Over the mountains and far away

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Arrived in Robe after an incredible journey over the Bale Mountains. We left Addis at 6.30 am on Saturday, stopped for breakfast and lunch, dropped another 2 volunteers at Dilla, then headed back north and spent the night in Awasa - a very quiet, pleasant town - setting off to Robe after breakfast on Sunday.

The road from Addis Ababa to Dilla had been good the whole way - just the occasional goat or donkey on the road to avoid: according to our VSO driver, if you kill a goat, you have to pay the owner compensation of 400 birr. It is more for a donkey!

The tarmac ended 10m off of the Addis - Awasa road. There followed about 5 hours of mud and stone bumpiness. When it rains the road turns to slippery mud. We had to stop to pull another “ferenji” vehicle out of the mud at the side of the road. The views were spectacular as we came over the ridge and onto the huge plateau where Robe is situated. We even saw nyala and warthog near Dinsho (the HQ of the national park).

We arrived in Robe at 3pm, had a very late lunch, then headed to the College of Teacher Education where the Dean and some others were waiting for me at the accommodation. My house had obviously been cleaned - VSO had phoned the Dean to remind him that I was arriving and the house should be made ready. It was a great relief.

I now understand the VSO term of “isolated volunteer”! The nearest volunteers to me are in Awasa - 6 hours away (longer by public bus)

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Photos

The Bale Mountains
The spectacular views made up for the dreadful road - almost!