Ethiopia
The border is marked by a small bridge – people crossing freely into Ethiopia, the passport control just over the bridge is an unmarked shack off to the right, only noticed thanks to some Germans on motorbikes having their exit from Ethiopia officially recorded.
Within 10 minutes, we’re in, visa’s stamped and on our way to customs – inexplicably 40km further south in another village entirely
Immediately the surroundings start to change – the houses are now mud huts, with thatched roofs; this is how I’d imagined much of Africa to be when I started planning this trip just over 6 months ago
The road now is gravel, not bad, but occasionally potholed – just the slight extra grunt required from M pushes us over the overheating threshold more often, and we fear it’s going be a slow day.
We’re not yet even at the foothills of the high plains on which most of Ethiopia lies – looking at the country on a map with contours really doesn’t fill me with joy – there’s an awful lot of mountains – higher than those we climbed with Lucile in the Alps, with the problems I have right now, we’re gonna take some time to get to Addis Ababa.
Within an hour the first of the foothills were a stones throw away.
Or aim is to arrive in Gonder by early afternoon – to spend some time looking at the royal enclosure, the famous church and having a few beers in the evening.
The roads became steeper and the mountains larger,
Things began to slow down – we’re now stopping regularly to let the engine cool, and an afternoon arrival to Gonder looks optimistic at best. The scenery is absolutely breathtaking – it’s such a stunning country, every corner brings new wonders, and every summit brings higher peaks.
We decided to take a new course of action with the mountains, putting M in low range and letting her sit in 2nd gear, slowly climbing – it seems to work, we don’t overheat and we’re making very slow progress – but progress nonetheless…
Daniel’s able to walk alongside to fill up our water bottles – that gives you an idea of the speed!
After hours of this – and the mountains just keep on coming, we’re at 2000m above sea level. I hope we don’t have to go much higher.
We do have to go higher, much higher in fact… and the 2000m we’ve climbed has to continually be re-climbed after each brief but exhilarating decent… After becoming frustrated, we decide to take off the bonnet – at the very least it’ll mean I won’t have to get out each time we stop to cool down… I can just kill the engine and wait:
The removal of the bonnet and the sun going down was enough to give us the little extra we needed to reach Gonder – the three to four hour drive had ended up being 8 hours, very tiring hours. The first sip of beer, obtained at the pricy but well situated hotel at the top of the hill overlooking the town was too good for words. Ice cold, it’s the first alcohol we’ve had in some time – and tastes incredible after a long, hot days driving / waiting / driving / waiting.
We had a great nights sleep – in separate rooms for the first time in nearly a month – both were happy not to have to listen to the other snore…
23rd April 2007
We met with a Rasafarian called Bab, and Teshwarmi (probably spelt wrong) whose brother runs the 4 wheel drive garage in town – handy!
We were at the garage at 10am the following morning – the overheating really needs resolving here – I probably won’t make it to Addis Ababa with these problems.
After explaining as much as I could about the overheating issues, the diagnosis is that a new cylinder head gasket is needed – something that’s not in my book as a cause of overheating – but something these guys know more about than me… The new gasket needs to be flown from Addis Ababa, and won’t arrive until tomorrow morning – all things going well we’ll be on the road by 2pm tomorrow.
The rest of the day we have to ourselves, we can visit the royal enclosure, and the famous church.
Most of the 8 castles were built around the time of the English civil war; they were more recently home to Haile Selassie and some lions… Here’s Daniel in the lions den (he nearly knocked himself out coming out)
If you pay to enter the royal enclosure, you also get free entry to Fasiladas Bath, 2km from town, it’s been used for religious celebrations for centuries – and still is to this day. Every year at around Easter, the bath is filled with water and the locals party here for three whole days and nights.
Gonder is home to one of the most famous churches in Ethiopia, the Debre Berhan Selassie Church is renowned for the ceiling paintings of 80 winged heads of Ethiopian cherubs. It’s a stunning church – photography is permitted, but use of any flash is strictly prohibited…
That evening, we played chess – tried the local speciality – Chat (a plant chewed by many in Yemen, Somaila, Ethiopia and Kenya as a stimulant – similar results as lots of coffee)
Daniel didn ’t want to end up like this
So refrained from chewing… I don’t know what the fuss is about really – it’s just like drinking 5 cups of coffee…
We played one of our last nights of chess before going out for the evening – the score’s now 12-4
Our night out consisted of some football, local traditional dancing and singing (where the musician takes the piss out of the audience) and lots of local beer… The singers love referring to Daniel and I as “Crouch and Rooney”, it’s all we can understand of the piss-taking aimed at us (no one will tell us exactly what the rest means, although we recon it’s about our dancing!!)
Ethiopian dance is all about the shoulders – mine are firmly stuck in place, and refuse to loosen up, even after 10 beers.
We’re getting quite merry as the evening progresses – although being British, Daniel and I are nowhere near as drunk as our hosts…
Our night comes to an abrupt end when fights (lots of them) erupt in the town centre at half time during the Manchester United game…. Bab recommends not hanging around and to head back to the hotel – probably sound advice, but the cheers at full time heard from the hotel make us wish we’d been still out to see Man U come back to win 3-2.
24th April 2007
Daniel has a flight booked from Addis Ababa on the 27th April – just three days from now. We arrived at the garage at 10am to find the car still in pieces, and the new gasket not yet here… After Daniel gets stressed and pissed off at the garage, the parts arrive within 30 minutes – good work buddy!! We need to leave today, it’s a 2 day drive to Addis Ababa, and we need some leeway for problems.
We’re both feeling a little worse for wear, but after some lunch, I’m now taking a keen interest in the progress – changing the gasket is actually not that hard if you have the right tools – and I’m having to ensure that after fitting the new gasket they perform the tightening of the cylinder head bolts in the right order and to the right torque – there were several steps they’d missed, and I’m grateful once more for having the Haynes Manual with me.
At 3pm, it’s time to turn over the engine – everything’s back in place, and after turning the key everyone starts shouting to stop – there’s oil pissing out of the engine, all over the fuel injectors, water system and cylinder block. This doesn’t look pretty. Seems I should have watched much closer – as they’ve put the bloody gasket on upside down. The oil way is blocked, and oil’s leaking under great pressure from the cylinder heads.
Not knowing just how serious this could be (oil may have contaminated the water system, and flooded the cylinders) I put a call into Douglas Motors in Coventry. A new gasket is recommended, and care should be taken on dismantling and reassembly to see what else has been damaged.
It’s 3pm now and we’re back to stripping the engine down once more.
After closely watching the rebuild, and correcting the mechanics on a number of key steps they’d missed, my confidence in their ability has collapsed – all we can do now is get the engine back together with the new (now used) gasket in the right way round, and have it replaced once more in Addis – if we ever make it there…
It’s sunset now, the eagles are circling (hundreds of them), and we fear we have a long night ahead.
After the rebuild, and a test drive, the overheating problem remains, and we’re pissed off to say the least, 2 days wasted, and still the problem remains. There’s nothing left but to try and limp into Addis to get it fixed at a decent garage.
At 10pm after long discussions with the garage, we paid them a fraction of what they wanted (a ‘goodwill gesture’) and left for the long and slow drive south. We’ll be lucky to make it, and my 1st May arrival in Nairobi is now looking unlikely to say the least.
After a few hours drive, and finding they’d even failed to tighten all of the water and oil hoses I was regretting paying them a thing – for a few moments I thought oil was once more leaking from the cylinder heads and our journey was over – turns out the 2 litres of oil which had leaked was from the oil pump which was loosely connected.
I drove all night – only suffering occasional stops for cooling – the cold night air, lack of the burning sun and a fully pressurised cooling system (after hours of troubleshooting) means we’re making fairly good progress.
Turns out however, at around 2am we’d taken a wrong turn, leaving the tarmac, which should have taken us all the way to the Blue Nile gorge, we’ve taken the more direct, but potholed dirt road which crosses one of the highest mountain ranges in Ethiopia. Mt Choke is next to us as we realise our mistake at dawn… another probably significant delay…
The sunrise was however spectacular up here.
We pressed on, driving through magnificent countryside, with constant bemused looks from locals… It seems not many tourists come through here – this child ran ½ mile just to watch us whilst the car cooled down.
Just after seeing our first wild baboons escape at great speed from this beautiful tree we suffered our first major mechanical problem.
The hard night of driving on this dirt road, and undoubtedly the unannounced speedbumps in Egypt and railway tracks in Sudan had taken their toll on the suspension. The front passenger side gas shock has broken through it’s cast iron housing and is protruding all the way through the engine compartment and denting the bonnet.
This is a major headache – we’re in the middle of nowhere – and there’s nothing for it but to try and re-seat it and hope it holds until Addis Ababa.
It’s getting very hot now, and we have an audience, the local villagers take their seats, and watch intently as for an hour and a half Daniel and I remove the shock absorber, discuss the problem and re-fit it hoping it doesn’t fail again (there’s not much else we can do).
200m further up the mountain, the shock once more pops through the tunnel, and we’re back to driving with just the drivers side shock. It’s still drivable, Daniel rightly points out that it’d be much worse if the other one went…
It’s now early afternoon, over 24 hours ago we were at the garage in Gonder, I’d had to work on M all day, and we’ve been driving non-stop (if you don’t count the essential overheating stops) all night. I’m tired but the scenery continues to amaze – it’s a stunning country.
Within 2 hours of our first shock absorber breaking the road suddenly deteriorated, I skidded across the top of hard rocks as we descended into the village of Gendewoyn, the sound was awful – the entire front of the Land Rover now bounces freely on the springs, each braking movement sends the weight of the engine crashing down on the front suspension – making horrific sounds. Each bump which sends the engine higher makes me think at any moment the springs will jump out of their seats. Our second shock absorber has gone, and our maximum speed is now 2-3mph.
Daniel set off on foot to locate a phone – all we can think of right now is calling the garage in Addis Ababa and arranging for a flat bed truck to take us the remaining 350km. As soon as Daniel had left, any chance of me resting was removed by the arrival of half of the village children; they’re fascinated by us – as our most in Ethiopia, and can’t take their eyes off me or the car.
The arrival of Haile, the towns chief prosecutor helped somewhat – the kids were told to keep their distance, and he speaks excellent English.
Daniel returned with some dodgy characters in a Toyota landcruiser, as I crawled towards the police station with Haile… It’s safer for us to park where the police can see us – after a brief discussion with Haile about his profession it’s clear there’s an awful lot of police and prosecutors here for a fairly small place, best listen to the professional!
The only chance we have of making it to Addis in time for Daniels flight is to get the car on a flatbed truck. The dodgy characters Daniel found insist they have one – we parked in the forecourt of the local petrol station – thankfully where the hoards of children dare not step (for fear of a beating from the dodgy characters), and I’m left trying to think of a way out of this mess as Daniel tries once more to phone ahead to Addis Ababa.
The ‘flatbed truck’ they’d promised turned out to be a huge earth moving truck – impossible to fit the Land Rover inside – it took a while to explain that it can’t be towed – and as soon as it became clear they really didn’t have a flatbed I jumped back into the car with Haile, and headed for the police station – hopefully I’ll feel I can trust the police a little more than these guys.
Their last words to me before leaving the petrol station was “5000 birr”, for a flatbed (whether they actually now knew what I needed I’m still not sure) but 5000 birr is a lot of money – around $570USD, there’s no way I can pay that.
Once arriving at the police station – we know there’s no other option. Daniel has to leave me here and catch a bus as soon as possible to the airport. He packs his things, and with a huge audience we say farewell – he’s going home with more than he arrived with it seems, so he hast to look a little more than ridiculous to ensure he doesn’t have to leave much behind.
The chess competition finishes 12-4 to me, and we’ll be sure to carry on playing once I return to the UK…
It’s a shame we didn’t get to Addis Ababa, and it’s a shame we didn’t get horribly drunk together one last time… within 15 minutes of arriving at the police station (basically a wooden / mud construction), Daniel’s on his way, leaving me very tired, alone and with major, what at the moment seem like insurmountable problems.
I spent an hour with the police and Haile, drinking tea, trying to establish just what there was in Gendewoyn. Turns out there’s not much apart from a lot of crime. There’s no garage, no trucks, only donkeys, goats and lots of people. The ‘cells’ where the criminals are held are occasionally topped up by a mob bringing another thief to the station – quite a sight, the chants are rhythmical and steady, the translation courtesy of Haile was “HE STOLE THE DONKEY, HE STOLE THE DONKEY”
It feels as though I may be here for some time.
The temptation of sleep was overwhelming, but with 100 people looking on, the rooftent’s not an option, so I decide to once more dismantle the front suspension, this time on the drivers side – the top of the second tunnel is a mess – the circular stopper is a twisted mass of metal, hanging onto it’s cast iron housing by a thread. One more bump it seems and I’d have two symmetrical dents on the inside of the bonnet.
With the disk in hand, I ask Haile whether we can get “something like this” anywhere nearby. 30km from here is a slightly larger village, with a workshop – so at 4pm he kindly joined me in search of a new part.
Haile took the day off to help me, on the hour long bus journey we were able to talk, he did have to nudge me when my eyes closed involuntarily however (only two or three times though).
The bus is quite an experience, those that don’t pay are often drunk, and fights erupt between the 14 year old conductor and the drunken farmers. The conductor never instigates violence, but is swift and merciless with those that strike the first blow…
Seems they have to grow up quickly here.
On arrival in the next village, we find a workshop, who’s able to make something similar to the disk I need – from the chassis of a crashed bus.
[eth spare parts.jpg]
It’s as good as I’m going to get here – the parts are delivered to us, in the bar we were told to wait in, and for $6 I’m the proud owner of two badly cut pieces of chassis.
It’s already dark – and Haile announces that we’ll have to stay here the night… No-one travels on this road at night, the ‘rovers’ often shoot drivers and steal everything they have, so travel’s kept to a minimum. Apparently only a problem in this rural area, it makes me think about the previous nights drive, the constant stops, and the curious looks the villagers gave us as we sped through central Ethiopia.
I’m not happy staying the evening here – it’s now 10pm, the car, with all of my worldly possessions is 30km from me – I’m not happy being this far from the vehicle… After 2 hours of trying to find a ride back, we manage to get a lift with a truck daring to risk the dodgy road back to Gendewoyn, and pay $12 for a lift.
The cab’s supposed to seat 5 people; we fit 9 in, and set off. Carrying guns here is normal, and for the moment I’m glad there’s some with us.
I’m delirious due to the tiredness, my day so far is feeling a little surreal to say the least, we arrived back at the police station – climb over the fence before being accosted by AK47 wielding guards and I setup my tent.
There are three guards on duty tonight – all heavily armed. After sharing a few jokes, and the them showing me how to load the large weapon, chamber a round and fire I go to bed. I feel fairly safe with these guys outside… No-one’s gonna try much with them around
The next morning, I dismantled and reassembled the front suspension for the third time – the new parts fit – they just need welding. There is it seems someone here that can weld – by lunchtime I’ve completed my work, and the welding is complete. I can get back on the road.
I bought Haile lunch, we exchanged details, and I’m back on the road.
It felt pretty damn good to have fixed the problem and to be back on the road. I soon came across a bus whose chassis may one day help another overlanders get out of a similar situation.
It’s about 3000m above sea level here – the land is fertile, there doesn’t seem to be one piece that’s not used for agriculture.
Shortly I’ll find the tarmac road we missed last the night before last, but only for 30-40km, after which I’ll reach the Blue Nile Gorge - notorious for being an extremely beautiful but bad road.
Sure enough, the tarmac ended, and the road was worse than I’d imagined. It’s being re-built it seems, the surface is a mess, and I can’t help but worry about the suspension – every bump may well put me back to square 1.
I’ll have to descend to 1000m above sea level, then climb again to 3000m on the other side – I’ve still major overheating problems, it could be a long day.
Going down was no problem, although on reaching the bottom I find what I believe to be brake fluid all over the inside of the drivers’ side tyre… Now breaking problems as well as overheating and suspension issues… nightmare.
I remembered some sound advice from Douglas Motors and tasted the liquid in question… It’s not at all sour – so can’t be brake fluid – it’s probably 80/90 leaking from the hub seal – something which can wait until Addis (if I ever get there).
I started the climb on the southern side of the Nile, managing to climb 200m before being forced to stop to cool down.
The climb was painful – it quickly became dark, and each vehicle that passed me stopped to tell me it was dangerous to stop at the side of the road. Not much I can do about that however. Once at the summit – the final summit – around 3100m above sea level, the tarmac began, and my ordeal was over.
I arrived in Addis Ababa at 2am in the morning – I checked into the first hotel I could find, and the very next morning headed to Ethio Lakes Land Rover garage to have M looked at.
It’s now Saturday 28th April, it’s a 5 day (minimum) drive to Nairobi. I hope Karin can make it here to Addis Ababa. The southern part of Ethiopia is apparently the most beautiful, and is considerably safer than what I’ve driven through so far.
Ethiopia, despite the challenges it’s provided me has been the highlight of my journey so far. A lot’s been written about the issues travellers face here – mostly complaints about the amount of begging. For me this has not been a problem at all – firstly you have to understand why this happens – and secondly you need to know how you will to deal with it.
Handing out money, sweets, pens or clothes merely maintains the status quo, white people are seen as sources of charity – those that are really making a difference here don’t just give hand outs – they help the local communities empower themselves through education, safe housing, access to medicine and healthcare and so on.
There is great poverty here, and there’s an enormous amount of attention on you as a foreigner (or “Feranji” as the locals say). But Ethiopia is a fertile country, with great prospects. This used to be one of the strongest powers on the continent. They were after all the only nation in Africa to defeat one of the colonial powers.
Since the 1980’s famine and the well intentioned but badly executed aid effort many Ethiopians now expect aid and Charity, they have no problem at all in asking for money. Many people, especially children simply say “give me money”, an occasional and cheeky variation on that is “give me my money”! I don’t find this offensive – and anyone who does find this offensive should think more about why this happens – and should maybe think about how they can help change things here for the better.
I’ll be here at least until the 1st May when the garage can replace the head gasket – I’ll be calling Karin and Daniel ASAP with the news – I really hope Karin can come and experience this great country – otherwise she’ll have to wait for a week for me in Nairobi. Addis Ababa is a great city – set 2500m above sea level, there’s mountains, greenery and a great climate.
I’ve checked into the local backpacker hotel, the Baro – I’m enjoying sleeping, meeting the various characters one finds in these hostels and generally relaxing. I spoke (on a very bad line) to Daniel and Karin – there’s a flight from Nairobi on the 2nd which arrives at 20:10, not being able to buy a ticket online means she’ll have to try and get a ticket when she arrives at 6am. Email is the only way we can communicate, so until the 2nd I’ll be checking my mail regularly.
One fellow resident of the Baro who I’ve greatly enjoyed spending time with is Hank
From Holland, Hank’s here on one of his bi-annual visits to the shelter for street children that his charity (childconnexion) supports. He’s recently left his job to focus on fundraising for the organisation, and I was privileged to join him one afternoon in visiting the shelter.
The shelter is a safe home for the girls found on the streets of Addis Ababa, the staff work tirelessly to re-unite the children with their families. There are heartbreaking stories especially of the children’s lives before finding their way to the shelter – but there are countless fantastic stories of re-unions with families who thought their children were lost forever.
With a capacity of 50 children, they’re constantly full – the girls stay for an average of 4 months, before being permanently housed. I came away from the shelter with a lump in my throat and resolution to help in the future.
I’ve met many people with stories of incredible organisations throughout Africa – I’ll try and visit many more – hopefully I can get involved and contribute something.
2nd May 2007
The 2nd May arrived – I’ve not heard anything from Karin since arranging to meet her at 20:10… There’s no e-mail from her so after spending the afternoon with some local students chewing chat for the second time (I’ve decided I don’t really like it) I set off for the airport.
Apparently it takes some time to get out of immigration – you need to wait for baggage, then queue for a visa I sat down for a beer and food but looked up to see a confused an slightly worried Karin wandering around the arrivals hall… I couldn’t just leave her any longer – even though a small part of me wanted to hide for a while!
It’s great to see her – it’s been three months and I’ve missed my good friend.
We tucked into a few beers that night even though she’s been travelling without sleep for 32 hours. I’ve realised I’ve not been very silly in the last few months, so we waste no time at all.
We’re spending a few days doing absolutely nothing – it’s time to relax, chew the fat and plan our travels down through the rest of Ethiopia and Kenya.
The Baro’s a perfect place, with a secluded courtyard the food and beer keeps on coming. We’re just waiting for visas and the car.
On the 4th May I took Karin to the Dashen restaurant, highly recommended by other travellers – we were somewhat concerned to find a young man playing elevator music on his Yamaha keyboard but soon enough though the place livened up and the dancers arrived – which was truly spectacular.
Not only were some of them stunning – they were able to do moves I could only dream of… Dancing here takes the form of a dance-off and I can’t help but think of my friend Paul doing the running man… (They do a crazy version here; leaning so far back it seems to defy gravity).
I’ve now found out what the problem is with overheating – the viscous coupling on the fan – it’s just not turning at the right speed… We have to wait to find a part here – and as soon as we have it we’re off – to the Bale Mountains and to the Omo valley before heading into Kenya for Karin’s flight on the 30th, and Deloris’s arrival on the same day.
Having spent most of our time trying to fix the car and at the Baro Hotel drinking the excellent local beer – we need a change of scenery. Karin want’s to swim, so off we head to one of the luxury hotels – the Hilton.
Shame we picked Sunday though – it rained for most of the morning, and I’m cursing the $10 entrance fee.
Karin makes the most of it and swims through it – after all it’s warmer in there than where I’m sat.
We decide to forget the pool for the timebeing and checkout the buffet – only £25 for the two of us – and there’s champagne included (Karin changed her mind about having a glass after hearing that!)
Being more of a ‘spit and sawsust’ kind of guy I opted for a large beer as well (after having at least a bottle of champagne at brunch)
Karin’s constant begging
Ended up working
After consuming all this alcohol we had a great day – the sun came out and I’m working on changing my ‘truckers tan’ as Karin likes to call it.
Monday 7th May 2006
This morning I managed to buy the last viscous coupling in town – I fitted the part (not before smacking myself in the face with the spanner) and we were on our way.
We were on our way – but by the time we’d crossed town and were close to Ethio Lakes garage again it was clear that the brakes were far too bad to drive with… The drums on the rear are easy to tighten – but bleeding is a 2 man job, and as we’re close one I’d rather have the pro’s do.
Turns out it was a good decision – when we reached the garage, I noticed oil leaking onto the rear passenger side wheel – the hub seal on this wheel has now failed – the front drivers side just a few days ago – now this one, we’ll be here a while.
We left at around 5pm, intent on reaching Lake Langano today, we’ll have to drive at night. On these roads it’s no problem – there’s Asphalt and no security problems.
At around 9pm, I reached the milestone of 11111 miles driven so far on my journey:
A few moments later I saw at around 150m in front a large dog, slowly walking across the road – I was doing around 60mph, the dog stopped as we approached – 100m now, and it became clear that this was no ordinary mutt, in fact it was a truly massive hyena, and it stood in typical hyena fashion. His long front legs supported his huge body mass with his rather weak looking rear legs keeping up with the rest of his body. I can’t help but think that it looks like a big teddy bear under M’s bright yellow spotlights.
Just as we realised what this beast was – it turned and went for the car, lunging forward towards us, ready to bite.
The verge was solid, which for Africa is unusual to say the least – I swerved, the car lurched and the hyena struck the passenger side tyre as we passed – now at around 45 – 50 mph.
Wild animals are usually very shy – people we’ve spoken to since this incident have been truly amazed. I still remember the look on Karin’s face as she lifted her legs into the air in a comical attempt to avoid being bitten, and her insistence we don’t stop – “because it’s going to be angry now”, but kind of wish we’d turned around to see just what happened to this spectacular animal.
After our first nights camping - and a few whiskeys to stave of the mosquitoes whilst discussing whether our hyena assailant was rabid or not - we awoke to a beautiful day. You can probably see my fat lip I gave myself yesterday…
It turns out the campsite we chose is a building site – there’s a lot of workers here, preparing no doubt for a high season soon – so there are a few spectators whilst I check the coolant levels.
Not only do we have human spectators – but those of the bird variety too. One cheeky budgerigar actually wanted to come with us.
We took a stroll along the lake before heading off to the Bale Mountains.
Apparently this is the only lake without crocs – Karin just want’s to check
Once we were on the road – within 10 minutes the heat is near to the red again. My heart sank – the overheating problem remains and we’ve no choice but to turn north once more and head towards Addis Ababa. I can’t stand the thought of yet more time in Addis, and I can’t help but feel bad about forcing Karin to spend more time in this dusty yet somehow charming city – we should be heading south into the wilderness and the countryside.
The drive was slow – the problem’s worse in the daytime with a high ambient temperature, both of us are questioning how such a slight change can affect the heat of the engine (which runs at temperatures hundreds of times hotter than the air outside)
We reached Ethio Lakes at 3pm, I’m glad to see everyone here – they’re a great bunch of people, they’re somewhat confused but happy to see us too.
I explain that the overheating problem is still there – and we go over the test with the viscous coupling performed only a few days ago – we borrowed the fan from another 300tdi and put this in M. Immediatley as they remove the fan from the other 300tdi I notice that the blades are different – the blades on my fan face the other way – can this be? All this time the bloody fan’s been on the wrong way around? Is this why Daniel and I sweated through the 40+ temperatures in the Nubian Desert?
Yes.
It turns out the fan I have is from a V8 – M used to be a LHD V8 before her 300tdi conversion in the 1990’s. 50$ later, we have a new fan – and a completely unnecessary spare (expensive) viscous coupling unit. We’re fixed (at least we hope so) and tomorrow we head to the Bale Mountains.
This evening we’re drinking some more – and being silly again.
I have to laugh at the resolution to the overheating problem – when M was converted from a V8 sometime in the 1990’s they’d obviously cut some corners… I’m surprised that no one in any of the garages en-route had spotted this problem, but then it’s probably a rare one. It explains why the ambient temperature makes such a big difference.
At 5am we awoke to darkness and a bemused security guard at the Baro – it seems not many guests get up at this time, let alone want to leave – it took 5 minutes for him to get hold of the key.
Once on the road we made good time.
We arrive at Lake Langano at 9am - where we’d camped two days ago and just a little further from our incident with the Hyena. An hour later and we’re sitting in a café in Shashemene (the famous Rasta village here in Ethiopia), having heard mixed stories about the village we’re not planning to stay here – with only 10 days left in Ethiopia we’re going to focus on the Bale Mountains and the Omo valley.
The road to the Bale Mountains becomes terrible past Shashemene; they’re building a new road which should be completed for the Ethiopian Millennium in September 2007.
The countryside is incredible as we approach the mountains, I can’t wait to be in the park, and not have to worry about the car.
We only have to survive a huge thunderstorm before arriving at the park, lightning struck no more than 1km from us as we drove along the mountain pass.
The park itself is cheap – for two days (including camping and park fees) we pay 150birr (around £8). Firewood is best bought before the park – it’s 2birr for a bundle vs. the 12birr they charge here.
It’s difficult to avoid taking a guide… for a start they don’t tell you which is the road into the park if you don’t have a guide – so for the first night, we’re camping by the lodge – avoiding driving in the now pouring rain and soon to be darkness. We’re intent after their forceful insistence that you need a guide (you don’t\if you have your own vehicle) that we will make do without.
The view from the tent in the morning is spectacular – warthog are feeding just a few metres away (it was deer when we arrived last night)
Karin was a convert to camping after our first night at Lake Langano – but here it was raining as we cooked and then it rained all night. She’s not so happy about camping now but the view makes up for it.
Thursday 10th May
We eventually find the track south into the park and hit some great offroad tracks. This is the first proper off road driving on the trip and I’m loving it.
On the approach to the campsite, we see our first Ethiopian Wolf – a beautiful creature, found only in the Bale Mountains, there’s only 70 – 80 of them left.
They apparently don’t attack people – the villagers in the park who number 7000 still kill many when livestock are attacked – so they’re quite wary. It’s only the rabid ones you need worry about.
The campsite is manned by PHD research assistants, working on a project for Glasgow University on the giant mole rats we’ve seen so much of. They look like large hamsters, and scurry away making loud squeaking noises whenever we approach.
Lunch is the priority before kicking back for a few hours.
After setting up the tent and relaxing
We set off for a short walk. Karin estimates it’ll take us an hour just to cross the valley – in fact it’s closer to 10 minutes, so on we press – looking for another sighting of the wolf.
It’s around 3500m above sea level here – so exertion is tiring, Karin suffers a little more than me – but then I’m a smoker, which evens things out. In the end we walk for a good 12km, along the base of the cliffs, past villages with nasty looking dogs (which really freaks out Karin), and out onto the smaller escarpments overlooking the valley.
Karin doesn’t want to walk past any more aggressive dogs – and we can’t find the track shown on our map so go our own way – following the GPS back to the campsite. The only trouble is there are often small streams to cross, and deep muddy bogs. I have long legs which take me easily across the streams – Karin has to take long run ups before taking the plunge.
Unfortunately the long-jump was never one of Karin’s strengths, and she only has one pair of trousers – so after failing that last jump (I wish I had a picture of the landing) she’s wearing my shorts.
At least now we can laugh about it – I wasn’t allowed to make jokes for at least ½ an hour…
After some great baked potatoes, excellent single malt and a good fire we are knackered. It’s been an incredible day – the walk was amazing, despite the lack of wolves – we’ll try to see some again tomorrow.
Friday 11th May 2007
Our walk today was quite different – we’re now not following the trails, but trying to stalk the wolf – we spot two – a mother and cub playing out on the plains in front of the campsite. After they spotted us they headed for shelter in the valley to the north. We’re currently upwind from them, so approaching them is difficult, after an hours detour across the Kotera Plain and onto the escarpments overlooking the Web Valley we’re downwind from where we last saw the wolves, and as we approach one of the cliff’s I spot a female wolf hunting alone in the valley below.
We’re able to sit and watch - unnoticed by the young wolf – soon another approaches, not before the female catches and eats one of the giant mole rats which cover the countryside here.
Two huge eagles take off just a few feet in front of us as we change positions to look at the approaching male wolf.
The approaching wolf is a larger male – and he’s not happy to not have been invited for lunch.
After a quick drink they head off – it’s been great to see them hunt, our location was fantastic, and all without a guide!
As the female leaves the valley – heading south, we’re again upwind from them – she smells us and starts yelping – in a quite comical yapping. No sooner have we caught sight of them once more they’re joined by another male – who is quickly chased off by the larger male.
It appears as if the two males are bolting straight towards us – up the rocky slope from which we’re observing. These aren’t small animals – probably the size of a large Alsatian and accomplished pack hunters.
“oh cool” says Karin.
Followed shortly by:
“SHIT!”
We needn’t have worried – it seems they’re just playing and as we descend the slope they quickly disappear. Within minutes however we spot four more wolf hunting on the plains just outside our campsite – they wander freely amongst the cattle and the horses. It seems they’re not threatened by the hunters’ presence – there are more than enough mole rats to keep the wolf fed and happy.
After giving the resident camp keepers a lift to Dinsho the following morning we set off to the highest point in the Bale Mountains, and the second highest peak in Ethiopia. Karin’s suffered a little with the altitude, and I’m concerned at times that she’s not all there today.
Simple tasks seem to be quite complicated for her – and she’s a little more clumsy than usual (which is some feat)… I’m constantly checking that she’s OK – and all my suggestions of turning around and descending are swiftly dismissed.
It seems my body likes this altitude, on the walks of the previous days I’ve felt fit and healthy – I even had a desire to run at one point, which for anyone that knows me is totally out of character.
You’re able to drive to the summit – literally all the way to the top, so the exertion is minimal, at least for us… M has no problems in low range climbing the mountain – the track is bad in parts and often rocky, but she’s holding up well.
The view from the summit makes the cold bearable – we’re now at 4383m above sea level, there’s just one poor guy who has to live up here guarding the radio tower – he’s surprised to see us – I doubt he gets much company up here…
This is probably the highest I’ll go on my journey (not counting the flight back of course) so risking a lightning bolt I get a slightly higher maximum altitude reading on the GPS. (4387m)
Not wanting to hang around too long (it’s too cold, and Karin’s eye has apparently started hissing), we descend down to the more reasonable 3500m plateau below. En-route we nearly hit a wolf – she’s rather well camouflaged for this environment, so I didn’t see her until she nearly ran under the car.
Thankfully after sizing up her opponent she turned away and hid in the bushes for a few moments before daring to cross the road infront of us. Her partner was waiting anxiously to the east – after playing a while they set off over the hill, no doubt in search of mole-rats.
We headed towards the Sanetti campsite, the highest camp in the park, but after arriving we decide it’s too damn cold to sleep here – it’s 3pm now and it’s already bitterly cold. We could make it back to Dinsho for a sauna and proper beds by nightfall – so after seeing yet another wolf successfully hunt in the valley ahead we start the long decent from the plateau.
After only half an hour’s drive down the rocky road, disaster struck yet again. The passenger side shock absorber tunnel once more has failed – this time not from the repaired top of the tunnel – but from the mounting bracket at the bottom of the tunnel. The metal has snapped – the four retaining bolts are still in place – with their nuts, but the car’s immobilised.
I now know from experience that whilst driving M in this condition it’s only a matter of time until the other shock absorber tunnel breaks under the strain. All the force from every tiny bump is now upon the remaining shock absorber. We’ve not seen another car on our journey to the second highest peak – so have no choice but to continue, as slowly as humanly possible.
After just a few minutes however I’m not happy with it – the roads just too bad. We stop, and I try and think of ways to fix the broken tunnel back to its fixings. After just a few minutes we hear a car – I’ve already discussed with Karin the probability that I’ll have to head down to the town to find someone to repair the broken tunnel – so when the Isuzu truck hurtles around the corner behind us Karin waves them down and they’re happy to drive me into Gobe, the next village 30km away.
Karin shoes me off and the driver leaves one of his colleagues behind with the car to look after Karin and M. To me this is now normal – people help others here – especially if they’re ‘rich’ feranji… There’ll be a nice thank you for them if we can fix this today.
Unfortunately as I found out later – Karin wasn’t aware that the guy we left behind with her was a colleague of the driver – she thought it was a random hitchhiker which made the first hour tense (until she realised that he was actually part of the driving crew).
In my mind, the young (and tiny) guy we’d left behind with Karin would ensure that we’d definitely make it back today – they won’t leave their mate stuck at the top of the mountain, so as we descended at break neck speed I was confident of a speedy resolution.
It was getting dark by the time we arrived at the welders – at around 6.30pm, they wasted no time – it’s Saturday night after all, and began beating a long straight piece of metal into a circle, which would be welded to the bottom of the tunnel.
I’m not 100% confident in the method – there’s a lot of strain to be put on this part, but as long as it will get us to the next major town I’m happy.
Within 3 hours I’d returned with the driver and his buddy to the top of the mountain, to find a very relieved and cold Karin – she’s had fun talking football with her new friend, but laughs about the first hour where she thought this was a random… the question
“Did you really think I’d leave you with a hitchhiker?”
Came with a very quick response
“YES!”
A few hours later – (after waiting what seemed like forever for my drill to charge) we had the repaired tunnel secured back on its bolts with securing locknuts – quite a task, and complicated by the enthusiasm of the driver and his friend. I could have done the work in less time on my own, but explaining things when we have no common language is difficult.
We left, arrived safely in Goba village below at around 11pm, tired and hungry we drink a cold beer before passing out for much needed sleep.
We decided to head towards Addis Ababa again, once we reach the tarmac of Sheshmane (which we have to pass through to reach the south) it’s only a 3 / 4 hour drive on tarmac to the capital city. We could wait in Shehmane for parts to arrive – but that’d cost a day.
With the intention of reaching Addis today we set off – albeit slowly!
The decent is breathtaking, and at this speed I’m able to enjoy it properly – although I have to keep a keen eye out for any obstacle, no matter how small.
We see our second troop of baboons, and much to our amusement the largest male has a little “Thomas tank” upon seeing M. (You’ll only get that if you know a little cockney rhyming slang – or if you look at the picture closely!)
We make very slow progress, and as the afternoon wears on, we’re still 100km from the tarmac.
As the sun does set, we’re just 20 tantalizing kilometres from the tarmac, and a smooth worry free ride back to Addis Ababa.
To our great relief we reach the road – in one piece and with the suspension still working – it’s a huge relief. The days drive has been exhausting, 160km in 9 hours of nervous, stop-start travel.
After putting on music for the first time today (the noises were important on the rocky roads), we’re doing 50mph and making good time.
That is of course until I lose all power. Coasting to a stop I thought that M had jumped out of gear. After stopping, I re-engage and try pulling away. The sound is absolutely horrendous – one I never want to hear again. Metal screaming and scraping and it sounds like half the car just fell off. We exchange shocked glances before I jump out to inspect the damage. Nothing underneath M looks out of place – even though it sounds as though the gearbox just fell out. Karin then listens from outside whilst I carefully try pulling away once more.
The sound continues, after a more detailed search of the vehicle I spot that the rear passenger side half shaft is protruding from the axle (something which should obviously never happen). This was the axle where the hub seal leak was repaired by Ethio Lakes just a few days ago – I’m worried about what this could mean.
As if by magic, a few feet in front of us is a sign for a campsite by lake Langano – different to the one we stayed at the last time we had car problems and had to return to Addis Ababa, thankfully it’s open and cheap. It’s just a 3km drive which we do with the help of the diff lock.
We setup the tent – both in pretty foul moods, Karin’s also now has some stomach problems after eating a rotten Avocado… Not a great day then.
We awoke in the tent at dawn, well I should say Karin woke at dawn and then woke me up to see a wonderful sunrise over the lake – I remember the image – through the mosquito nets it was absolutely stunning – I observed for a few seconds before grunting something appreciative and going back to sleep.
After being forced from the tent by the sun at 8am I set off in search of the camps administrator – he’d promised the previous night to lend us his phone to call Ethio Lakes. After a few hours of bad connections and other communication problems (with the administrator and Ethio Lakes) my call ended in the conclusion they should come and pick us up.
I’m raging about the continuing car problems – and I’m feeling terrible about forcing Karin to spend time in Addis Ababa garages. Even though we’re camped at one of the most beautiful spots we’ve been in so far we’re not 100% happy
We do manage to put a brave face on things later in the morning – and actually take a brief but refreshing swim in the lake. Thoughts of Crocs and Bilharzia keep popping into our heads however forcing an early retreat.
Soon after our ride arrives – we’re being taken to Ethio Lakes once more, I’m slightly uncomfortable having M transported this way – it’s admitting defeat, I could have driven with the half shaft removed and diff lock engaged, albeit slowly – but I’d have preferred that to being on the back of a flatbed.
Karin’s loving being up high – they let us ride in M back to Addis – something they’d never allow back home – so it does at least allow some great views.
As we drove we passed the point at which we’d struck the Hyena a few days previously – my mind starts to question whether this was actually a hyena – it’s light now, there’s people everywhere and I can’t see such a huge beast surviving long with so many cattle and shepherds around. Just after the thoughts of ‘maybe it was a dog’ ran through my mind, and my memory began playing tricks, we drove past the body of a large dog – the familiar saying from Karin came “that’s not a dog!” and we drove past the body of the huge beast.
On arrival in Addis Ababa we drop off M at Ethio Lakes and head once more to the Baro hotel.
The next morning I’m off to inspect the damage – it appears that the drivemember has worn through.
There’s also significant damage to the new halfshaft I’d had fitted just three months ago before leaving the UK. The halfshaft was supplied by Douglas motors – they modify the standard halfshaft to incorporate a grease nipple on the drivemember end – allowing me to apply grease to the shaft after driving through sand / dust – something which greatly increases the lifespan of the shaft and drivemember.
I’m fairly convinced the drivemember was good when re-fitted by Ethio Lakes just a few days ago after the hub seal was replaced – so is the mechanic who did the work, but the garage are not willing to accept any responsibility… It ends up taking a day and a half to source a new shaft – my axle is slightly different to a normal 300tdi – one of the many complications of the V8 – 300TDI conversion.
After a few good nights sleep though – and a good breakfast I’m feeling better.
Karin’s spent another day at the Hilton, swimming and relaxing – so moods are higher – that is until the price negotiations start with Ethio Lakes – they’re unwilling to buy back (even at a discounted rate) the viscous coupling unit they advised me to buy to fix my earlier overheating problem – even though it ended up not being the source of the problem… they’re not accepting any responsibility for the halfshaft damage and the drivemember failure and all their talk of a discount for the collection of M has evaporated.
I leave the garage with a very bitter taste in my mouth – I’ve spent a lot of money at their garage and there’s been absolutely no movement from them on anything – and I’m regretting being reasonable with them previously and not querying bills when they failed to resolve the overheating problem.
Despite the shocking management at Ethio Lakes I’ve made some friends here – Theodros (the mechanic who did most of the work) is a great guy, and I’ve enjoyed working with him.
My damaged halfshaft has been machine tooled – so I can re-use it in an emergency.
My advice if you have a Land Rover and need work doing whilst driving through Addis Ababa is to buy the parts directly from Ultimate Motors, drive straight past Ethio Lakes and have one of the smaller garages do the work… If you’re doing much of it yourself, it’ll save you a lot of time, money and from having to deal with crappy management.
It’s started raining hard now at times – far more frequent than the last three weeks – the thunder storm the night before our departure was typical of the 3 / 4 hours of rain we see every day now.
All our thoughts of heading into the Omo valley and possibly the Lake Turkana drive into Kenya have been washed away – literally by the rains. Four Spaniards I’ve met here in Addis who tried to go the Turkana route a week ago are now back here at the Baro with guess what – suspension problems. Apparently the tracks are ‘bloody hard’ an average speed of 5 – 10kmph is expected, and the rains are getting worse.
A word of warning to anyone whishing to buy fruit from the countless street-side sellers is to avoid pineapples:
We stopped with the intention of buying one but within a few moments the car was surrounded by 10-15 fruit sellers each jostling for position by our windows. They looked a bit like the zombies from sean of the dead – each forcing a bunch of 7 pineapples into our windows (it seems you can’t buy less than 7)
As you know the fruit is quite spiky – so it’s not the best one to have stuck in your face… In the end the mayhem was too much and we had to drive away, hoping that the dozens of fruit obscuring the windscreen would soon disappear, and no fruit sellers would be hurt!
We decide to head straight for the border, it means missing out on Arba Minch, the gateway to the Omo valley, and the home of the orphanage which we really wanted to visit – but our visas are nearly expired and Karin’s flight is now far too close for comfort – only around 2 weeks left before she has to fly home.
In one days drive we manage to reach the small village of Yabello – only 200km from the Kenyan border. The roads are great – only the usual suicidal donkeys and crazy cattle to deal with.
`The Yabello Motel was a welcome stop for us – they have satellite TV showing Italian football, a pool room and a bar – what more could you ask for?? We were however too knackered to enjoy the football – so after a good meal we sleep well – under mosquito nets (it’s malaria land here).
The Moyale – Marsabit road is one of the worst roads in Africa – it’s what lies ahead of us today, the previous night’s rainfall to the south doesn’t make me feel very comfortable.
The road is infamous for its corrugations, the ability to wreck many tyres on just one journey and bandits. We’ve heard no good stories about the road.
Karin thought for some time (until looking at the map) that it was the Moyale to Marsa bit of road, which is the only amusing thing I’ve ever heard about it!
We arrived in Moyale on the Ethiopian side of the border at 10:30, there’s the usual paperwork to sort out before being able to cross – but we’re still unsure of whether we’ll attempt it today. The plan currently is to cross to the Kenyan side and camp in the Moyale National Reserve.
The usual border town swarm of guides and money changers are full of doom and gloom – many say that if it rains we should definitely not pass, other travellers we meet say it’s at least 10 hours to travel to Marsabit – and that’s going quickly!
Just as we start eating our last meal in Ethiopia, after finishing all the passport stamps and carnet procedures the heavens open – a torrential downpour that continues for a good 30 minutes. No travel today then.
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