Blogs from Southern Nations Region, Ethiopia, Africa - page 3

After breakfast we were heading to Awassa, leaving this beautiful city, Arba Minch behind. On the bumpy road again with Sami, Wondy, Miki, Susi and me, through banana plantation, mountains, Rift Valley, stream, villages, savannah, daylight, sunset, starshine. One of the DOT members, Engda lives in Sashamene, 17km from our destination, we called him to book a hotel for us in his hometown, as it turned out that every accomodation was fully booked in Awassa as it was celebrating it's 50th birthday . As soon as we arrived the car broke down in front of the hotel. It was a miracle anyways that this old Toyota Corolla survived the dusty, surfaced roads, crossing the stream and other extreme circumstances. After some hours of preparing the car, fixing the cables, waiting and freezing (in Shasamene it's only ... read more

While seeking for breakfast on the roads of Arba Minch a youngster fell behind us. Typical question: where are you from, and I was ready for the typical reaction: silence (I haven't told my worst and on the other hand funniest story yet, happened in front of the Sheraton Hotel, a young beggar kid was following us and kept on asking where we were from, etc. I said I'm from Hungary and he started to laugh and said "ha ha, funny girl". This was the point where I lost my patience. I told him again that I'm Hungarian, then he was laughing even louder...pffff...I started to speak in Hungarian...he was: "good joke, funny girl"...I got even more furious, I pointed at the back cover of Lonely Planet and showed my country on this tiny world map, ... read more

What an exciting week! The Lower Omo Valley, famous for its exotic tribes and outstanding scenery is a very difficult area to travel in without your own transport unless you are happy to just see the tribes on the main bus route or pay extortionate prices for a seat in an ISUZU truck. It is 4WD drive territory and these can be hired for US$150 per day. Being cheapskates we tried to find some other people to hire the car with but at this time there was just no-one around. The most annoying aspect in trying to arrange transport is the presumption about how much money we have, what we should be prepared to pay and what is a fair price. We eventually found a minibus to Konso, the gateway to the Omo Valley. Catching public ... read more

Leaving Addis Well it's been a while since my last update. Almost a month. In fact it wouldn't have been quite so long if I hadn't deleted - without saving - my previous attempt last week; an idiocy so depressing and annoying (it having taken most of the day to write!) that I have been putting this second attempt off until now, knowing that if I don't write something soon, I probably never will again. The draft I deleted was undoubtedly some of my best work: witty, poingaint, overflowing with insight. In short, a joy to read. Obviously any shortcomings you find with the below are simply down to fatigue at having to attempt such heroic efforts again and I can only ask for your patience and understanding. So let's try this again... My last update ... read more

Geo: 4.96667, 36.4833OK, maybe this is not the land of OZ, no Munchkins, but from a cultural standpoint, it is the most unusual place I've visited in my life. Over three days we spend time in four different areas, none more then a 50 KM journey, but the going is slow, all dirt roads. The towns and villages are Key Afer, Omorate, Turmi and Dimeka. I am about as far south in Ethiopia as possible, the town of Ormate is only 25 KM from either Kenya and Sudan. It is hot and dusty. When we cross the Omo River via a log hewned canoe, the muddy water looks very inviting. The trip has been planned around the colorful market days. When I can upload photo's you'll see what I mean. Each tribe has it's own distinctive ... read more