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Published: November 30th 2009
The Long Drive Back to Addis Ababa
The Strongest Cup of Coffee in The World ...... Ever!
It's another early start as we have the long drive back to
Addis Ababa today and we want to spend some time in the
Awash National Park.
We set out at about 5:30. By 8:30 we've reached the town of
Asbe Tefari where we stop for breakfast. Lishan orders "double" coffees for us - I think this must mean double strength rather than a larger cup of coffee. Jane and I are nearly knocked out of our chairs when we taste it although Clarry happily drinks hers without any comment! I still declare it the "strongest coffee ever"
Awash Isn't Awash With Wildlife
By 11:00 we reach the entrance to the
Awash National Park. Again we are joined by an armed guard for our "safari" through the park. We don't have much joy in spotting wildlife - this is the hottest part of the day and we are probably the only ones out in the midday sun. Any animal with any sense will be lying under a tree somewhere rather than running around for our benefit. We
do see some birds and an
oryx but we mostly drive for some time without seeing very much. We get as far as the waterfalls at the
Awash River in the south of the park when we mutiny and go for a coke at the nearby lodge. From here we are taken for a walk in the area near the river and the falls. We have more luck here and see
monkeys, a
great kudu, more
birds {I just know they were birds - don't know what type!} and a baby
alligator runs across the path in front of us. We also spot a large alligator asleep in some bushes and try to sneak up on it as quietly as we can. The only sound that can be heard is the theme from
"Mission Impossible" coming from Lishan's mobile phone - the alligator must be used to hearing this, though, and doesn't seem at all bothered.
Near to this area we are promised that we will be able to see a caged lion. We're not too impressed at the idea of keeping a lion caged up in a national park until we learn that
Dolo {I think that was his name} has been rescued from captivity and that they are trying to find ways to make him more independent.
Scream If You Want To Go Faster
Driving out of the park to continue our drive to
Addis Ababa we become increasingly concerned about our driver. He is driving very quickly, often on the wrong side of the road, and is reacting very slowly to any dangers coming towards him. When he combines this with using his mobile we are even more worried. When he combines his erratic driving with using his mobile, drinking a bottle of coke, turning round to talk to his "assistant" and chewing chat we are thankful that we have always paid attention to all those airline safety videos and adopt the crash position.
Fortunately Lishan has either guessed our mood or also fears for his life because the next time we stop, before we can say anything, he arranges a new bus and driver to take us the rest of the way to
Addis. Our new driver still scares me a bit, but I think he's just driving the same way as everyone else in Ethiopia does. At least he focuses
on his driving and doesn't try to multi-task. I think I've been spoiled by the excellent driver we had for the first part of the trip in the North.
Back in Addis Ababa
We finally get back to Addis at about 7p.m. where we say goodbye to Jane who is going to indulge herself at
The Sheraton before catching an early morning flight home. Clarry and I are the last two left of our part of the tour group. We head back to the
Zebra Grill for dinner. One last meal of traditional Ethiopian food? Forget it! They have apple pie on the menu! But it is washed down with a bottle of the best Ethiopian Red Wine.
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Nick Buchanan
non-member comment
What a great ending!
Hey Steve Sounds like the end of your trip was fab ... especially the chance to finish it all off with a bottle of Ethiopian's finest red. The selection of wildlife and drivers (is that the same thing?), sounds 'interesting' and really glad it was such a fun end to the trip ... the coffee sounds great, too! I think any future trips need to factor in appropriate coffee-culture or viticulture to make it worthwhile for you!