After an uncomfortable number of travelling issues throughout Europe, I was glad to return briefly to Dubai where a fabulous evening awaited that certainly improved my mood. Though I enjoyed the party I attended filled with socialising expats, it did not fully assuage my weariness from the rollercoaster of (mis)fortune I rode in Europe. The party lasted to the early hours, after which I headed to the airport for my 5am flight to Addis Ababa. This was to be my first experience of sub-Saharan Africa and my initial observations was of a leafy, sprawling city that was far more subdued than [View Full Entry]

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Apart from the cactus and the people washing their clothes in the river, the landscape as I walked along the River Shaya could have been somewhere in Northumberland. The recent rains were holding off, so I had decided that, as we had a day off work for Patriots’ Day, I would go for a walk. I left Robe at 8am, and headed towards Hora Boka. It is amazing how quickly the mud dries - after only a couple of days without rain, there was a hard crust underfoot. I walked along the main road, only getting a few comments, giving the [View Full Entry]

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OK I better be quick. Total power outage and running on laptop batteries. Your guess is as good as mine as to how long I have :) Will try and let the photos do the talking for this entry - there are a few! Plus 2 videos if batteries allow. Another Six O'Clocker Falling out of bed at some ridiculously early time we stuffed our bags and headed downstairs to the motel hotel compound where the two 4x4's were parked. The driver of the rental vehicle was clearly on the ball - he had the bonnet open and was shaking an [View Full Entry]

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The pulse of Ethiopia By Cayo Coco A traveller went across the country to get underneath the surface of Ethiopia, peel back its layers to see what lies beneath - in search for the essence of Ethiopia. 'Seeing is believing', the big billboard read with a picture of new luxurious houses. In front of it, a man was lying lifeless on the street. I was walking on the street of Addis Ababa searching for the essence of Ethiopia. I Looked round. Addis Ababa is a city of contrasts: new commercial buildings alongside shacks, donkeys alongside 'Lada Taxis' and beg [View Full Entry]

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OK, so my blog numbering has got way out of hand but I'll try and rescue it from now on, honest :) We are in the middle of power rationing and IT is pretty hard to do without any power. As is blogging. So I am hoping to get this update done before tomorrow's all-day power cut. In fact there is a 10Mb video I will try and attach but if it goes wrong at 56k I may not have the energy left to try uploading it again. Fingers crossed... At last and much to Sara's amusement I am finally getting [View Full Entry]

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I was “Taking the Long Way” to come back to Robe. In order to avoid taking the bus from Addis Ababa, I accepted the offer of a lift with Teresa, a VSO volunteer friend who was coming to Robe for work - via Arba Minch and Dilla. Which are not exactly on the way! Having left Addis in the early morning light, we had lunch at the Tourist Hotel in Arba Minch, doing the journey much faster than I imagined was possible. While Teresa had meetings, I met up with Rob and Judi (more volunteers) for a cup of tea. How [View Full Entry]

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Well I’ve got a good few weeks to catch up on on the blog front, including a few before we went on our field trip, but for now so you know I haven’t completely given up on my blog entries I thought I’d just say hello world and write a few lines about being back in Assosa. Unfortunately is seems the power outages we experienced on our trip are happening across the country and today it's terminal. We haven’t had any power all day today - which is a first for us here. I’m using laptop battery and candle power now [View Full Entry]

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Around the Woredas in 18 days! And it was an amazing experience!! We covered over 2,500km across 9 woredas, stayed in 10 different hotels and visited over 20 villages and towns in 3 regions (Amhara, Oromo and Beneshangul-Gumuz). With between 9 and 13 people (plus luggage) in the long wheelbase Toyota Land Cruiser the journeys (up to 8 hour drives) were uncomfortable, but not unbearable and it was the same for everyone on board. Plus whenever there was additional comfort to be had (better hotel rooms, front seating when possible in the vehicle, catering for our vegetarian eating [View Full Entry]

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Monday 31st March - Friday 11th April 2008 I wasn’t sure that anyone I knew was going to use the opportunity of me being in Ethiopia to visit this wonderful country. Finally, after 18 months, my first visitors arrived - my Mum and Dad! I went to Addis to meet them at Bole International Airport and was just beginning to wonder if I should try and get into the arrivals area to look for them, when they appeared. I am very proud of them for coming to what can be a difficult country and coping so well with it. After a [View Full Entry]

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This is a very strange entry, we are not in Ethiopia, but we want to be. The season is almost over and soon we will have wound up the season. But as we enter the planning stage, our travel buddy and escort Justyn Lane is now preparing his vehicle in Malawi. But regretably Amanda his faithful girlfriend has decided against the trip of a lifetime, the exploration of the Omo Valley and Northern Kenya. And has decided to rather mundanely choose to merely live in Nairobi and pump more western tax payers money into a basket case. Her decision is her [View Full Entry]

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