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DAY 125. FRI 08/06. Addis Abeba to Awassa. 283 kms. Total 26287 kms. Adenium Campsite. N7 04.570 E38 29.041
Left the hotel fairly early after a quick coffee and tea and headed back to the Kenyan Embassy. (N9 01.931 E38 46.992) Inga went in this time and spoke to the Ambassador himself, not the clueless lady from yesterday. He advised getting the visa in advance as we would be crossing an unofficial border so at least it would show we had made an effort in getting the visa if stopped on the way to Nairobi. Only problem was it cost $50 each (as opposed to no visa fee for South Africans at main border Xing) but eventually we decided to get it - better safe than sorry. Luckily he issued it straight away for us. Then headed back to the Sheraton Hotel (N9 01.256 E38 45.624) to top up our cash again as the visa fees had put a dent in our budget, which had to last us into our 2nd week in Kenya. We then headed towards Mexico Square to the Australian & Canadian Embassy at N8 59.739 E38 44.176 to try find out about visas for Dave & Sarah's wedding later in the year but they only see foreigners on Tuesdays and Thursdays so we had no luck getting any info off of them. Also stopped at Novis Supermarket nearby, N8 59.868 E38 44.363, to pick up one or 2 items we had forgotten to buy yesterday. By now we were quite hungry having missed breakfast so stopped in at an excellent coffee shop at Adams Mall (N8 59.685 E38 44.346) just up the road for more tea, macchiato and yummy breakfast club sandwiches served with fries. The mall also has a fast internet place where we managed to find out online about the Oz visa info we had been looking for and emailed Reto and Victoria again about our plans as well as another Visa ATM machine so quite a good place to visit (also bookshops etc.) We were now done with Addis so headed south on a good stretch of tar to Awassa on Lake Awassa passing many other lakes along the way - all forming the start of the Rift Valley Lakes. Arrived at the lovely Adenium Campsite run by a German lady, Jana, and her Ethiopian husband, Kuratu, in the early evening. She is a great cook too and serves lovely breakfasts, diners and lunch (proper home cooking) but we just cooked for ourselves tonight, although we were served some Ethiopian coffee after diner.
DAY 126. SAT 09/06. Awassa. 0 kms. Total 26287 kms. Adenium Campsite. N7 04.570 E38 29.041
Decided to try Jana's famous breakfast this morning and we were not disappointed. Home made muffins; oats; fresh fruit including granadillas and mangoes; breads, rolls and jams etc? tea & coffee. Delicious and a bit of a feast for us. After all that exertion we just spent the day in the camp. Inga did a bit of washing and then we both spent the rest of the day reading up and collecting info on the Lake Turkana route as well as on other countries on our route between a few beers and cokes. The guesthouse/campsite has a guest's book where everyone writes their travel tips and info which makes great reading and contains loads of info. Also some previous German travelers have made a little booklet on the Lake Turkana route which is there to read. We jotted down some notes and entered loads of gps points. We were now feeling much more confident about what lies ahead, even if we ended up having to go alone. Later that evening we followed up the breakfast with a 3 coarse diner too at the camp - tasty soup and then a platter of tasty curry dishes all made from local fruits, vegetables and fish, followed by desert of homemade ice-cream and fruit. Again a real treat. Unfortunately must have proved too much richness for Inga's stomach, used to more lean pickings of late, and she was up most of the night with an upset stomach.
DAY 127. SUN. 10/06. Awassa to Arba Minch. 285 kms. Total 26572. Bekele Mola Hotel. N6 00.321 E37 33.101
Inga had a bit of a lie in due to her bad nights sleep while Rob was up a bit earlier to make breakfast, tea and coffee. Plan was to head to Arba Minch today as we thought Reto and Victoria might also be on their way there today. (Later we found out that they had come to Adenium Camp after we left looking for us and had missed us by a day!) Only ended up leaving around 1pm as Inga and Jana were having a long chat and also because it is not an easy place to leave - could easily have spent another few days there with all the "home comforts". Stopped off in town to do a bit of a shop before heading back north the way we had come to the junction at Shashemene. From there the road to Arba Minch starts off well with decent new tar but then deteriorates with a few nasty bits but on the whole not too bad. Stopped along the way to pick up 2 mielies/corn on the cob, cooked on coals along the roadside and snacked on those while driving holding them by the stalks still attached. Due to our late start only arrived in Arba Minch just after dark after dodging herds of cattle in the road on their way home from grazing in the late afternoon. Also lots of water about with 2 unexpected shallow but fairly strong flowing river crossings just before Arba Minch which wasn't a good sign for the roads ahead. Arrived at Bekele Mola Hotel where we camped on the grass hill next to the hotel overlooking the lake. No sign of Reto and Victoria but there were 2 tents pitched. Very nice "hotel camp" - definitely the best in Ethiopia so far. Went to the restaurant but menu was a bit pricey for us so just a couple of drinks before going back to the camp to cook dinner for ourselves. Heard a few British accents from a large table in the restaurant who turned out to be the other campers we were to meet tomorrow.
DAY 128. MON. 11/06. Arba Minch. 0 kms. Total 26572. Bekele Mola Hotel. N6 00.321 E37 33.101
Inga was up a bit earlier than Rob and almost immediately chatting to the other British campers, back packers Jimmy and Amanda, and bikers Rich and Sasha. Before long we were all sharing coffee and breakfasts and chatting away. Good to have a bit of good company again. By some coincidence, Rich and Sasha were the bikers riding a vintage Royal Enfield bike that had traveled with Reto and Victoria through Sudan that they had told us about when we met them in Bahir Dar. We had heard a bit about them and met some of the same people so in some ways it felt like catching up with old friends. We still felt a strange need to push on to Konso today for some reason still surprised that Reto and Victoria we not here we now and now thought they may have skipped Arba Minch by continuing south to Yavello and going to Konso that way. Anyway with good company, good campsite and the fact that the other 2 couples were traveling to Konso tomorrow we decided to stay another day and leave with them tomorrow. Spent the rest of the day chatting and reading with a few lunch time beers thrown in between. The others again had dinner at the restaurant while we again cooked for ourselves.
DAY 129. TUES 12/06. Arba Minch to Konso. 96 kms. Total 26667. Green View Hotel. N5 20.485 E37 26.356
Jimmy and Amanda, being on public transport, had left around 5.30am. We left at a more civilized time after breakfast and showers slightly after Rich and Sash. It had rained heavily overnight so we were a bit weary of the road and potential river crossings. We needed to stop for fuel 1st so arranged a couple of meeting up points in Konso with them before they left. 1st 2 few stations in Arba Minch we tried had no diesel and we were starting to get nervous as this was meant to be the last reliable diesel until Maralal in Kenya over 1000kms away. Luckily the Shell back down in the town centre had diesel and we filled up both tanks and both jerries before heading off. They are building a new road to Konso but for the most part you drive on the earth track next to it. 1st part of the journey is very beautiful and green along the lake with stunning scenery. Road OK too with only a few small puddles. Closer to Konso the mud and puddles became worse and worse with a few river crossings thrown in too and we went past a public buss stuck on a bend. We kept wondering how poor Rich and Sash were coping on the bike but we never caught up to them as we were held up for 2 hours at a big, steep sided river crossing shortly before Konso at N5 27.638 E37 26.062 where the road had washed away leaving a tricky descent into the river and slippery ascent on the other side. A 2 wheel drive fuel truck was stuck on the other side on the way up and we watched in amazement for over an hour while they struggled to get it up. Quite a big crowd of onlookers and helpers had assembled but all they were doing was putting little shovelfuls of sand under the wheels but quite clearly without the power or traction to get out on its own the truck wasn't going to make it unless it was towed out. Eventually the cavalry arrived - a big bulldozer belonging to the road crew which towed it out. We finally managed to get across fairly easily once the bulldozer had come across the river to slightly improve the access road down to the river, although we did need 2 attempts to get up the other side, the 1st resulting in us slipping into a rut and leaning sides a bit too steeply to get up. A 2 wheel drive Isuzu lorry came down straight after us and immediately got stuck on the decent - didn't even make it to the river - and also had to be towed through with the bulldozer so we stopped to watch the action a bit longer before finally moving on to Konso. The road in Konso was being reconstructed and the clay they were using on top of the old gravel road was very slippery and sticky. This caused Rich and Sash's bike wheel to start locking up due to the clay jammed between the mud guards and the tires so they had to stop at the 1st hotel in town, Green View, where we pulled in too shortly after them while they, both still covered in mud, were cleaning the bike. We immediately started swapping stories and looking at some of their photos of the bike getting bogged in the mud. The hotel was not great but there is not that much to choose from in Konso. The other 2 had taken a room as they needed a shower - the communal toilets didn't have proper showers, just water from a bucket, but we elected to camp and managed to find a little patch of grass amongst the mud to park on. (For which we were told numerous times the cost was 15 birr) After a few beers to calm the nerves we went for a walk around town to try and find the others. No sign of the other overlanders but we did meet up with Jimmy and Amanda at the only other decent hotel in town, Edget Hotel. (N5 20.336 E37 26.529) As they had come through a lot earlier in the morning on a 4x4 taxi their photos of the river crossing were a lot worse, much deeper, and enterprising locals had been charging a 20 birr toll per vehicle to help them through. Ended up having drinks (Bedele Beer this time) and dinner (kai wat njera) at their hotel before going back to our place. Just before we went to bed the hotel guy we had been speaking to earlier came up and asked us to pay 30 birr as it was now 15 birr per person to camp so we had a bit of a heated argument as we had asked so many times for clarification of the charges and were always told 15 birr (not per person) Agreed to sort it out in the morning.
DAY 130. WED 13/06. Konso to Turmi (via Dimeka). 193 kms. Total 26860 kms. Evangadi Camp. N4 58.140 E36 29.783
Being a bit nervous of their road to Yavello, Rich and Sash, were away very early, around 8am while we were still waking up. We had a quick breakfast 1st while being pestered all the time for the camping money which we eventually just handed over without further argument just to put an end to it before hitting the road to Turmi. Also had to evade a few guides offering to take us to visit the local tribes in the area. Road out of Konso was initially still pretty bad still with the mud/clay and deviations around the road construction and a couple more straightforward river before starting the descent down into the Omo Valley where the road improved becoming good, hard gravel for the most part - even proper bridges again! Arrived at Weyto in good time, just after 12, and stopped for lunch, njera again with beans and cokes, at a good hotel & restaurant (N5 22.382 E36 59.611) near the centre of Weyto where all the locals seem to stop for lunch. Very busy place but good, fast and cheap food. Made a good stop. Leaving Weyto we missed the junction for the good gravel road directly to Turmi (N5 22.444 E36 59.549) just before the restaurant and instead by mistake carried on towards Jinka. This was mainly down to 2 GPS issues: 1) we were following tracks from previous overlanders who had gone this route but they went to Jinka 1st then Turmi using a different route and we followed without realizing the tracks going straight through Weyto 2) The junction point and the hotel point were so close to each other that the hotel icon obscured the junction point icon and we missed it. Silly navigational error which was to cost us hours and lots of hardship later which we would soon come to regret. About an hour further on we arrived at another junction to Turmi, N5 30.645 E36 43.601, this one coming down from the road to Jinka leading to Turmi via Dimeka, which we still thought was the road we were meant to be on. This earth track rapidly deteriorated being badly washed away and deeply rutted from previous vehicles tracks through the mud while it was still wet after the recent rains. Also tricky crossings of river beds and mud and water pools. This led to 5 hours of hard 4x4'ing as opposed to a pleasant hour and a half if we had taken the other road, all only to cover 65 kms. Late in the evening, close to Turmi, we went through one section of deep water and didn't stop to check it out 1st as we were rushing to make it before dark. It got very deep towards the middle so we tried to drive out along the edge which got very steep and we came close to tipping over with water half way up the passenger door. Luckily we survived and managed to crawl out slowly and arrived at the rather strange set up of Evangadi Camp where we camped on our own again relieved to have made it but with nerves still jangling from the tough road. It was also along this road today that we had 1st started seeing the colorfully dressed and decorated local tribes people, especially those herding livestock, all armed with traditional weapons and rifles/automatic weapons, a trend that was to continue for the next few days. A little disconcerting but they had all seemed friendly enough.
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