APRIL 30, 2012 LAKE AWASSA TO ARBA MINCH, ETHIOPIA

MONDAY APRIL 30, 2012  LAKE AWASSA to ARBA MINCH , ETHIOPIA

(305 km partially under construction, 8 hours)

I was awake at 4 am so read my book for awhile (thanks for the recommendation Sue and Aud - Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese set in Ethiopia - an excellent read).  Breakfast was a buffet - toast, excellent marmalade (where does it all come from?  I have never seen the bottle yet but the marmalade is excellent everywhere, the toast is usually pretty bad - cold and very hard!) and coffee - VERY strong.  We headed North from Lake Awassa then turned left West on the road towards Arba Minch.  

It was scheduled as 305km partially under construction and to take 8 hours including the village stops along the way.  It was a beautiful blue sky day so we were in for a very nice day which started at 7:15 and we were on the road by 8:20 am. We reached the village of the Alaba people around 9:15am and pulled over to go and talk to one family there.  Malcolm selects who we will talk to and pay so that we can see inside their home and take photographs.    

The ALABA people are known for their painted houses - nowhere else in Ethiopia have we seen the houses be painted.  They build large round homes out of the typical wood frames and filled with mud and straw, but then when the mud is dried - it looks like a concrete or plaster wall at that point, then they paint it inside and out in various colours but we saw a lot of white, tans and browns - geometric and other designs, and really very nicely done.  The family we visited were very welcoming and smiling - of course they  don’t understand a word of English, their language is Kushedic with a smattering of Amharic - and I would say the man of the house looked about twice the age of the lady of the house, who was holding a small baby in her arms - they had 7 children.  We went inside the home (it took a few minutes for your eyes to be accustomed to the dark) and were surprised at how spacious it was and how neat and tidy - even the floor was swept with nothing lying around on it.  The mattresses were in their spot along the side wall for bedtime, the kitchen was set up for cooking with utensils hanging in place, and even their animals had their own space (very clean) where they would be brought in over night to protect them from any predators or other dangers.

The man was wearing a tall coloured hat and we had seen several of these along the roads -I think made from different coloured straws and very cheerful to look at!  Gathered around the home by now were about 20 children, 4 ladies and 1 man!  We took photos and said our farewells after admiring their home and paintings.  The ALABA people are a mix of Protestant and Muslim faith.

We were close to the Rift Valley escarpment - so we were gaining altitude and the valleys and views were spectacular.  Just 20 minutes later we were into Halaba Town, and at 10 am we were in Alaba Kulito where we stopped at the local cafe (yup - they had a very fancy coffee machine at this basic cafe) where we sat outside listening to, and admiring, the birds especially the yellow village weaver, while we drank a Coca Cola.    

Malcolm bought small delicious bananas along the road - it cost 10 birr (about 60 cents, for 12 small bananas - then Baleto complained that the only reason they cost so much is because we were with them so they had to pay the Tourist price!  Our next stop along the road was at a WOLITA people’s house, known for their farming of huge crops of false banana.  They use the leaves for ? and they take the stalks/trunks and bury them underground and let them ferment for 3 to 9 months.  Then they make a type of bread from them.  Terry got to try it once - it comes in a small flat, 1/8” thick slab and is very chewy.  We also looked inside their hut but it was so dark that even after awhile our eyes had still not adjusted to seeing in the dark - the huts are smaller and don’t appear to be as well kept as the ALABA peoples we had seen earlier in the day.

We walked up the bank to talk to this one family - and of course, all the other families and children in the area arrive to participate.  Each time we stop the family gets paid to let us visit (Malcolm says they choose a different family every time) so the visits are welcomed.  This family had a huge number of clay pots that they were busy making - all by hand, no potters wheel.  Then they take them and bake them in a fire - they set them all together and put some burning straw inside each of them

We passed through Damut Galli (2900m) where King Menelik II won the battle against the Wolita leader Kowatono by digging a trench in 1894 (and doing what?).    We arrived at the town of WOLITA at 11:30 am and enjoyed a slow lunch at the Bekel Molle Hotel leaving at 1 pm.  We sat on the terrace outside and watched Tekeeze sunbirds in the trees while I had pasta arabiatta and Terry tried the local dish of spinach with meat served on Enjera on a big tray - Gomen Besiga.  We had another Coke and Bala used the bottle to start to teach us how to spell in Amharic - which is very phonetic with its 250+ characters in the alphabet. While we were waiting for the slow service, there was a funeral taking place in the village on the road passing by the hotel - it must have been someone popular or important because it seemed like hundreds of villagers walking down the streets past the hotel - most of them wearing their white shawls with the embroidery showing around the back of their necks, which means they are attending a funeral.

After lunch we headed past Lake Abaya - the 2nd largest lake in Ethiopia in the Great Rift Valley - we were listening to a great tune that Bale was playing at the time on his cassette - it was by a very popular singer who died in 1989, Kennedy Mengesho.  I have a few songs listed by now that I hope to buy CD’s for when we get back to Addis Ababa before leaving Ethiopia.  We had about 125k left to drive before we would reach Arba Minch where we would be checking into the Paradise Hotel for the night.  The birds keep us entertained every day - we saw superb starling, lilac breasted roller, barn swallows, eastern chanting goshawk, Rupell’s starling, long crested eagle, Abyssinian roller (with the long tail), narina trangon, broad billed roller, fish eagles, woolly necked stork and black headed heron.  

We saw two small kids washing the back of a naked slightly older boy sitting in a large puddle at the side of the road.  We saw many small children dancing with their knees like jelly (from side to side) as they saw us approaching - anything to try and get us to stop and give them something. In the middle of the fields were small huts on stilts - Malcolm told us these are like scarecrows - they are there to protect the crops from the wild animals at night - especially warthogs who like to come and eat the crops in the fields.  We also saw several olive baboons at the side of the road - there is so much to watch there is never a moment when you are not looking at something just passed or something coming up - Malcolm gives us lots of information as we drive ad willingly answers all of our questions.

We stopped to stretch our legs at 3:15pm and Bale looked under the truck to see if he could figure out  a noise we had heard from the truck as we bumped along.  Next to the lake Malcolm warned us to watch for crocodiles and poisonous snakes - we took that to heart and didn’t wander very far!  More birds: superb starling, eastern chanting goshawk.  Back on the road we passed a villager carrying a small kid goat - I asked if that was because the kid was too small to walk as fast as the man?  The answer was “No - but the man can get to market faster if he carries and controls the kid”   with the goat’s 4 legs on the man’s chest and the body around the back of his neck!  Many times including this afternoon we passed boys and men playing table tennis in the village - the table usually set up under a wood and straw shelter.  We also saw a huge number of fussball machines sitting outside in the dirt and always with people playing (usually boys and men) and lots of others watching the game.

So after another interesting day of driving, we arrived at Arba Minch and The PARADISE HOTEL at 3:45 pm.  This is a big main  town and again the population is swelled by the large number of students attending the University here.  Yet again road construction and building construction is very much in evidence.  In fact to get to the hotel we took several detours down muddy unfinished roads - we wondered where we were going at times!  We finally came around the last corner and had our best surprise this trip!  There was a lovely hotel (all the rooms are built in the traditional round style with straw roofs) and all along a ridge overlooking Lakes Abaya (Abijatta) and Chamo.  Nothing in front of us except lakes, forests and mountains - it was beautiful and oh so peaceful!  We could not hear one sound from the town of Arba Minch.

After checking in by very welcoming staff, we checked out the fabulous views from the decks in our own rooms and enjoyed the ever welcome shower!  In less than an hour we were sitting on the lounge deck and enjoying a cold G&T with ice (we almost never can get ice ) and doing a little internet and skyping - it was our best sundowners yet!  Until after two G&T’s they told us they were out of gin!  We have hit hotels with no tonic water, no ice, and now no gin - what can we say?  The good news is that they did have local Gouder red wine as well.

Dinner was served while we sat on the deck under the stars - excellent chicken breast in some sort of sauce with stir fry vegetables on the side.  Terry had a chicken curry which was also excellent.  It was a perfect end to a perfect day!  And we get to stay here again on our way back.  Something to look forward to!