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 false start due to a 3 am call to prayer i eventually got up early and we were all ready to leave at 8am. At Dinsho Lodge we hired a guide and headed on our way to the town of Goba, stopping to have our vehicles checked at the mechanic in Robe and finding more things broken. With Landy still not right we stopped at another garage 5km on in the town of Goba. This, a recommended garage picked up more issues and so we were substaintially delayed. On the postive side i got to visit the mosque around the corner and was welcomed warmly with even the chairperson coming to say hi. Finally we made it back into the national park have passed through commerical forests. The high altitude, chill, the panorama's, the lakes, the dark brooding clouds and the vegetation all brought back such strong memories of Peru; it was like i was there again! We headed down a mist filled pass, driving by Villages along the way and finally made it to our campsite; a beautiful lush spot surrounded by mountains with a river running along side. There we set up our tents and awnings (it was drizzling) with local villagers gawking at us. Later Taryn and Deon cooked a lovely lentil dish and after a cup of Milo we all headed to bed!
Long version:
Being a muslim area, the mosques blairs out the call to prayer...not 5 times...but 6 times a day, the other one being the optional prayer which woke us all up at 3am...nice :P! After my false alarm to get up i eventually climbed out of the tent around 5:30am and packed everything away, and put the kettle on. The raw meat from yesterday meal sent both Simon C and I packing to the toilet. Although Simon C was ok afterwards i was still had nausea but i think this was from my persistent nasal/flu i have had the past 5 days which is worst in the morning and evening and kind of goes away during the day.
Leaving a little late for my liking at around 8am, we made our way down to the lodge, hired a guide named Omar and then headed to the park headquarters where we paid our fees. In order for us to drive into the park we needed to first exit it and drive about 50km to the town of Goba, passing through the town or Robe where we had been yesterday. We took the opportunity to have both cars checked out again and found that one of the nuts holding the left rear shock of the landcruiser had lost its thread and the right one we had replaced the day before was loose. On the landy some bushes in the rear suspension had also broken. Fortunately we managed to have all these problems fixed and were on our way again at 10:30am...this is why i like to leave early!
A few kms past Robe we entered the Town of Roje which instead of Tuks-Tuks had lots of horse-pulled buggy carts. It was like stepping back in time. As we drove through we sore a bus blairing out a message on the loud speakers. Our guide informed us it was the Minisitry of Education telling the people about a new college Interestingly this town is 75% Christian where as Robe is 75% Muslim. We stopped at a bakery to buy some bread and tried out what tasted like a scone and another pastry that tasted sort of like a croissant. At first i did not like the pasteries until i realised that although they were different shapes they were equivalent to what i was used to. I then wanted some cream and jam!
Unfortunately the repair we had JUST made to the Landy was not done properly so we headed to another garage (cheaper and less time consuming then going back to the previous one.) This was a recommended garage and turned out to an excellent one which was both good and bad. The bad was that we found out a whole lot of other problems; the good was that there were able to fix it. For the Landy we found out that the just fitted bushes were put on incorrectly and so new ones were fitted. Also that the cracked mounting for the shock on the Landy actuallly needed to be fixed as it was causing the shock to turn. On the Beasts side a nut had been welded to the shock mounting and the thread stripped on both rear shocks. The nut was removed and new bolts correctly fitted. Also three bushes in the rear suspension were replaced and the exhaust reseated. In the front a modification to the battery housing was made to prevent the battery from sliding forward and unseating the headlamp light bulb (the cause of the burning plastic smell a few days ago.
While the vehicle was being repaired i took the opportunity to visit one of the 5 local mosques in the small town. I was treated with a great deal of curiosty with many a Mashallah, and was showed to the front of the mosque. The local chairperson of the mosque even came to greet me and chat. Afterwards a young muslim gentleman came up to me to questioned how i washed as the sequence was different from him. I explained to him that the action was more important than the sequence and he seemed happy with that. I was reminded that I am on display to the world and they are watching. I must try to be a good example for all Muslims!
Finally at around 3pm we headed on our way to the park passing through foresty plantations and crossing a beautiful river where a bus was being cleaned. We reached Angesso entrance at about 3700m and with a show of our permit we were waved through with a bright smile. Driving along through the park we stopped at a communications tower at 4000m next to some beautiful little lakes. The chill, the panorama's, the lakes, the dark brooding clouds and the vegetation all brought back such strong memories of Peru; it was like i was there again! A little further on we spotted the famous Ethiopian wolf (looks more like a big muddy red fox) and then another one in the distance 5 min later. The Beast was struggling with the altitude while the Landy with her turbo-diesel was having no trouble.
At around 4:15pm and at a height of 4200m the mist enveloped us, with large drops of rain making visibility very poor. Five hundred meters later we began our steep descent along the many switchbacks, fortunately the mist preventing us looking down the steep sides. The vegetation looked similar to the mountain fynbos found above Hermanus. Fiveteen minutes later the weather cleared a little as we passed villages, the smoke from the cooking fires making the thatch appear to be smoldering. Simon C who was driving had to skid to a halt as one of the village dogs decided it could take on the Beast. Here the natural vegetation was replaced with and grazing pastures for cows :(.
After passing through the villages the natural vegetation returned and around 4:45pm after a slight detour (we overshot our destination) we reach the campsite; a beautiful lush spot surrounded by mountains with a river running along side. After a bit of debate and arguing over campsite layout we put up the tents and the awnings as it had started to rain. As usual the locals came to visit and just stare at us. I could finally appreciate what it is like for us to go visit one of their villages. It is not nice being on display and having your every move watched...its like you are in some sort of freak show. They were very fascinated by me praying, i guess as they are Muslims to. In fact we saw a small mosque along the way complete with minnaret.
Later Deon and Taryn cooked a delicious supper of lentils with fried banana for desert. I provided the Milo for the late night drinks. Talking about drinks, Deon had bought himself some of the local moonshine called waragi. He seemed to be quite tipsy, wise-cracking and generally being more relaxed and friendly. After looking up at another beautiful night sky (the rain having stopped), I headed to bed, read the quran and drifted off to sleep
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