WEATHER: Hot, Dusty and 25C
HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: Seeing the birds Lake Ziway. The Ducks and Lemma have rubbed off on me
BUMMER OF THE DAY: The last day of your – very very unhappy about that
BUYS OF THE DAY: lunch – no other purchases
WORD OF THE DAY: indaminachoo – hello to a group of people
Today is our last day of tour. I officially fly out tomorrow morning at 4am, but like all flights at that time, it is really sort of tonight that I need to have everything all packed up and ready to go. It is a BIG day today with 360km to get us back to the capital of Addis Ababa and some form of civilization. Breakfast was awesome with strawberry jam, real deal made fresh, banana jam and some other random jam on fresh bread with an omelet thrown in for good measure we were on the road for the last time at 8am.
Our first stop was only an hour away at Hawassa and Lake Awasa which is the smallest Rift Valley Lake. The lake is 16 km long and 9 km wide, with a surface area of 129 square kilometers. It has a maximum depth of 10 meters and is located at an elevation of 1,708 meters. Because it is relatively accessible to scientists, Lake Awasa is the most studied of the Rift Valley lakes in Ethiopia. We only got 20 minutes here to snap some photos but it looked like a nice place with lots of boats available to take you out on the lake. It was quite breezy though, so that would put me off; you know me and small boats and all.
Then only a 15 minute drive down the road to a town called Shashmene the group went and visited a Rastafarian community that was set up in 1948. I had all intentions of going in but when they said the entry fee was 50 birr, I know that is only 3AUD, but when the National Museum of Ethiopia only charges 10 birr to get in, it seemed a rip off to me to help them grown and smoke more of the happy weed, so Massimo, Josephine and I declined the visit and sat and talked with the drivers for the 30 minutes the crew were in the compound. But the history behind Rasta’s in Ethiopia started in 1948 when Emperor Haile Selassie I donated 500 acres (2.0 km2) of his private land to allow members of the Rastafari movement, Ethiopian World Federation (EWF) officers and members and other settlers from Jamaica and other parts of the Caribbean to go to Africa. When Haile Selassie I was deposed in 1974 the new government of Mengistu Haile Mariam confiscated all but 11 hectares. In January 2005 there were reports in the media that Bob Marley's remains were to be exhumed and then reburied at Shashamane. His wife Rita Marley described Ethiopia as his spiritual home, provoking controversy in Jamaica, where his remains lie. The Rastafarian settlement in Shashamane was recently reported to exceed two hundred individuals.
Back on the road again at 10.15am we drove for a further 90 minutes with a stop at Lake Ziway. This place was a surprise and I hate to say that I actually enjoyed the 40 minutes we were given here. The Ducks were very excited as the park was a bird watches paradise and with their camera’s and binoculars in hand, after just stepping out of the cars, there were at least 10 different species of birds we could see without even using the binoculars! There were also a lot of pelicans and the massive Marabou storks about and we were within a few meters of these magnificent birds. They are just massive, ugly, but massive. I also saw some Kingfishers diving into the water and swooping out lunch with a fish in their mouths. It was a pretty cool place and with access to the lake and fishermen around filleting and gutting fish it was one of those experiences that I won’t forget and was least expected.
Talk around the lunch table was of tips for the drivers and also Minaloo. I don’t know how I got roped into collecting and gathering everyone’s money, but I did and I have to say I did a poor job to start with. I had asked Minaloo what was a good tip for the drivers so we could start to get an idea. He told me a figure of 3000 birr; I asked is that per driver or total. I am 99.9% sure he said total for the 4 of them. So over lunch I told everybody this, they all gave me their money, I hand made an envelope and it was all done. I must have known that something wasn’t right and I double checked with Minaloo and he said that’s per driver! Oh crap, so as we were leaving I had to re-group everyone and tell them that I had made a mistake and if they wanted to contribute more they could. Sorry guys. Most people add more money, but not all. I had independently tipped my guys and gave them all a personal thank-you note in some handmade envelopes, so at the end of the day I can’t and won’t police what people tip, but I cannot understand why people don’t when you get exceptional service.
So out last stop was now going to be back in Addis. It was a lot drier and dustier than I remembered 11 days ago and 70km out of the capital the traffic was a nightmare. I wouldn’t want Zeme’s job for the world. There was a lot of traffic on the roads to start with, but the trucks are circa 1950’s and they are slow, old and they blow so much smoke, the pollution in and around Addis must be off the scale. No CO2 carbon emission incentives here I wouldn’t think! It is here that we also noticed other tour companies in the traffic. It is the done thing to travel in convoy rather than have massive busses or overland trucks and based on the traffic around, I can totally understand. There is no pushing in or scooting past traffic in a bus that is for sure!
Welcome back to Addis Ababa! Unlike our departure, where the streets were empty due to it being a Sunday and 7am in the morning, we had to park at the back of the hotel to unload all our things. This is where we said good-bye to all our drivers Zeme, Abraham, Johnny and Lemma. The guys don’t have email (except Zeme) so it was a final good-bye and the passing out of my personal thank you notes and a hug and a kiss to all. I’m going to miss those guys with Zeme and Lemma my 2 favorites. Minaloo came into the hotel to make sure we were all okay and then with hug and a goodbye kiss we said good-bye to illustrious leader. He was amazing and it really re-enforces that to have a local person taking the trips is really quite important and you can notice the difference and you really get first hand stories and antidotes. Minaloo, you were amazing and I am trying to tell as many people as I can about your wonderful country, to get you more tourists to visit to give you and your boys more work. I know I definitely will be back to do the north with Josephine, Massimo and David in the next 12 months, so we will definitely be seeing you again my friend.
The Ras Hotel staff are not the friendliest and I am just not sure how switched on they are. There was some issue, that I think was they had more rooms than keys (the swipy kind) so they were handing out ‘normal’ keys to access rooms. So I had my backpack on my back, my small bag and my Intrepid bag and off I climb 2 floors of stairs to walk the 300m hallway, to get to my door that has only swipe access, no key hole. So I double double checked that I wasn’t missing something and had to walk back the 300m, 2 floors of stairs to get back to reception to say there was no key hole – this key is useless. So she then programmes a swipe card and walk back, climb the 2 floors of stairs to walk the 300m hallway, to get to my door and guess what? The damn swipe card doesn’t work!!! So remember I am still carrying my entire luggage as well, so back I go down the 300m hallway, 2 floors of stairs back to reception. I’m a little cranky at this stage, so she gives me a whole new room now on the first floor and a new swipe card. This bloody thing better work this time. So back I go AGAIN for the 3rd time, back up the 2 flights of stairs, to realize when I got to the top I am now on the 1st floor and had to climb back down a flight (dumbo) to walk the only 100m down the hallway, to get to my door and would you believe….the card WORKED!!!!! Halaleijuah. I did have to back downstairs again to collect my bag I left behind 10 days ago and then back to my room to repack my bag for airline travel again.
After getting the packing done, jumping onto the internet and then meeting the guys for a quick dinner, it was time to say our final goodbyes. I still hate goodbyes and they just don’t get any easier. Josephine, Massimo and David were god sends for this trip and I thank my travel god for looking after me yet again. I am going to miss you guys, but we have spoken and we are going to come back and do the north of Ethiopia in the near future together and I KNOW I will see my new Italian friends on this trip at some stage. So this is farewell for now and I will see you guys again. You rock and will not be forgotten.
So another trip concludes as I head back to my room. So BIG thanks goes to my Ethiopian travellers and in no particular order:
Josephine and Massimo – Italy
David – Israel
Bobby – USA
The Ducks, Colleen and Tui – Australia
Richard and Carol – Australia
Ian and Jenny – Australia
Minaloo – Ethiopia
Zeme – Ethiopia
Abraham – Ethiopia
Johnny – Ethiopia
Lemma – Ethiopia
Ethiopia was an AMAZING country. If you have even had inkling to visit this country I would strongly urge you to do it. It is safe, it is cheap and I am sure, especially in the south, there are not too many countries left in the world that has tribes so untouched by the western world. It was a lifetime experience for me and I am SO glad that I had included it on my World Odyssey. I LOVE Ethiopia and a piece of my heart will always belong here and I hope to return one day.
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