DIRT and TRAIL January 22

T
South Africa
to Slovenia part 5
By Cronjé Bruwer
A trip through
Ethiopia...
People keep asking me, which country on our trip was
outstanding to us? My honest and unequivocal answer is and
always will be Ethiopia!, the Simien mountains and history is
outstanding. The Simien Mountains, in northern Ethiopia, north
east of Gondar in Amhara region, are part of the Ethiopian
Highlands. They are a World Heritage Site and include the
Simien Mountains National Park. The mountains consist of
plateaus separated by valleys and rising to pinnacles, Ras
Dashen, also known as Ras Dejen, is the highest mountain
in Ethiopia and fourteenth highest peak in Africa. Located in
the Simien Mountains National Park in the Amhara Region, it
reaches an elevation of 4,550 meters
We entered Ethiopia at Moyale the border town. This town
is a conflict point between tribes due to grazing fields, this
border post is therefore closed from time to time. Chatting to
the locals, we also learned that the camel trade in the area
between Kenya and Ethiopia is a major contributing factor to
the violence in the area and the tension could be felt in the
town and as my mother would have said, “This is not the town
she would like to retire in”.
Once we crossed into Ethiopia petrol, or “benzene” as they
refer to it, became scarce and the quality of fuel is of a low
octane. We had to be careful to keep the revolutions of the
motorcycles outside the “ping” zone. See photo 1 at a filling
station, note the double tea strainers… which also gives you
some idea on the fuel quality. Although locals queue for days,
tourists always get to fill up first.
Southern Ethiopia is not as spectacular as the northern part,
but it is green with lush grazing fields, quite the opposite of
northern Kenya, which is a desert.
Photo 1
The roads are all shared by trucks, cars, motorcycles,
pedestrians, donkeys, goats, dogs and even chickens as
seen in photo 2. Be very careful not to cause damage or
harm to animals, as an exorbitant price will have to be paid
as recompense for the animal, there is also very strict laws
on vehicles causing harm to pedestrians. We took the road
via Arba Minch and not the direct route to Addis Ababa, this
was a very scenic route, “Arba Minch” means “40 Springs”
the name was originated from the presence of more than 40
springs, so you can really just imagine the natural beauty in the
area. The guys were getting thirsty and stop at a “waterhole”
was in order. We stayed over in Arba Minch on the shore of
lake Abaya. Lake Abaya is a lake in the Southern Nations,
Nationalities, and Peoples’ Region of Ethiopia. It is located in
the Main Ethiopian Rift, east of the Guge Mountains. The town
of Arba Minch lies on its southwestern shore, and the southern
shores are part of the Nechisar National Park. Just to the south
is Lake Chamo.
The road from Awassa to Addis was under construction, which
was challenging as there are no detour roads and you have to
go between construction vehicles on whatever part of road is
available. Sometimes you would find yourself in the oncoming
lane but it really does not matter the Ethiopian driver are
surprisingly courteous.
The taxis in Ethiopia are something to experience, not only
is the inside filled to capacity but approximately 4 to 5
passengers sit on the roof. I unfortunately did not manage to
get any photos of it but can be viewed on my YouTube videos.
Photo 6 indicate how we prepare coffee along the road.
Addis Ababa is a large and well organized city, traffic however
is horrendous, see photo 7
LIN