SUNDAY APRIL 29, 2012 GOBA (BALE MOUNTAINS) to LAKE AWASSA
(210 km paved road, 5 hours with stops)
Today started at 4 am when the Ethiopian Orthodox Church started it’s Sunday Service with praying, singing and preaching going out over the loud speakers from 4 am until 9 am!!! No, we couldn’t get back to sleep with all that noise going on so we were dressed, packed and ready long before we needed to be. Terry received a very strange omelette for breakfast - he asked for tomato and onion, Malcolm said ah yes, the special - but when it came it looked quite odd. Terry ate it but never did figure out what was in it or what the spices were! Again, served with a beautiful large glass of papaya juice - just like fresh pureed papaya.
We left at 8 am and drove back through GOBA, DINSHA, and DODOLA to the town of SHASHEMENE where we had turned off 2 days earlier in order to visit the Bale Mountains. As we drove the 70K to Dodola we were up to 3600m and down the mountains again but not lucky enough to see the Colobus monkeys today, making us very grateful for the long viewing we’d had on the way out. We saw lots of dogs and at the high altitudes they have thick fur (no doubt due to the cold temperatures) whereas in the valleys and low lands there are still lots of dogs but with thin fur. Again the roads were busy as ever with everyone heading to market: firewood (always tons of firewood), donkeys, goats, cows, and villagers. There was a high Muslim presence with a few ladies wearing the full black burka, showing their eyes only. Many of the muslim ladies wore very bright shawls and dresses.
Most of the homesteads are maintained well: neat and tidy, many use the euphorbia candelabra to make a natural hedge fence around their property. Inside there are round huts with straw roofs, mounds of cow patties for burning for the fire. Every stream has people at it doing the laundry and leaving the clothes on the banks and bushes to dry. They sweep the ground, their fields are ploughed - we have seen so many cattle drawn ploughs - some one, some two cows, oxen or bulls - and often it appears as if neighbours get together and help each other since there have been 3 or 4 ploughs working on one field. Even fairly young boys are doing the work as well as their parents. Everyone is working hard - for sure this is subsistence farming but the hard working farmers are justifiably proud of their farmlands and homes. At times the views were the same as in the Canadian Prairies! A couple of times small boys would throw a rock or stick at the vehicle - but Malcolm told us they do this to any car not just those with tourists inside - just boys being bad boys!
Shashemene is a busy town (about 160,000) and also where Rasta town is located. We stopped here at noon at the new tourist hotel (Hotel Rift Valley) built along a small ravine. When we arrived there was an excavator down in the dry ravine digging away. It has a lovely shaded garden with lots of tables and a long bar covered with traditional thatch. All the tables and chairs at the bar were carved wood. Very nicely done. We sat in the shade under one of the many fig trees and ordered lunch and a drink - there were cool breezes blowing and it was very comfortable.
The menu was huge so decisions were difficult. Terry ordered the Traditional Ethiopian plate which was a selection of dishes and when it came in the traditional huge colourful basket with pointed lid, it was huge and looked amazing. The bottom of the tray was covered in a large round enjira (looks and texture like a pancake) and several small mounds of different foods, lamb, beef, chicken, spinach, cabbage, hard boiled egg in the centre in a tomato type of sauce, 2 different cheeses (including crumbled goats’ cheese) - yes it looked awesome! My spaghetti and bolognese sauce looked pretty boring in comparison but it was spicy and excellent - I really enjoyed it! There is pasta everywhere in Ethiopia - those Italians made a real impression in their 5 years here between the coffee machines and the pasta!
We had just started eating when there were a couple of spots of rain - all the staff (there were lots of them) frantically went into action - within a few minutes we were sitting at our table which had been moved under the awning covering the bar - and it was a downpour! The rain was bouncing up off the patio, and within minutes it was pouring in a torrent over the patio and making a true waterfall down the steps! Behind us in the ravine the behind the hotel, the excavator had apparently taken off at the first rain drop - and it’s a good job! We heard the flash flood coming and within minutes the brown water was rushing down the ravine - it would have washed the excavator away! We stayed under cover for about one hour - moving right back into the bar as the rain got heavier. They played excellent music (including Malaika and Jambo Bwana plus lots of classical easy listening music) so we all chatted and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
When the rain was well and truly over and the waterfall down the steps onto the terrace had slowed to a small trickle, we were back on the road.
We drove through Shashemene heading South towards Lake Awassa (correct spelling Lake Hawassa) where we would spend the night at the TADESSE ENJORI hotel, a couple of blocks back from the Lake. A pleasant drive with the scenes passing in front of our eyes more of the same. Awassa has a population of 210,000 including the Awassa University: Agriculture, Health Sciences, Social Sciences (geography, history), Natural Science (Physics, Chemistry, Biology). The population is mainly Protestant with some Orthodox and Muslim. Again this is a well laid out city with very wide streets, often with a middle dividing strip. We saw several Aid organisations including SOS Children’s Village, United Nations vehicles and at our own hotel there was a group of 8 ladies from the USA wearing some Health Mission tshirts - I overheard them tell the Manager that they would be staying there “for one month this time”.
We visited two hotels to check them out - the LEWI RESORT right on Lake Awassa where a wedding was taking place, a true resort with spa, swimming pool, stores, restaurants, wine bar, kiddies play area, and miniature golf. They also had a boat dock and boats to take out clients to view the Lake and the hippos and birds in the lake. Next was the beautiful new 5 star HAILE RESORT built and owned by the famous Ethiopian athlete Haile Gebre Sallaissie (no relation to Emperor Sellaissie). You walked into the lobby with very high ceilings and looking down over the dining room - very elegant, even serving afternoon tea with a chap playing on the grand piano near the large bar! The 120 rooms were all stunning with lake views or garden views, with suites and connecting rooms available. The stores were high end with a small selection of nice items available including fine leather goods (shoes, purses etc) made in Ethiopia.
Afterwards we wandered down to the lake front area in the city where all the young people go to meet and greet - there were many coffee houses available, and also small cafes for other drinks. There were several seats and benches as you walked along the path next to the lake - lots of bird life including the pied kingfisher and fish eagles. It was very busy with lots of boys trying to sell things. Lots of them with big bags of Toothbrush tree twigs. Bale told us that if you use these to clean your teeth your gums will stop bleeding. After a quick look around, we returned back to the Tadessi Enjori Hotel to relax.
That night we shared vegetarian and special house pizza (remember the Italians who occupied Ethiopia for 5 years?) and local Ethiopian red wine. An excellent relaxing evening for Terry, Terry and me - and we all went to bed hoping for a good night’s sleep. Terry (from York) had two cockroach visitors overnight but I’m glad to say we missed those visitors! Our rooms were on the ground floor close to the main lobby so it meant that the drapes had to be fully closed if you were not fully dressed. The shower looked like a space ship with all the knobs but once we had found out how to get water out of the tap we were happy enough! There are 40 rooms. They do have WIFI ,always with great strength but often no connection to the internet!!! This happens quite often in other places as we have toured Ethiopia! Tomorrow we are heading South from Awassa to Arba Minch!
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