Update : 06.01.2006
Place : İstanbul/Türkiye
Day : 83
Distance : 13,040km


Don't be surprised with the "Place" of this update. Yes, I am (or, was) in Istanbul. The first leg of the trip was complete in Nairobi on December 26th as planned and I returned to Istanbul to enter the new year with my wife and son. The three of us will fly to Nairobi on January 9th to commence the second leg of the trip. We will travel part of Kenya and Uganda together; my family will return home from Kampala on January 26th, and I will continue alone. Meanwhile, a period of catching up with family and loved ones after arriving in Istanbul meant that I would be running late in my second and last part of the Ethiopia update, that you are reading right now, and the beginning of the Kenya update which I promised myself to complete before returning to Nairobi. I think it will take even longer to get it uploaded on the website thanks to the "fantastic" 9-day Bayram holiday break.

In the meantime, few of my "fans", namely, my dear brother-in-law Ahmet (and only one more other than him), asked me how I figured out that the animal I saw on the Gonder - Axum road was indeed the "Simien Wolf". Truly if someone told me that as they were driving along they have spotted an animal which belongs to an endangered species with no more than 700 - 800 of them left in the whole world, I wouldn't believe them either.

Let me show you the photo of a Simien Wolf

Simien Wolf is an endemic species unique to the region (found only in Ethiopia and especially in the Simien and Bale areas). It is not too difficult to spot and recognize once spotted, not only because of its typical features (elongated head and nose, thick fur and tail, russet coat with patches of light yellow-white fur on its throat and front) but also it is frequently spotted in the vicinity of settlement areas, especially near the roads; to the point that "traffic accidents" is listed in the statistics as one of the reasons that endanger this species, unfortunately.

I am not the only one blessed with the opportunity of seeing an animal from an endangered species. Phillip Birggs, the author of my reference book who traveled during the day and on a bus, along with some others who traveled across Ethiopia have also stated seeing the Simien Wolf. So, unfortunately, I am not the only one. It could also happen to you! :)

Axum
According to my records, I arrived in Axum at 20:35. That means, it took me 11 hours 35 minutes to drive from Gonder to Axum. Let's say I spent 35 minutes for stopovers. That leaves me with 11 hours non-stop driving to complete 365km. Should I take a shower first or have dinner? I decide to get some food in the tummy first but I realize that was a mistake when I return to my room: the water was cut off. I go downstairs and tell them there is no water in the room. I am told that they cut off water in the entire city, and that I will have to content with a "bucket" of water. It is cold (the temperature drops to about 12-14 degrees centigrade in the evenings and there is no heating system in the hotel) and I can't wash with cold water. I go to bed, prepared to suffer the consequences of bad decision making. I wake in the middle of the night with incredible pain in my neck, back and shoulders. Pain killers and muscle relaxants are in the car and I am too lazy to go downstairs to get them. From about 01:30 in the morning till morning I toss and turn in excruciating pain.

In the morning there was still no water. My entire body was aching and I had very little sleep. I entitle myself a night in a good hotel where water will still run even when it us cut off in the city. I move to the best hotel in Axum, Yeha Hotel, owned by the state hotel chain, Ghion.
That day I wandered aliaround battered and broken despite the strong pain killer and muscle relaxant. I think that the culprit is the 11 hour rough drive during which all my muscles were continuously tense. After that day, at the end of every tiring drive similar to this one I made sure to take muscle relaxant and pain killers before sleep. It worked. At this rate I am afraid I will become a drug addict.
Axium has served as a capital city to the Axum Kingdom which laid the foundation of today's Ethiopia. Its identity as a capital city dates back to the first century A.D. however during the excavations evidence has been recovered which proves that its history as a settlement goes back as far as the fifth century B.C.

Axum Kingdom established and improved trade relations with the Arabs and Persians, as well as India and Rome, and reaped the benefits of this when it became an empire in the second century during the reign of King Gadarat ruling over vast lands including today's Yemen. According to some of the Persian records, at the time Axum Kingdom was regarded as one of the four biggest empires in the world next to Persian, Chinese and Roman Empires. The most powerful and influential king of the Axum Kingdom was Ezana who ruled with his twin Saizana. Ezana, influenced by two Christians from Syria. Frumentius and Aedissius, declared Christian faith as the official religion of the Axum Kingdom. Prior to Christianity the history of religious faith in the kingdom was a little too complicated. Or rather, the information from different sources is inconsistent. One thing certain and that is Judaism was dominant. There are even claims that the 237 emperors including Haile Selasie are descendants of Menelik I, the illegitimate child of King Solomon (Son of David) and the Queen of Saba Makeda, (or Belkis, according to the Islamic resources). However, many scientific sources declare this claim to be untrue. So anyways, basically the introduction of Christianity to Ethiopia dates back to King Ezana's reign. The information regarding the existence of Jewish Falashas (dictionary meaning of Falasha is "exile" or "alien/stranger") in these lands seems to be inconsistent. Two operations were launched by Israel to rescue the Falashas who have been living in these lands long before Ezana's reign. They were to be airlifted and brought to Israel. The first one was in 1984; the US-supported Operation Moses (which was actually launched to rescue the Ethiopian Jews who were fleeing to Sudan, more than 4,000 of whom have died during the escape) and the second one in 1991; Operation Solomon.

According to one source (The Sign and Seal, by Graham Hancock) the Falashas are the priests and other Jewish population who fled the area, after the Jewish temple on the Elefantin Island on the River Nile near Asswan was captured and destroyed by the Egyptians in 410 B.C.; they moved along the bank of the River Nile, arrived and settled in Ethiopia.

Let's go back to Axum. The history of Christian faith in the Axum Kingdom and therefore today's Ethiopia dates back to the city of Axum so it is considered the most holy city in Ethiopia. In fact, you can feel this holiness in the grave Orthodox atmosphere that dominates not only Axum but also every big city in Ethiopia.

The most attention-grabbing landmark in Axum is the site of obelisks (Ancient Axum Stelae). In this site there are about 75 obelisk-like pillars which were erected in the honor of the kings who ruled during various periods of the Axum Kingdom. The most significant one of these stelae is the 23m high stela of King Ezana. Made of single blocks of massive granite piece they were transported from the quarry 4km away from the site. This stela is slightly tilted and for some reason, it is assumed that it has always been this way since the beginning. Ezana is the first Christian ruler of the Axum Kingdom and the last to erect a stela to his name. The biggest stela in the site is the one which belongs to King Ramhai who ruled during 3rd century. It is rumored that this stela fell like many structures that were at the receiving end of Queen Yudit's (or Gudit, a falasha queen) wrath as she sacked the city of Axum at the end of the 10th century. The fallen 33m and 500 ton stela remains the "biggest" of all the stelae while it lays broken as a work of "vandalism".



The obelisks of Axum

I can't say I hesitated much before capturing one of the most must-see works of art in Axum. I pressed the shutter thinking how rude it would be to you as well as a gross "negligence of duty" on my part to miss this "opportunity" which represented itself as I went up to hotel's terrace to watch the sunset and take a few photos. My conscious is clear. To tell you the truth, Buket's support encouraged me to put it up here.


One of Axum's "works of art"

The palace of King Kaleb, who ascended to the throne in the beginning of the 6th century which was the most prosperous period of the Axum Kingdom, made it in my "must-see" list, not only for the fact that the guidebooks stated it was worth seeing but also because it had the word "palace" in it. Yet I never expected that it would be in such a seriously bad condition that I didn't notice it as I drove by where it was supposed to be. I don't know why I expected a structure to remain intact since the 6th century but I guess you imagine something different when you hear the word "palace". Above the ground is in ruins but the tomb underground is still intact.

You go down to the catacomb in the basement along the walls made of finely cut stone blocks interlocked into one another. Since the existing lighting system is "out of order", you try to find your way with the candles you "rent" from the guard, like the "tip" system in Egypt. While navigating in candle light you hit your head on the low ceiling in small passageways; and since the bumps on your head increase your "loading gauge", you start paying more attention to the stones in the walls the next time you pass through. When you are done "feeling" the wall frescos in candle light, you get this irresistible urge to run outside to the fresh air and bright light.


The cross on the wall in the light of "rented candles", King Kaleb's Palace

On the way to Kaleb's Palace I also had a chance to see the tablet inscribed as ordered by Ezana, despite the fact it took a little effort... Tablet was inscribed in three languages: Ge'ez (a language that emerged as the language of the Ethiopian villagers and transformed into the empire's royal language), Sabean (the language of the Saba people who lived in the area where today's Yemen is located) and Greek... The text on the tablet consists of a prayer to God asking help in the conquest of Yemen and it ends with a "postscript" which, supposedly states that in the case that the tablet is relocated, the person who is responsible for moving the tablet would face an unexpected death. So this tablet has not been moved since it was discovered in 1980 by a farmer, thanks to this "postscript". They built a hut around it and locked its door. There is apparently a guard who stands watch and carries the key but it was not possible to find him and of course the key, so I was able to see the tablet by climbing up one of the windows and dangling down inside.

My last visit in Axum was to the Pantaleon Monastery situated on a hill known as Debre Katin. It is one of the oldest monasteries in Ethiopia with great historical significance. It was founded in the beginning of the 6th century by Abba Pantaleon (or Pantelewon who was the son of a Byzantian nobleman. It is also famous for its handwritten Bibles.

Handwritten Bible, priest and the crosses

Abba Pantaleon lived in the monastery since he was a child, then he left the monastery on a duty to spread Christianity in the areas where today's Ethiopia and Eritrea are located, and he became one of the "Nine Saints". He is a missionary who moved to Ethiopia and chose the life of confinement in a monastery "cell", after the adoption of the Monophysit Doctrine (the view which accepts that in the person of Jesus there was but a single, divine nature) which would be later rejected in 451 by the Council of Chalcedon (today's Kadikoy, a district of Istanbul in Turkey). Pantaleon was also the "religious advisor" to King Kaleb who abdicated his throne in favor of his son Gebre Meskel and retired to a monastery.

Debra Katin where Pantaleon Monastery is situated on has a beautiful view of Adwa and surrounding mountains. Adwa is a city of importance in the history of Ethiopia that has witnessed the Battle of Adwa every Ethiopian mentions with a sense of pride. The Battle of Adwa took place in October 1895, between the Ethiopian army and the Italian colonial army on the slopes of the hills near Adwa after the Italians invaded Adigrat and built a fortress in Mekele. The Ethiopian army delivered a humiliating defeat to the Italians and this was the first time in history when a western army was defeated by the Africans. (It is said that the Italians made a mistake when reading the map and this was the main main reasons why they lost). Despite the defeat Italians managed to keep Eritrea and in 1900 Eritrea - Ethiopia border was defined.

35 years later in March 1936, under the orders from Duche Italians would cross the border again to avenge the Battle of Adwa, overpowering the weak resistance put up by the Ethiopian army. As a consequence an Italian Eastern Africa consisting of Eritrea, Italian Somaliland and Ethiopia was established and Addis Ababa was announced as the colonial capital. In 1937 after an attempt to kill the Italian viceroy the Black Shirts went on a rampage of murder and arson, slaughtering thousands of innocent Ethiopians. A successful campaign by the British forces ended the Italian invasion in 1941. Italians retreated to the Italian Somaliland and Eritrea.

I completed my visits in Axum and partially recovered from the exhaustion of the last trip, then the next day, at 08:30 Monday, December 12th I left for Woldiya via Adigrat. Northern parts of the road to Woldiya (known as Easter Tigray area) are famous for its churches carved into the rocks. Dozens of churches attract tourists to the area along the roads that stretch southbound from Adigrat to Wukro situated about 30km further south of Sinkata and connect these two cities to Megab in the east. All of the churches are open for worship but entry to some require special permission from the Tigray Tourist Bureau. However, there is one condition of entry common to all of the churches: You have to find its priest to enter. Should you fail to find him, when you reach the door with dozens of local villagers, kids and adults, you will be more likely to leave in disappointment - again with the "committee" that follows you around.



One of the many churches carved into the rocks on Adigrat-Woldiya route

The local youth feel with their sensitive sensory skills that you will take a turn from the main road to the dirt road and start running towards you from few hundred meters. After you make the turn they calculate the "meeting point" based on your speed, take a shortcut and throw themselves in front of your car. From that point onwards you are in a race towards the church. If you think you can outrun them trusting the abilities of your car, you are dead wrong. Cuz in a little while, those kids that you thought were chasing after you, will follow a "shortcut" you are unaware of and appear right in front of you again. "That!" you say then, "must have been the reason why Italians lost the Battle of Adwa". Some men, you assume are fathers of the kids you have been playing puss in the corner with, meet you at the point from which you will climb up on foot and point with their hands and show you the way to the church that is actually screaming "I am here!" from about 50 meters away. You begin your hike up towards the church with these people mobilized to accompany you on this winding path to the church so that you wouldn't get lost in this foreign country and become food to the wildlife. As you make your way up there, you engage in conversations with them in Amharic, trying to make yourself believe that these benevolent Ethiopian people are not in fact after a few Birrs in return for this kindness. And you think "since this committee is accompanying me to the church the priest must be in the church". Now you have made a mistake. Actually the committee is tagging along to find out whether or not the priest is up in the church. Once it is apparent a little too late that the priest is nowhere to be found, they get into a deep discussion among themselves on how to find him. In the meantime you begin your descent down the hill with the frustration and weariness from being tricked for the third time.

Along the road you come across more churches carved into the rocks or built on top of the high hills. The number of churches per square km reminded me of the density of mosques in Turkey. The establishment of such a large worship network to communicate with God in a country where per capita income is below USD150 makes you ponder. The intense and grave religious atmosphere that I felt in most of Ethiopia, including Addis Ababa, makes people like me uncomfortable, but also it seems to me that this atmosphere is making it difficult for people to awaken from the sleepy state they are in.



You can see a church on top of almost every high hill

The road asphalt paved nicely as part of a project funded by the British government suddenly turned into a hellish nightmare at the Mekele intersection, ruined by the construction machinery. There is ongoing construction (aquaduct, bridge, etc) on the road which means I had to do some acrobatic driving in and out of 10-30 m holes and as I did so, it got late and dark, and the never-ending road to Woldiya kept stretching out in the distance. When I arrived in -I think- Korem, I stopped at the service station to buy fuel (I think it was Korem because I forgot to make a record of the fuel I bought there). When I asked about the road to Woldiya the kids in the station said "Ooo! You can't go that way." "Why?" I asked. "There is construction on the road." "What will I do then?" "Go via such and such place." "Well that place is not recorded in my GPS or on the map. I can't find it in the dark. Wouldn't this car make it through the road?" One of them said "I don't know, you can try if you want". I filled the tank and set off. At the exit from the village, on the service road next to the main road there was a Nissan Terrano in front of me so I began to follow. We drove on the rough service road for about 10-15km. As I was thinking "well since the one in front is going, the road must be open", the Nissan stopped and so did I. It wasn't like there was any other option since the road ENDED! There is a building shed and a few machines. The man driving Nissan got out of his car. I rolled down my window and asked him where he was from. He was Ethiopian. A young man; I think he was a resident engineer, or something. He told me that the road was closed due to construction and it wouldn't be possible for me to drive any further. What the! What will I do? "Go via such and such…" My whining about the "such and such" place not being on the map or the GPS must have softened him some so he told me that the next 7 -8 km of the road was really bad and then the newly asphalt paved road would begin. "We can somehow cross the "really bad" part but the men working for the asphalt contractor might not let you on the asphalt road. I can't promise but I will go with you and try to persuade them. But I have to tell you, if I don't succeed then we don't have any other choice but to turn around and come back". Well, that was that, so we got on the road, him in the front and me on his tail. In the darkness of the night we drove through a 7km road worse than the one I was on earlier. When we arrived at the asphalt construction site two men with AK-47s stopped us. The communication which began as a civilized conversation first turned into a heated argument in about 15 minutes and then at the end of the first half hour it became a violent brawl. When it was all over, Mr. Engineer looked at me with a hopeless expression and said "They won't let you. Their boss told them that if he sees tire marks on this asphalt road tomorrow, they will be fired." We were going to turn around and go back. Then he turned to the Kalashnikovs and made one final attempt. Of course I didn't understand what he was saying but whatever it was, one of the men jotted down Nissan's plate number and the other one pulled away one of the barriers so I could drive onto the smooth newly asphalt paved road. I felt like screaming and giving a big hug to Mr. Engineer, and even to the Kalashnikovs. I barely contained myself; thanked and shook their hands instead (I thanked in English; it is too complicated in Amharic, something like amesingenalehu). I told Mr. Engineer that his kindness touched my heart. The first part of the newly paved smooth asphalt road till Alamata was winding and the remaining part was relatively straight and the road was asphalt paved also and in good condition. I parked my car in front of the hotel in Woldiya at 21:30. 13 hours on a 529km road… Average speed 40kmph. But on the second half of the trip I don't think I drove over 20kmph. I remember that when I arrived in Woldiya all my muscles were tense and cramping and I had a splitting headache. I haven't had anything to eat since breakfast and it was impossible to find an open restaurant in Ethiopia at that hour. I can't say that I cared about that. I found a little convenience store, bought 2 packages of biscuits and a soft drink, then went straight to my room. I took my pills, once in bed I don't remember much else.

Lalibela
I have 180 km to drive to Lalibela the next day (Tuesday, December 13th). On the way to Lalibela the altitude reaches 3,500 m at places. The altitude of Lalibela is 2,630m. You drive into Lalibela dazed after driving on a rough, winding dirt road for about 5.5 hours with altitude changing between 1,400 and 3,500 m.



Road from Woldiya to Lalibela... As usual people are on the roads

"Pencil?" With smiles though....

Another exhausting day. After the 5.5 hour drive for some reason I feel like I am caged. In two days I will have to drive back on the same road plus another 130km. I am not looking forward to the drive. To top that there is some 3,500m mountain that I have to cross again.

Lalibela is a city buried in the Lasta Mountain range. It was the capital city during the reign of the Zagwe dynasty which ruled Ethiopia from the 10th century to the 13th. Known as Roja at the time, today it is called Lalibela inspired by the most famous member of this dynasty and ruler of the country during 12th century; King Lalibela.

Lalibela is a must-see place for everyone traveling to Ethiopia. The reason for its popularity is the churches in the city. Unlike the usual churches these ones are carved down "into" the rocky ground and are divided into two groups. One group in the northwest area consists of 7 churches and the one in the southeast has 5. These rock churches were built by using two different methods. The ones in the northwest and the 13th one, Bet Giorgis church are rock-hewn and are mostly monolithic structures that are carved as one piece from massive rocks. Either 3 or all 4 walls of the churches stand completely detached from the rock surrounding them.

Bet Giorgis Church. I had to take two photos to be able to show the magnificence of the structure.

The ones in the southeast group are churches carved into the rocks just like the ones in Tigray. Some of the monolithic structures are under restoration to repair the erosion damage they sustained since the day they were built. Bet Giorgis Church whose restoration was completed in 2001 is the most magnificent of all and it is in a different position than the other groups of churches. The 15m high (or should I say "deep") structure was carved in the shape of a symmetrical cross.

The churches in the other two groups are connected to each other by tunnels or deep passageways. While visiting these churches you come across hermits lost in the pages of their Bibles sitting in the "solitude cavities" carved into the rocks or on the edges of the steps.

The "hermits" of Lalibela"

I dedicated my second day in Lalibela to rest and journal updates. The next day I was going to leave to begin a two-day road trip to Addis Ababa.

At 07:50 on Thursday morning, December 15th I started off towards the never-ending bends of the road to Dessie via Woldiya. My route today is about 300km long dirt road and after the first 180km that I am familiar with, the drive becomes a bit more comfortable. My target is to complete this route in about 8 hours. Although it didn't eventuate that way I was still not too far off the mark under these conditions. It took 9.5 hours to complete today's course.

Dessie is a typical roadside town. Cars, people, commotion and noise… After I checked into the hotel I trotted down to the internet café I spotted earlier. Alas, the situation here is no different to other internet cafés. How? I think I have previously mentioned; In Ethiopia the state is the sole internet service provider and only dial-up connection is available. And it is very expensive. I mean, yes, it is expensive compared to what we are used but it actually costs an Ethiopian a fortune to surf the internet. And the connection is terribly slow. Think about having just one dial-up connection for everyone in the café to access the internet… An hour of internet "joy" costs about 20 Birr, in other words about USD2.30. I paid approximately USD1.00 in Sudan for the same thing, and it was broadband.


You can see the "remnants" of the civil war on the roads.

The following day, at 06:50 on Friday I left Dessie. From here to Addis Ababa the road is asphalt paved. Even though it is not the best quality, I am happy that it is not dirt road. I cover a distance of 415 km in an incredible 8.5 hours.

In Addis Ababa, I checked into another state-owned Ghion Hotel, like the ones I stayed in Axum and Lalibela. I told the receptionist that I wanted the "quietest room" in the hotel. And they gave me one. When I downloaded my e-mails via my satellite phone I saw a message from Chris; he was also in Addis Ababa. He wrote that Claire and Bill, the English couple from the group on the Asswan-Wadi Halfa ferry have also asked him to reserve a room for them for the same night. I wrote back to him to meet the next day.

On Saturday, I decided to look for a good Land Rover service to find a solution to my car's traction problem that has become a great concern to me. After breakfast I left the hotel to find the "Land Rover Service" point shown on the GPS map of Africa prepared by T4A (a South African amateur GPS user forum group). With the help of the amazing satellite technology I found Elgat Plc easily in no time. To tell the truth I was very impressed. It is an incredibly modern, clean and neat service station. The General Manager, the shop superintendent and other administrative personnel spoke fluent English, while the technical personnel spoke enough English to easily communicate about technical issues. They provide service for BMW, Ford and Land Rover and there is sufficient number of Land Rover Defenders inside for my car to be happy. Aklilu Abebe, Service General Manager told me that they normally close in the afternoon on Saturdays but that because I had a special situation he would get his staff to work overtime to service my car for the 20,000km maintenance. The person, who I thought was the shop superintendent, diagnosed my car with serious valve timing issue from the symptoms that include low traction, intense exhaust smoke and sounds coming from the engine. Also they will straighten the rod that was bent due to impact between Wadi Halfa and Dongola in Sudan.



Elgat Plc. Land Rover Service, Addis Ababa (Photo by Aklilu Abebe)

With a 3 hour work on the car its 20,000 km service was done, the valves were adjusted (in the meantime they found out that the exhaust valve cap of the second cylinder has fallen off so it was replaced), rod was straightened carefully under hydraulic press. My Landy (well since everyone nicknames their cars, for now I am calling mine Landy, but don't worry I will not use it again) received incredibly high quality full service it needed which I didn't even expect to find in Ethiopia, in return for a fee that is very cheap by Turkish standards although expensive for Ethiopia. Landy is happy, and so am I. I expressed my gratitude and we left Elgat. In the case that someone who reads this and needs to find a service station in Addis Ababa for the three makes I listed above, here are the contact details:

Ethio Lakes General Automotive Trading Plc.
Mr. Aklilu Abebe, Gen. Mngr.
Phone : +251 11 4431493 (3 lines)
Fax : +251 11 4421424
GSM : +251 911 680291
E-mail : aklilu@ethiolakes.com
www.ethiolakes.com
GPS coordinates : N8° 58.775' E38° 45.362'

In the evening Chris and Bill came to the hotel. We ended up drinking beer and chatting till late hours. After exchanging heartfelt goodbyes they left. Sad of course, at the end of the day, Chris and I have been travel buddies and "rowed on the same boat" for almost a month.

Unfortunately I don't have much to write about Addis Ababa. This lively city famous for its night life didn't really do anything for me. I got on the road again on Sunday morning, December 18th. Up until the Kenyan border no more mountains, bends, and dirt roads for me. My plan is to cross the border to Kenya on December 21st. I need to be in Nairobi on 24th the latest.

After Addis Ababa you enter the Great Lakes region of the Great Rift Valley. This lakes region goes all the way from Ethiopia to Lake Chilwa at the end of the Great Rift Valley in Mozambique (in fact Lake Chilwa is within the borders of Malawi but also stretches well into Mozambique). There are a total of seven lakes along the way. There is an eighth lake closest to Addis Ababa but this is a reservoir lake; Koka Reservoir. The most significant three out of the seven are lakes Langano, Abiata and Shala. Langano is a popular tourist attraction for both the Ethiopians and the foreign visitors. Lake Abiata and Lake Shala to the west of Langano are important since they are located in the Abiata - Shala National Park.

I arrived at Bekele Mola Hotel by the Lake Langano at 2 pm. I spent my first night there; it had the right atmosphere for me to rest and work on my update and photos. I settled into one of the houses on the bank of the lake and I worked on my stuff on the veranda in the company of a cold beer.


"My home" in Langano


There was full moon. I enjoyed the spectacular moonlight.

I had my breakfast with the birds and got on the road to visit Abiata - Shala National Park and then drive to Moyale at the Kenyan border.


I ate my breakfast with the birds.

Abiata-Shala National Park is in a frail condition due to neglect. It is a home to a large number of warthogs (A wild boar unique to Africa) and ostriches and a few Thomson gazelles. Apart from these they say baboons can be seen frequently but at least while I was there they didn't seem to be frequenting the place for me to spot one.


Thomson gazelle. Abiata-Shala National Park

In the beginning of the trip my Ethiopia plan included the Omo Valley in the south-west of the country. Since Lake Turkana National Park was on my to-see list and it was close to Omo Valley, I even thought of crossing the border directly into Lake Turkana despite the fact that there was no official border gate there. For this unofficial crossing of the border, as I found out from those who did it before, I needed to get written permission from the Kenyan Embassy in Addis Ababa; and get the entry stamp for Kenya at an office in Nairobi that handled immigration procedures. Another reason why I preferred this method of entry was to avoid the bloody conflicts among the Kenyan tribes and the Moyale-Marsabit road infamous for its armed robbers that intercepted vehicles. However, for two reasons I could not realize my plans: First, they have stamped the triptyque document at entry to Ethiopia. (Since Ethiopia is not part of the international agreements regarding triptyque procedures, the triptyque document is not valid in this country; and the stamp they put on the document here is not valid internationally). Touring (T.T.O.K) requires an exit stamp on the document if there is an entry stamp for the same country but it is not possible to obtain such a stamp whilst unofficial crossing of the border. The second reason was that I have already spent an extra 8 days in Sudan which was not in the original trip plan, so I did not have any time to spare for the Omo Valley and Lake Turkana. In short, I have to go through the bandits and robbers.

Grass huts present the typical Ethiopian village image.

Lake Awasa and an akacia

And again people on the roads...

Road, termite towers and my car...

After a comfortable drive I arrived in Moyale at 20:00. I found a room in a hotel with no water. At laest it had a yard where I could park my car safely. I left the hotel to have a bite to eat and search for a travel buddy who wants to go to Marsabit the next day. In the most luxurious hotel of the village (because it has water) I ate injera and wat with Bob Marley and his friend. First let me explain Bob Marley. Well Bob Marley (famous Jamaican, the father of reggae music) was a follower and advocate of a movement called Rastafarianism, which began in Jamaica in 1930. This movement holds Haile Selasie, the last Ethiopian Emperor in high regard. The word Rastafaria was derived from the words ras and tafari which mean "the face of God on earth" and it was Haile Selasie's name from birth. In addition, Bob Marley was baptized by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church a while before his death. Because of all this, Ethiopians have great respect for Bob Marley. Especially those from Shashemene. I don't know exactly what the story is but my guess is that it might be the place he was baptized. I will find out. When you enter Shashemene you see many "Bob Marley"s on the streets. I think it must be the dream of every man from Shashemene to be Bob Marley. So, the Bob Marley in Moyale is one of them. As soon as I saw him I figured he is from Shashemene, from his hair-do. We came across each other on the street and I just said "Hey! Are you from Shashemene?" (There it is quite normal to do stuff like this). He said "Yes!" and he won a beer and a meal from me. Becoming friends with people like him gives you a chance to get all the information you need about the village from one source and without all the sweat and tears. I found out in no time about all the guests staying in all the five hotels in the village because Bob and his friend are in the currency exchange business, to help out the tourists. So I learned that the only tourists to cross over to Kenya the next day were a young American couple who were staying at the hotel where we were having dinner. They walked in shortly. We talked but since I promised myself after the incident in Sudan that I would not open the middle compartment until Nairobi, I was not going to be able to offer the seat which Nando (the crazy bicycle rider from Catalonia) previously used, and that meant I was not able to take the couple with me. I suggested that they play a game and I take with me the winner (or loser) but -for some reason- they declined the offer. I guess it will be just me and the bandits. The American couple will travel at the back of a truck.

And as for the injera and wat; Injera is a kind of a sourdough flatbread made like a crepe with the flour obtained from a grain similar to millet, called tef (or teff) which is unique to Ethiopia. It's like a light (not that light though) and a little sour crepe. Wat is a stew and it could be made of different ingredients such as lamb, chicken, liver, fish and various vegetables, mushrooms, etc. There may be a wat meal for each of these, or a mixed wat which consists of little portions of lamb wat, chicken wat, fish wat, bean wat, etc placed separately on an injera spread on a large (tray-like) plate, almost like a plate of hors d'oeuvre. You then tear off a piece from the injera on the tray-plate and use it like a spoon to "scoop" up the wat you want. It is recommended that you lick your fingers clean after you stuff your mouth with wat or otherwise you could end up with food stains on your clothes.

After our chat and dinner I return to the hotel and after taking half-a-shower with the bucket of water I got from the "inkeeper" (in the modern world it is called "receptionist") I hit the sack. In the morning I have my breakfast consisting of two pieces of pastry and tea at the tea house (unfortunately here there are no tea-serving girls like in Sudan) and leave at 08:30 to go to the checkpoint to cross the border. All the passport and triptyque procedures are complete in short time with no hassles and I enter Kenya. Now I am at the other half of Moyale.

In the next update you will read the breathtaking Moyale - Marsabit adventure!

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