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 we headed back to the town of Goba for more repairs. Afterwards we were delayed, taking sometime to find petrol...always a challenge. The others in the meantime headed off to Web valley with others following a little later. The road was incredibly rough and if we had not had a guide we would most certainly have got lost. The scenery however was spectacular! Parts of it reminded me of the Cederberg; rugged with rocky outcrops and mountains, the only difference being it was green instead of brown. Other parts reminded me of the Drakensberg complete with rondavel style huts, a mini amphitheater, and beautiful streams and rivers.
We reached the end of the road shortly after Taryn and Deon where we met a slightly strange polish girl who was researchinf the wolves. Later after a small altercation we split up and headed back to Dinsho Lodge so we could get an early start in the morning and avoid the mud that was being created by the rain. In the evening we decided to stay at the lodge meeting two Isrealis and 3 Belgians whom we offered them a lift to Awasa to. After a long evening i took a warm, trick shower, prayed and headed to bed, the last one around!
Long version:
I woke up at 5:30am feeling much better than the last couple of previous mornings. As no one seemed to be up i lay in bed for a little before getting up at 6am. Since no one was up i got busy cleaning the dishes, making tea and packing up my stuff. Eventually I decided people needed to get up so i shouted "wakey wakey" in a not so subtle manner :). After everyone got up i put on the kettles for tea, washed down the inside of the car and cleaned out the fridge/freezer which was looking rather unsanitary.
After much fiffing and faffing we left, rather late in my opinion. We drove through beautiful wood/jungle which brought back vivid memories of my time in Guatemala and Belize.After realising we had gone out of the reserve we turned around and headed back the way we had gone. The guide who we were paying for this kind of information had not mentioned this to us which led to Taryn getting rather irritated with him and telling him in no uncertain terms why he was with us :).
On the way back we spotted the Ethiopian wolf, a few buck in the forests, lots of little mice scurrying back and forth, a hare, and three majestic eagles which posed for us on variety of perches. I had a good chuckle when Simon got of the car and ran across the plateau after one of the wolves in order to capture the perfect photo. On top of the plateau we visited a mountain summit at about 4400m which was cold and desolate. We took photos next to the communications tower there and gave some bread to the caretaker...what a lonely job that must be! The views were awesome and i was transported back to Peru again. Another rugged jeep track took us to a research camp set next to some small, beautiful alpine lakes which reminded me of the Ausangate and Sant Cruz hikes in Peru.
The Beast had been giveing problems with fuel consumption, road handling and lack of power so we stopped at the garage in on the way back again. This time it appeared that the new shock that we had fitted (the one replacing the previous new shock) was not balanced with the other rear one which was causing the car to fishtail around. Also the fan belt on the a/c was in fact worn and damaged and this was the cause of the tapping noise in the engine that had returned. Both problems required a visit to Addis Abba or Awasa far away. We would just have to make do in the meantime.
As we drove through town we saw a man in a buggy cart dragging the body of a dead dog behind as if it was the most normal thing in the world to do. For us with our western sensinbilities it seemed very barbaric. I wondered what the reason could be to do such a thing. Perhaps the dog had been caught stealing? Not 20m further on a white horse stood in the middle the road, in bad condition and terribly thin with haunches seemingly impossibly thin. No wonder i have seen sponsored clinics for animals!
We made our way back to Dinsho Lodge where we collected our washing and i prayed. One of the local woman had kindly taken our washing off the line but was not happy with the R3.50 tip we gave her. In fact she asked me again later that night. Why does everyone want money for things that they should do out of kindness :(?
Around 3::30pm we headed to Web Valley, the last leg of our Bale National Park mapping. The road was incredibly rough and if we had not had a guide we would most certainly have got lost. How Deon and Taryn (who were in front of us) made it I dont know. The scenery however was spectacular! Parts of it reminded me of the Cederberg; rugged with rocky outcrops and mountains, the only difference being it was green instead of brown. Other parts reminded me of the Drakensberg complete with rondavel style huts, a mini amphitheater, and beautiful streams and rivers. It was refreshing to wave to the local children and have them smile back brightly without begging or asking for anything. Their condition remindeded me of the local people living in the peruvian highlands. These are tough people!
We wound our way up and down rocky roads, passing one house after another with stunning vistas in all direction. About halfway along we took a walk to see a tumbling waterfall, the water falling into a beautiful pool. Finally at 5pm we reached a research outpost and campsite. The researcher who we had seen earlier traipsing around the tundra came along shortly, opening up and walking in with out even greeting us. We found this quite strange but i managed to extract some information out of her. Her name was Fria from Poland (i think) and had been doing research on the Ethiopian Wolf for the last 2 yrs. Can you imagine 2 alone in the middle of nowhere with only a local assistant as company, one who can only speak broken English. No wonder she was not so friendly!
She did inform us though that our guide; Omar, had been caught twice stealing from tourists and that he had worked for her and had been ejected from the local guide association. This of course was a little concerning. She apologised for not being friendly and welcoming stating she really had to process fresh Wolf stools she had just collected...and this at 6pm!
As the rain came in we had some hot chocolate which we made on her stoep. I found it quite funny that she passed comment on us using her water as she had very little. I politely informed her that it was in fact our own water. The hot chocolate led to a small altercation between Taryn and me. When the water that i had put on the stove started boiling i went to get the cups and hot chocolate. On my return i took the kettle and saw that there was less water that what i had put in. I found it strange but poured what there was into the cups. I then saw that Taryn had swapped our kettle with her own without asking or informing me and i had poured in the warm water in our hot chocolate. I was upset that she had done and when i expressed it she started getting emotional and went on about how saying " I know, i am a complet stuff up, i cant do anything right". A bit of an overreaction i thought but she was right about sharing and that it was not a "yours versus ours" and so i emailed her later to apologise for only thinking of us when boiling water.
With the rain falling and us wanting an early start tomorrow we decided to head back to the lodge to avoid getting stuck and get an early start as we would need to effect more repairs in the morning 50km out of the way in Awassa. Deon and Taryn decided to camp so we had to pay Omar which led to even more tension when Omar disputed his payment amount which had been agreed between him and Taryn. Taryn was already in foul mood and was picking for a fight, so I pulled Omar away and we left quickly. I then acted as middleman between what Taryn had understood and what Omar had. Basically Omar was looking for another 100 bir (about R60) to for food and accommodation because that was agreed (according to him). However we had provided him with food and accommodation (tent, mat, sleeping bag and pillow) so it didnt make sense to pay him for expenses he did not occur. Fortunately he eventually agreed to not getting paid the 100 birr.
Arriving back at the lodge in the rain we met three Belgian students who were studying in Ethiopia and had taken some-time off to travel. Also there were two Israeli guys just out of the army. Having decided to rather stay at the lodge than camp, Simon C got busy making supper, while I helped in the preperation. I also gave advice to one of the Israeli guys on South Africa as he was visiting there with his girlfriend in February. My experience with Israelis is that they all travel as soon as they are out of the army as they have saved most of their earning during their conscription. This was again the case.
Things almost got difficult when he lit up to smoke but i object and so he went outside, with Simon C helping by going out to smoke with him. People just dont get how damaging it is. As a Isreali he should understand that 5 million people killed a year is far more than the hundred or so killed by terrorists. Yet he is on the ground fighting to prevent that but does nothing about the 5 million dying. He is also mentioned about having to protect his people from bombings from terrorists which he said were doing it because of Islam (he knew i was Muslim). I decided to keep my mouth shut but i thought to myself that perhaps as a jJw he should know better than anyone else that putting people in a concentration camp ( by enclosing Palestine and controlling everthing that goes in and out and denying basic necessities) is bound to cause people to fight back. I just said that I didn't understand why they could not just make it work out when we had done it so easily in South Africa. It must be hard for him though have been a platoon leader.
The Belgians were going to hitchhike back to Awasa which is where we were headed so in consulation with Simon i offered them a lift. However we could only fit two in our car at a squeeze so I emailed Deon and Taryn to see if they could pick up the third and told them i would let them know in the morning. After everyone went off to bed I went for a nice, hot trickle shower, prayed and headed to bed at a late 11pm.
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