Blogs from Bahir Dar, Amhara Region, Ethiopia, Africa

4 mars (À Addis Ababa) J'embarque dans un taxi avec Mikael, un voyageur dutch expérimenté (en fait, la grande majorité des backpackers en Éthiopie ne sont pas à leurs premières armes en matière d'aventures) et nous partons rejoindre la gare de bus d'Addis Ababa, au milieu d'un terrain vague et poussiéreux du Meskal square. Il est 4h15AM. Le départ du Yegna bus pour Bahir Dar (vers le nord) est prévu pour 5h00AM. Même à cette heure matinale, la température suggère le port du t-shirt. Ça vous surprendra peut-être, mais le bus dans lequel je prend place a des allures de Greyhound: classy, propre et bien organisé. Même la route vers le nord aura de quoi me surprendre: le 11 heures de route pour rejoindre Bahir Dar sera un 11 heures de belle asphalte lisse. 5h00AM: le ... read more

I decided to grab a bus towards the north. My bus left Addis Ababa at 6am so it was an early start of the day. The journey to Bahir Dar took 11 hours and on the way I was able to enjoy the beautiful Ethiopian countryside, including the spectacular Blue Nile Gorge! Bahir Dar has about 300 000 inhabitants and lies at an altitude of 1800m at the southern shore of Lake Tana. On board I started to speak to one “faranji” (white person in Amharic) who was also going to Bahir Dar. His name is Alex from Belgium. Neither of us had booked a place to stay yet but we had names of a few pensions. The moment we arrived, people didn't even let us get off the bus and they already started to ask ... read more

6 November, 2012 We arrived in Bahia Dar, met the truck and made for a campsite on the edge of Lake Tana. Over the next couple days, we made the most of the wifi, the bar with a large selection of drinks, the television and the rooms that some decided were worth the upgrade from the tents. The truck was parked in a large open space where we could set up the kitchen and chairs and it was a walkable distance into town. A café across the road served great coffee (so I'm told!) and Ethiopian dishes but Kevin and I found a pizzeria on the second floor of a building in town and settled on that instead. Nico and Alexis also had the same idea. I think the last time I'd had pizza was in ... read more

31st October ’12 Awash to Addis Ababa So driving back to Addis today as returning there is the easiest way to then head north and there is a bit of sightseeing organised in the city for the afternoon but I doubt I will make it as I feel lousy and just need sleep! We drove back through the volcanic landscape, passing lava fields and jagged crater peaks. We stopped at Lake Beseka where there were lots of endemic (new word for the trip) Ethiopian birds whose names I have totally forgotten and great views of the volcanoes. Another stop was at a view point where there were lots of children, with lots of older children carrying babies strapped to their backs and once more they were all smiling, laughing and saying hello to us faranjis. By ... read more

We were told to be at the ferry dock for 6.30 a.m. as it would be leaving at 7 a.m. Even though, we very much doubted this, we arrived just before 7 a.m. and sure enough it didn't leave until after 8 a.m. (not bad going really in hindsight). The MV Tananich is a weekly ferry between Bahir Dar and Gorgora, which makes several stops en route, including an overnight in a small village called Konzula. We decided to take this as Gorgora was quite close to Gonder where we were returning to organise a trek in the Simien Mountains. We thought it would be more interesting to see a bit of Northern Ethiopia right off the tourist trail and there was also a certain romance about sailing across Ethiopia's largest lake. Any illusions of romance ... read more