of the travelling Italians parked and they motioned for us to stop.
There we enjoyed delicious, freshly made Italian coffee and short bread. This group has been visiting Ethiopia for 5-years and they leave their cars in Addis. When they return for their 10 or 14-day holiday they just take their cars and go in a different direction. This year they selected the same direction as the one that we are going in, so we are bound to see more of each other.
As always the country side is spectacular. It is just mountain range after mountain range and we all agree that this is the most beautiful country we have ever seen. Although the country is dry it remains spectacular and everywhere there are small villages hidden in valleys or against the mountainside. You cannot imagine how people can live against the steep slopes, but they do, and the still cultivate the land.
But, wherever you go there is an Ethiopian who needs a pen. They might not have paper, or any need for a pen, but they ask for one out of principle. And you cannot get away from people. You might decide to pull off for a quick bite to eat or for a pee so you find a spot that is really deserted with only a few trees or rocks. Lo and behold, you have just switched off the car when one of the objects that you identified as a rock a few minutes earlier, changes into an human being with an outstretched hand. They have an uncanny ability to transform themselves into rocks or trees.
We reach Mekele at about 17h00 and we don’t feel like driving in the dark again. According to the guide book there is a Yohannus restaurant that serves good food. Mekele is not a small town and eventually we find Yohannus, but it is not a restaurant, it is a hotel. It does’nt look half bad so we enjoy a beer and a meal and then have to find a place to stay.
It is now dark and we look for the Castle Hotel which, according to the guide book, has camping facilities. As we drive we notice various restaurants called Yohannes. We obviously went to the wrong Yohannes because opposite the Castel hotel, there it is, as explained in the guide book. RTFM.
The hotel parking lot is full. We find a place and go to reception to get a price. They want too much in our opinion and we decide to be extra quiet and just sleep in the car without using any facilities. Come morning we’ll just sneak out.
When in bed we hear numerous people coming by and commenting on the car but nobody knocks. The guards outside probably think we have checked into the hotel and we are too far from reception for them to wonder who the occupants of the camper van is.
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