HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: Working out Zeme’s dates for his visit to Australia
BUMMER OF THE DAY: Seeing a dead goat being removed from the road after just being hit
WORD OF THE DAY: Marabou Storks
DISTANCE TRAVELLED: 289KM
Ahhhhh the Lap of Luxury was amazing. Breakfast even had a chef making fresh cooked eggs to order. Ahhhhh the Lap of Luxury was amazing. Checkout wasn’t until 12 noon but we decided to hit road after breakfast at 9.30am. We are now pretty much out of the country and back into the city limits, meaning there aren’t too many traditionally dressed people now, more city life and more traffic of the 4 wheeled varieties.
Our first stop today was Lake Ziway. We had visited this lake last year when I was here, and it was a pretty impressive place so we decided to stop here again. Lake Zway or Lake Ziway is one of the freshwater Rift Valley lakes of Ethiopia. The town of Ziway lies on the lake's western shore. The lake is fed primarily by two rivers, the Meki from the west and the Katar from the east, and is drained by the Bulbar which empties into Lake Abijatta. The lake's catchment has an area of 7025 square kilometers. It is 31km long and 20km wide, with a surface area of 440 square kilometers. It has a maximum depth of 9 meters and is at an elevation of 1,636 meters.
The lake is known for its population of birds and hippopotamuses. Lake Ziway supports a fishing Industry; according to the Ethiopian Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture, 2,454 tonnes of fish are landed each year, which the department estimates is 83% of its sustainable amount. This is the big attraction to the shores edge where we were. After paying an entrance fee of 1AUD, we drive to the edge of the lake where all the action was happening. There were locals fishing the shores of the lake, and those who had catches were gutting and filleting the days catch and this is what attracts all the birds, the insides and gizzards of the fish that is discarded. There would have been over 100 Marabou storks all wanting a piece of the action along with a whole bunch of other birds which I don’t know their names. The Marabou Stork is a large wading bird in the stork family. It breeds in Africa south of the Sahara, occurring in both wet and arid habitats, often near human habitation, especially waste tips. It is sometimes called the "Undertaker Bird" due to its shape from behind: cloak-like wings and back, skinny white legs, and sometimes a large white mass of "hair." A massive bird, large specimens are thought to reach a height of 152 cm and a weight of 9 kg. A wingspan of 3.7 m was accepted by Fisher and Peterson, who ranked the species as having the largest wing-spread of any living bird, and even higher measurements of up to 4.06m have been reported, although no measurement over 3.19m has been verified. It is often credited with the largest spread of any land bird alongside the Andean Condor. More typically, these storks measure 225–287 cm across the wings, which is about a foot less than the average Andean condor wingspan and nearly two feet less than the average of the largest albatrosses and pelicans. They are truly massive birds. There were some kids around trying to cash in on some money by getting some of the gizzards from the fisherman and feeding them to the Marabou Storks for us to get some photo opportunities. Even though they are so big they weren’t scary at all even when they were only a meter away. It really is a bird sanctuary here and if you are an avid bird watcher then Ethiopia is the place to come for that. Who would have thought they would have an abundant bird life here. I may have to buy an Ethiopian Bird book when I get here. Zeme and I have enjoyed watching all sorts of birds on the trip and getting some amazing photos of them as well. Maybe we have secret ‘twitches’ inside us both. It’s nice to find another thing that we both enjoy, there is a list as long as our arms and it is quite scary what we both like and dislike.
BIRD IS THE WORD=TWITCHERS PARADISE=ETHIOPIA
We had lunch is Ziway the town and it was nice to actually have lunch at lunch time. We have usually been on the road in the middle of nowhere so we just keep driving and normally have lunch anywhere from 2-4pm. Today it was 12.30pm and Z found this hotel off the main road that was like a little haven from the hustle and bustle of the town. We were sitting under massive trees, surrounded by green grass and there were birds just chirping away and it was 10 degrees cooler in the shade and it felt like the Garden of Eve if I was to out words to it. It was just magic.
Back on the road again at 1.30pm and we had to contend with a lot of cattle crossing the road today. It is a major road and all the cattle seem to be passing horizontal moving to their new homes. It is so dusty you can see the herd in the distance coming up to the road with all the dust their feet kick up, it is a battle of wills on which cattle will stop to let us through or which ones don’t seem to care that they could be hit by a car and just take the walk anyway. We don’t stop to wait for the whole herd to cross, with the amount of groups we saw on the drive today it would have taken days if we were to wait for them all to cross. It is so dry out there and you should have seen the colour of my hair last night when I washed it, the water was a dirty brown colour and it was only 2 days since the last wash. There is just dust everywhere.
We arrived into Awaasa at 3pm. The usual drive-by for hotels and we landed at one that looked okay from the outside. It had a café out front and was busy, I hate to judge books by their covers but it is all we have to go on right? Once Z had done the reccy they only had suites available, everything else was booked, for a grand total of 75AUD a night. We were going to spend 2 nights here as Z was starting to really feel the pinch with all the driving (not that he would say that) and it would be nice to have 2 nights in one place and not have any long drives. The hotel room was pretty cool and it had a king size round bed if there is such a thing. It looked odd but cool all at the same time. Where in earth do you buy sheets for a round bed I wonder, and in Ethiopia of all places? There was also a massage chair, 2 massive wing backed chairs and a coffee table and in the bathroom the shower was also a sauna. I kid you not. We also had a balcony with table and chairs that had a view of Lake Awaasa in the background. We also got a great view of the Marabou Storks flying around near the hotel and even though they are really ugly, they are pretty amazing birds all the same.
Awasa (also spelled Awassa or Hawassa) is a city in Ethiopia, on the shores of Lake Awasa in the Great Rift Valley. The city lies on the Trans-African Highway 4 Cairo-Cape Town with an elevation of 1708 meters. This city is home to Hawassa University (which includes an Agricultural College, a Main Campus and a Health Sciences College), Awasa Adventist College, and a major market. Important local attractions include the St. Gabriel Church and the Awassa Kenema Stadium and fishing is a major local industry.
The Cairo-Cape Town Highway is Trans-African Highway 4 in the transcontinental road network being developed by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa(UNECA), the African Development Bank (ADB), and the African Union. The route has a length of 10,228 km and was first proposed in the late 19th century. The route passes through Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa. The construction of a road along the route was originally proposed to advance the British Empire with the Cape to Cairo Road plan advocated by Cecil Rhodes.
The modern revival of the plan occurred in the 1980s. South Africa was not originally included in the route which was first planned in the Apartheid era, but it is now recognized that it would continue into that country. The consultants' report suggested Pretoria as end, which seems somewhat arbitrary and as a major port, Cape Town is regarded as the southern end of regional highways in Southern African Development Community countries. The highway may be referred to in documents as the Cairo–Gaborone Highway or Cairo–Pretoria Highway.
The southern half of the Cairo–Cape Town Highway is complete but it still requires construction in northern Kenya and central Tanzania. The stretch of highway between Dongola and Wadi Halfa in Northern Sudan is now complete (as of June 2010) but crossing the Egypt-Sudan border by road is still prohibited (and has been prohibited for a number of years) so the vehicle ferry on Lake Nasser is used instead.
The Ethiopian section is all tarmac roads, although much of the Ethiopian section passes through mountainous terrain and parts of the road may be hazardous as a result. The missing link in northern Kenya also requires paving, and at times this section has been hazardous due to the activities of armed bandits. The road from the border at Moyale to Isiolo has been dubbed 'the road to hell' by overland travelers. This highway has the distinction of being the only link between any of Africa's five major regions which is paved, linking East Africa to Southern Africa. It is the most used of any such inter-regional road on the continent.
We had the afternoon free and dinner was a delicious meatfest. I am a little over drinking beer so we ordered some vodka to drink with dinner tonight. It is a lot more expensive than beer. A beer costs 83 cents and a shot of vodka cost 1.75AUD, so relatively speaking it is still cheap but it was nice to have the change and mixed with Ambo flavored water it was a delicious concoction. They pour the nips in your glasses at the table, I guess they want you to know you are getting the right amount and then they bring the ice bucket and then you add in your own mixer. An unusual way to do it, but I have seen it done this way at other hotels as well.
Tomorrow we are off to the fish market, so that will be interesting. Goodnight from Awassa and out round bed that we are sleeping in tonight!
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