BLACK SEA, SUDANS, ETHIOPIA 2013: 15 Addis Ababa to Turmi, Ethiopia

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

As there were less tables than people in the dining room for breakfast a fellow from South African asked to join me, then shortly after another from Ghana. They were not communicative until I brought up football and that opened the floodgates. Apparently Ghana has qualified for the world's cup, something the Ghanian is justifiably proud of, and once started there was a lively conversation through breakfast. They were both in Ethiopia on business, an indicator of how central in African business and politics Ethiopia has become. The African Union is based here, plus other continental agencies.

Mconan picked me up and we visited the Palace of Heile Selassie, which is now a museum on the grounds of the University of Ethiopia. The university occupies the former leader's entire estate. We drove up a high hill with a view of city, passing a market of hand made traditional cloths. When I was in Ethiopia in December 2001, Tim Carlson & I were up this same hill, but the change in the city's skyline is remarkable, with many more new buildings under construction.

The plane boarded close to on time, and I managed to find two empty seats side by side. We had taxied out to the runway when the plane shut down. A fire truck and ambulance pulled up, then a bus to take the passengers. back to the departure lunge where we waited the better part of an hour for another plane. Fortunately the number of passengers was the same, so I got my double seat again.

The flight stopped in Jimma - I'll be going there by car in a few days, and then flew on to Abra Minch where I was met by guide and driver Thomas. Tom will be my driver for the rest of the trip. He speaks English well enough to carry on a conversation, so we should do well.

Abra Minch is a university town founded about 50 years ago among hills of unspoiled forest. It is at an altitude of 1,200 meters. (4,000 ft) The university has 14,000 students and 2,000 staff currently, and several new buildings are under construction. The city is approaching 100,000 people. The name of the town means 40 springs, which keep the city supplied with water.

Overnight was at the very nice Paradise Lodge, which has mainly rondavels with a view of Chamo Lake and Abaya Lake. There is a nice dining room, of which half the seating is on an outdoor balcony overlooking the lakes. My accommodation was in a rondavel with two rooms, however they neglected sound proofing. The couple next door were European, I couldn't make out the language, but my bed and theirs were head to head with a wall that seemed the thickness of a sheet between. I could hear every word they whispered to each other. Fortunately, they went to bed early and didn't snore!

Malaria is a major problem throughout the Rift valley, according to the guide it kills a several of people each year. The room has mosquito netting to cover the bed, something I hope will continue in other hotels, as the malaria mosquito is a night flier.

Thursday, November 21, 2013

I got an update sent after breakfast before being picked up by Tom and a local guide. We drove down a four wheel drive road to Lake Chamo, where a boat awaited us. Lake Chamo is the smaller of the two at 26 km (16 miles) long and 22 km (14 Miles) wide. The other, Lake Abaya, covers 1,700 square km (656 sq mi). On the way to the lake were baboons, monkeys and a selection of big birds I'd not seen before. We headed out to an area of the lake that had several hippopotamuses and crocodiles, then went around a point to a bay filled with white pelicans and more crocodiles. Apparently the crocodiles kill 4 or 5 net fishermen each year.

We dropped our local guide and boat captain at the main highway and headed south through beautiful, mountainous countryside Dodging cattle and other animals became more difficult as some herds had 50 or more animals, and we came upon them frequently. Lunch was at Kanger Lodge, where there is a beautiful view. We are now in the area of the Konso Tribe, whose style of dress is different from those seen previously.

We stopped at a market in the territory of the Bena and Hamar Tribes after picking up a local guide. Here traditional dress was predominant in men and women, with animal skins, beads and feathers. Most items on sale were basic commodities, including the roots of banana trees and and skin of coffee beans, both of which are widely eaten. Tribal members can take more than one wife if they have enough cows, goats or sheep to pay the father for his daughter. Each wife wears a large steel band around her neck, depending on which wife she is. For example, the fourth wife would wear four heavy neck bands. If a deal is made with the father the girl has no option but to go along with it even if she doesn't not like the guy. Having daughters is big business!

The people we have seen so far in the Rift Valley have been happy, laughing and joking frequently and easily. On the way out of town we stopped to photograph some young members of the Bena Tribe who had their bodies painted in white and were stalking along on high stilts.

When we reached the town of Jinka, population about 22,500, we had to detour through town as a bridge was out. The town has little to recommend it, very basic houses, dirt streets and few shops. We pulled in for the night to the Jinka Resort, which like the town was very basic with intermittent water and electricity and a basic but fairly clean room. It did have mosquito netting! The hotel is full of tour groups tonight.

Friday, November 22, 2013

There was no electricity when I got up, but lots of jungle bird sounds. The lodge has a nice forested location.

I was at the restaurant by 6:55, so the waiter shouted in my order. In a short while three tour groups came into the restaurant. By 7:20 the tour groups were fed and I was still waiting, so got up and left. Tom picked me up 10 minutes later, and as I was going to the car with my bags the waiter came running over to say he had been waiting for me. I would liked to have decked him, but just kept walking. When Tom found out I'd not eaten he stopped at a good little place up the road for breakfast.

Amin from Caravan Travel called to say he had me upgraded to one of the view rondovals at Paradise Lodge for the return, and that he was going to include beer in the meal plan - always welcome news..

The town of Jinka is in Ari Tribe territory. Our local guide, Aftamu, is Ari but speaks the Mursi language so will guide us to a Mursi village. He is a student in Jinka in grade 10 who has been guiding since he was 7, and passed on a great deal of information about the area and the tribes who live here. His English is very good. The Mursi Tribe have about 11,000 members. The return trip to the village is about 160 km on reasonable gravel road with several construction zones. A fee had to be paid to enter Mago National Park, which we need to cross. There are apparently animals in the park, including some elephants, but we didn't see any. Part way through the park we picked up a compulsory "game scout" and his ancient rifle.

We were soon passing Mursi people along the road - the men don't wear cloths, only a folded blanket over their shoulder which reaches their thigh in front and back. The tribe raise cattle primarily, some of which were gathered near the village huts. The villagers live in oval straw houses with woven straw doors that are fitted into place over the small entrance opening. A group of men were doing some carving with basic hand tools, and a number of men and women had dressed up in traditional paint and other regalia for photos at 5 birr per photo, double what we paid yesterday. Aftamu did a good job of regulating the many who wanted photos taken.

This is the tribe that consider women with huge lower lips to be beautiful, so girls when entering their teens go through a process of inserting ever larger clay discs into their lower lip until they are up to about 3 inches across. The health standard didn't look good, a lot of kids had runny noses and open sores were not uncommon. Aftamu brought antibiotic creme for a woman with an infected sore on her breast. The entire village area is infested with flies - it was miles before we got our share out of the car.

After dropping off the "game scout", and saying goodbye to Aftamu in Jinka, we headed for Turmi, another rough 180 kilometres of dirt road. Along the way we were flagged down by a fellow who asked if we wanted to watch some bull jumping - a sport where participants run across the backs of bulls. We agreed, so drove about 5 km on a dirt track to where the event was being held, however just as we arrived the skies opened in a downpour, so the men scattered for shelter while the women huddled under some trees. We gave up and drove back to the main road. We have noticed that in this area many men carry Russian AK47 assault rifles.

The village of Turmi is a small market town of the Homar Tribe with a population of about 1,100. There are two resorts and a couple of hotels for guides and locals. To get to the Busca Lodge, where I was to stay, required crossing a river, which was still dry when we crossed, but shortly after the runoff from the heavy rain we experienced flooded the river and resulted in vehicles getting stuck while trying to cross.

Things unravelled quickly when I found I was to stay in a small tent. When shown my "accommodation" it was an oval tent the size my grand kids use, with a bed in it. The toilet is about a quarter of a mile away by path through other hotel units. The mental picture of me trying to get dressed in the dark in the middle of the night in a tent half my height to make a long trek to find a toilet was not attractive, so I caused some sensation by refusing to sleep there. Tom got on the phone to see if alternate accommodation could be found, without success, so I retreated to the bar and drank beer. Eventually Tom persuaded a fellow guide to give me the room he had at a campsite sleep in my tent, so we drove there. It was a basic rondavel, cement floor, bed, chair, shower onto the floor and no sink, no electricity and a seatless toilet, however it did the job. Tom talked someone into supplying sheets and a pillow, and I later negotiated a towel.

Tom came back to pick me up for dinner while I was sitting outside drinking beer with a couple from Ottawa, Canada, who were with a small group camping in tents. Apparently the group were not getting along with each other so they were staying pretty much to themselves. He bought the beer, as they could not change a $100 birr note. ($5) Poor Tom then had to drive me back to the campsite after acquiring a blanket for me from the hotel.. I looked for toilet paper in the hotel toilet, but there was none, so that gap was left unfilled. Back at the campsite the bare bulb above my bed was on. Apparently there is electricity when the generator is turned on. There is no way to turn the light off in the room.