Addis and the end........

We have arrived safely in Addis after 4 weeks and just over 6000 km in Ethiopia. The worst to happen to us was the Radiator hose that packed up twice and then Dick did a Randall fix and the one back window was broken and we got stuck in the mud. Not bad going, we think.
We have cleaned out the Land Rover and repacked everything, ready for the next two guys to take over on the day that we leave for SA. They are taking a 3week trip back to Jhb. We wished that we had the time to do that ourselves, but I am afraid that reality is looming and back to work is becoming something I have to face.

We will be back in Cape Town on Wednesday evening and then it is the photo sorting out to start. We have taken about 3500 pics over the period and still we now think of things that we have neglected to capture, but those will just have to remain in the memory. Our experiences were so varied and many that it is difficult to pinpoint the highlights as different things just speak to you at different times. Some days everything was a picture and we stopped too many times. Other days the light or the frame of mind might not have been right and then we went for a while without stopping. Not many of those, I am afraid.

The scenery was always awesome, however I think the most amazing aspect of this country is the people. They are friendly and caring, soft spoken and always prepared, willing and keen to assist. We have had very little problems with “hassling” and even here in Addis, after a whole day on the streets, we have had hardly any of it. We have seen enough churches to last us for a life time and we feel that we have eaten enough of the local food. We are now beginning to fantasise over roast chicken and veggies and salads and Woolies foods!

Tomorrow we are going to explore a little more and to have one or two things seen to on the Land Rover and then we are out of here. There are many stories to tell and many memories to share, but that we will do once we are home over a good bottle of South African red wine!! I must say, the one thing we said before we left was that we will have to go without wine for a month, but luckily we discovered the local red within a week and we have not looked back since then. The same wine have varied in price from Br 25 to Br 73 a bottle not that ever fazed us.

Anyway, that is the end for now.

A Different sort of a day........

We got up at 5 to catch the hot water for a shower before the electricity went off at 6, so we were on the road real early. The great plan was to get to Bahir-Dar for lunch and then explore the town. We stopped for breakfast and then decided to take a detour to a little village called Amuramba. It is a fascinating place. The people there all live by the philosophy that all people are related and equal and that all need to live in harmony and that the best way to improve life is through education and doing meaningful work.

All that sounds great and wonderful, the difference is that they actually make it work. The guy that established the village still lives there and he has done a lot of work to put his village on the map. The whole village is built from the same sort of mud and straw mixture that gets used everywhere. The difference is that he has developed an interior sort of furnishing made of the same materials. He also developed a stove, which we thought was ingenious. It is difficult to describe, but it made a lot of sense and it is energy efficient as well as environmentally friendly. All the furnishings are sort of built in and all the houses have a similar layout.

The little village of 403 inhabitants have a pre- school building, a library, a clinic and an old age care centre. Their main source of income is from a very active weaving business, where both men and women work equally. They make beautiful fabric, which is widely used in the area by all other people as blankets, shawls, scarves, etc. All their equipment is rather primitive but very practical. The spinning machines use bicycle wheels and all sorts of other innovative contraptions. The looms are an upgrade from primitive and are just old fashioned, however they seem to work well and fast. After having spent an hour or more there, we were really inspired and uplifted. It gives one new hope when you see places like and it was not established by a foreign NGO, it was home grown!

Off we went in search our next adventure, which was to go and see the hot springs at Wanzaye. Well with a fair amount of difficulty we found the turn off. Warning bells should have gone off at that stage. Maybe they did but were ignored! We carried on through what looked like rice paddies and flooded rivers and passed many surprised looking people on the way and still we continued. We confirmed several times that we were on the correct road and despite conditions we were confident and looking forward to the beer at the hotel at the springs. We approached a fast flowing river and a mud patch. Well we never got to the river and we were stuck in the mud for a while. We tried the normal emergency 4x4 trained stuff, without success. This was now all taking place with a rapidly growing audience of mostly young men, who were on their way somewhere, the Springs, maybe? We realised that there is not a way in the world that we were going to get out of there without assistance and then the negotiations started. Nobody could speak any English, but when it came to money they were quick to put an amount on the table/bonnet. It was Br 100, then 200 and suddenly it was 500. I walked away, Dick “negotiated’ and eventually the agreement was made. Br 250 was handed over and the work started. Within 10 minutes or so they had dug out mud, placed branches and stones under the wheels and with a loud cheer we were unstuck and out. We happily got in the Landy and were all ready to give the Springs a miss. No such luck, a new round of negotiations were now about to start. A further Br 100 was to be handed over. I just said ‘not a damn” and Dick put foot and we were gone. Bloody cheek, we thought. So much for integrity.

We arrived in Bahir-Dar without further incident. It was just interesting to have had 2 such different experiences in one day. We stayed in a great hotel in Bahir- Dar and did nice touristy stuff. We went to the Blue Nile Waterfall, which was full, thanks to the rainy season and we also went on a trip on Lake Tana to visit some Monasteries. We drank the wonderful fresh juices, we ate the tilapia from Lake Tana and Dick even had his muddy boots cleaned by one of the shoe shine boys in the street.

Now we are off to Addis for the last few days and who knows what we can experience on the way there?

Simien Mountains.......

Gee, what a journey!

As planned we were out of Axum and on the road to Debark by 6 am. The road was not nearly as bad as we were made to believe, or else we have just got used to the roads after travelling nearly 5000 km in Ethiopia. It was cold in the early morning and we passed many people on their way to the nearest town or village all wrapped up in the traditional white cloth that they all use to cover themselves for any occasion or reason. It remains to me remarkable that people walk so much in this country. This was Saturday and then you see hundreds of people on the road all walking to their nearest village as Saturday is mostly a market day. Needless to say many things have to accompany one to the market, as in donkeys for carrying merchandise, goats for selling , chickens tied together by their feet, obviously for somebody’s Sunday meals and the rest is carried on the backs of woman and children. Doesn’t look like men carry much. Once in the villages, the men mostly sit about and drink the “local brew”. We are not sure what it is and have not been tempted to try either.

Sometime during the morning we saw another vehicle approaching with a roof tent on, a strange sight in this country. As the Isuzu twin cab approached, we saw that it had a EC registration number. Both we and the other vehicles stopped immediately. I mean to see another SA car here is exceptional. It was a guy from East London and he and his family had travelled from East London to Nairobi and then the family flew back. His wife had to go back to work, while he is continuing to Germany on his own. We all chatted for a while and exchanged info and the normal “where have you been and what have you seen” bit and then we were off on our separate ways again.

Again the scenery was awesome. I just do not have words to describe it and the photos will have to tell the story. We must have travelled up and down at least 8 mountain passes and they are not “Mickey mouse” passes either. One minute you are at 825 m and the next at over 3000m and the roads are winding and narrow and gravel and never mind how high you are in the mountains, the moment you stop to take a picture, there are at least 5 kids around you looking at you and the more confident ones will always risk asking for a pen or they just say “you you”. Kids are fantastic and the same everywhere. The moment you interact with them, you have them in the bag. We crossed at least 4 rivers flowing strongly. It is the raining season after all.
About 70 km from our destination for the day the rain started. Firstly gently and in spurts, however the higher we climbed, the narrower the road was, the harder the rain was and the muddier the road became and the visibility decreased proportionately and the road remained windy as ever. We were now moving into waterfall world, with waterfalls everywhere with gurgling brown muddy water. This seemed to be OK and presented several photo opportunities. The moment of truth came when we were confronted by 2 waterfalls about 30 metres apart doing what waterfalls do best across the now extremely muddy road. Thank God there was no truck coming from the opposite side and I was extremely grateful that my mother was not in the car at the time. Well, never to be outdone by the moment, we switched on the video on the camera and drove through the 2 waterfalls with zero visibility for a few seconds. I am still not sure if Dick did it with eyes closed or open, but I can assure you we were happy to have put that experience behind us. We were very relieved to get to Debark in one piece and all ideas of camping were put aside for the night. We booked into a hotel, with a proper shower and HOT running water and a proper loo and we felt much better the next morning as we set off for the Simien Mountain National Park with our scout Aftamo.

We spent 2 and a half days in the park. It was cold and we were happy for rain jackets and warm track suits and beanies and scarfs that had come with. The Simien Mountain National Park is one of the renowned places in Ethiopia and visited by many overseas visitors and the big thing there is to do trekking. The altitude is nearly 4000m and the air is thin and clean and breathing can be a challenge, if you are walking or climbing. We did the driving bit! I think that Philip Briggs, of Bradt guide fame, refers to the Simien Mountains as a cross of Lesotho and the Drakensberg and that is the nearest that I could come to as well. The scenery is mind blowing and we took many pictures. One thing I can say is that the conditions in those mountains can change really fast. One moment you would be in sunshine and the next covered in thick mist, or rain or a thunderstorm. We camped for the 2 nights and that was in basic conditions. Thank goodness the roof tent is waterproof and we were warm, despite the conditions. The days were sort of sunny and misty. Our scout, with extremely limited command of the English language, was great. He quickly clicked that we were into photos and showed us some viewpoints that is nowhere on a map, so we hope that again the photos will tell the story. There are 3 specific animal species that you can see in the park, being the Wallia Ibex, the Galada baboon and the Simien fox/wolf. We did not see the wolf, as they are very rare, apparently only about 80 in the whole park, however we saw many Ibex and hundreds of the Galada baboons.

Well, dirty and happy after the nearly 3 days we left the park, dropped our scout off in Debark and off we were to Gondor for the next walk through the history of Ethiopia. On the way to Gondor we passed 3 boys waving to us and then the little bastards threw stones at us and did some serious damage to one of the back windows, so arriving in Gondor, we had to have that seen to first. That is a story on its own as well. Dick is getting real good at dealing with these guys in their own way. After all the dealings to fix the window we were off to look for camping accommodation for the night. Well after we saw what was on offer, all plans of camping for the night was put on the back burner and we booked into a pension with hot shower, etc. The fact that the electricity only came on at 8.30 pm is irrelevant. We still had a hot shower and went to bed clean and refreshed.

This morning bright and early we were ready for Gondor and its historical offerings. We got a good guide, our second Benjamin of the holiday. He showed us around the castles and churches and informed us on the history and was very patient with us as there were many photo stops. He ended the day with us in a traditional Tej Bet, where we tasted the honey wine type of drink which is traditional to Ethiopia. We got home a little tired after the long day!!Tomorrow it is off to Bahir Dar and the last few days of our trip.

And Another Day........

Off to Mekele, only 300 km and a whole day to do it!!!Well that was what we thought at the beginning of the day. 11 hours later we arrived in Mekele, in the dark, in the rain and amidst a “family festival” with blocked off streets, not indicated on the GPS and extremely short fuses!! We found a hotel, got some local red wine, had some supper and then reflected on the day. Luckily we struck the jackpot with the room. It was big, with hot water, a loo and a clean comfortable bed. The fact that Dick dislodged the showerhead before we even used it, is immaterial!

Well, the fact that we only had 300 km to cover for the day, was one thing, but the reality of travel in this country is, that most distances get measured in travelling time and then we still have to add a couple of hours for stopping for photos, the slow travelling ability of the Land Rover and the fact that the locals measure travelling time in the way they travel, which is not something that we can do, as we still have a sense of road respect in us. Before we had even left Lalibela, we nearly took out a motor cyclist that appeared from nowhere and ended up in a puddle of muddy water. We are not exactly sure of the words he used, but we had a good idea, even if our Amharic is extremely limited.

Anyway, hardly out of Lalibela we were into the first climb and over the first mountain pass and that set the tone for the day. It was up to 3000 m and down to 1900m and all on gravel and the latter part of the day in steady rain. The scenery is constantly awesome. We stopped in a village for lunch and after that hit the road again just to be repeatedly confronted with the groups of dancing, drumbeating and money asking girls. The first 20 times we managed to remain cheerful and taken up in the spirit of the festivities, however even with the best intentions one ‘s sense of humour sometimes fades. Well just that happened sort of mid afternoon, when we had to confirm that we were indeed on the right road. Just that bit of slowing down served as inspiration to the dancing girls and the begging boys. The girls did not want to get out of the way and the boys jumped on the back of the Land Rover. After a few failed attempts to get them off the back, Dick stopped, flung open his door and in no uncertain terms told them to “fuck off” in good English. I nearly killed myself laughing because you just saw kids scatter off and out of the way. They got the message loud and clear. After that we hardly slowed down for the groups and they just had to MOVE out of the way.

To add insult to injury the festivities were in full swing when we eventually reached Mekele and the main road into the town was blocked off, just like Adderley street at Christmas time, with stalls and all. The poor uniformed guy that stopped us from going down the street also got a mouthful. We backtracked and luckily the GPS was accommodating and we were back on the road to the hotel for the night. I must say it is really stressful to arrive in a strange town in the dark, not knowing where you going and then to get a place to stay and with the language barrier on top of that. I must say, I don’t do to badly as a rule. It all adds to the experience in any way and mostly the local people are extremely accommodating.

The next day we spent in Mekele and just explored some of the local places of interest. We visited a church which was about 16 km out of town but down a road that would challenge any dedicated 4x4 driver. We went through mud patches and again we were very grateful that we had spent a day in Nairobi fitting new BF Goodrich tyres on the Landy. They have paid their way over and over in the last 3 weeks. When we arrived in the village where the church is, we were again met by the , now familiar, group of enthusiastic kids all offering services and asking for Birr, pens or anything going. They also love having their pictures taken and Dick has become real good with that. All you have to do, is to show them the picture and they are happy. The church, though, was again another experience. Built in 1806 and decorated in the typical Ethiopian style, depicting biblical history. Everything is so simple, however so real and alive. We have been blown away so many times already. As in many other instances, this church is also situated in the most tranquil, overgrown garden with so many birds. One could spend a day just bird watching at most of these places.

A museum visit the afternoon and an early night got us ready for the next exciting day of our journey.

And Another Day........

Off to Mekele, only 300 km and a whole day to do it!!!Well that was what we thought at the beginning of the day. 11 hours later we arrived in Mekele, in the dark, in the rain and amidst a “family festival” with blocked off streets, not indicated on the GPS and extremely short fuses!! We found a hotel, got some local red wine, had some supper and then reflected on the day. Luckily we struck the jackpot with the room. It was big, with hot water, a loo and a clean comfortable bed. The fact that Dick dislodged the showerhead before we even used it, is immaterial!

Well, the fact that we only had 300 km to cover for the day, was one thing, but the reality of travel in this country is, that most distances get measured in travelling time and then we still have to add a couple of hours for stopping for photos, the slow travelling ability of the Land Rover and the fact that the locals measure travelling time in the way they travel, which is not something that we can do, as we still have a sense of road respect in us. Before we had even left Lalibela, we nearly took out a motor cyclist that appeared from nowhere and ended up in a puddle of muddy water. We are not exactly sure of the words he used, but we had a good idea, even if our Amharic is extremely limited.

Anyway, hardly out of Lalibela we were into the first climb and over the first mountain pass and that set the tone for the day. It was up to 3000 m and down to 1900m and all on gravel and the latter part of the day in steady rain. The scenery is constantly awesome. We stopped in a village for lunch and after that hit the road again just to be repeatedly confronted with the groups of dancing, drumbeating and money asking girls. The first 20 times we managed to remain cheerful and taken up in the spirit of the festivities, however even with the best intentions one ‘s sense of humour sometimes fades. Well just that happened sort of mid afternoon, when we had to confirm that we were indeed on the right road. Just that bit of slowing down served as inspiration to the dancing girls and the begging boys. The girls did not want to get out of the way and the boys jumped on the back of the Land Rover. After a few failed attempts to get them off the back, Dick stopped, flung open his door and in no uncertain terms told them to “fuck off” in good English. I nearly killed myself laughing because you just saw kids scatter off and out of the way. They got the message loud and clear. After that we hardly slowed down for the groups and they just had to MOVE out of the way.

To add insult to injury the festivities were in full swing when we eventually reached Mekele and the main road into the town was blocked off, just like Adderley street at Christmas time, with stalls and all. The poor uniformed guy that stopped us from going down the street also got a mouthful. We backtracked and luckily the GPS was accommodating and we were back on the road to the hotel for the night. I must say it is really stressful to arrive in a strange town in the dark, not knowing where you going and then to get a place to stay and with the language barrier on top of that. I must say, I don’t do to badly as a rule. It all adds to the experience in any way and mostly the local people are extremely accommodating.

The next day we spent in Mekele and just explored some of the local places of interest. We visited a church which was about 16 km out of town but down a road that would challenge any dedicated 4x4 driver. We went through mud patches and again we were very grateful that we had spent a day in Nairobi fitting new BF Goodrich tyres on the Landy. They have paid their way over and over in the last 3 weeks. When we arrived in the village where the church is, we were again met by the , now familiar, group of enthusiastic kids all offering services and asking for Birr, pens or anything going. They also love having their pictures taken and Dick has become real good with that. All you have to do, is to show them the picture and they are happy. The church, though, was again another experience. Built in 1806 and decorated in the typical Ethiopian style, depicting biblical history. Everything is so simple, however so real and alive. We have been blown away so many times already. As in many other instances, this church is also situated in the most tranquil, overgrown garden with so many birds. One could spend a day just bird watching at most of these places.

A museum visit the afternoon and an early night got us ready for the next exciting day of our journey.

LALIBELA

We left Desi in pouring rain. We had spent the night in the Ghion, which is a Government hotel. We have never found out what exactly that means, however the faces and the attitudes of the staff had a sort of government air about it. Anyway it was the most comfortable bed that we have slept on for weeks and everything comes at a price. We were sorry not to have had the opportunity to take photos in Desi, the shanty town, as it was too dark when we arrived and with the rain in the morning, plus the fact that the whole town is under construction to upgrade the water supply, which incidentally meant that there was no hot water, yet again. Under construction here does not mean the same as we are used to. Here everything is upside down. It is as if the job is being tackled from all possible areas without a plan. In the town that we stayed, literally the whole city centre and adjacent areas were dug up, without anybody in sight actually working. It is if all just happens by osmoses. Anyway we got out and off we went.

Our first stop was at an 11th century monastery where Dick went in to explore. No women are allowed in and it was also the last night of a fasting period for the Orthodox Church, so there were many monks and priest in attendance. Dick enjoyed it though. He had a personal guide to take him through the museum, etc. I must say the monastery was situated in the most beautiful setting, on the shore of a huge lake and with the most tranquil garden with hundreds of birds. After an hour or so we were off again on the road to Lalibela over mountains after mountain and endless passes of the most astounding beauty. A long and winding road now has new meaning to us. It is actually impossible to describe the roads to anybody. We just do not have a frame of reference in our country to refer to. The Swartberg pass is gentle compared to what we have travelled on, not only on our way to Lalibela but also on other days. We arrived in Lalibela sort of late afternoon and very ready for a hot shower and a bottle of wine.

We booked into the Seven Olives, which is an old style hotel, built by Haile Selassie for the priests in Lalibela. It overlooks the town and we spoilt ourselves and stayed there for 3 days. They also have a lovely restaurant and we had electricity and hot water for the full duration of our stay, which incidentally coincided with a major religious event and the end of a fasting period. Well, I can tell you, they made up in celebration for this. There were festivities for all 3 days and it actually continued for another 2 after that, but more of that later. As soon as we arrived, we were “introduced” to an official guide, whom I took an instant dislike to, there was something about his eyes that I didn’t like, but he came recommended, for what that was worth! One actually need a guide to take you through the churches, otherwise you miss out on quite a bit, so it is a bit of a catch 22.

The next morning we were ready at 8 to go and see the Rock Hewn Churches, armed with cameras and guide. Well, yet another experience that left us “gob smacked”. How on earth do you understand that these churches were not built, but carved out of solid rock, with windows and interior carvings and sculpted walls and you name it. These churches were carved out in the 11th century over a period of 24 years after King Lalibela, the ruler at the time, had a vision to do this. It defies human understanding how this came about, but that it is real and powerful and alive as current houses of worship, is a fact. There are 11 of these churches in the Lalibela cluster, of which the most famous one must be the St Georges church. This is the one shaped in the form of a cross. We have many photos to show when we get home, however the experience is a personal one which sits deeply ingrained in the mind and soul and spirit. By mid day we were finished and went back to the hotel for our own St Georges, the local beer which we have taken to.

The next day we went back to the churches just to cement some of our experiences and to explore some more of the town. We walked and went to look at all the other hotels and were surprised to see how many there actually were in the town and to see that prices were good and that there were some good affordable accommodation. We stopped at one of the local hotels and the guy in charge came to show us around and invited us to come and have supper there the evening. We were so surprised, however we honoured the invitation and went the evening and had a super Ethiopian meal, prepared by him. It was Tibs with Ingera, which is a little pottery dish with a hold for hot coals underneath. The food goes in the dish and the coals keep it warm or rather HOT. It is the first time in my life that I have experienced the food getting hotter, instead of colder as you go. The meat dish was lamb, which they cut up in really small pieces, thus “tibs” and cook with onion, garlic, chillies and when finished add some uncooked tomato pieces. It was delicious. You eat it with the local pancake like goody, called “ingera” with it and some bread to mop up the gravy/sauce. All this is done by right hand. Well I cheat and use any hand and lick my fingers, which is not strictly the right way, culturally! Eating with my hands come naturally to me, as most people will know. Dick seems to be managing fine as well. 23 years of observing me must have helped!

We loved Lalibela and both of us will treasure the experiences forever. We left in rain and tackled the next +-300km with light hearts and keen to experience the next exciting chapter of our holiday!

THE JOURNEY CONTINUES.

Gee, this is a country of contrasts! Yesterday morning we left Harar, after a wonderful and exciting 3 days . We loved the city and could have stayed a lot longer, if we had the time. Anyway we travelled back to Awash along the same road, but how different the experience was from when we travelled in some days before. The scenery is mind blowing. It is just hills and dales and fields of maize and plantations of Chat. Everywhere people are working the land, ploughing with oxen and preparing for the next market day. It appears as if life revolves around the market day for the town or village. Most villages or areas have a market day once per week and some of the bigger centres seem to have market days twice a week. Luckily we went through a little market early in the morning and got fresh things that look and taste much like a”vetkoek”, which we had for breakfast. One thing we have learnt and that is that you can get the best bread or rather rolls at the markets. We have bought a variety of the over the last 2 weeks. I must be getting old because previously I would have learnt how to ask for wine first, and thus far my vocabulary in the local language is “daboo bet” or “mana Daboo”, which means bread shop. I don’t worry with the “where is it” bit. You just say it like a question and there you go. When it is market day you just go to the bread seller and point, which is a lot easier. It also seems like everything has a similar sort of pricing structure, so you don’t have to worry from market to market. We stopped for brunch in a lovely “dorpie” called Himla and had Chai and scrambled eggs. There name for scrambled eggs is, eggs “firr-firr”, which I suppose is the way it sounds when you scramble eggs. When we left we got our left our rolls to take with us, can you believe that!

When we got to Awash, we crossed the bridge out of the town and took a photo of the bridge, a perfectly normal action, we thought, however as we got to the other end we were stopped and seriously intimidated. We acted a bit stupid and waited for who knows what, but we did quickly delete the pictures, in case of trouble. After about 10 minutes, which felt a lot longer, we were waved on. We left quickly and Dick later recovered the pictures later on his recovery programme. The road is the main route between Addis Ababa and Djibouti and apparently there is a lot of “shifta” and related activities, so there is a lot of military presence along the road. We stopped for a P break, which is the obvious and a picture and in a flash there were 6 military guys to check on us. Where the heck they came from, I have no idea. We made no stops after that!.

We arrived at our evening destination and went hunting for a camp or hotel . Well, none of those available and we booked in at the local “motel” This was a room with twin beds, a loo and a shower, all for about about R35. This sounds fantastic, until you see it. Well 2 beds with clean bedding, I put flee powder on, none the less. A shower???? A toilet????? Sign language and 4 words in English got the message across. One person can shower and the other can wash. I gathered that the “shower” capacity was small in terms of water , however we got 2 x 25 lt cans of water for all our other needs. That was great, as I can wash easily from top to toe in my blue “bakkie” and I can do any amount of washing in the same bakkie, as long as have water. My mother would die, if she had seen the accommodation. We thought that there must be a fair amount of sex trade in the area, based on the number of used condoms lying around and the fact that it was obviously an overnight truck stop! We were unperturbed and set up camp cooking on the veranda in front of our room and had lekker pasta and wine and pretended that we were in the best hotel out.

This morning we set off to go and visit the Yandudi Rassa National Park, but that was a bit of a flop. No roads, no infra structure, no tourists and generally NO GO. So, we did not go. The beauty of it all is that the major truck route to Djibouti goes bang slap through the middle of the park. There are also plenty cattle in the area. We were lucky, we saw 3 Arabian Bustards, which is special to the area. The rest of the journey was shared with a million trucks, either on their way to Djibouti or back from there. We stopped for Chai in Mille and then the real journey .for the day started. We travelled through Afar country, which is barren and true desert and hostile in looks. The journey of about 100 km took us about 3 hours!! That was not because of frequent stops, more due to the road conditions. The ice cold beers after that was like mother’s milk. After this we were well out of the desert and into the mountains. It is actually impossible to describe the scenery and photo opportunities, which were many, however there is little if any place to stop, so amny were from the moving car or if it was just too much, we would make a “viewpoint” stop to capture the moment. We spent hours just climbing up mountain pass after mountain pass and suddenly tonight we are staying in a town about 3000m high on the slopes of the mountain. It could have been in the Alps, if it was not for the very obviousness of Africa around us. Shanty town, corrugated iron everywhere, no decent roads and a whole town dug up to work on a new water system. Half completed buildings everywhere, traffic chaos and the best hotel, which looks like the sixties and had never moved on. We are not complaining, even if there is no hot water, we have a flushing toilet tonight and a queen size bed!!

You cannot travel in Africa without a sense of humour and accepting the unexpected all the time.