Blogs from Bahir Dar, Amhara Region, Ethiopia, Africa - page 4

So far on our journey we have visited 17 countries over 172 days and have taken approximately 11,000 photos (now who wants to see our slide show when we get back!). We have 188 days to go and several more countries to visit. We would like to say thanks to everyone who has been following along and all the nice comments we've received. We're actually quite surprised at the number of people who are actually reading this thing. Some of the highlights of our trip are: 1. The Sahara desert drive through Mauritania 2. The White Desert in Egypt 3. The Semien Mountains of Ethiopia 4. The beaches of West Africa 5. Taking photos at night in Luxor For those that are wondering, even though we look relaxed and refreshed we still do get home-sick every ... read more

Right, first things first. Leave your stereotypes of Ethiopia at the door. Get those images of barren deserts out of your head. Eliminate any lingering images of starving, hungry villagers. Try to blink away that picture of Addis Ababa as a small collection of mud huts, surrounded by goats. Ethiopia has bad PR officer working on its international image. The reputation and the reality couldn't be more different. The vast majority of Ethiopia is a huge highland plateau, covered in a patchwork of verdant meadows, crashing rivers, and alpine flowers. The cuisine is some of the best on the continent, and great food - and even better coffee - is cheap, available, and comes in huge servings. And Addis is a big, developed, bustling, capital city - the third highest in the world, actually. But yes ... read more

Sebsibe, Daniel and Bahayilu collected me and we set off for Bahar Dar. There were many pedestrians walking along the highway - impressively, I estimated that around 95% were walking on the left (i.e. facing the oncoming traffic. We stopped to photograph them, and Daniel did some filming. When people in Ethiopia are asked about their road behaviour (e.g. walking on the right or speeding) I have noticed that they always say “thank you for helping me”. I can’t imagine that happening in the UK when a driver is stopped for speeding. Changes in clothing style became noticeable as we travelled along. Between Debre Markos and Bahar Dar, most people were wearing green and purple - women in green skirts or dresses and young men in green shorts and wearing a blanket. More people had bare ... read more

The journey from Shihedi to Bahir Dar was a really pleasant journey.. I drove most of the way so that Dave could rest further.. From the border to Shihedi, the gravel road is still relatively flat.. shortly after Shihedi, the gravel road starts climbing as we begun to be greeted by Ethiopia's mountains.. As we came round the mountains/hills.. we passed by so many villages.. many without electricity.. and all of the round huts were made entirely of wood and grass and some covered with mud as wall.. And Saturday is market day.. and we saw lots of villagers walking along the road to the bigger regional villages/towns.. some with their sheeps.. some with their shopping basked balanced on their head.. etc.. You feel like you've taken a step back in time.. and the feeling's ... read more