16. Ethiopia Rocks.

Once in Ethiopia the route took us to the South Omo valley, brought to British TV by Bruce Parry in the programme called Tribe. He lived with the Hamer people of Bull Jumping ceremony fame there. We were lucky to see some of these people and took a few photos, unfortunately having to pay for the privilege, though certainly one has to accept that posing for photos is a symptom of increased tourism and often their only form of income. Even though we were only about 100 kms north of Sibiloi the people look, dress and have very different customs to the tribes in Kenya. There are numerous other and equally interesting tribes in this part of the world still living in traditional ways. Here we learned that until 50 years ago many of them were not even aware of the existence of Ethiopia. To explore the valley and spend time with the peoples would be very interesting, but we felt awkward and almost voyeuristic, perhaps because we didn’t have enough time to stay for a while and begin to understand their various lifestyles.

Camping in this country is a challenge, there are very few sites so we have stayed in hotel gardens and sometimes hired a very simple room including loo and shower in the local hotels which are amazingly cheap. We stayed at an ecotourism village in Karat Konso, called Strawberry Fields owned by an English chap, Alex who is a 30 yr old hippy who dresses in Arab attire. He is an Oxford graduate and has developed the property over 4 years, using permaculture techniques so is now able to produce all the vegetables for the village. He also runs permaculture courses for people from all over Africa. The long drop toilets scattered around the site were each supplied with hay and ash, to prevent smells, and by comparison they were a pleasure to use! Cooking was done on a super efficient wood fired clay oven and water for the showers was heated by heat exchangers in the compost heaps. Maybe we should all take a leaf out of his book?

Some of the women around Konso region wear traditional dress, this consists of hand spun and woven cotton, gathered, the top turned over, a cotton rope tied round their waist, so looks similar to a long full skirt with a frill at the top. We visited a village, Dorze 14 km off the main road and 2 km above it, where the cotton is grown, spun and woven into cloth, so made just a few little purchases. The local housing here was very pretty, houses made of natural materials, standing up to 6 metres tall.

 The children in the Ethiopia react strongly to tourists and wave enthusiastically this quickly turns to frantic begging and signed “hungry” even when they blatantly aren’t. They stare indignantly and shout Highland, Highland (the biggest bottled water supplier) asking for empty bottles even though they often have plenty. They sometimes perform (quite good) gymnastics or approximations of cultural dancing on the sides of the roads then earnestly offer outstretched hands in the hope that we will stop and give them something At Dorze they were more enterprising still as they ran down through the bush between the hairpin bends, so we saw the same children dancing two or three times as we drove down the mountain. We have often wondered if this is a result of the massive (necessary) handouts that this country has seen over the years? The advise is rather to give to organised charities as these street performances keep children away from school and don’t necessarily help those in most need.

En route to Addis we stopped to view a 700 to 900 year old Stelae field with carved standing stones marking the burial place of both male and female warriors, all in foetal position and showing by the number of swords carved the number of enemies they have killed. The style and carvings on these Stelae is similar to those found in Italy andWales as well as other places around the world. No one yet understands why. Also saw our first rock hewn church, below ground level and carved in one solid piece, separated from the bedrock by a trench, 900 years old, and still in regular use.

We must be getting used to busy African capital cities, as we elbowed our way through rush hour traffic, heading for Wim’s Holland House, where most overlanders stay right in the centre of Addis Ababa. The map was slightly wrong and we were given directions by a very friendly Ethiopian businessman who knew where we were heading because he ‘recognised the vehicles’. We had to do a u turn across 3 lane dual carriageway, but nobody seemed to turn a hair. Wim’s HH consists of 3 properties, in each the house has been divided into rooms for backpackers, and the gardens into camping space. The restaurant serves Ethiopian and Western food and reputedly the best pizzas in town along with draft Dutch beer and fastish internet. It was great to have a hot shower again since it’s the short rainy season and quite chilly as Addis at 2300ft.

This morning at dawn we sent a greeting to Sue who’s birthday it is and I felt it described the sensation of Addis so here is a bit of it - Addis Ababa is probably the most evocative sounding city we have visited. Even here the silky call of the African Collared Dove wakes us up before the alarm and before the growl and horn of the grinding traffic belches it way through the city. Today is Saturday and all the mosques compete with each other in a tuneless dirge that threatens to break into Michael Row the Boat Ashore but never does.

We had several torrential downpours but mostly at night. Coincidentally most of the overlanders were over 50, one English couple in their late 70s who had been travelling for 12 years, popping back to UK only when they have to. Another retired UK couple from York , emigrating to Knysna on the Garden route, bought their fully refurbished 101 Forward control LR from Holme on Spalding Moor.(Eat your heart out Smithy!).

Wim, a Dutchman who has lived in Addis for 22 years, appears to be in his 70’s too and is married to Rachel, a beautiful Ethiopian lady in her 40s who runs a really tight ship. They are both exceedingly helpful. During the weekly vehicle check Terry discovered that one of the universal joints had failed and two were on the way, (he had fitted 2 complete new Britpart prop shafts before leaving UK 27000 kms ago). Wim took Terry across the city to the local bus builder Ultimate Motors, bought by Ethiopian 8 years ago from Wims’ Italian  friends, he is still loyal to the business. Then on to another Italian friend -6ft 4in blonde hair, blue eyes, born in Ethiopia - who fitted all 3 joints for £7.50. En route Wim described part of his amazing life, in the 70s a motor accident left him with 12 percent of his sight. After 12 months in hospital he started designing novelties (rubber ducks) for truck drivers which became very popular, off the back of this he established Holland’s largest trucking association and magazine. This gave him unparalleled access to the trucking industry and in 1986, with the help of the Dutch government Wim organised a 180 truck convoy of volunteer drivers to distribute Bob Geldoff’s Food Aid toEthiopia and Darfor. Later he helped to establish Addis Ababa’s largest orphanage, now semi retired he enjoys chatting to and helping the constant stream of travellers and local who frequent his place.

The following day Wim organised a taxi to take me to pick up the repaired prop shaft, it turned out to be a ride of a lifetime. The vehicle was a 40 year old lada carrying about 20 kg of body filler. The full turn of slack in the steering gave a new twist to weaving through the traffic. It sounded as if the prop shaft was rubbing on the body. We were the slowest car on the bypass and the lorries belched black smoke in through my window, I closed it as far as it would go (about three quarters), then it got hot so I tried to wind it down – not possible said the driver. A new Toyota cut directly across our path, “he wouldn’t do that if he new what my brakes are like” said the driver - bear in mind all this is in Amharic but his confidential tone and frantic pedal pumping said it all. The whole experience wasn’t helped by the piece of chipboard which had replaced the springs in the passenger seat. Strangely I found I was humming a hymn on the way back.

Everywhere we drove in Ethiopia we were amazed at the number of people, men carrying rifles, shepherds’ crooks and/or umbrellas, sometimes all three, women with huge bundles of wood on their backs, bent almost double, walking on the roads. We had heard many horror stories of all the children throwing stones at tourists and a few actuallt did although half-heartedly (usually) throw them at the car, we are not sure whether this is because we didn’t give them money or just for fun. Farenji fever, as it used to be known, has abated a bit in recent years but when we were travelling slowly through a crowded village, even the adults sometimes started chanting you, you, you…… or Farenji, Farenji……it can be wearing and a bit intimidating at times.

We left Addis for Bahir Dar, travelling through the Blue Nile gorge on a good tar road unlike in '75 when the road was still dirt, it took most of a day then, this time covering the 14kms in about 2 hours whilst dropping 1.6 kms down to the Blue Nile and climbing back 1.4 kms vertically. This was another remarkable road, unfortunately the views were obscured by low cloud and rain which helped cool the poor old L/R. We overnighted in Bahir Dar on the southern shores of Lake Tana, camping in the grounds of a less than ok hotel, they did however give us the key to a room so we could shower etc, unfortunately the water ran out before we got there! It seems the new UJs are slightly too small in length so we have a lot of vibration from the shafts.  We went to a local garage to have some very thin shims fitted as a probable temporary job. It certainly helped so we headed off towards Lalibela, through probably the most beautiful scenery we have experienced on this trip enhanced greatly by the thousands of people walking, herding cattle, tending their crops, the men dressed in short tunics with cloth wound around their heads turban style, the women in similar cotton some with embroidered edges wrapped around their bodies- almost like a scene out of Biblical times. Power in th Land Rover is low and the local diesel produces lots of black smoke as this is the highest we have been at 3,500 metres. Lalibela is a UNESCO World Heritage site famous for its numerous rock hewn churches where we stayed in a cheap but clean small hotel owned by Sophie, who had spent 10years in France before returning home. Here we experienced excellent Ethiopian food for the first time, a very different cuisine for us, the staple being injera – a sour flat pancake/bread made from fermented tef served with tibs, (spicy stew) and eaten with the fingers by pinching a filling into a piece of Injera. Whilst in another restaurant at lunchtime we spied 3 other people sharing what looked like delicious injera with another more crispy flat bread and a variety of vegetables and small pieces of meat. Feeling like experts we returned in the evening, discussed our food choices with the very helpful waiter— but were surprised when 4 portions were delivered (enough for 16 people)! After some negotiation we settled for 2 doggie bags and manfully waded our way through 2 platters about 2 ft diameter between the 4 of us. We gave the doggie bags to the family who had allowed us to park the cars in their muddy yard.

We hired a great informative guide, Taye, who showed us around the nine main churches, hand hewn from bedrock about 1000 years ago. Taye was born here and grew up with the church, he still worships here and knows each intimately. Legend tells us that all the churches were completed in 24 years with help from the angels, but research suggests it would have taken 45,000 people to do that, believe what you like. This was a magical, awe inspiring experience as we went from wonder to wonder. The magnitude is immense, and the quality of the carving and painting incredible. Each church is different in size and shape and each represents a different cornerstone of Christianity (Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity is similar and related to Greek). There is a Mount Sinai and another of Olives and a 120m dark tunnel representing hell where the light at the end is Heaven. There is even a River Jordan and everywhere there are nuns grinding corn for the holy bread or hermits praying quietly in a corner. There were priests guarding the holy of holies in each of the church’s inner sanctums (each has a replica of the Arc of the Covenant which, supposedly, resides in Axum, Ethiopia. It was taken there by the Falasha Jews after Solomon’s Temple was destroyed.). St George and his dragon feature strongly here too. We experienced a healing that was taking place in one church (Taye claims never to have been to a doctor for sickness). To cap it all the last church had a service in progress as it was the feast of St Gabriel. Two groups of elders chanted rhythmically to the slow beat of the two church drums which made the air vibrate. The four of us stood, alone and mesmerised as we glimpsed another world. And it’s been like this for 900 years! It’s a place of pilgrimage, still today. The tourists that complain about the modern World Heritage steel and plastic roofs that protect the churches spoiling their photographs miss the point – these roofs mean that Christianity can be practiced here for the next thousand years too.

The road to Lalibella is one of the last dirt roads we will travel and we were hoping that the rear ball joint would hold out ‘till we got back to the tar and so get us home. The rattle was getting worse so some investigation was needed. It turned out not to be the back at all but the front and we discovered that the two front shock absorber turrets had come completely loose, all eight nuts. One was worn through so sheared off but the others tightened up nicely and it feels like a new car, well almost.

The next day we drove on to Gonder which is another important historical city, this time complete with castles built by emperors in the 16^th century and used by royalty right up to Haille Selassie’s time. Again another informative and very well educated guide explained the complicated and brutal history, apparently monarchs were assassinated by their sons/ brothers with impunity. The complex contains a series of buildings which were built to impress and included luxuries such as a sauna and a lion’s cage. Gonder was marred a bit for me as at the restaurant where we had lunch there were a group of street children begging for food. This made me very sad, more so as we could do little to help. There are supposed to be meal vouchers available at the castle but there were none available that day.

That night and the following two nights we camped on the northern shores of Lake Tana at Gorgora, the campsite is owned by Dutch people, Tim and Kim who are developing it as a community project to help the people of Gorgora. This little break was an oasis of calm and quiet with wonderful bird life, however no chance of swimming in the lake as it is full of Bilharzia, a parasite that lives in a minute snail, then enters our bodies through the skin and causes quite serious liver problems.   

At Tim and Kims we were all busy researching our next border crossing into Sudan when we remembered that we had a letter from the British embassy in Addis guaranteeing our car.  We had heard that some people who had followed the same remote route into Ethiopia as us had struggled to leave without this letter. MC and G don’t have one, so they left the day before us to try to rectify this with the SA embassy in Addis from Gonder where there is contact with the outside world. The sat phone came into its own when they rang us from Sudan later in the day, they were through the border, even without the letter!  That night it started to rain as we started to eat fresh but boney fish (that we had bought that day from a fisherman in a canoe made from reeds) supper and it poured almost all night. A couple of hours before dawn the wind blew and dried the tent so we were able to pack it away. The heavens then opened again and it rained throughout our journey. The border town was ankle deep in mud and there we met yet another old English couple driving their TK Bedford truck to South Africa. Not only are there many parallels with our 1975 trip but, it seems, many of the same people too!

Ready for another coincidence? At Tim & Kim’s we were sitting around the fire chewing the cud when I recited a story from my early days at Barlows in South Africa (about 1976) when my bosses name came into the conversation. “Lazlo Zarbo” said Graham - he was in my office just before we left! The age, place and profession sound right and there can’t be many with that name in RSA. We’ll see when they get back and speak to him.

Ethiopia was fascinating, incredibly beautiful, disturbing because of the poverty, and puzzling too because much of the green countryside that we travelled through was being farmed (although the yield must be reduced because of the traditional methods they still use). It was the norm to see farmers taken their oxen to the field at dawn carrying the plough over their shoulder. Yet the whole country was subjected to incredible famine as we all can remember back in 85. Ethiopia uses a Semetic language (Amharic) written from right to left and the Julian calendar with 13 months Their time is based on 12 hours but starts at 06:am (so mid day is six o’clock!). So we think it was Saturday at seven o’clock when we left – it was certainly Jeans birthday.

The road itself was good tar from Gonder but we were left with telling memories of the poverty in this beautiful country, illustrated by the hordes of people walking to market, herding their livestock, driving their laden donkeys whilst wrapped in swathes of wet cloth or if lucky a plastic sack or sometimes an umbrella. That morning we had subdued waves from bedraggled children.

Blow me down when we met up with MC and G the next day in Sudan they had sailed through the border, nobody asked them (or in fact us) for a letter—then we remembered that is still in fact Africa!

We now plan to head north to Khartoum for a few days where MC and G have arranged for us all to stay with a Sudanese family. This is through a web based organization called Couch Surfers….. we wait to see what this will mean for us.