On Thursday evening, Elizabeth and her daughter Alex arrived for a few days in Robe as part of their holiday, bringing Steven, strawberries and white wine with them. On Friday, the four of us went up to Sanetti Plateau with Tamaru, their driver. We saw a total of 5 wolves and ate strawberries at the top of Tullu Demtu (the highest point in the Bale Mountains at 4377 metres) before driving to a viewpoint overlooking the Herenna Forest. On Saturday evening, Clare, Julian and two of Clare’s friends from the UK (Anna and Gordon) arrived, so we all went to the [View Full Entry]

---

---

On Monday, I had to deliver a letter to a village around 6 km from Robe, so it was a perfect opportunity to go by horse. Daamaa was being unusually stubborn and not far out of Robe, just stopped; no amount of encouragement would get him moving. Slightly embarrassing! Then an older man took pity on me and started to lead him. He obviously thought I was totally incompetent and when we reached the village and he had to turn off to his house, he handed the rope over to a woman who took great delight in stopping at the house [View Full Entry]

---

---

Things seem to be changing in Robe. On a personal level, it is possible to buy porridge oats at more than one shop (previously they were only available only at the purple Mana Kosmeetikki, but they have since sold out), Mars and Snickers bars are sold at the Fountain Pastry and the road is due to have asphalt - although there is still no sign of this. Over the last few days, a blue covering has gone up around the fountain in the middle of town. This signals something significant. The fountain is not usually working, but gets switched on occasionally [View Full Entry]

---

---

Although it is not part of my actual VSO placement, I am privileged to have a small involvement with a vocational training project for deaf students, at Galema Elementray School, in Robe. The project was set up by Catherine, Emma and Elmy (previous volunteers in Robe) using funding that they helped the school to obtain from the International Deaf Children’s Society. Today was a celebration of the first graduation of students who have completed Year 10. There were several speeches, translated into sign language for the students by Aynalem - one of the Special Needs Teachers at the sc [View Full Entry]

---

---

The atmosphere at the Great Ethiopian Run was amazing! A sea of yellow stretched out ahead as I walked with assorted VSO volunteers and friends, and several thousand people, through the streets of Addis Ababa. The 10 kilometre route started, and ended, at Meskel Square and wound its way through Stadium, Mexico, Churchill Avenue. People chanted slogans at Government buildings and danced in the shower half way round. It is the first time I have participated in anything like this, and the Millennium Run - one of the largest (if not the largest) mass participation events in Africa - was a [View Full Entry]

---

---

Just as the bus was leaving Robe bus station at 6.30am, I became aware of a rustling by my feet. I was sitting at the very front of the bus, with Hannah just behind me, as the conductor had insisted on moving us to the privileged seats at the front. I heard the rustling again, and assuming that the woman behind me was stretching out her legs, looked down to check that I wasn’t kicking her. It was a live chicken. Part way through the journey, I thought a Pepsi bottle falling out of the cupboard in the dashboard had killed [View Full Entry]

---

---

For the second consecutive Saturday, Hannah and I had intended to visit the Bale Mountains National Park HQ at Dinsho … but failed to get a bus. There was an Addaba-Dodola bus that we could have got to drop us off in Dinsho, but because we are Farenji, and the assumption is therefore that we are rich tourists, they told us that the fare is 20 birr. I happen to know that that is the price of a ticket to Addaba, and that to Dinsho, the fare is 10 birr. I was loathe to pay the inflated price as, being volunteers [View Full Entry]

---

---

I had thought that the rainy season had ended, but apparently not! For the last few days it has rained a lot - often for most of the night and day. The sun does still make a brief daily appearance, thus justifying the Ethiopia Tourism slogan of “13 months of sunshine.” Today, being Thursday, was market day! Although tempting not to venture out, it is the only place and time to buy decent vegetables … it is possible to buy sad looking onions and tomatoes at some of the small shops in town, but they are more expensive, not as good [View Full Entry]

---

---

It was a real “I’m in Africa!” moment - seeing hippos on Lake Awasa again. Hannah and I had travelled down to Awasa on Friday, with the thought of pizza sustaining us on the bus journey to Shashemene. We met up with Anita (from Adama), Nick and Paul (from Awasa). On Saturday we did those chores that cannot be done in Robe (getting photos printed, keys copied and buying essential items such as chocolate, nice wine and cheese triangles), had lunch (chips!) at the Wabe Shabelle Hotel overlooking the lake and then hired a boat to go and see the hippos. [View Full Entry]

---

---

Sama, the Ethiopian Tourist Guide with four German clients, had said that he would phone me when the group left Dinsho - the plan was for Hannah and myself to join them on a trip to Sanetti Plateau. Liza, a friend from Addis Ababa, had met the same group when her and Rupert were trekking in the Simian Mountains - the German group were then heading to the Bale Mountains so Liza had given Sama my phone number so that he could contact me for advice about the trip. He phoned at 7.30am to inform me that they were already in [View Full Entry]

---

---