I have written two versions of each item so if you are in a hurry read the short version. If you like detail skip the short version and read the long version further down.
Short Version:
After a late start in order to wait for the sun to dry out the roads a little bit we headed on our way. With the Beast having a problem on the front suspension it was decided that we would map what we thought would be the shorter side roads while the other team would do the longer loop. However it turned out that we had the longer route and only caught up to the other vehicle around 1pm having done some unexpected bundu bashing along the way. We we visited some delightful springs complete with natural pool and filling up with springwater we left the park heading back to Arba Minch to effect repairs to the Beast. The others not having any problems headed on towards Sanekele Sanctuary eventaully spending the night in Shashemen. In the late afternoon, having finally had the vehicle repaired we headed back to the hotel and after a bit of accommodation issues, had a nice supper before heading to bed.
Long version:
Having spent a forced night in the bush due to the road condition we decided to lie in a little so that the sun could dry out the roads a bit. It was quite chilly and rather cosy. As usual Simon C and I got up first with Taryn and Deon taking a while to climb out of their roof top accommodation. I have to say that our improvised campsite was lovely, right in the bush and the setup of the two vehicle in parrallel with a centre fire and chair all around was near perfect. As we packed up some local villagers appeared on the scene, with combs of honey that they had obviously just collected. I offered to buy a 10cm and 10cm for 3 birr, a price I think they were more than happy with. I sucked on it, enjoying the fresh honey and bought some more, chewing on it...until i saw that i was sucking on bee lavae, lol. I ended up giving back the piece with the most lavae back. The thought still makes me squeezy!
Our first challenge (well more like the Landy's) was to get up a very steep bank that would have been impassable the day before. Fortunately the Landy got up with out problems and we were finally out of the muddy mess of yesterday. Unfortunately there was a problem with the Landcruiser which i thought might be a problem with the anti-rollbar (the Beast was swaying left to right almost as badly as a Landrover :P). We agreed that we would head back to Arba Minch, just doing the roads we had marked yesterday while Taryn and Deon would do the longer loop. However the "few" junctions we had to do ended up being long roads with more junctions. One of them sent us on a wildgoose chase that had us bundu bashing with the Beast through the white plains of Nesichar. Driving across clumps of grass and around dongas, i felt like i was on some sort of mild bucking bronco and was quite relieved when i managed to get back on the road. After completing all the roads (or cattle tracks as Simon C argued) we headed back, stopping at a bridge to take a dip in the river as the mercury rose. Refreshed, we carried on through the beautiful forests until we reached the Park HQ. From there we decided to go and visited one final destination in the park named "Forty Springs", passing Deon and Taryn in the process who were on the way back. They would head to the Sanctuary tonight while we would would have to stay in Arba Minch to have our vehicle repaired.
It was rather fortunate we did visit the springs as we were let into an area that Deon and Taryn had not been able to gain access. The keeper of the springs showed us around, pointing out the many springs, a giant tree that had fallen and an enchanting pool filled with springwater. We jumped in and had another refreshing swim. Its not everyday you can say you swam in springwater. Afterwards i prayed, filled up the water containers with spring water and after a quick squiz at the pump house (it pumps water up to the hotel above) we headed out of the park and on our way back to the Mechanic.
The Mechanic diagnosed that the one of the bolts on the anti-rollbar had sheared and that the others thread and worn. We also had him add rubber around his quick fix on the roof rack as it was saggin and we were concerned it would scratch the roof. We also had two slight deflated tyres and so he accompanied us to a tyre shop where they extracted to huge nails and repaired the tyres. While they were busy we walked across the road where Simon had a bite to eat. I checked out the nearest grocer buying some batteries for my headlamp, some peanut butter, biscuits and pineapple jam...finally something to go on all the bread we had been eating!
After finishing it was rather late. We stopped of at the restaurant in a second attempt to get fish again but with them still having none we head back to the hotel. Unfortunately the room the gave us turned out to be a little bit broken, not having mosquite nets or hot water. After trying 4 different rooms we eventually found an acceptable one with Simon sneakily keeping the key of another and spending the night in there. Perhaps i smell :P
We were too tired to try and find cheap and went up to the hotel where we had a nice crumbed fish cutlets. The Ethiopians dont seem to spice their fish much so i had brought along my honey and mustard sauce for the purpose. With the sauce on top it was divine! Afterwards i did homework until late and then headed to bed as we had an early start the next morning to catch up with the others!
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