We made it to Wim's Holland House 'Hotel' in central Addis Ababa early afternoon on Wednesday, 19th with, as is becoming the norm on our arrival at stopovers, thunder rumbling overhead. That has become the pattern in Ethiopia as it is the beginning of the rainy season, a little earlier than usual. The mornings dawn cool and clear but by mid afternoon and into the evening the wind picks up and the heavens open. The torrents leave the back street where we are staying a sea of mud and the locals teeter along trying to avoid the worst patches. The 'shoe shine boys' do a good trade washing trainers and sandals and cleaning boots and shoes. As I am writing this at 3pm it is cold, dark (no electricity) and very very wet.
Holland House is ostensibly a hotel (for the licence) but has a grass courtyard for use by campers, as well as cheap rooms, on one side of the back street and a cafe/restaurant (alongside which the Enterprise is squeezed) on the other. We should have been across the road but the gateway was blocked by a great hole! Our escape is now prevented by heaps of cobblestones tipped to pave the surface sometime in the future. No matter as we are not in a hurry to leave: we have been thinking seriously about storing the vehicle here and flying home til the autumn when temperatures in Sudan and Egypt have cooled a bit. The main problem with this idea is that our temporary import license will expire with our visas on 22 July but there may be a solution to this. We intend to visit the Customs Authority next week to investigate the possibility further with the help of Rahel, who runs this place. It's been done before.
We have been thoroughly enjoying our travels and are fully Africanised again. The people and tribes we have encountered since crossing the Equator have been so colourful and the variety of landscapes of the Rift Valley, which we have been following, have been ever changing. On leaving the green tree covered hills of Marsabit and the dramatic bowl of an ancient crater, we crossed a high desert plateau, peppered with volcanic outcrops, where nomadic herdsmen shepherded sheep and camels. 25 Kms before the border at Moyale, we found a secluded bush camp in which to pass our final night in Kenya. We were visible to passersby but no-one disturbed us. Our only company were some minute antelope, the size of hares, and multiple pairs of hornbills.
The following morning we were first at a very quiet exit border at 8am, waiting for the immigration lady to arrive. In contrast, the Ethiopian side was a milling throng of people passing to and fro, with donkeys loaded with yellow plastic drums to gather water from a pump. Once on our way it was a shock to the senses after the empty Kenyan roads. People, donkeys, sheep, goats, camels and huge herds of cows thronged the middle of the road and even our loud air horn had little effect to shift them from our path. The only way past was to gently nudge them out the way. However, once away from Ethiopian Moyale and it's train of nearby villages, the good surface and empty road continued and we made good speed for the rest of the morning.
At Yabello we left the direct route north. We had been advised that although picturesque, the roads were rough and rocky with frightening hairpin bends, so we continued on the new Chinese road towards Konso, winding uphill and unfinished in places. Konso lies at the head of the Omo Valley where villages of ancient tribes (such the plate-lip people near Jinka) and religions displaying totems, has earned it World Heritage Site status.
Dropping once more into the valley, crops of maize and millet lined the roadsides and colourfully dressed women worked the fields. The road turned to gravel and by late afternoon our progress to Arba Minch was slowed considerably by the number of cow herds returning home for the night. Banana plantation workers loading carts on the narrow road created another obstacle and by the time we wound up the steep hill to the town, Chris was completely exhausted. It had been one of our longest days (12 hours driving) but we had travelled over 400 Kms.
Arba Minch overlooks 2 of the Rift Valley lakes and our night stop was the Bekela Mola hotel, another of Oasis Overland's noted camping stops. By the time we had been in search of a bank to withdraw Ethiopian birr it was well after dark. We retired to the bar for St George beers and found locals watching World Cup football. Too late to cook we joined them on the terrace and had a passable meal, bombarded by moths and huge crickets ricocheting off the lights. We were greeted unexpectedly next morning by the resident family of warthogs.
Tuesday was a more relaxed drive through arable land and haystacks so although the towns were still obstacle courses, there were less animals in the countryside. We reached Shashamene early afternoon and once again used Oasis notes to find the Lily of the Valley hotel run by Rastas. That part of town, known as Jamaica, is the centre of Ethiopia's Rastafarian community. Although parked close to a club, the music was unobtrusive and lulled us to sleep that night, along with heavy rain.
Out of town on Wednesday morning the cracked tar road was full of potholes, possibly washed away by previous heavy rains around the string of Rift Valley lakes, hemmed in by ancient volcanoes. Much to our relief, at Mojo, we were able to join the 3-lane toll Expressway (the first since South Africa) which whizzed us to the outskirts of Addis, murky in smog at the base of the mountains. Going was once again slowed by the milling traffic and we struggled to navigate our way to the centre, despite 2 GPS which had differing opinions.
The last time we were here, with Paul, was a long weekend in late April, 2015 when we came to fly a big balloon operated by Dutch company Abyssinia Ballooning. The season here is over until October due to the rains so we are pleased we do not have to fly here now.
I remember Addis as a very exciting city, driving out to the hills at dawn with hyenas patrolling the streets. Not quite the same impression this time as we are in a poorer part of town. We feel quite safe walking the streets as people are friendly and helpful, but we have to be on our guard over distractions from would be pick-pockets. Chris has had to take a swipe a couple of times with a bag of full water bottles at a different type of hyena to deter them from trying anything on!
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