Afrika Reiseberichte - 21 bis 40

02:00 Problems with some stomachs ! 06:30 Otherwise a quite night, except for the Muezzin (or Christian equivalent ) starts singing at 5am, amplified via loadspeakers all over the city. Get up, do some packing (as we expect to move to a different room). 07:10 Breakfast – great buffet, but I have little appetite. 08:15 Leave with mini bus for the Merkato, Africa’s largest open market. We buy a fly-scare, handbag&scarf and a luggage bag (300 birr). 11:00 Back to hotel for packing (the rest of the group is leaving for the airport later). We stay in room 25, Oliver gets his own bed though. 12:...

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06:00 Get up, have breakfast at the hotel (porridge). Weather is very nice again, e.g. sunny and mild temperatures. 08:00 We decide against visiting the Awash National Park: animals would be hiding at this time anyway, it is the season where there are few animals in the park and we can stop on they way to Addis to watch some wildlife. 09:30 Stop at lake Basaka, where we watch various kind of birds and a crocodile. The tracks of the Djiobouti railroad are laid right across the lake. 10:00 Stop at village (Nazaret ?) for a drink and to drop off our guides. Great photo opportunity 11:30 Stop ...

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06:00 Get up, have pancakes for breakfast. This is a treat by our cook, who has more or less finished his duties now. 08:00 Leave the camp and continue south. We actually miss Hadar, the archeological site of ‘Lucy’. It may be down to confusion, or maybe the pressure from members of the group who want to reach Addis today. 09:45 Arrive at Serdo – where we hit the most important road of Ethiopia, the connection between Addis Ababa and Djibouti. This is a high quality tarmac road, and we finally turn east again direction Awash. On the way, first stop at Logia and then continue to Mille. Stefa...

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06:00 Get up, breakfast – Irene and Tony have porridge, Oliver has an omelet. We take down tent and help the crew with their clean up. 07:30 A first group starts walking ahead (that is actually everyone expect our family): as the cars are so slow, they will have some time to stretch legs and take fotos. 08:15 Drive back to Monday’s campsite (settlement), though we do not enter. We need to return our scouts there and pay our duty. Jeny is handling all this, we only hear later about the outrageous sums that all these guides are asking. 11:00 Drive south through the Danakil, which turns out to...

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07:00 Tired from yesterday’s drive we get up 08:00 Breakfast and take down the tents. Cars get fixed: • Car #1 – alternator is gone, can run only on batteries • Car #2 – gone, we left it behind. It has been successfully recovered we find out later • Car #3 – problems with batteries: the alternator has been attacked by salt water and now gets very hot. It is being disconnected for driving during day, so we only run in batteries as well • Car #4 – again problems with the batteries 10:00 Leave for Erta Ale. Difficult drive through sand dunes again. Our car gets stuck once, because the car in f...

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04:30 Rise, breakfast, pack the tent 06:00 Sun has not yet risen, but we are on the way to Dalol. Again, a lot of salt water, but we take a different route today 07:30 Arrive at Dalol – a sulfur and fumaroles site with some geological activity. 09:15 We return to our camp site, where the cooks and guides have been cleaning up 11:15 Start driving direction Erte Ale 12:00 Car #2 gets stuck in sand dunes 12:30 The car is moving again, but apparently has lost the 4WD capability 13:00 Not much further, car #2 is stuck in sand again. An Italian tourist tries to help, gets also stuck in the sand...

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06:30 Rise from a very quite night (except the snoring from the surrounding tents). It was windy till about 3 in the morning, but the cars had been positioned to give some shelter for the tents. 07:30 Breakfast – omelet and porridge, coffee, tea, toast – even Nutella. Only the flies are annoying (from the cattle by the nearby Afar nomads). 08:30 Leave for Dalol. It is overcast again and the rain from the previous days has collected in the low parts of the desert, turning it into a gigantic salt lake, up to 50cm deep. The drivers hate to expose their vehicles to this aggressive mixture, but ...

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06:00 Breakfast at the Aksum hotel – it is a nice, cool morning, but the sun sends comfortable rays down to us 07:45 We finally started driving towards Agula and the follow Road nr 1 to Wikro, where we turn off for the Danakil desert. It is rainy and foggy, the road is difficult and slippery, as we descend down from over 2.000 meters into the Danakil depression. 13:30 We have reached the Afar region and need to acquire our permit as well as a scout and an armed guide. The Afars control this area and obviously make money by forcing some sort of toll upon all travelers, in particular also the...

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05:30 Rise: - yeah, its early again 06:00 Breakfast like yesterday at Roha hotel 07:30 Long drive planned for today – we are leaving Lalibela to the north and then turn further to the east, direction Korem, where we join the Road nr. 1, very fine asphalt. Car nr. 1 has now a problem: the diesel distributor breaks off the chassis. Driver fix it during the lunch break with wire. 14:00 Continue on tarmac road to Kwiha 17:30 Arrive at Mekelle, Aksum hotel, go for a walk in the town. This is the 2nd largest city in Ethiopia, so it is very lively. Still, not a lot to see in the dark streets, whic...

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07:00 Breakfast, omlette and porridge 08:15 Leave with the cars for the churches. This is a very short drive and we could have easily walked. 09:00 Visit the northern part of the churches in the morning (Gabriel / Raphael – were a mass is being celebrated). On the way back, pass by a nun monastery (well, just a few very basic wooden huts) and have a look into one of the traditional homes. 11:00 Coffee break – which turns into a lunch break at the Seven Olives Hotel (the only other western style hotel in Lalibela). Spaghetti: one with pomodore another with olives and garlic, coffee, pancake...

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05:30 Rise: need to get moving today… Sun rises at 7am 06:00 Breakfast, omlette, porridge is extra 07:00 Loading the 4WDs, start driving to town center, where we have another macchiato 09:00 Start our journey first back the same road we came (towards Bahir Dar), but then turn east. 113km on fully surfaced road 11:00 Car Nr 2 is again plagued with defect: fuel pipe leakage – gets fixed in 1 hour. We have lunch in the meantime. First we watch the traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony and then have a ‘feasting meal’ (traditionally Wedensday’s and Friday’s meal): sour dough served on a plate wi...

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07:00 Rise: it is chilly, grass is still covered with frost. Breakfast: porridge, eggs, coffee toast. The cook is really great ! It warms up very quickly. 09:00 Ready for our drive to Gonder. 10:30 Car nr 2 breaks down for the first time. 12:30 Arrive at Ghion hotel in Gonder. 14:00 Visit church. Visit the Royal Enclosure. Visit bath (though there is no water in it). 16:30 Walk through Gonder 18:00 Return to Ghion hotel. 19:00 Dinner at hotel: 30 birr + 10% tax + 15% service charge. Set menu with veg soup, fish or beef Stroganoff, fruit and coffee. 21:00 Bedtime. Nice and comfortable outfit...

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07:00 Breakfast 08:00 We start driving, but there is quite some confusion with all the scouts, cooks and additional car that we need to pick up. Still, the delay lets us find a good coffee shop with macchiato and croissant (2+2 birr) 09:00 Start driving to Simien mountains / national park. Plenty of stops on the way. Dirt road. 12:30 Arrive at village, where we stop for drinks. Eat bread with honey. Acquire park permit and get a local scout. He travels with the cook. 14:00 25km drive into park. Spot large herds of baboons (special breed with bright red spot on the breast). Animals are very ...

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00:00 Arrive at Dubai airport – transfer to Pearl Residence hotel 02:00 Bed time 05:30 Breakfast at hotel. We arrange our own transport to airport. Emirates would have us move out already at 4 am. Cost is around 30 Dirham for a 15 min ride. 08:00 Emirates flight to Addis Ababa (1 hour time difference) 11:30 We move from international terminal to the national one. Lunch at airport restaurant. Coke 3 birr, shashlik: 11 birr, vegetable soup: 6 birr 15:00 Flight with Ethiopian from Addis Ababa to Bahir Dar (2nd largets city in Ehtiopia). 16:00 Arrival in Bahir Dar. We meet our local guide: Jeny...

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