B & E in Ethiopia

We had the privilege of taking a quick trip southeast of Addis to Awash National Park.  We heard that you can see lions, hyenas and crocs there so we thought it was worth the trip. We found a really cool place online, Awash Falls Lodge. You rent a cabin/hut type structure for about $50 US per night. The room was nice enough. Four twin beds and a really cool shower made of rocks... 

 I want this in my bathroom back home!

The lodge overlooks the Awash river and you always see crocs down in the water. Very cool! 

Some of these croc pics were taken from as little as seven feet away.

We went on a Safari, AKA, bumpy, hot, long, slow ride... We were disappointed that we didn’t see lions. We did however see some really cool birds and animals that live in Ethiopia. 

Caleb started puking on the trip and we weren’t sure that it wasn’t car sickness because it was so rough. That evening we were asked if we wanted to go an see the hyenas. Gary urged me to go along with our friends and Wesley and Chloe and he would stay home with Caleb (who did have the flu) and Sitota.  So we headed out to pick up our guides for the trip, one of which was packing a rifle. As we were driving out of the park the sun was beginning to go down. We were informed this is when the Hyenas come out of their caves to hunt. Before we even were out of the park we saw one! It was huge! I thought hyenas were much smaller. This thing looked like a powerhouse! I couldn’t get my camera out in time to catch a shot before he ran away.  The sun continued to drop as we traveled to the “viewing place”. Now we were off the road driving toward the mountains. Then we stopped. “We go on foot now”. Ha-ha! I laughed! I thought the guide was joking... he wasn’t. So, Wesley, Chloe and I along with our friends got out and began our trek to the “viewing place”. Then I had an Indiana Jones moment! Seriously, I did. We had to jump over a cavern that you COULD NOT SEE THE BOTTEM OF!!! I was in shock. Before I knew it the kids were whisked across to the other side. “No problem. No problem, the guides were saying”. One thing I have learned here is that when “no problem” is said you should take precaution. Once across we walked a short distance and we were instructed to sit and be quite. The guide then told us that we were sitting right above the hyena's den. We could hear them fighting and the sounds were very creepy, demonic sounding really. The hyenas began to run out of the cave and away from us. There were so many. I was scared to death but very thankful there were now two guides with guns. I asked the guide what would happen if the hyena ran out and up toward us instead of out and away. No sooner did I get the words out of my mouth when one did exactly that. He ran up toward us and stood still. “He is smelling us. That is good” said the guide. Good? Really? But sure enough he turned an ran away. I couldn’t wait to leave although it was now completely dark and we had to cross the cavern again. The guides basically carried the kids across and I was so thankful to God for making it back to the van. My friend later told me she could hardly see anything through her tears as she was so frightened. I WOULD NEVER HAVE GONE IF HAD HAD KNOWN. NEVER!

Once we returned to our hut we discovered we had two little mice living with us. I was thankful for the mosquito nets not only for the bug protection but the added protection from one crawling on my bed.

The next morning was great. Breakfast overlooking the river and croc watching. I went back to our room to pack up with Wesley. Then I seen him. The culprit. He was big and scary and I knew he was just in my room. A huge baboon had ripped through the mesh of our room and entered. When he heard me coming he jumped out. Wesley went running for Gary. “Gary!!!” One thing that Gary knows is that when one of his kids calls loudly for him using his first name, he had better come ASAP. 

So Gary came to our rescue although the huge baboon was ready for a challenge. He didn’t back down. He really liked what he found in our room; baby cereal, bread, and some medicine. He stepped up to challenge Gary. The previous times we had encountered baboons they were more nervous of us. Gary had to resort to throwing rocks at him to keep him back while I quickly packed our stuff so we could leave.  Yikes!

So all in all, it was a very eventful couple of days in Ethiopia!

OUR TRIP SOUTH (warning, long post)

One of the things we wanted to do before we come back to Canada was to do a bit of traveling to the southern areas. Sitota came from the south and we wanted to see what the area is like.

The heat is unbelievable. In Addis we benefit from the higher altitude keeping things cool. In the south you drop in elevation, hence, the intense heat hits you like a ton of bricks. The rift valley is known to have problems with malaria so we also had to take precautions for this as well.

As soon as we left the city we could smell a difference in the air. We really appreciated the absence of such thick pollution. Driving is the country side is somewhat of a game of chicken. People pass on hills, on turns and when there is most certainly not enough time to get back on your own side of the road so they end up driving others off the road in order to avoid a collision. We were very thankful for the referral of an excellent driver. His english was great and he was very responsible and attentive. He is also a believer!

I had images of what I pictured rural Ethiopia to look like and I wasn’t far off; huts and animals and many little children running around and waving at us as we drove by. Sometimes the children would run along  the side of our van as long as they could. I was scared they would trip and fall under the vehicle.

I find it hard here not being able to turn on the tap and even brush my teeth with the water. It can get to me... Then I see these huts with grass roofs. They certainly have no running water let alone electricity. In many cases they have to travel for their water to streams where animals are standing in the water, likely defecating, people are bathing, laundry is being washed and amidst this, people are collecting drinking water. Life is hard here. Life is dangerous here. We were told to be careful with our malaria meds, apparently it’s like gold. The mosquito is the deadliest animal on our planet and in Sub Sahara Africa where malaria is prevalent, I am sure it’s a dark cloud for many.

The south is where most the fruit is grown in Ethiopia. Many people picture Ethiopia as barren with no green vegetation at all. There are areas like that here, for sure, but there are also beautiful areas, lush tropical areas rich with many types of fruit trees and streams. It was neat to be able to buy such fresh bananas and pineapple from the local people. We also picked up some sugar cane. The kids really enjoyed that although it is not the easiest thing to peel and eat.

The south is also rich with many types of animals. There were two types of monkeys we seen as well as warthogs, hippos, alligores (these are 3-6’ lizards), baboons, and camels. One night at our motel, I heard weird howling sounds outside. Our guide the next day said hyenas come down to the motel at night. He thought that was probably what I heard...

We stayed at a very cool spot the night before Gary’s birthday on Lake Langano. This lake is the only safe lake for swimming in Ethiopia. It took a bit to get over the brown color being safe. It reminded me of a mud puddle. The kids had fun though. It was nice for them to play and explore. We went on a bit of a hike in hopes of seeing some hippos . We met this guy. This is his house.

He was so nice to us. He told us the hippos were gone in search of food. He lives here and fishes in the dangerous water by the reeds. A hippo has eaten a man there before he told us. He walked us back for quite a while. It was sad to leave him. He seemed to enjoy the company so much and he did not expect or request anything from us, he only wanted to walk with us.

*** He caused me to think of Jesus- to think of how much he desires me to come to him and enjoy his company. It was very special for me...

There was a huge family of baboons there that were fairly good to keep to themselves except when one tried to steal Sitota’s booster seat. I had to resort to shrieking in order for it to back off.  The “gogo”(cabin) was very cool and the beds were so comfortable. It was such a treat. I slept so well. Chloe wanted me to shut the window at night because the African sounds were too load for her to fall asleep! Gary and I insisted that the window stay open. We were totally mesmerized at all the new and fascinating sounds of the night. The next morning Gary went off for some time along to read on the shore and he was blessed to be able to see a hippo out in the water for his birthday! That was pretty cool!

We stopped for one night in Wondo Genet which means paradise paradise. It was so lush. There were natural hot springs that we enjoyed for the afternoon and many beautiful colorful birds there as well. We hiked up the mountain to see the source of the spring. It was so hot! 85 degrees! Locals use this water to boil potatoes in 17 minutes and corn in 22. It was actually bubbling!

We took a tour of the fish market in Awassa. That was so interesting! Especially for Gary and I coming from fishing communities in PEI. I could have stayed here for hours... watching and listening to all the activity not to mention the cool HUGE birds! We tried some of the fried fish. It was very good! I am so glad I was brave enough to taste it!

Overall we are so thankful for the trip. Awassa was a beautiful city and a great reprieve for us. Langano was such an adventure and a great way to celebrate Gary’s birthday and Wondo Genet was a tropical experience in Ethiopia.