We've been back in Toronto for a week and have finally got over our jet lag.
Overall the trip was excellent. Uganda was very relaxing (in part because of the nicer places we were staying at). There's a lot of wildlife and variety of wildlife in Uganda, and there's pretty good tourist infrastructure but without all the crowds. Apoka Safari Lodge was amazing -- if you have the opportunity, I would recommend staying there. It will get harder to get the remoteness of Apoka on a safari, especially as tourism continues to grow around the world.
Ethiopia was also amazing, but their tourist infrastructure is still developing (ie, it's really basic right now). There's really cool sights, my favourites were the lava lake of Erta Ale, and the rock-hewn churches of Tigray. Getting to these places isn't easy, and the excursions lack creature comforts if that's important to you. But it's well worth the effort to see. St. George's in Lalibela was what originally made us think about going to Ethiopia, and as it turned out there's even more cooler stuff to see than the rock-hewn churches. For whatever reason, Ethiopia seems to be off the radar for most people. Oddly, most tourists we met in Ethiopia were doing treks in the Simien Mountains -- this is only thing we did that I'd skip if we had to plan it again. Maybe it's because we're from Canada and have great national parks, but we didn't think the Simien Mountains were that great.
Djibouit made a nice side trip, relaxing because we stayed at the Kempinski, and interesting because of the whale sharks. It's also possible to see whale sharks in other parts of the world, but Djibouti is one of the more reliable places.
Five places on this trip made my top 100 list -- the lava lake at Erta Ale (8), Abuna Yemata Guh (one of the Tigray churches) (13), Bet Giyorgis (St George's church) in Lalibela (25), salt mining on Lac Assale (48), and snorkeling with the whale sharks in Djibouti (54). A few more trips and maybe I'll actually have 100 items on the list :)
Sunday, January 18, 2015
Monday, January 12, 2015
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Our flight back to Addis was at 11am so we had a relaxing breakfast at the Kempinski in Djibouti, and then took a taxi to the airport. Instead of the $35 per person shuttle, we just took the golf cart to the main entrance where they hailed us a taxi.
The taxi driver had some cool tunes cranked and he was singing along as we drove. It was local artists from Djibouti and Sudan, and was sort of a reggae / hip hop mix.
We had to go through immigration in Addis. We had multiple-entry visas so all our paperwork was in order, but it's not the standard 30-day single-entry visa that most tourists get, so there was more scrutiny at the border but no problems. Also I don't think the border agent knew how to handle multiple-entry visas and had to ask for help from another agent.
The Addis Regency was very organized and the airport shuttle guy was waiting as we exited the terminal. It was the same driver as when we arrived from Mekele, and so he recognized us which made it even easier.
We thought about trying to get to a site that afternoon, but it would have been rushed so just had lunch at the hotel and planned out the remaining couple days we had in Addis, most importantly which restaurants we wanted to try out.
Top on our list for dinner was Ristorante Castelli, a italian restaurant that's an institution in Addis. It was Saturday night and we couldn't get a reservation, but decided to just show up and see if we could get a table.
The road from our hotel to the piazza near the restaurant was torn up for construction. However, here there's no safety boundary for construction sites and so people just walk in between trucks loading and backhoes digging up rocks. We gave them a wide a berth as we could and came through okay, except for Heather's black shoes which were now dusty.
We found the place with a little help from locals, it was still 10 minutes before it opened for dinner so we wandered around the shops and stalls around the square.
At 7pm there was already a few people arriving and waiting in line, so we joined them. We didn't need to worry, as we were able to get a table for two with no problems. As is common in the higher-end restaurants in Addis, there was a security check before entering.
The food and service was really good at Ristorante Castelli. We started with thinly-sliced chacuterie, split a home-made pasta with truffle sauce, and then a secondi each, and finished with dessert. They actually served the courses at the appropriate times, and had decent wines from Italy. It was a nice change after all the excursion food of the past few weeks.
We walked home without much hassle, which was nice. There were lots of people on the street and it felt very safe.
…
Over the next day and a half. there were two museums and a church on our list of things to see in Addis, plus shopping for souvenirs, and the restaurants / coffee shops we wanted to try. Most places close for lunch between noon and 2pm so we planned our touristing before lunch.
First we visited St George Cathedral & Museum, the 2nd most important church in Ethiopia after St Mary of Zion in Axum. We had heard the orthodox prayers overnight from Saturday dusk through to Sunday morning, broadcast from loudspeakers. Our hotel was conveniently located within walking distance of the sites, which also meant it was within hearing distance. The prayers were just finishing as we arrived. We saw the on-site museum (interesting, but a bit over-priced), and walked around the exterior of the church.
We then walked over to see Lucy at the National Museum. Lucy is the name given to the skeleton 3.2 million years old and an early ancestor of humans. It was a pretty cool museum, with other less-famous but scientifically important fossils of early human ancestors. There were a lot of tour groups filing in-and-out to see Lucy. The museum entrance was a bargain at only 20 Birr (about $1).
We had lunch next door at the Lucy Restaurant, which caters to the tour groups, but is not bad of a restaurant.
It was then a 20 minute walk to the St George Interior Decoration & Art Gallery, one of the better galleries for souvenirs, beside the Sheraton hotel. There were a few wedding parties having their pictures taken outside the Sheraton -- it's a popular place for wedding pics (just on the outside -- staying at the Sheraton is out of the price range for most weddings). Unfortunately the Art Gallery is closed on Sundays. Along the way we saw a cathedral and dropped in for a visit -- it cost 100 Birr each plus a tip to the priest, but it was a nice cathedral -- nicer than the church we saw yesterday.
We walked over to Tomoca, a famous coffee shop in Addis. Along the way we encountered the sorriest excuse for pickpocketers I've seen. They were so obvious they might as well have introduced themselves as pickpocketers. We keep anything of value well hidden away so there wasn't a concern, but it was funny to see how bad they were.
Tomoca was great. It is a popular stop for tourists and while we were sipping our macchiatos several groups came and went. We bought some packages of coffeee beans to take home as well.
We walked home all hopped up on caffeine, and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. For dinner we made reservations at La Mandoline, a French restaurant rated highly on tripadvisor. It was across town (near the airport) and so we arranged for a taxi to take us there, wait a couple hours, and then drive us home (for about $25 total). Dinner was okay, not quite as good as Castelli's. We did try a local wine, from Rift Valley, which was really good.
…
On our last day in Addis we walked over to the Ethnological Museum, which was very highly rated by the guide books. It was difficult to find. It's inside the university grounds but there's no signage to indicate where it is. Even after buying our tickets we still weren't sure that we were at the right museum. It was only when we saw the stuffed lion at the top of the stairs (which matched the description in the LP) that we figured we were at right place.
The Ethnological Museum is okay, but not as good as we expected based on the guide books. We wouldn't have missed much if we weren't able to visit.
There were a couple souvenir shops we wanted to get to before noon, so we took taxis. We bought a ceramic guinea fowl at the Art Gallery, which is a motif seen throughout Ethiopia. We had no bargaining power at Gallery 21 as we got out of our taxi with the large Art Gallery bag in hand, I'm sure as recognizable as a baby blue Tiffany's jewellery bag on Bloor West. They had some larger wood pieces, but we already had some large stuff to try to bring home so just bought a coffee pot (which we'd seen used in the coffee ceremonies throughout Ethiopia).
We had lunch back at Ristorante Castelli, which was really good. Finished with our last coffee in Ethiopia, and then headed home to pack up and shower and get ready for our 10:40pm flight home. We had booked the hotel room for the half day which was worth it. Packed all of our fragile souvenirs in the carry-on suitcase we had brought from home just for this purpose; we also had a large mask as carry-on.
Took the hotel shuttle to the airport. The security at the airport entrance gave us a hassle about the salt pearls we had picked up in Djibouti, but after some discussion let us go. We checked in and got our boarding passes. Had a pizza in the departure lounge which was loaded with cheese and very heavy. Should've just got a couple Snickers bars instead.
Got through the gate security with all of our carry-on. The final hurdle was whether the airline agents would allow us through with our bulky mask and carry-on -- we were near the front of the plane and boarding last, and concerned that the other passengers would fill up the overhead bins. However we got through, and actually had a bin to ourselves, so our souvenirs were safe. It was a direct flight to Toronto (stopping off in Rome for refueling while we stayed on-board). We were on the plane for over 17 hours, which is the longest we've been on a single flight.
We arrived in Toronto around 7:30am on Tuesday. There was a loud gasp throughout the airplane when the co-pilot announced the ground temperature at -21C.
Pearson remains one of the worst airports for getting through -- it's terrible. First it took the ground crew about 10 minutes to line up the passenger ramp with the door of the airplane. We could see them driving back and forth trying to get the right alignment. Immigration was somewhat improved, but I think it's because it was just our flight that was going through at the time. It then took over an hour for the bags to get to the carousel. In total it took over 90 minutes from landing to get through everything.
It was 9am and we were hungry and figured it was better to grab breakfast and get past rush hour before heading home. So we did the Canadian thing and found Tim Hortons (although we both had tea instead of a double-double).
There was an accident on the Gardiner which closed all lanes so it took a bit longer than normal to get home, but eventually we did. Finally we were home after five weeks, a great vacation with amazing sites.
The taxi driver had some cool tunes cranked and he was singing along as we drove. It was local artists from Djibouti and Sudan, and was sort of a reggae / hip hop mix.
We had to go through immigration in Addis. We had multiple-entry visas so all our paperwork was in order, but it's not the standard 30-day single-entry visa that most tourists get, so there was more scrutiny at the border but no problems. Also I don't think the border agent knew how to handle multiple-entry visas and had to ask for help from another agent.
The Addis Regency was very organized and the airport shuttle guy was waiting as we exited the terminal. It was the same driver as when we arrived from Mekele, and so he recognized us which made it even easier.
We thought about trying to get to a site that afternoon, but it would have been rushed so just had lunch at the hotel and planned out the remaining couple days we had in Addis, most importantly which restaurants we wanted to try out.
Top on our list for dinner was Ristorante Castelli, a italian restaurant that's an institution in Addis. It was Saturday night and we couldn't get a reservation, but decided to just show up and see if we could get a table.
The road from our hotel to the piazza near the restaurant was torn up for construction. However, here there's no safety boundary for construction sites and so people just walk in between trucks loading and backhoes digging up rocks. We gave them a wide a berth as we could and came through okay, except for Heather's black shoes which were now dusty.
We found the place with a little help from locals, it was still 10 minutes before it opened for dinner so we wandered around the shops and stalls around the square.
At 7pm there was already a few people arriving and waiting in line, so we joined them. We didn't need to worry, as we were able to get a table for two with no problems. As is common in the higher-end restaurants in Addis, there was a security check before entering.
The food and service was really good at Ristorante Castelli. We started with thinly-sliced chacuterie, split a home-made pasta with truffle sauce, and then a secondi each, and finished with dessert. They actually served the courses at the appropriate times, and had decent wines from Italy. It was a nice change after all the excursion food of the past few weeks.
We walked home without much hassle, which was nice. There were lots of people on the street and it felt very safe.
…
Over the next day and a half. there were two museums and a church on our list of things to see in Addis, plus shopping for souvenirs, and the restaurants / coffee shops we wanted to try. Most places close for lunch between noon and 2pm so we planned our touristing before lunch.
First we visited St George Cathedral & Museum, the 2nd most important church in Ethiopia after St Mary of Zion in Axum. We had heard the orthodox prayers overnight from Saturday dusk through to Sunday morning, broadcast from loudspeakers. Our hotel was conveniently located within walking distance of the sites, which also meant it was within hearing distance. The prayers were just finishing as we arrived. We saw the on-site museum (interesting, but a bit over-priced), and walked around the exterior of the church.
We then walked over to see Lucy at the National Museum. Lucy is the name given to the skeleton 3.2 million years old and an early ancestor of humans. It was a pretty cool museum, with other less-famous but scientifically important fossils of early human ancestors. There were a lot of tour groups filing in-and-out to see Lucy. The museum entrance was a bargain at only 20 Birr (about $1).
We had lunch next door at the Lucy Restaurant, which caters to the tour groups, but is not bad of a restaurant.
It was then a 20 minute walk to the St George Interior Decoration & Art Gallery, one of the better galleries for souvenirs, beside the Sheraton hotel. There were a few wedding parties having their pictures taken outside the Sheraton -- it's a popular place for wedding pics (just on the outside -- staying at the Sheraton is out of the price range for most weddings). Unfortunately the Art Gallery is closed on Sundays. Along the way we saw a cathedral and dropped in for a visit -- it cost 100 Birr each plus a tip to the priest, but it was a nice cathedral -- nicer than the church we saw yesterday.
We walked over to Tomoca, a famous coffee shop in Addis. Along the way we encountered the sorriest excuse for pickpocketers I've seen. They were so obvious they might as well have introduced themselves as pickpocketers. We keep anything of value well hidden away so there wasn't a concern, but it was funny to see how bad they were.
Tomoca was great. It is a popular stop for tourists and while we were sipping our macchiatos several groups came and went. We bought some packages of coffeee beans to take home as well.
We walked home all hopped up on caffeine, and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. For dinner we made reservations at La Mandoline, a French restaurant rated highly on tripadvisor. It was across town (near the airport) and so we arranged for a taxi to take us there, wait a couple hours, and then drive us home (for about $25 total). Dinner was okay, not quite as good as Castelli's. We did try a local wine, from Rift Valley, which was really good.
…
On our last day in Addis we walked over to the Ethnological Museum, which was very highly rated by the guide books. It was difficult to find. It's inside the university grounds but there's no signage to indicate where it is. Even after buying our tickets we still weren't sure that we were at the right museum. It was only when we saw the stuffed lion at the top of the stairs (which matched the description in the LP) that we figured we were at right place.
The Ethnological Museum is okay, but not as good as we expected based on the guide books. We wouldn't have missed much if we weren't able to visit.
There were a couple souvenir shops we wanted to get to before noon, so we took taxis. We bought a ceramic guinea fowl at the Art Gallery, which is a motif seen throughout Ethiopia. We had no bargaining power at Gallery 21 as we got out of our taxi with the large Art Gallery bag in hand, I'm sure as recognizable as a baby blue Tiffany's jewellery bag on Bloor West. They had some larger wood pieces, but we already had some large stuff to try to bring home so just bought a coffee pot (which we'd seen used in the coffee ceremonies throughout Ethiopia).
We had lunch back at Ristorante Castelli, which was really good. Finished with our last coffee in Ethiopia, and then headed home to pack up and shower and get ready for our 10:40pm flight home. We had booked the hotel room for the half day which was worth it. Packed all of our fragile souvenirs in the carry-on suitcase we had brought from home just for this purpose; we also had a large mask as carry-on.
Took the hotel shuttle to the airport. The security at the airport entrance gave us a hassle about the salt pearls we had picked up in Djibouti, but after some discussion let us go. We checked in and got our boarding passes. Had a pizza in the departure lounge which was loaded with cheese and very heavy. Should've just got a couple Snickers bars instead.
Got through the gate security with all of our carry-on. The final hurdle was whether the airline agents would allow us through with our bulky mask and carry-on -- we were near the front of the plane and boarding last, and concerned that the other passengers would fill up the overhead bins. However we got through, and actually had a bin to ourselves, so our souvenirs were safe. It was a direct flight to Toronto (stopping off in Rome for refueling while we stayed on-board). We were on the plane for over 17 hours, which is the longest we've been on a single flight.
We arrived in Toronto around 7:30am on Tuesday. There was a loud gasp throughout the airplane when the co-pilot announced the ground temperature at -21C.
Pearson remains one of the worst airports for getting through -- it's terrible. First it took the ground crew about 10 minutes to line up the passenger ramp with the door of the airplane. We could see them driving back and forth trying to get the right alignment. Immigration was somewhat improved, but I think it's because it was just our flight that was going through at the time. It then took over an hour for the bags to get to the carousel. In total it took over 90 minutes from landing to get through everything.
It was 9am and we were hungry and figured it was better to grab breakfast and get past rush hour before heading home. So we did the Canadian thing and found Tim Hortons (although we both had tea instead of a double-double).
There was an accident on the Gardiner which closed all lanes so it took a bit longer than normal to get home, but eventually we did. Finally we were home after five weeks, a great vacation with amazing sites.
Saturday, January 10, 2015
Djibouti City, Djibouti
Our flight to Djibouti wasn't until 4pm so we had most of the day to relax.
The Addis Regency is close to a couple of the museums we want to see in Addis, but by the time we got ourselves together it was time for lunch and then we were off to the airport. Once again we left behind our souvenirs at the hotel storage so we didn't have to lug them across borders and airports (that was the main reason we stopped for the night in Addis rather than getting a connecting Mekele - Addis - Djibouti flight).
The Ethiopian Airlines flight left on time as usual, stopped in Dire Dawa, and then we were in Djibouti!
We were getting a visa on arrival and based on our research had envelopes full of documentation - hotel reservation, return flight, photocopies of passports and yellow fever immunization, and two passport sized pics. We only needed to show our hotel reservation which they scanned in, but it was good to have the rest just in case. There were about 20 of us getting VOA and those that were free got a stamp and were good to go. Those from countries that had a fee had to line up again to enter an office where we got a very nice looking visa sticker for $60 USD each, change provided in USD. The official didn't quite get that we were just tourists - almost everyone is either military or friends and family visiting military. The whole process took about 30 minutes, not too bad.
We had looked into taking the airport shuttle from the Kempinski but they charged $35 / person so we took a taxi for $15 total.
Our taxi was held together by duct tape, and in some places even the duct tape was missing. It was a slow ride, any bump was likely to break the car in two. But the driver was friendly and we did make it. The Kempinski doesn't allow taxis to enter the premises - you get dropped off at the front gate and a golf cart picks you up.
The last time I had been in a golf cart we had side-swiped a hippo, but this time it was uneventful.
We had booked the Kempinski back in August for a big discount, and it was nice place to relax after the past couple weeks of excursions.
We are in the Italian restaurant on-site, which was okay. We had an early start the next morning to see the whale sharks so we called it a night.
...
We had breakfast at 6:30am and were ready for Dolphin Excursions to pick us up at 7:15am. The breakfast was okay, but the coffee and tea were not so good.
We had a bit of a mix-up trying to meet Sarah (our guide from Dolphin Excursions) but we finally met up and drove over to Pert de Peche, where we transferred to a small boat. It was just the two of us, Sarah, and the captain.
The water was pretty calm for the hour or so boat ride to where the whale sharks feed. The lack of wind didn't bode well - the wind pushes the plankton into shore, and the whale sharks follow, so no wind meant less chances to see the whale sharks.
Sarah also said it had been a weird season - last year she said it was guaranteed to see them; but this year wasn't day-to-day.
We reached the popular feeding area and slowed down, scouting for the whale sharks. We saw some dolphins jumping out of the water which was cool. Per Sarah's instructions we had our snorkel, fins and underwater camera ready so we could jump in quickly.
After about 30 minutes, Sarah spotted a whale shark! The captain pulled up near and we jumped in the water. The whale sharks move slowly while feeding, about as fast as we swim, so it was easy to keep pace, but difficult to catch up if you fell behind.
We swam with it for about a couple minutes and then it pulled away. It was really cool, about 4-5 metres long. I took some pics, it was the first time using our new underwater camera and I got my thumb in some.
We got back in the boat, excited about spotting our next one. However it took a while before we did, and we were resigned to just the one whale shark, when the captain spotted another one! We were back in the water and followed it for about 5-10 minutes. I was able to swim in front and got some great pics. There's a whole ecosystem that surrounds whale sharks - little fish that hitch a ride, others following for protection, or for food.
Anyways it was really cool, definitely worth the effort to see them (and I got another country to boot).
We stopped for lunch (a crunchy baguette with chicken, salad and tomatoes, pretty tasty) near the edge of the coral reef.
After lunch we spent an hour snorkeling over the coral - there's hard coral only, but it's in amazing shape. It's the best coral I've dived or snorkeled over. It's probably because there are so few tourists here that there's no damage at all from tourism. Sarah said it's also because the fishermen don't use dynamite like in other areas.
The boat ride back the shore was extremely bumpy. The wind had picked up and the waves were 2-3 feet high.
We were back at the Kempinski around 4pm, physically tired and hungry. After showering we went down to the Italian restaurant for their beer and pizza special and split a really tasty pepperoni pizza. They have a real stone oven for pizzas, and real pepperoni. (Pork is usually hard to come by in countries with significant Muslim populations.)
We watched the sunset over the loading docks in the distance. Djibouti is a port city - all of Ethiopia's sea cargo goes through Djibouti.
We went to another restaurant for some snacks and drinks, but we were beat from snorkeling and didn't stay up very long.
...
The next day we had an excursion to Lac Assal, at 156m below sea level, the lowest point in Africa. (Which means I've been to the high and low points of Africa, and the low points of two of the seven continents. I'm going to write a book called the 7 Low Points).
The excursion was booked through Dolphin Excursions, the same folks we did the whale shark tour with yesterday.
The driver was waiting for us in the lobby, and the vehicle was a newer model Toyota, so that boded well. We picked up another tourist from the Sheraton (as far as I can tell, the only other tourist in Djibouti). Felix was a younger kid, in university and on his way to DRC for some NGO work. He was very well travelled, and was fun to travel with for the day.
It took a couple hours to reach Lac Assal, over smooth paved roads. Lac Assal is partially underwater, and it's possible to wade out far enough so that you can sit and float in the salty water, a là the Dead Sea. There was nowhere to wash off so we declined, but Felix went in.
There's also these cool salt pearls that form at the water's edge that are collected and sold to tourists. The salt beads up into sphere-like formations, about 1cm in diameter. The wind breaks off the sphere and as it rolls along it smooths out until it looks like a pearl. We hadn't seen this at other salt lakes and bought a few bags as souvenirs.
On the way back we stopped for lunch on the shores of the Gulf of Aden. It was a beatiful setting - the waters were emerald green, there was a cone-shaped black volcano in the background, and a slight breeze making it very comfortable in the shade. I never would have guessed I was in Djibouti.
Lunch was actually three courses - salad, rice with grilled chicken, and pineapple for dessert, with a spiced tea to finish. It was great.
After we drove back and were back at the hotel by 4pm. A nice day trip, although a little pricey (the vehicle and driver cost $400 and is split by the number of passengers, up to 6).
We had drinks out at the Jetty Lounge, surrounded by the sea and with a dj spinning lounge music. We went back to the main building for dinner and then returned for a beer to celebrate our successful trip to Djibouti.
The Addis Regency is close to a couple of the museums we want to see in Addis, but by the time we got ourselves together it was time for lunch and then we were off to the airport. Once again we left behind our souvenirs at the hotel storage so we didn't have to lug them across borders and airports (that was the main reason we stopped for the night in Addis rather than getting a connecting Mekele - Addis - Djibouti flight).
The Ethiopian Airlines flight left on time as usual, stopped in Dire Dawa, and then we were in Djibouti!
We were getting a visa on arrival and based on our research had envelopes full of documentation - hotel reservation, return flight, photocopies of passports and yellow fever immunization, and two passport sized pics. We only needed to show our hotel reservation which they scanned in, but it was good to have the rest just in case. There were about 20 of us getting VOA and those that were free got a stamp and were good to go. Those from countries that had a fee had to line up again to enter an office where we got a very nice looking visa sticker for $60 USD each, change provided in USD. The official didn't quite get that we were just tourists - almost everyone is either military or friends and family visiting military. The whole process took about 30 minutes, not too bad.
We had looked into taking the airport shuttle from the Kempinski but they charged $35 / person so we took a taxi for $15 total.
Our taxi was held together by duct tape, and in some places even the duct tape was missing. It was a slow ride, any bump was likely to break the car in two. But the driver was friendly and we did make it. The Kempinski doesn't allow taxis to enter the premises - you get dropped off at the front gate and a golf cart picks you up.
The last time I had been in a golf cart we had side-swiped a hippo, but this time it was uneventful.
We had booked the Kempinski back in August for a big discount, and it was nice place to relax after the past couple weeks of excursions.
We are in the Italian restaurant on-site, which was okay. We had an early start the next morning to see the whale sharks so we called it a night.
...
We had breakfast at 6:30am and were ready for Dolphin Excursions to pick us up at 7:15am. The breakfast was okay, but the coffee and tea were not so good.
We had a bit of a mix-up trying to meet Sarah (our guide from Dolphin Excursions) but we finally met up and drove over to Pert de Peche, where we transferred to a small boat. It was just the two of us, Sarah, and the captain.
The water was pretty calm for the hour or so boat ride to where the whale sharks feed. The lack of wind didn't bode well - the wind pushes the plankton into shore, and the whale sharks follow, so no wind meant less chances to see the whale sharks.
Sarah also said it had been a weird season - last year she said it was guaranteed to see them; but this year wasn't day-to-day.
We reached the popular feeding area and slowed down, scouting for the whale sharks. We saw some dolphins jumping out of the water which was cool. Per Sarah's instructions we had our snorkel, fins and underwater camera ready so we could jump in quickly.
After about 30 minutes, Sarah spotted a whale shark! The captain pulled up near and we jumped in the water. The whale sharks move slowly while feeding, about as fast as we swim, so it was easy to keep pace, but difficult to catch up if you fell behind.
We swam with it for about a couple minutes and then it pulled away. It was really cool, about 4-5 metres long. I took some pics, it was the first time using our new underwater camera and I got my thumb in some.
We got back in the boat, excited about spotting our next one. However it took a while before we did, and we were resigned to just the one whale shark, when the captain spotted another one! We were back in the water and followed it for about 5-10 minutes. I was able to swim in front and got some great pics. There's a whole ecosystem that surrounds whale sharks - little fish that hitch a ride, others following for protection, or for food.
Anyways it was really cool, definitely worth the effort to see them (and I got another country to boot).
We stopped for lunch (a crunchy baguette with chicken, salad and tomatoes, pretty tasty) near the edge of the coral reef.
After lunch we spent an hour snorkeling over the coral - there's hard coral only, but it's in amazing shape. It's the best coral I've dived or snorkeled over. It's probably because there are so few tourists here that there's no damage at all from tourism. Sarah said it's also because the fishermen don't use dynamite like in other areas.
The boat ride back the shore was extremely bumpy. The wind had picked up and the waves were 2-3 feet high.
We were back at the Kempinski around 4pm, physically tired and hungry. After showering we went down to the Italian restaurant for their beer and pizza special and split a really tasty pepperoni pizza. They have a real stone oven for pizzas, and real pepperoni. (Pork is usually hard to come by in countries with significant Muslim populations.)
We watched the sunset over the loading docks in the distance. Djibouti is a port city - all of Ethiopia's sea cargo goes through Djibouti.
We went to another restaurant for some snacks and drinks, but we were beat from snorkeling and didn't stay up very long.
...
The next day we had an excursion to Lac Assal, at 156m below sea level, the lowest point in Africa. (Which means I've been to the high and low points of Africa, and the low points of two of the seven continents. I'm going to write a book called the 7 Low Points).
The excursion was booked through Dolphin Excursions, the same folks we did the whale shark tour with yesterday.
The driver was waiting for us in the lobby, and the vehicle was a newer model Toyota, so that boded well. We picked up another tourist from the Sheraton (as far as I can tell, the only other tourist in Djibouti). Felix was a younger kid, in university and on his way to DRC for some NGO work. He was very well travelled, and was fun to travel with for the day.
It took a couple hours to reach Lac Assal, over smooth paved roads. Lac Assal is partially underwater, and it's possible to wade out far enough so that you can sit and float in the salty water, a là the Dead Sea. There was nowhere to wash off so we declined, but Felix went in.
There's also these cool salt pearls that form at the water's edge that are collected and sold to tourists. The salt beads up into sphere-like formations, about 1cm in diameter. The wind breaks off the sphere and as it rolls along it smooths out until it looks like a pearl. We hadn't seen this at other salt lakes and bought a few bags as souvenirs.
On the way back we stopped for lunch on the shores of the Gulf of Aden. It was a beatiful setting - the waters were emerald green, there was a cone-shaped black volcano in the background, and a slight breeze making it very comfortable in the shade. I never would have guessed I was in Djibouti.
Lunch was actually three courses - salad, rice with grilled chicken, and pineapple for dessert, with a spiced tea to finish. It was great.
After we drove back and were back at the hotel by 4pm. A nice day trip, although a little pricey (the vehicle and driver cost $400 and is split by the number of passengers, up to 6).
We had drinks out at the Jetty Lounge, surrounded by the sea and with a dj spinning lounge music. We went back to the main building for dinner and then returned for a beer to celebrate our successful trip to Djibouti.
Tuesday, January 06, 2015
Danakil tour - Lac Assale and Dallol, Ethiopia
The one-night break in town was great, we were able to shower, sleep in a comfortable bed, use a real toilet, and have food other than pasta.
Plus it was a reasonable start, we only had to be at the ETT office (just around the corner from Johannes Hotel) at 9:30am, so we even got to sleep in.
We did some shopping for bread, so we could make our own peanut butter or tuna sandwiches, as we were getting tired of pasta.
For the next two days we were joined by another vehicle, carrying two British and two French. Our guide joined our vehicle so we were now three in the back seat, which is more normal, but after being spoiled on the first two days it felt a bit cramped.
The third day of our Danakil trip was just getting to Lac Assale for sunset, passing camel caravans along the way.
Lunch was actually not too bad, rice with a vegetable stew, with a banana for dessert, so we didn't have to make our own sandwiches.
We got to Lac Assale around 4pm, after picking up the various permits and scouts and armed police. It was impressive, different than Salar de Uyuni, not as smooth surfaced, and more brownish (I think from the different minerals). Parts were under a few inches of water, and the other tourists waded in. Heather and I didn't like the idea of having salty skin for the next day and a half (there's no where to rinse off, except by using our bottled water), so we stayed on the dry part.
The camel caravans passed about a km away, so we walked closer for better pics. There was a grouping of rocks in distance which made for a good background.
There were clouds on the horizon so we didn't see the full sunset, but it was still pretty, although missing the camels passing in front as a subject for my pics.
Back in camp just outside the lake, we had dinner of vegetable soup followed by, you guessed it, pasta. However it was the best pasta we had had on the trip, very good spaghetti. I added our tuna for protein, and when the cook saw that he brought out tuna for everyone. Maybe all we had to do was ask for tuna? They also served decent buns with dinner, with orange slices for dessert.
Our guide gave us an informative talk about the region, and then we went to bed.
In this camp we slept outdoors again under the stars, but on wooden beds with a woven base, on which the foam mattress was placed. The wind was kicking up a bit of sand so we slept leeward behind the vehicle. It was much warmer than at Erta Ale - there it dropped down to about 20C, so we were comfortable in our MEC sleeping bags; at Lac Assale it only got down to 26C. They don't call it the hottest place on earth for nothing.
The wind kept the sand flies away, and we managed to get a decent sleep.
We were up at 5:30am to catch the sunrise from camp and the camel caravans heading to the salt mines. Breakfast was excellent, although just scrambled eggs, bread and peanut butter (!).
The lighting and tiking was perfect for pictures - I got my sunrise pics with the camel silhouettes that I had been wishing for at sunset. It was really cool.
As we drove to the lake we passed by the other tour groups who were just waking up, and missed some of the best pics of the day. Another reason to choose ETT if you're doing the Danakil tour.
Over the next couple hours we visited various interesting rock formations. It was sort of like the Salar de Uyuni excursion, on a smaller scale. The highlight was Dallol - the sulphur lakes with bright yellows, oranges and reds. There's not much to give scale and we weren't sure how big it was from pics we had googled. It was a bit smaller than I expected, but still interesting to see.
The last sight of the morning was another highlight, the salt mining. Salt is mined using the same techniques and tools used for hundreds of years. Large blocks about 4 inches thick are raised from the lake surface by 3-4 men using long sticks for leverage. These are then cut into rough rectangles about 8.5"X11" by large axes. Finally, they are finished with smaller chisels to about 4-5kg per slab.
The slabs are tied and test-mounted on camels, donkeys or mules, and then removed until midday when the animals are loaded for the two day trip to the market town.
It's hard work under the hot sun, although the men are well paid by local standards - each man earns about 800 Birr a day, about $40 USD.
I wanted to buy a chisel as a souvenir, but they're handmade and forged, and there's not a chisel store where you can buy them. I'm sure as tourism picks up, they'll start to make cheaper replicas for tourists, but for now it's just pics.
That wrapped up the tour. We drove back to Mekele, stopping in Hamed Ela for lunch, pasta (served with tuna!) and a banana for dessert. From the village we bought 15 Birr Cokes and 10 Birr coffees. A cold Coke is always nice when you've been out in the wilderness for a while. The coffees were pretty good too.
Heather and I had a flight to Addis that evening so our ETT driver dropped us at the airport. We stopped in at the ETT office in town along the way, and we used the opportunity to get our shoes cleaned. Heather's shoes were quite beaten up from the past four days; my shoes held up much better and looked almost new after being cleaned.
My shirt also held up very well - it's a UPF 50 shirt that dries fast and is very difficult to get dirty. It also doesn't catch the dust unlike the merino wool or cotton tops we have. I bought it at Patagonia and it's a great travel shirt.
We had about three hours to kill at the airport, which worked out well because we could wash up our hands and face, use the free wifi, and have an early lunch.
The flight left on time (every single domestic flight we've taken with Ethiopian Airlines has departed and arrived on time), and we were back in Addis.
We had upgraded our room at the Addis Regency from the standard room we stayed in after Uganda to a Super Deluxe for an extra $20. It made a huge difference - the mattress was newer and firm, there was more space, and even had a little terrace. We upgraded for our final stay after Djibouti in a few days. The shower was also excellent.
Our flight only landed at 9pm and by the time we showered it was after midnight. We briefly thought about going down to the hotel bar for a drink (it was Christmas Eve on the Ethiopian Orthodox calendar) but as we had started our day at 5:30am at Lac Assale we were beat and just went to bed.
Plus it was a reasonable start, we only had to be at the ETT office (just around the corner from Johannes Hotel) at 9:30am, so we even got to sleep in.
We did some shopping for bread, so we could make our own peanut butter or tuna sandwiches, as we were getting tired of pasta.
For the next two days we were joined by another vehicle, carrying two British and two French. Our guide joined our vehicle so we were now three in the back seat, which is more normal, but after being spoiled on the first two days it felt a bit cramped.
The third day of our Danakil trip was just getting to Lac Assale for sunset, passing camel caravans along the way.
Lunch was actually not too bad, rice with a vegetable stew, with a banana for dessert, so we didn't have to make our own sandwiches.
We got to Lac Assale around 4pm, after picking up the various permits and scouts and armed police. It was impressive, different than Salar de Uyuni, not as smooth surfaced, and more brownish (I think from the different minerals). Parts were under a few inches of water, and the other tourists waded in. Heather and I didn't like the idea of having salty skin for the next day and a half (there's no where to rinse off, except by using our bottled water), so we stayed on the dry part.
The camel caravans passed about a km away, so we walked closer for better pics. There was a grouping of rocks in distance which made for a good background.
There were clouds on the horizon so we didn't see the full sunset, but it was still pretty, although missing the camels passing in front as a subject for my pics.
Back in camp just outside the lake, we had dinner of vegetable soup followed by, you guessed it, pasta. However it was the best pasta we had had on the trip, very good spaghetti. I added our tuna for protein, and when the cook saw that he brought out tuna for everyone. Maybe all we had to do was ask for tuna? They also served decent buns with dinner, with orange slices for dessert.
Our guide gave us an informative talk about the region, and then we went to bed.
In this camp we slept outdoors again under the stars, but on wooden beds with a woven base, on which the foam mattress was placed. The wind was kicking up a bit of sand so we slept leeward behind the vehicle. It was much warmer than at Erta Ale - there it dropped down to about 20C, so we were comfortable in our MEC sleeping bags; at Lac Assale it only got down to 26C. They don't call it the hottest place on earth for nothing.
The wind kept the sand flies away, and we managed to get a decent sleep.
We were up at 5:30am to catch the sunrise from camp and the camel caravans heading to the salt mines. Breakfast was excellent, although just scrambled eggs, bread and peanut butter (!).
The lighting and tiking was perfect for pictures - I got my sunrise pics with the camel silhouettes that I had been wishing for at sunset. It was really cool.
As we drove to the lake we passed by the other tour groups who were just waking up, and missed some of the best pics of the day. Another reason to choose ETT if you're doing the Danakil tour.
Over the next couple hours we visited various interesting rock formations. It was sort of like the Salar de Uyuni excursion, on a smaller scale. The highlight was Dallol - the sulphur lakes with bright yellows, oranges and reds. There's not much to give scale and we weren't sure how big it was from pics we had googled. It was a bit smaller than I expected, but still interesting to see.
The last sight of the morning was another highlight, the salt mining. Salt is mined using the same techniques and tools used for hundreds of years. Large blocks about 4 inches thick are raised from the lake surface by 3-4 men using long sticks for leverage. These are then cut into rough rectangles about 8.5"X11" by large axes. Finally, they are finished with smaller chisels to about 4-5kg per slab.
The slabs are tied and test-mounted on camels, donkeys or mules, and then removed until midday when the animals are loaded for the two day trip to the market town.
It's hard work under the hot sun, although the men are well paid by local standards - each man earns about 800 Birr a day, about $40 USD.
I wanted to buy a chisel as a souvenir, but they're handmade and forged, and there's not a chisel store where you can buy them. I'm sure as tourism picks up, they'll start to make cheaper replicas for tourists, but for now it's just pics.
That wrapped up the tour. We drove back to Mekele, stopping in Hamed Ela for lunch, pasta (served with tuna!) and a banana for dessert. From the village we bought 15 Birr Cokes and 10 Birr coffees. A cold Coke is always nice when you've been out in the wilderness for a while. The coffees were pretty good too.
Heather and I had a flight to Addis that evening so our ETT driver dropped us at the airport. We stopped in at the ETT office in town along the way, and we used the opportunity to get our shoes cleaned. Heather's shoes were quite beaten up from the past four days; my shoes held up much better and looked almost new after being cleaned.
My shirt also held up very well - it's a UPF 50 shirt that dries fast and is very difficult to get dirty. It also doesn't catch the dust unlike the merino wool or cotton tops we have. I bought it at Patagonia and it's a great travel shirt.
We had about three hours to kill at the airport, which worked out well because we could wash up our hands and face, use the free wifi, and have an early lunch.
The flight left on time (every single domestic flight we've taken with Ethiopian Airlines has departed and arrived on time), and we were back in Addis.
We had upgraded our room at the Addis Regency from the standard room we stayed in after Uganda to a Super Deluxe for an extra $20. It made a huge difference - the mattress was newer and firm, there was more space, and even had a little terrace. We upgraded for our final stay after Djibouti in a few days. The shower was also excellent.
Our flight only landed at 9pm and by the time we showered it was after midnight. We briefly thought about going down to the hotel bar for a drink (it was Christmas Eve on the Ethiopian Orthodox calendar) but as we had started our day at 5:30am at Lac Assale we were beat and just went to bed.
Sunday, January 04, 2015
Danakil tour - Erta Ale, Ethiopia
The wifi didn't work at the Planet Hotel, so we had had the front desk contact ETT for us to find out what time to be ready for pickup in the morning.
They had said 7:30am but only showed up at 8:30am, so we could have slept in a bit more.
We drove to the ETT office, and met Chang, a Korean on a 11-month trip. He joined us in the Toyota 4WD, just the three of us and the driver in the air conditioned car, which was great.
Our itinerary was rearranged to group us with other tourists, and we met up with two other Toyotas to start the excursion to Erta Ale, one of four lava lakes in the world. Nine tourists is a good size for a group - according to our guide, groups can sometimes be as large as 40 people.
Also in our group was a couple from Seattle, a Montrealer, a German and a German / Italian couple. We were all about the same age except for Chang who was mid-20s. It was interesting that most of us had picked Ethiopia as a destination by googling interesting places to visit - for half (like us) it was Lalibela that first attracted us to Ethiopia, and for the others it was Erta Ale.
There were numerous stops to get through all the bureaucracy (ETT does a great job of this), including permits and picking up the regional police for protection. They were armed, but unlike the Simien trek this really was for protection.
We offroaded and drove through sand plains. It looked like a rally car race with three vehicles leaving dust trails behind. There was also a 4th vehicle with the police and local scouts.
The last part of the drive is what the LP describes as the worst road in the world, and it's definitely the worst road I've been on. It's only 6.5km, but takes 90 minutes. It's over broken hardened lava, with sandy spots thrown in to take away traction. The ETT vehicles handled it great, and the drivers know what they're doing. The vehicles are also air conditioned so we didn't have to worry about the dust. It was reaching 35C+ driving over the black lava rocks in the sun (it gets hotter in the summer).
We had tea and snacks, waiting for 4pm and cooler air before starting the 9.5km walk up to the crater rim of Erta Ale.
Camels carried our mattress, dinner, and water bottles for the morning. We had to carry everything else - sleeping bag, 2L water for the walk up, camera, toiletries, and flashlight. Our big packs remained at camp, locked safely in the vehicle. My day pack is just for the city, so it was a little awkward - I should have brought a larger daypack for this trip based on the number of excursions.
And then we were off: nine tourists, the ETT guide, a local guide, and two armed scouts. The local guide was needed closer to the rim as the hardened lava is hollow (when lava flows, the outside cools and hardens, and the inside continues to flow, leaving hollow spots) and it's possible to go off-path and put your foot through the hardened lava and into a hole or worse. In some places near the top you could feel the heat rising through gaps.
It takes in average three hours to reach the top but our group did it in 2:20. As the sun set, the moon rose, almost full, and so it was possible to see without a flashlight. My batteries were dying so I just walked by moonlight.
We reached the camp where we would sleep, and had our first view of Erta Ale from the top of the outer rim. At night, the fumes rising from the crater are illuminated red by the bubbling lava. Occasionally there's more activity that sends red sparks flying up above the height of the rim.
It's a 10 minute walk to the inner crater, and inside is molten lava bubbling away. It's really cool to see, one of the top things in the world to see. (Abuna Yemata Guh was short-lived as the top thing I've seen in Ethiopia :) ).
We were standing about 10 feet from the edge of the crater, and the heat from the molten lava was so great I had to stand back a bit. We were the first group at the top and had the whole thing to ourselves. (That's another thing ETT does well - they get their groups to all the sites first). Our guide explained that we had to watch the direction of the smoke and always stand upwind - once, the wind changed a little quickly and we were all coughing and gagging from the sulphur fumes.
We all watched the red hot lava move around slowly in the crater, like tectonic plates on a much smaller scale. The activity ebbed and flowed. It was very active when we first arrived, and then we were very lucky to see part of the opposing wall collapse into the crater! It caused slow motion waves through the crater, and we all took a few frightened steps back, although I'm not sure a couple feet would have made a difference from whatever we were backing away from. About five minutes later, a bit more of the crater wall again caved in. Heather said it reminded her of the glaciers calving at Perito Merino glacier.
We found out how lucky we were to have witnessed the wall falling in, as we we didn't see such activity again over the next 90 minutes. In fact, it seemed almost boring when the other groups arrived and there was just slow-moving lava not doing much exploding :)
It was very hypnotic, like watching a very large campfire. I put my camera burst mode to capture the sparks from mini eruptions, and took over 500 pics.
Finally it was time to walk back to the outer rim, where dinner was waiting. More pasta. We slept in little enclaves with stones piled in a semi-cirlcle about a foot high to protect us from blowing sand. It wasn't windy so that wasn't an issue that night. It was the first time Heather or I had slept out under the stars - we were both dreading the idea of creepy-crawlies right beside us. It was also fairly polluted at the camp - lots of empty water bottles and used toilet paper blowing about, which was almost as gross as the idea of creepy crawlies.
We went to bed right after dinner, around 10:30pm. We were sleeping on a 15* slope on the side of the volcano and so kept in sliding down off the mattress.
It was cool to see the almost-full moon, which obscured the stars, but at least we had a bit of light.
At 4:30am we were awakened by our guide so that we could watch the sunrise from the crater rim. We were back at the crater by 5am, and watched mesmerized again, this time with the sky slowly brightening. The sun had risen before any other groups reached the crater, I'm glad ETT runs a schedule to get you to the cool views, even if it means getting up at 4:30am.
With the full sunlight, Erta Ale has a very different look. Instead of glowing red, it now looked black, with red polygonic seams running through.
We had just started back down to the vehicles for breakfast when there was a burst of activity so we watched for another five minutes and took another hundred pics, and then said goodbye to the volcano.
It took us almost as long to walk down as up, I guess we were all keen on getting to the top to see Erta Ale last night. With the daylight we could see more garbage, and also how dangerous the path is. New volcanic rock is very sharp, and a little trip could cause a lot of damage. Heather did have a little stumble in the night and was fortunate to escape with a slight scrape to her knee, and ripped pants. I don't know how we walked up with just moonlight.
Breakfast was good - scrambled eggs, pancakes, honey and the ever-present marmalade.
Next up was the drive back over the worst road in the world, and then to a village where we had lunch. Three of us (me, Heather and Chang) still had two days left of the tour, and were given the option to go back into Mekele, or stay in a village. Heather and I were looking forward to a shower and nice bed so opted for Mekele. The other six people had already completed the other two days, and so they just returned to Mekele to finish.
We all got together for dinner, everyone smelling and looking much better. Ended up at a local pizza joint, that had a real pizza oven, and made their own dough tossing it in the air. It wasn't bad, even the Italian in the group gave his approval.
We were all tired having risen at 4:30am, so it was a short night. Said our goodbyes and went to our hotels.
They had said 7:30am but only showed up at 8:30am, so we could have slept in a bit more.
We drove to the ETT office, and met Chang, a Korean on a 11-month trip. He joined us in the Toyota 4WD, just the three of us and the driver in the air conditioned car, which was great.
Our itinerary was rearranged to group us with other tourists, and we met up with two other Toyotas to start the excursion to Erta Ale, one of four lava lakes in the world. Nine tourists is a good size for a group - according to our guide, groups can sometimes be as large as 40 people.
Also in our group was a couple from Seattle, a Montrealer, a German and a German / Italian couple. We were all about the same age except for Chang who was mid-20s. It was interesting that most of us had picked Ethiopia as a destination by googling interesting places to visit - for half (like us) it was Lalibela that first attracted us to Ethiopia, and for the others it was Erta Ale.
There were numerous stops to get through all the bureaucracy (ETT does a great job of this), including permits and picking up the regional police for protection. They were armed, but unlike the Simien trek this really was for protection.
We offroaded and drove through sand plains. It looked like a rally car race with three vehicles leaving dust trails behind. There was also a 4th vehicle with the police and local scouts.
The last part of the drive is what the LP describes as the worst road in the world, and it's definitely the worst road I've been on. It's only 6.5km, but takes 90 minutes. It's over broken hardened lava, with sandy spots thrown in to take away traction. The ETT vehicles handled it great, and the drivers know what they're doing. The vehicles are also air conditioned so we didn't have to worry about the dust. It was reaching 35C+ driving over the black lava rocks in the sun (it gets hotter in the summer).
We had tea and snacks, waiting for 4pm and cooler air before starting the 9.5km walk up to the crater rim of Erta Ale.
Camels carried our mattress, dinner, and water bottles for the morning. We had to carry everything else - sleeping bag, 2L water for the walk up, camera, toiletries, and flashlight. Our big packs remained at camp, locked safely in the vehicle. My day pack is just for the city, so it was a little awkward - I should have brought a larger daypack for this trip based on the number of excursions.
And then we were off: nine tourists, the ETT guide, a local guide, and two armed scouts. The local guide was needed closer to the rim as the hardened lava is hollow (when lava flows, the outside cools and hardens, and the inside continues to flow, leaving hollow spots) and it's possible to go off-path and put your foot through the hardened lava and into a hole or worse. In some places near the top you could feel the heat rising through gaps.
It takes in average three hours to reach the top but our group did it in 2:20. As the sun set, the moon rose, almost full, and so it was possible to see without a flashlight. My batteries were dying so I just walked by moonlight.
We reached the camp where we would sleep, and had our first view of Erta Ale from the top of the outer rim. At night, the fumes rising from the crater are illuminated red by the bubbling lava. Occasionally there's more activity that sends red sparks flying up above the height of the rim.
It's a 10 minute walk to the inner crater, and inside is molten lava bubbling away. It's really cool to see, one of the top things in the world to see. (Abuna Yemata Guh was short-lived as the top thing I've seen in Ethiopia :) ).
We were standing about 10 feet from the edge of the crater, and the heat from the molten lava was so great I had to stand back a bit. We were the first group at the top and had the whole thing to ourselves. (That's another thing ETT does well - they get their groups to all the sites first). Our guide explained that we had to watch the direction of the smoke and always stand upwind - once, the wind changed a little quickly and we were all coughing and gagging from the sulphur fumes.
We all watched the red hot lava move around slowly in the crater, like tectonic plates on a much smaller scale. The activity ebbed and flowed. It was very active when we first arrived, and then we were very lucky to see part of the opposing wall collapse into the crater! It caused slow motion waves through the crater, and we all took a few frightened steps back, although I'm not sure a couple feet would have made a difference from whatever we were backing away from. About five minutes later, a bit more of the crater wall again caved in. Heather said it reminded her of the glaciers calving at Perito Merino glacier.
We found out how lucky we were to have witnessed the wall falling in, as we we didn't see such activity again over the next 90 minutes. In fact, it seemed almost boring when the other groups arrived and there was just slow-moving lava not doing much exploding :)
It was very hypnotic, like watching a very large campfire. I put my camera burst mode to capture the sparks from mini eruptions, and took over 500 pics.
Finally it was time to walk back to the outer rim, where dinner was waiting. More pasta. We slept in little enclaves with stones piled in a semi-cirlcle about a foot high to protect us from blowing sand. It wasn't windy so that wasn't an issue that night. It was the first time Heather or I had slept out under the stars - we were both dreading the idea of creepy-crawlies right beside us. It was also fairly polluted at the camp - lots of empty water bottles and used toilet paper blowing about, which was almost as gross as the idea of creepy crawlies.
We went to bed right after dinner, around 10:30pm. We were sleeping on a 15* slope on the side of the volcano and so kept in sliding down off the mattress.
It was cool to see the almost-full moon, which obscured the stars, but at least we had a bit of light.
At 4:30am we were awakened by our guide so that we could watch the sunrise from the crater rim. We were back at the crater by 5am, and watched mesmerized again, this time with the sky slowly brightening. The sun had risen before any other groups reached the crater, I'm glad ETT runs a schedule to get you to the cool views, even if it means getting up at 4:30am.
With the full sunlight, Erta Ale has a very different look. Instead of glowing red, it now looked black, with red polygonic seams running through.
We had just started back down to the vehicles for breakfast when there was a burst of activity so we watched for another five minutes and took another hundred pics, and then said goodbye to the volcano.
It took us almost as long to walk down as up, I guess we were all keen on getting to the top to see Erta Ale last night. With the daylight we could see more garbage, and also how dangerous the path is. New volcanic rock is very sharp, and a little trip could cause a lot of damage. Heather did have a little stumble in the night and was fortunate to escape with a slight scrape to her knee, and ripped pants. I don't know how we walked up with just moonlight.
Breakfast was good - scrambled eggs, pancakes, honey and the ever-present marmalade.
Next up was the drive back over the worst road in the world, and then to a village where we had lunch. Three of us (me, Heather and Chang) still had two days left of the tour, and were given the option to go back into Mekele, or stay in a village. Heather and I were looking forward to a shower and nice bed so opted for Mekele. The other six people had already completed the other two days, and so they just returned to Mekele to finish.
We all got together for dinner, everyone smelling and looking much better. Ended up at a local pizza joint, that had a real pizza oven, and made their own dough tossing it in the air. It wasn't bad, even the Italian in the group gave his approval.
We were all tired having risen at 4:30am, so it was a short night. Said our goodbyes and went to our hotels.
Friday, January 02, 2015
Tigray tour, Ethiopia
ETT had told us to be ready for 9am but our driver was at the hotel at 8:30 so we rushed to pack and leave on our two-day tour of the rock-hewn churches of the Tigray region.
We were the only two people on the tour, in a pretty new Toyota SUV. A much more comfortable ride than an old beat-up van that we had on the Simien trek. Same company (ETT), but it looks like their Tigray operation is much better.
The agent suggested a change to the itinerary as Abba Garima is now male-only - Debre Damo is also male-only but one that I wanted to visit to try the 50m climb up a cliff using a rope.
We first stopped at Yeha. At each of the churches, our car was descended upon by hordes of would-be guides and scouts and shoe-guarders and goodness knows what else. Our driver was great at clearing them away.
Yeha has historical significance but is not much to look at architecturally. One of the buildings houses a treasure trove of ancient manuscripts - all stored in cabinets circa 1970. The priest brought some out to show us. These should all be in museums or other sort of better storage, but oh well.
Next up was Debre Damo. It's accessed by climbing 50m up a cliff using a rope. I got about 2/3rds of the way up before stopping on a ledge and getting the "safety harness" - another rope looped under my arms and held onto by an assistant at the top.
Once at the top, the scamming began in earnest. They wanted an additional 200 Birr to enter the church, although I had already purchased the ticket below. I was in it more for the climb up the rope, so I declined and headed back down. I'm sure if I had stayed, it would have cost an additional 500-700 Birr by the time I got through tipping all the roles.
Heather wasn't allowed up the rope, so had taken some pics of me climbing and then visited a church in the village with the driver.
We met up at the bottom and then drove to Adigrat for lunch. It was the first time our driver had done this particular tour, so he just rolled down the window to ask bajaj drivers for recos for lunch. We ended up in a local restaurant that looks like it doesn't get many tourists - but we knew how to order and how to eat with our fingers so we did okay. Had a great coffee to finish and then we were off for the last church of the day, Medhane Alem Kesho. Our driver picked up a kid to help with directions - the last couple km were through rural fields.
The church was okay, partially hewn into the rock. The walk up was also pretty nice.
We had booked the Gheralta Lodge through ETT but our reservation was lost and they were full. So now we were trying to find a place at 6:30pm in a town with not much accommodation. Our driver found us a place, which was clean but very basic.
ETT did make it up by comping dinner and one night at the Planet Hotel after the trek in Mekele. Our driver also went out his was to make sure we were okay.
(Later on the Danakil trip we found from other people that ETT does a poor job of hotel reservations - almost everyone who had booked hotels through them had problems).
The next morning we were ready for our driver at 7am. First a quick breakfast stop at the same restaurant that we had dinner at, eggs with bread and butter and marmalade (marmalade is really popular here).
Then we were off for our first church of the day, Maryam Korkor. It's a steep 500m walk up the path to the church, which is supposed to take three hours but we did in 1:45. Our guide was impressed, although we didn't beat his record for tourists.
The church was very impressive. The old paintings on the ceilings and walls are amazing.
Next was Daniel Korkor, a five-minute along the edge of the hill from Maryam Korkor, with a 500m drop on the left side. The entrance is through a small door about 3 feet in diameter. I found the ceiling and wall paintings even more impressive in Daniel Korkor. So far a great start to the day!
We were supposed to break for lunch but had finished the two churches in under three hours so we decided to do the last church of the day before lunch, and then drive to Mekele.
For our finale we visited Abuna Yemata Guh, which was one of the churches I had been looking forward to when we were researching the trip.
It starts off with a straightforward walk up 125m on a path laid with rocks for steps. Then it got trickier.
We were told to take off our shoes, and we then scaled 15m up the side of a rock wall, with little hand- and footholds. We paid for assistants to help us, telling us left hand here, right foot there, and supported us on the wall if we needed it.
Then it was a walk along a one metre wide path with a 200m drop off. We had seen pics and Heather was a bit apprehensive; but it turned out to be pretty easy. It's only about 20m or so (the Lonely Planet describes it as a 2-3 minute walk, which it's not).
There was another group of tourists inside, so we waited a few minutes in the waiting room / cave.
Then it was our turn! It was amazing, the most impressive sight I've seen on this trip so far. The ceiling paintings should be a UNESCO heritage site. I took a lot of pics. It was really cool.
Getting back down was just as tricky as getting up to the church. We drove to Mekele, stopping in Mukro for lunch.
We checked into the Planet Hotel, which is about the best hotel in the region. Showered, gave some clothes to the hotel for express laundry, and made our way to the hotel restaurant for dinner. The food was okay, I was hoping for better. They had dessert on the menu so Heather ordered the banana bread, hoping for a repeat of the dessert we had in Entebbe, but it was not to be. I was feeling a bit under the weather again (I've been 100% only for a day in Axum) so we had an early night.
We were the only two people on the tour, in a pretty new Toyota SUV. A much more comfortable ride than an old beat-up van that we had on the Simien trek. Same company (ETT), but it looks like their Tigray operation is much better.
The agent suggested a change to the itinerary as Abba Garima is now male-only - Debre Damo is also male-only but one that I wanted to visit to try the 50m climb up a cliff using a rope.
We first stopped at Yeha. At each of the churches, our car was descended upon by hordes of would-be guides and scouts and shoe-guarders and goodness knows what else. Our driver was great at clearing them away.
Yeha has historical significance but is not much to look at architecturally. One of the buildings houses a treasure trove of ancient manuscripts - all stored in cabinets circa 1970. The priest brought some out to show us. These should all be in museums or other sort of better storage, but oh well.
Next up was Debre Damo. It's accessed by climbing 50m up a cliff using a rope. I got about 2/3rds of the way up before stopping on a ledge and getting the "safety harness" - another rope looped under my arms and held onto by an assistant at the top.
Once at the top, the scamming began in earnest. They wanted an additional 200 Birr to enter the church, although I had already purchased the ticket below. I was in it more for the climb up the rope, so I declined and headed back down. I'm sure if I had stayed, it would have cost an additional 500-700 Birr by the time I got through tipping all the roles.
Heather wasn't allowed up the rope, so had taken some pics of me climbing and then visited a church in the village with the driver.
We met up at the bottom and then drove to Adigrat for lunch. It was the first time our driver had done this particular tour, so he just rolled down the window to ask bajaj drivers for recos for lunch. We ended up in a local restaurant that looks like it doesn't get many tourists - but we knew how to order and how to eat with our fingers so we did okay. Had a great coffee to finish and then we were off for the last church of the day, Medhane Alem Kesho. Our driver picked up a kid to help with directions - the last couple km were through rural fields.
The church was okay, partially hewn into the rock. The walk up was also pretty nice.
We had booked the Gheralta Lodge through ETT but our reservation was lost and they were full. So now we were trying to find a place at 6:30pm in a town with not much accommodation. Our driver found us a place, which was clean but very basic.
ETT did make it up by comping dinner and one night at the Planet Hotel after the trek in Mekele. Our driver also went out his was to make sure we were okay.
(Later on the Danakil trip we found from other people that ETT does a poor job of hotel reservations - almost everyone who had booked hotels through them had problems).
The next morning we were ready for our driver at 7am. First a quick breakfast stop at the same restaurant that we had dinner at, eggs with bread and butter and marmalade (marmalade is really popular here).
Then we were off for our first church of the day, Maryam Korkor. It's a steep 500m walk up the path to the church, which is supposed to take three hours but we did in 1:45. Our guide was impressed, although we didn't beat his record for tourists.
The church was very impressive. The old paintings on the ceilings and walls are amazing.
Next was Daniel Korkor, a five-minute along the edge of the hill from Maryam Korkor, with a 500m drop on the left side. The entrance is through a small door about 3 feet in diameter. I found the ceiling and wall paintings even more impressive in Daniel Korkor. So far a great start to the day!
We were supposed to break for lunch but had finished the two churches in under three hours so we decided to do the last church of the day before lunch, and then drive to Mekele.
For our finale we visited Abuna Yemata Guh, which was one of the churches I had been looking forward to when we were researching the trip.
It starts off with a straightforward walk up 125m on a path laid with rocks for steps. Then it got trickier.
We were told to take off our shoes, and we then scaled 15m up the side of a rock wall, with little hand- and footholds. We paid for assistants to help us, telling us left hand here, right foot there, and supported us on the wall if we needed it.
Then it was a walk along a one metre wide path with a 200m drop off. We had seen pics and Heather was a bit apprehensive; but it turned out to be pretty easy. It's only about 20m or so (the Lonely Planet describes it as a 2-3 minute walk, which it's not).
There was another group of tourists inside, so we waited a few minutes in the waiting room / cave.
Then it was our turn! It was amazing, the most impressive sight I've seen on this trip so far. The ceiling paintings should be a UNESCO heritage site. I took a lot of pics. It was really cool.
Getting back down was just as tricky as getting up to the church. We drove to Mekele, stopping in Mukro for lunch.
We checked into the Planet Hotel, which is about the best hotel in the region. Showered, gave some clothes to the hotel for express laundry, and made our way to the hotel restaurant for dinner. The food was okay, I was hoping for better. They had dessert on the menu so Heather ordered the banana bread, hoping for a repeat of the dessert we had in Entebbe, but it was not to be. I was feeling a bit under the weather again (I've been 100% only for a day in Axum) so we had an early night.
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