We were up early to drive the 20kms or so to the airport and catch the 9.30am flight to Addis Ababa. Everyone was present and correct early so we set off early. Someone was at the airport in Addis to meet us and we were on our way for the final leg of this trip by 10.30am. We were embarking on a complete change of plan and could only hope that the last bit was better. Having only seen Addis in the early morning, late at night or on a Sunday we weren’t prepared for the volume of traffic. It took a good hour to crawl through the city with most of the vehicles being old and/or industrial and we found we’d traded dust for plumes of black exhaust fumes. Once we’d cleared the city limits and then the industrial zone we felt like we were on our way. The industrial belt continues right down to Bishofu 50kms south of the capital.
As soon as we turned off the main Addis Ababa to Harar route the traffic thinned. However, it was still full of trucks as we were now on the main link down to Kenya. We’d finally left industry behind so the scenery gradually improved. This road goes through a crater lake area but most unfortunately aren’t visible from the road. We briefly stopped at Ziway to see the big flocks of marabou stork and white pelicans. The area is rich in birdlife but this particular spot was very scruffy.
We spent the night in Oasis International Hotel in Hawassa which a perfectly decent business style hotel for about $27 a double B&B. We arrived with only about an hour of daylight left so popped down to look at the lake. There’s a walkway along the edge with a stretch of cafes and bars. Hawassa has a lovely clean, finished and relaxed air to it and for the first time we weren’t hassled by gaggles of children begging. Sitting watching the sunset over the lake was lovely and we began to feel hopeful that the latter part of the holiday would be more successful.
That evening we had a pizza in Venezia, run by an Italian expat, and it was by far and away the best meal we’d had in Ethiopia. The upstairs terrace made a very pleasant New Year’s Eve location. Not that you would know 2013 was about to end in Ethiopia as they have a different calendar. According to them it was 22nd April 2006 and there was no hint that today was a special day for most of the rest of the world. We ended up seeing in the new year fighting to stay awake watching BBC World in our room. They showed celebrations from Australia, Hong Kong etc but there wasn’t a sign that the African continent existed.
To Trip: Bale Mountains National Park
We were up good and early, packed up and checked out ready to go but our car and driver had disappeared. We ended up setting off an hour late as the car had been blocked in. Dejef (our driver) still wanted to stick to the conventional itinerary so we popped down to the local fish market. We didn’t hang around on realising that there was an entrance fee AND we had to hire a guide. For what? We could see it was simply a handful of fishing sampans on the edge of the lake. For many tourists it is probably something unusual but it was all too normal for us!
The route today soon saw us leaving the 2 main trunk roads behind. Traffic was now sparse with only donkey and trap to slow up proceedings. The scenery here was much nicer than the north as there were more trees and more greenery in general. Although the towns are just a shabby the area had a more affluent feel to it. Plus the people were much more relaxed and we found that we weren’t being constantly pestered.
Following a lunch break at a grimy shack in Dinsho it was time for the day’s activities to begin. The road skirted the edge of the national park so our eyes were peeled for wildlife. We weren’t disappointed; raptors abound in the area and a group of vultures were feeding on a dog that hadn’t learnt the green cross code. Of more consequence was seeing olive baboons, desert warthog and the endemic mountain nyala.
The next stop was Bale Mountains National Park headquarters to buy our tickets – Birr90 per person for a 24hr pass plus Birr20 for the car. It was assumed that we would hire a guide but before we agreed we asked prices. He reckoned we would need to have the guide for 3 days at Birr300 a day. We pointed out that we were only going to be in the park for 24hrs so declined the offer of his services. We were very glad we did and unless you’re passionate about birds you really don’t need a guide. We’d read there was a trail in the section of the park near headquarters to pottered off to explore. There wasn’t a proper trail as such just tracks leading to a campsite and the park’s offices but it made for a pleasant stroll. We saw some more warthogs and spied a small group of bush buck who were remarkably calm. The highlight was seeing a pair of mountain nyala up close and the male is a particularly handsome antelope.
We then drove on to Robe which is fairly close to the main entrance to the national park. The town of Goba is closer still but our driver assured us that Bekele Mola Hotel in Robe was the best accommodation option in the area. From our observations it looked like he was spot on. Even so our room was worn to the point of bordering on shabby but it was spacious with clean sheets and towels. The grassy gardens gave the place a nice feel and the staff were friendly enough; basically all you can expect for $12.50. With zero reason to explore town, believe me we did but were rapidly back at our gaff, we settled down in the bar. Oh look City are on again – that’s about as cultural as it gets in Robe!
The next morning we were up and off too early for breakfast so stopped in a little place in Goba; typically grubby but the bread was good. From there we soon lost tarmac and started to climb up through farmland to Bale Mountains National Park. The morning was very chilly and cloud still hung to the tops making for moody vistas. The track steadily climbed up onto the Senetti Plateau which was much vaster that we’d imagined. The sun had begun to burn off the cloud and patches of blue sky were tantalising us. The only things to mar the beauty of the park were the herds of livestock and communication masts. However, the scenery was superb in a most bleakly beautiful way.
Om the way up to the top of Mount Tullo Deemutu at 4377m (the highest point in the park and 2ND highest in Ethiopia) we saw no wildlife at all. Usually early morning is a good time but we thought we were too early and it was still too cold for creatures to emerge from their burrows. We got out of the jeep at the top of the mountain to take in the views so we can vouch for the chill factor. It was also windy and still cloudy with the plateau and mountains drifting in and out of vision. At first glance it looks like much of the landscape is strewn with boulders and carpeted with scree. In actual fact what looks like gravel is a grey leaved scrubby bush. As interesting as the Afro-alpine vegetation was we’d hoped to see some wildlife. We then headed back across the plateau and it looked like we’d have to be happy with only spotting raptors and rodents.
A little further on we pulled up and Dejef clambered out muttering; “No dog, first time ever.” Typical we thought! We wondered over the look over a small rise but the chilly wind soon saw our driver retreating to his vehicle, shrugging his shoulders. We decided to enjoy the solitude and scenery for a few moments longer. Steve was happily snapping away while I continued to scan the area. Our patience was rewarded as a couple of minutes later I spotted a wolf trotting along and heading in our general direction.
In the end we got to watch this member of the world’s rarest breed of canine for around 15mins. First of all we watched him prowling then stopping and listening obviously in search of breakfast. Just when we thought he had disappeared he popped up again and we got a very clear sight of him. In fact we were amazed at how close we were especially when he crossed the track and paused for a drink. Another one of those privileged moments for us and it was a private experience too as there were no other jeeps around.
Before leaving the park we also saw a tawny eagle and a pair of wattled cranes. Ethiopia certainly isn’t the place to come if you yearn to see wildlife in abundance but what you do see tends to be endemic. Plus we were surprised at how close we got to the animals and how long they hung around for. As we retraced our steps and drove past the park near Dinsho we saw more of our warthog friends and a large herd of nyala. Then just to round off the wildlife viewing a jackal game prowling down a field towards the road. All-in-all, a good trip and worth the effort of going down to that part of the country. Private transport isn’t cheap at $150 a day but we were glad we’d done it especially following the disappointment of not getting to Danakil Depression.
We left the park well within our 24hr deadline and were glad we’d not heeded the advice at the park headquarters. We found the 24hr ticket more than adequate and we were very glad we’d not forked out for a guide. With still plenty of time on our hands we opted to drive back to Hawassa and spend another night there. As much as we’d enjoyed Oasis Hotel we decided to check out the nearby Lake View Hote lhttp://hawassalakeviewhotel.com/ . It turned out to be a good move as we got an enormous, luxurious room for about $30 and it made for a nice treat at the end of our holiday. We also had a huge balcony and yes we could see the lake. With more daylight on our hands than the first stopover there we had more time to walk along the lake shore. It’s not extensive but it’s easy to lose track of time watching the birdlife. Following a lakeside sunset beer we went to try Dolce Vita restaurant but found it to be inferior to Venazia.
We didn’t see the point of rushing away from our nice hotel so arranged with Dejef that we’d set off at 9am. That gave us time to enjoy the excellent and substantial breakfast (Birr75) sitting on their lovely outdoor terrace. We even had time to take a last amble along the lake. Then it was time to pile in the jeep and head back to Addis Ababa. The traffic wasn’t too bad back up to Bishofu but then we joined the crawl into the city.
In Conclusion
Although the last few days gave us a different experience we found the north frustrating. Having people in your face hassling you, peddling their wares or simply staring gets tedious. Gangs of children constantly begging and expecting hand outs is distressing. It didn’t take us long to dub Ethiopia; The India of Africa. We’ve since learnt that’s more apt than we realised as the two countries have been linked since way back in history.
Ethiopia is the poorest country; economically and intellectually we’ve ever visited. The country is one vast farm with the bulk of activity revolving around herding livestock down the road, shooing them out of the path of vehicles or running after them in the fields. Everywhere you look you’ll see horses, mules, asses, donkeys, cows, goats, sheep, chickens and in certain places camels. Adult literacy is supposedly 40-odd% but I’d happily predict outside Addis and other urban areas that figure plummets. We’re convinced it’s no co-incidence that the school uniforms look like something factory workers would don. It’s less of an education for life that clothing for life! The calendar and time situation in the country certainly doesn’t help with their ineptitude with numbers. They’re only in 2006, Christmas is in January, New Year won’t be celebrated until September, and they have 13 months in a year and a 12 hour day (6am – 6pm then 6pm – 6am. Ethiopia has massive potential but it needs to learn to distinguish between fact and fiction. Oh yeah and train some maths teachers!
Arriving back in Addis was as horrible as expected and it took ages to find a hotel. The big hotels nearer the airport side of town were all in the $80+ category – no thanks. To cut a long trawl round short we ended up in Green Village Hotel – a shabby place with no running water. That pretty much summed up huge parts of the holiday really and didn’t inspire us to want to return.
We got to the airport good and early as we were keen to leave but Ethiopia played its final trump card. Our flight was delayed by 10 hours. TEN hours for a flight of less than 2. That was the cherry on the icing on the cake for us and boy were we glad to get back to Uganda.
Wildlife Lists
Animals: Ethiopian wolf, Gelada baboon, Walia ibex, mountain nyala, Menelik’s bushbuck,? Bushbuck, klipspringer, grivet monkey, hamadryas baboon, olive baboon, desert warthog, squirrel, agama lizard, Simien rodents x2, Bale rodents x2 and black backed jackal
Birds: Lammagier, Ruppel’s griffon vulture, augur buzzard, tawny eagle vultures x3, black kite, ? buzzard, falcon, wattled crane, wattled ibis, sacred ibis, hadeda ibis, hamerkop, goliath heron, woodland kingfisher, pied kingfisher, malachite kingfisher, egrets, Egyptian goose, jacana, coot, stilt, hoopoe, marabou stork, white pelican, mousebird, carmine bee-eater, long crested eagle and francolin. These are only the ones we can name but we saw a whole host of others.
