HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: Hand feeding wild monkeys, not the smartest but a highlight for sure
BUMMER OF THE DAY: An expensive dinner bill – well in Ethiopian terms
WORD OF THE DAY: Fish and Monkey
Well I was surprised how well I slept on the round bed. It was a little weird as sometimes when you rolled over your feet would be over the edge, but all in all a good night’s sleep but I won’t be in a hurry to go out and buy one, let alone trying to find sheets.
This is a total rest day for Z, no long drives and we are spending the day in Awassa. We were off to the fish market this morning and I had the traditional ‘fish sitting in ice’ picture in mind so I was pleasantly surprised when we got there and it was actually all the action that happens before the fish hit the ice. I was worried that I was going to be the only farangee walking around; I really get a lot of attention when I am out and about and I mean that in the most un-condescending way possible so it was a second pleasant surprise there were 4 other farangees to help take the focus off me. I know it is something that I am going to have to get used to, but today I was just feeling tired of it all, so it was a nice respite.
Lake Awassa is an endorheic basin in Ethiopia, located in the Main Ethiopian Rift south of Addis Ababa. According to the Statistical Abstract of Ethiopia 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 Awassa is the most studied of the Rift Valley lakes in Ethiopia. According to William Taylor, a member of the African Lakes and Rivers Research Group at the University of Waterloo, Lake Awassa is, despite its lack of an outflow, "essentially a freshwater lake (conductivity is variable, but less than 1,000) indicating that it must have a subterranean outlet.
Every morning there is an outdoor fish market at Tabor Park, Lake Awassa, when the fishermen return from the lake. Apprentices start sorting out the webs while others prepare market and sell the fish to people who gather to buy the fresh catch. Marabou storks, pelicans, cormorants and gulls wait impatiently for left-overs or try to steal their share. It was an impressive sight to see over 200 fishermen on the shores of the Lake, each with their own job at hand and in the background there were hundreds of seagulls flying around swooping in for some fresh gizzards that was getting cleaned from the catch. There were the gutters, the scalars and then the washers. There would have been hundreds of fish in each basket all getting manually processed for sale. I am sure if we ordered fish for dinner it would be quite likely I saw that poor devil this morning at the Lake. Of course where there is fish there are Marabou Storks lurking as well and of course small children again getting the fish guts and feeding the birds for photo opportunities for the farangees and trying to make a buck. I say it again they are an ugly bird and I would rate right up there with the hyena, seriously, they are U-G-L-Y!!!!! It was really colorful and I am glad that we came to see the hive of activity.
Next door to the open air fish market and the lake is a public park which is home to 2 troops of monkeys. We had to pay 1AUD park entrance fee and as Zeme was finding some change we had a 10 year kid come up to us and offer to show us where the Colobus Monkeys hang out. There were also some ‘other’ monkeys that the boy started to feed them some biscuits and these guys are quick and smart but there was a mother with a baby strapped to underside and she didn’t seem as jumpy as the others and we held out our hands and she took the biscuit pieces from our palms. I did think about all the things my Travel Doctor mentioned and knew it was risky, so I sent Zeme in first and when I saw that it seemed safe enough I gave it a shot. It was still a big risk, but you sometimes just go with the flow and think about the ‘what if’s’ after it is all done and dusted and there were no problems. As we walked into the park there were a lot of the ‘normal’ monkeys in trees and on the ground. There would have been over 50 of them in some sort of movement. There were sitting ones cleaning each other, ones jumping from tree branches, some climbing trees and there were 2 that walked beside us. They were quite cute and I was under no illusion that they were hoping for some food, but it was cute all the same.
We could see the Colobus Monkeys high in the trees and they had just got spooked by a pack of dogs that were running past. Apparently they hate dogs, so they were perched quite high, but our 10 year guide started to make some ‘Colobus’ call and it took him and a few more locals that came along to cajole 1 of them to come down and to get some biscuits. I have seen these guys from a distance twice before but to have one sitting 10cm away on a branch and feeding it biscuits was just amazing. He was so gentle, unlike the other monkeys who were snatches, this guy was amazingly gentle and he would hold your thumb with one hand while he reached for biscuits for the other. His fingers just felt like a human child’s and his face up close was indescribable. Once again a fleeting thought of a monkey bite and rabies past through my sub-conscience, but I took the experience for what it was and I have to say it was a once in a life time opportunity and a highlight of the week I rekon. Once again I sent Zeme in first but we got some great snaps and we tipped our 10 year old tracker and the other 3 guys for their help and it was worth every penny!!!!
The Black-and-white colobuses (or colobi) are Old World monkeys, native to Africa. The word "Colobus" comes from a Greek word and is so named because its thumb is a stump. Colobuses are herbivorous, eating leaves, fruit, flowers, and twigs. Their habitat includes primary and secondary forest, riverine forest, and wooded grasslands; they are found more in higher density logged forests than in other primary forests. Their ruminant-like digestive systems have enabled these leaf-eaters to occupy niches that are inaccessible to other primates. Colobuses live in territorial groups of approximately nine individuals, based upon a single male with a number of females and their offspring. Newborn colobuses are completely white. There are documented cases of allomothering, which means members of the troop other than the infant's biological mother care for it. Colobuses are important for seed dispersal through their sloppy eating habits as well as through their digestive system. They are prey for many forest predators and are threatened by hunting for the bush meat trade, logging, and habitat destruction.
WHAT AN UNBELIEVABLE EXPERIENCE.
We were back to the hotel for lunch. We ordered room service for lunch and luckily we ordered when it was lunchtime (12.30pm) as we finally got the delivery at 2pm. Just as well we were in no hurry. There was also a complementary bottle of Ethiopian Sweet Red Wine so we decided to crack that after lunch. The problem was there wasn’t a bottle opener or glasses, so we called down to reception to rectify this and waited for another hour before we called again and they finally came with the opener. Then the fuse blew for what we thought was the bathroom only till the sun went down and we had no lights at all, so another call to reception to ask them to flip the fuse in the box and this was the fastest they had moved all day and was fixed within minutes. Man they must think that we are guests from hell with all our phone calls today and that’s not taking into account that the sauna part of the shower wasn’t working yesterday and we had some-one up twice to have a look at that AND they made a visit late last night to ask for the remote for the massage chair so that another guest could use it. Now that I think about it is sounding more like a scene from Faulty Towers!!!
So it was a nice way to unwind in Awassa. Room service lunch, reading my book on the balcony as the Marabou Storks flew overhead, a hawk also flew within 5m of me reading, it was awesome, a bottle of Ethiopian Red Wine, Zeme had a steam for the 10 minutes it worked, blogging, great company and then a few vodka’s with dinner it was just what the doctor ordered for both of us and all in all it was a great day and one I certainly won’t forget in a hurry with my experience with the Colobus Monkey.
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