Announcements

**pete3** · #**136** 12 Jan 2012

Thanks for sharing your adventures. I admire the way you interact with the locals. Great story!

**Bigfoot** · #**137** 16 Jan 2012

Hi,
Just a short note to say how I have enjoyed reading your posts. I arrive into Cape Town from Buenos Aires at the start of March with my KLR650. I'm really looking forward to Africa and your blog has made the last few weeks at my work all that harder to suffer through. I wish I was there now.
Kind regards
Ben.

**BikingMarco** · #**138** 18 Jan 2012

A lot has happened since we left Nairobi. A lot of riding actually. And some lessons in bike mechanics.
Firstly I must proudly say that for the first time ever I checked and adjusted the valve clearance on my little Suzuki. It seemed like a major operation to me. To open the lid of her little engine and screw around in what is underneath. But hey, in Jungle Junction Nairobi there is a whole bunch of DIY bike mechanics who could group around and watch and teach me and lend me the tools. So now I feel much better for being sure it's all checked and okay. And proud that I now know how to do this.
Also Martin's Honda had some trouble, loosing power uphills and only running on one cylinder. Fortunately his bike has a second one. It took a while to identify the problem as a bit of fuel pipe which was bent just a bit too much.
With both bikes running at their best we were now fit to leave Nairobi and go North, across the equator, beyond the Little Suzuki's 30000km mark and onto the infamous 520km Isiolo - Marsabit - Moyale Route. The so called Trans East Africa Highway. Which sounds like a six lane major arterial road. But apperently it's not.
Since it is the main route between Kenya and Ethiopia and in fact the major of the two possible border crossings I am sure many of you guys know this route from your own experience. For all the others let me quickly explain what we heard about it before we went there.

1.) it is called the Bandit Highway known for the many armed robberies along the desolate and lonely route

2.) somewhere in this forum you will find the story of a French tourist who got shot in the back by bandits along this route

3.) just days before we left Nairobi more than 20 people died in violent clashes in Moyale and Isiolo

4.) the road is of such quality that out of a group of 9 BMW bikes coming from Moyale 8 needed new shocks in Nairobi

5.) in Jungle Junction in Nairobi you can see a Best Of cabinet of shock absorbers molten to something like charcoal along this route.

Sounds really tempting, hey?

But we had no choice. And so we went.

First of all we were really surprised for how long the tarmac continued beyond the mark on our map. In fact the first 137km North of Isiolo is perfect brand new tarmac. The map only showed 30km. That gave us a good head start.
But what came thereafter really met our expectations. Between the end of the tarmac and the town of Marsabit the entire road is deeply deeply corrugated. Not in a way that you go over it with an 80 speed, I guess you probably need a 200 speed to smooth these things out. Or the only other alternative is to go slow. Learning from other peoples experiences with their shocks we rather went slow. First and second gear, something around 15-20km/h seemed appropriate without diving in too much. This should be a long long journey. You try on the left hand side of the road - you get shaken to the bones. You try on the right - same story. The other side of the road looks always better from this side of the road. But it's not. You try to accelerate along a smooth bit and WHAM these corrugations you didn't see in the glaring sun shake the fillings out of your teeth before you can even think of slowing down.
If you go so slow through a desert plain so close to the equator of course you get baked. Soon our water bottles contained hot water. Quickly vanishing into our thirsty throats. And the dust clouds you keep diving in when there is an oncoming truck soon give all your stuff the identical look. Ocre brown, very cool.
But the landscape is simly awesome. Flat desert, some Acacia Trees with their flat crowns, some hills in the distance, the air flickering in the heat, black volcanic rocks littering the landscape. Every now and then there would be a herd of cattle. Or camels. Accompanied by a few local people in what we would describe as traditional african outfit. Guys wearing feathers in their hair. And hundreds of layers of tiny necklaces around their neck. And a long spear in their hand. Really beautiful people.
Apart from that there are also many huge ostriches along the road, quickly running away from the sound of our slowly approaching engines.

The first night we camped some 60km South of Marsabit, just bushcamping. Believe me, you're groggy enough to not care about bandits too much. But anyway, we hid away behind a small sand hill just off the track and shuffled our tyre tracks so no one would see any evidence of us from the road. And no one did.
The next day the same game continued till Marsabit. Which is a surprisingly decent size town. With shops, restaurants, two petrol stations and even a bank with Visa Card ATM. I had to withdraw some extra money to be able to afford all the extra water along the way. Man, was it hot there. So much more than in Nairobi.
Also in Marsabit we met two Germans travelling the same route North in a Mercedes 4WD. We actually met them on our way out when they just came back into town to grab some lunch. But they promised to catch up with us along the way and camp together with us somewhere. Which was really cool for us.
So off we went. Initially the road North of Marsabit was nicely graded and you could almost go into 3rd gear. Which excited us heaps. But not for long.
The landscape changed from Acacia Steppe to grass desert. Flat to the horizon. No tree, no hill, no shade. And most significantly: the 'road' was now a track of deep deep loose gravel. Two tyre tracks. And on their side and in between them a wall of loose gravel. It formed something like railway tracks for us. Once you're in you can't get out. BUT: these railway tracks were not as clean as real railway tracks. No, much too often there were big boulders in them blocking the path, or holes where somebody dug out a truck. Or sometimes the gravelwalls grew too high and collapsed back into the path. Ever tried to climb up a 30cm wall of loose gravel parrallel to your wheel with a fully loaded touring bike to avoid an obstacle? Heaps fun!
While the scenery emptied out more and more the depth of loose rocks within our 'railway' track increased more and more. Until it was a multi km fishtailing adventure bike race between Martin in the right track and me in the left track. All this became particularly cool when there was oncoming traffic. With two wheels in each of our tracks. Ever played chicken with a truck, lights flashing?

Again, we went through loads of water in the heat and were really really happy to see our German friends waiting for us at the side of the road just after sunset. To guide us to their beautiful bushcamping spot a hundret metres off the road. And they treated us to an ostrich egg. Really nicely cooked with fresh tomato and onion, perfectly what we needed. It's incredible how big these eggs are. Apparently similar size to 20 chicken eggs. And this one really filled two big cooking pots!

So today we are still on that same road. You don't travel far in second gear. Bit till now our shocks are still in great condition, not a hint of oil leaking. That's when we say it was worth it!
Today's strech between Marsabit and Moyale included many washed out sections, sometimes metre deep cave-ins of the road surface. The surface further north is of the rather clay or sand type of material. And in the recent rain it got washed away on many creek crossings (=big hole in the road and clean concrete pipe inside). The typical scenarios road engineers back home have nightmares about when designing culverts. This of course led to a few trucks getting stuck when it was fresh and wet. And they got dug out. Which left some more half meter deep ruts over a few hundret meters length or simply deep holes which now, in the dry, are pretty much like cast in concrete. In between those ruts sand or clay at least is a surface type which does not seem to corrugate so well. So we achieved quite unbelievable speeds on some of these sections!
Bush camping this time happened on a water hole just 25km South of Moyale. By then it was dark, the border would have been closed at 6pm anyway. So we decided to go there today instead. The environment here up north is much more varied and better for camping. There is more bush, more trees, everything is more green and fresh. But still hardly any villages, hardly any people around here.
Continueing today we soon arrived in Moyale. A really strange town when you get in. People stare at you stranger than in other towns. The road goes steeply uphill and is deeply washed out. Just right in the town centre it is business as usual, a buzzing town with shops and restaurants. Just something seems to be strange on it, can't explain what.
The border crossing again was very simple. On the Kenya side we met two really friendly guys to do our paperwork. One working for immigration (=paperwork for us) and one working for Customs (paperwork for our bikes). All done quickly and friendly and for no costs.
Same on the Ethiopian side for Customs. Filling in a form, stamping the Carnet, finished. Just immigration - well, it was closed for lunch. Reopening 4 hours later. Doesn't seem to worry anyone if the only immigration officer on this side of the border quickly goes for a four hour lunch session every day. I wonder what his menu must look like. However, we used the time to visit -half illegaly- the Ethiopian side of Moyale, changed money, bought petrol, had a cold drink, had lunch and soon these four hours were gone. Back in the immigration office we met an officer who had not enjoyed his lunch break as much as we expected him to. Whatever it was, it still made him angry. But he could not vent his anger on us and filled our details into his book instead. And then, with the full weight of his job's responsibility he stamped our passports. And when I say the full weight I mean it. Like a cricket bowler his arm described an almost full circle to gain enough momentum for an explosive and powerful touchdown of his rubberstamp into our passports. Once this task was finished he simply threw the passports roughly into our direction and left the office and us sitting there.
So we are now in Ethiopia, another great country to explore. Let's go!

Again, the bikes did a fantastic job in the rough terrain during the last few days. Our shocks still seem alright. I am very glad now that I upgraded them back home. No bolts got lost and nothing else got shaken apart. I am still travelling on my old Pirelli tyre with next to no profile left on it. But even that one went across these millions of sharp edged loose rocks without any harm. Even hitting the occasional big rock neither rim nor tyre had any complaints. Motorbikes are really way tougher than I would ever have thought.

**BikingMarco** · #**139** 18 Jan 2012

Now there should be some pictures... But there aren't... Not from this Internet cafe. The connection speed simply does not want to know about pictures. Sorry guys.

**BikingMarco** · #**140** 18 Jan 2012

Ethiopia did not make it easy for us. But it is worth every bit of effort that you put in there. At least of what we have seen now we can say Ethiopia is beautiful.
When we came across the border in Moyale our usual priorities kicked in again: money, food, petrol. We knew there are not many ATM outside Addis Ababa so we had to exchange some US$ cash for Ethiopian Birr at the bank in Moyale. Just to be able to survive till we get to a bigger city and have a chance to withdraw money at an ATM. We don't like using our US$ for everydays money because it is like an emergency cash reserve for us which is hard to replenish once it is gone.

However, the real challenge that met us a bit later was petrol. Coming along the Marsabit - Moyale route we both saved weight as much as we could and only had minimal petrol with us to reach Moyale. And in Moyale, both Kenyan side and Ethiopian side of the border, there are petrol stations. But no petrol. Sorry finished, try next town. One hundret km away. Good luck. So we bought extremely expensive petrol at the black market to reach the next town. A town called 'Mega' and pretty big on the map. But same problem. Petrol station yes. Petrol no. Try next town. One hundred km away. So again we used the expensive services of the black market to just make it to the next town, Yabello. Getting there, two petrol stations, no petrol. Sorry, try next town, eighty five km away. But, in a major change of luck, even the black market was sold out. Also, asking a Police man, there would not be petrol in the next town or the one after. That's the sort of problem we tryed to avoid by not going to Malawi. But now it caught up with us in Ethiopia.
But when you are on holidays you are in good spirit and problems don't exist. The big towns with their empty petrol stations are not on our route anyway, we wanted to turn west into the Omo Valley. So, lucky as we were we could buy some petrol from the local Tuk Tuk taxi company, enough to take us the 100km to Konso, the first place of any size in the Omo Valley region. And cool thing is, in Konso there was petrol available at the petrol station. In strange twists and turns first there wasn't, then some local people discussing the matter and suddenly, 10min later petrol was flowing out of the pump with the 'Kerosene' label. To the normal pump price. And yes, it was petrol, not kerosene. So we both filled up every corner of our tanks and the reserve jerry cans and should now be fine to travel freely through the Omo Valley and into Arba Minch, a big town where apparently petrol is available again.
The Omo Valley is famous for it's colourful people. There is so many little tribes, just occupying a village or two. And being distinctively different from the tribe in the neighbouring villages. And all living peacefully together. There is people decorating themselves with feathers, others with layers of colourful necklaces covering their entire neck. Others decorate their bodies with scars, often thousand little dots forming lines and other patterns on the skin. Some like rasta hair, others short hair, others have whole designs woven and cut into their hair. Really beautiful people. It is the first such big area we travel through where people don't usually wear western style clothes.
But everyone also understands the value of tourism and that spoiled the charm of the area. To visit one of the old traditional villages you need to pay for your permit, a parking fee and take a guide with you who of course costs money. To take photos of people you don't usually just ask and snap but here ask and pay and snap. Tourists even need to pay to visit the market. But even the area outside these 'traditional' villages is still worth a visit and really interesting to see. We didn't see any of the 'payable' villages.

And then we had another flat tyre day. For Martin's back wheel. The perpetrator being a big fat rusty nail. In the peak of mid day heat. But in Africa, even in the middle of nowhere you are not alone and soon we had a few local hands helping us while many tourist cars just went past. The tyre was quickly fixed. But 15min later flat again. The patch just came loose. Probably too hot here. But again, within minutes a whole heap of helping hands around. Tyre fixed. Air pumped in. Flat again. Tube removed. Patch came loose again. Don't know why, but I heard from others too that there is trouble patching tyres in extreme outside temperatures. These bloody patches just wouldn't stay on! Fortunately we carried a spare tube which finally solved the problem and prevented it from becoming a heat stroke problem for us. There was no shade whatsoever on that road.
The next day we spent entirely in the Omo Valley and with it's colourful people. Already in the morning we were greeted by a whole bunch of them. We spent our night bushcamping, just somewhere far from anywhere. Yet there they were in the morning. Some topless, others covered in goatskins and some in colourful woven blankets. Just there watching our every move. Trying our every thing. And if they like it asking if they could have it. Even my motorbike jacket was deemed so useful that they asked to have it. But really good people too. You say no and they give it all back to you without discussion.
The rest of the day we spent riding through beautiful environments. In the Omo Valley you are almost alone on the road. No other traffic. One one side there is always the mountains. Green and lush and close. The other side is usually flat. And green too. And in between it's just you and your motorbike. Zooming along a perfectly graded dirtroad. A little white dustcloud following you. Warm wind blowing in your face through the open visor. Every now and then you see people walking along or just standing there, getting to new heights of happines by just seeing you. Kids running after you. Others dancing on the spot. Adults waiving their hands. Shouting something towards you. Often also asking for money or food or water. There is just too many of them. As soon as you stop a happy crowd will form around you. Trying and testing everything they can get their hands on. Pushing the buttons on your bike. Saving strange points into your GPS. Playing around with straps and zippers of your luggage. All at the same time. You want to check a lot before you start going again. Like me going many km with my lights on high beam. Who pushed that button again?
There are many good reasons to stop. People are certainly one reason to make every stop memorable. Food is another one. There is this typical sour dough pancake called Enschela which is just fantastic. Or freshly baked bread in the morning. And really really aromatic tea. Lots of good stuff for someone like me who is always hungry.
Tomorrow we will leave the Omo Valley and make our way further North towards Arba Minch. Where we hopefully find an ATM. And also my little Suzuki will need some fresh oil. To stay happy for many thousands of more km.

**BikingMarco** · #**141** 21 Jan 2012

Finally we found an internet connection fast enough to upload some the old pics from Kenya. Here they are:

It's the first time for my little Suzuki and me to cross the equator on land.

And we thought we carry a lot of stuff on our bikes...

The road North of Isiolo is still beautiful tarmac and awesome scenery.

Camels. Just like that.

Martin riding the deep car tracks between Isiolo and Marsabit. These sections are easy and real fun to ride.

Typical small village between Marsabit and Moyale.

**BikingMarco** · #**142** 21 Jan 2012

Another good day has passed. We are currently discovering Ethiopia. And enjoying this country a lot.
After the Omo Valley we headed North to Arba Minch and then towards Shashemene via the little mountain village of Dorse. It is a really stunning landscape, particularly the mountains near Arba Minch. We made it up to the highest point my little Suzuki has ever been, just over the 3000m mark on the road. You can imagine the view from up there over the flat landscape with the Rift Valley lakes, really cool.
The roads we travelled on are mostly tarmac of decent quality. Other than the countries we travelled through previously there are no speed humps in Ethiopia. Which is something we both like heaps. I still remember the little 'hills' that some towns in Kenya put on the street to slow down traffic to less than walking speed.
The road up the mountains to Dorse and back down on the other side was not tarmac. But seriously one of the most scenic routes we've been riding for a long time. The road itself was really rocky, lots of loose stuff that makes you go sideways. But going slowly has the advantage that we could really enjoy the scenery. Other than in the Omo Valley people up here are not constantly shouting 'You you you!!!' or 'Give me one Birr'. No, up there they are greeting friendly when you go past. And that's it. Also, because it is so high and quite cold there, people wear blankets and hats made of wool. And these are so colourful, most with a striped pattern of all colours of the rainbow. With red and orange dominating. This follows through to their huts. Up there they are made of a mixture of straw and mud. And doors and window frames are painted in all colours.
Similar to the changing scenery we also noticed some stark differences in the people. And the way they interact with us. In the Omo Valley, a very touristy area with lots of 4WD vehicles full of visitors, local people often ask for money. When you are riding or when you are stopping. Children often shout it straight into our face 'YOU YOU YOU!' - the constant soundtrack of the Omo Valley. It sounds pretty rude when you first encounter it. But when you see the mostly smiling faces of the kids or when you take your time to stop and make some fun with them, they are really cool. And obviously do not mean to be rude. Stopping, pointing at them with your finger and shouting back 'you you you!!!' usually leads to a lot of laughter on both sides. That's the cool thing of having time. You can wait and go past the initial 'you you you' or the compulsary asking for money. Once you are past that and they finished their 'routine' you meet some genuinely friendly people.
Whenever we stop somewhere people literally start running towards us, kids and adults. And in no time we are surrounded by a huge crowd. A crowd that often stops the traffic on the road. Out of that crowd there are always a few people who speak English and who lead the conversation. If you ever feared public speaking, come to Ethiopia and you will find your perfect training ground. How to entertain a whole village? Just stand there and unpack your water bottle. That is seriously the most interesting thing they must have witnessed all week. You want to walk around your motorbike? Well, you can't. There is no room to walk. And the coolest part of your motorbike? Beyond doubt it's the mirrors. They are the big favorites for the girls in the crowd. Every time you keep going again you need to adjust the mirrors. And check your switches and buttons. Fortunately my little Suzuki has not too many buttons. So all I need to do is to switch off the high beam and the indicators. It can get a bit stressful but if you take it with humor you get over it. Just part of life here.
We also find if you are friendly to them they are friendly to you. Many people make a huge effort on the road to greet us when riding past. They run towards us waiving both hands. Some kids are dancing. Adults jumping up and down with thumps up. And we always greet back. Waiving hands or with thumps up or something similar. And this seems to give them a feeling of success because we can see them laughing and shaking each others hands and high-fiving each other in the rear mirror. Or they just jump up and down in joy as soon as we waive back. Often Martin rides some 100m ahead and kids start running towards him but are to slow. Standing on the road and disappointedly looking after Martin they change their expression completely when they realise that there is another one. And when I start greeting them they smile and laugh as if they've seen Santa Claus. No one has so far thrown any stone at us. As it seems such a common experience for many other travellers in Ethiopia. But maybe we are just lucky and will get into the stone throwing areas later.
Last night we camped very safely. Looking for a school to camp (they usually make great camping spots and can be found in every village) we were shown behind the school and camped in front of the Ethiopian Federal Police building. And these police guys made good company. They all spoke really good English, they let us camp there for free, they let us charge our electronics on their power plugs. And we sat and talked into the evening together with them and a teacher from the school.
Tonight we camp at Lake Shalla, a beautiful lake in the Abiata Shalla Lakes NP. As far as we can tell we are the only tourists in the NP. The guard at the front got really excited when he saw us and even left his office to come down the street for 200m (where we stopped to decide what to do) to greet us and tell us about the NP. In all his excitement he was happy to only charge us the NP entrance fee and not the fee for our bikes or for camping as it was written on the big signboard at the entrance. And also the compulsary guide to accompany us was not so compulsary any more if only we stay. And so we stayed. The NP features two lakes and a lot of barren dusty landscape full of Acacia trees. It gives you a bit of an outworldly feeling. You ride along the sandy tracks, through creeks of volcanic hot water. There is a lot of dust in the air. There is an Ostrich next to you, looking down on you. And there is these two volcanic lakes showing different colours. The one we camp on is a mix of reddish brown and orange water colour.
Other than in National Parks in Australia here there are people living. With their livestock. So it is not unusual to see cows and donkeys. Or huts and schools. Consequently there is not much 'wildlife' around, mostly birds. The spectacular ones like Ostriches. Or the big ones like Flamingoes and Pelicans. Or heaps and heaps of little ones, diving into the lake. Whole flocks of them. And the only people here are some local families. Covered in blankets and sheets, black faces watching us out of dusty layers of woven clothes. And white teeth smiling. People here in the NP don't talk much. They communicate in gestures. For example when pitching my tent two kids, maybe 8 and 10 years old silently helped me getting the pegs in, passed me some rocks to use as hammer. No words, just smiles. When parking my little Suzuki on the sandy terrain, before I could say or do anything they already brought a big flat rock to put underneath the sidestand. And as quickly as they came they disappeared again. So here we are, just Martin and me and our bikes on the shores of Lake Shalla. The setting sun paints the dusty sky in many shades of red and orange. Everything is shown in an awesome light. A few Pelicans paddle noislessly along. Really cool.
My little Suzuki has had quite a hard time again. To make her happy I treated her with some fresh golden oil in Arba Minch. But the terrain is quite demanding. After the 500km shock busting rough road in Kenya to Moyale here in Ethiopia it is the condition of the tarmac road. Our problem, I think, is that people are to poor to have cars or motorbikes. There is no traffic on the road. Only a few buses and trucks. And some big diesel 4WD with tourists inside. Consequently, if there is no traffic, the road is used for other purposes. I have never seen so many cows, donkeys, sheep or goats on the road before. No one seems to care and they hardly make room for you. We sometimes have to fight our way through a big herd of cows with big threatening horns. And worst of all, these guys keep dropping stuff. Which you unexpectedly keep hitting. So to no surprise the underside of both our brave bikes are literally covered in shit. It brakes my heart to see my little Suzuki in so much shit but what can you do?
The other tough thing is dust. If there is no demand on the road there is no maintenance either. So often there are long sections of road with the tarmac missing. Washed away or just broken away. And in there it's deep fine dust. And due to the constant stampede of cows the dust keeps forming long brown clouds, carried along the road. Even worsened by the occasional bus or truck. This dust penetrates everything. My camera, packed in it's case, wrapped in a waterproof bag and being inside my backpack still had dust on it. I don't even dare to look at my little Suzuki's air filter.
However, she is running really fine. The petrol you get here seems to be awesome. She is much quiter, seems to have more power and also consumes less fuel than usual. But petrol is still hard to come by. There is just no demand for it. We went past many service stations and all their pumps just had diesel written on it. And it's true, all vehicles we meet use diesel. We never heard of anyone having such a petrol problem in Ethiopia. So we hope it only affects the area qe are currently in. But here in Ethiopia, more than in any other country before, I am really really glad to have my 30l long range tank.

It seems like escaping the Congo does not end our security concerns. Just two days ago apparently six tourists got shot and killed in North Eastern Ethiopia. Many others got seriously injured, some kidnapped. We actually planned to visit that same spot in a few weeks time. It is an active volcano with a constantly boiling lava lake, something I have never seen before. Let's hope the situation is getting back in control quickly up there.

**Gripforce** · #**143** 21 Jan 2012

Awesome updates Marco!

**BikingMarco** · #**144** 24 Jan 2012

Martin riding alongside the mountains in the Omo Valley

Making our way through a bunch of cattle

Mirinda and Coca Cola in Armaric alphabet

The combination of the atmosphere saturated with dust and the setting sun presents the environment in some unreal light show.

The rocky mountain road near Arba Minch

**BikingMarco** · #**145** 24 Jan 2012

Hello again from beautiful Ethiopia. We are still travelling in the Southwest of the country. And will reach the town of Nekempte tomorrow. And the capital Addis Ababa soon after.
If you would ask me right now what the first thing in my mind is when thinking about Ethiopia I would say it's dust. Dust seems to be a defining element for this country. It is omnipresent. Huge clouds of it are everywhere. It looks amazing when we ride up the hills and see this huge dustcloud down in the valley below. A brownish orange cloud which is set alight from the top by the sun. The sun never sets at the horizon, it always disappears way above it in the layer of dense dust. And for us, dust is everywhere. While typing this I am sitting at a beautiful camping spot next to a coffee plantation, probably 200m away from the main (dirt) road. Everytime a vehicle comes past, 3 minutes later a dustcloud penetrates the tent. It's just incredible.
And you should have seen my airfilter lately. My little Suzuki's airfilter is a foam element, soaked in some motoroil. I put an extra filter layer around it, like a sock completely covering the foam filter. That way it is easier to keep clean. And this sock had literally an almost one mm thick cake of dust, sticking together with soaked up motoroil, around it. I would bend it and whole pieces would brake up and fall down. All that must have happened since Nairobi where I last cleaned it. Maybe 10 days ago. Most of the distance travelled since then was in Ethiopia.

However, don't get me wrong. I am not complaining. Because Ethiopia is really beautiful. Riding through Ethiopia is like watching a movie in which identical scenes keep being repeated in various awesome combinations. These scenes that go past you would be: a road filled with donkeys. Or a road filled with cows. Or a road filles with donkeys and cows. Just standing on the road. Doing their donkey thing. Or cow thing. While we are fighting our way through, often only centimetres to spare. But these beasts do not move. Another typical scene would be smiling people in tattered clothes running towards the road frantically waiving both arms at us and shouting something in Amharic language. Another one a colourful ancient Isuzu bus standing on the road side and people loading or unloading numerous big rice bags full of things. Or another one a typical small town with the road completely clogged with blue 'Bajaj' Tuk Tuks and donkeys and cows and people. All going on both sides of the road and in all directions. Or some are not moving at all, just standing there, enjoying the scenery.
Or the most typical picture, of course, one of these ancient colourful Isuzu buses driving in front uf us. And we see nothing. Our whole world then is just a brown and orange haze of impenetrable dust. Until we finally can catch up and overtake.
This is Africa at it's best and I love it. Again, seeing the same little Suzuki I used for commuting just over six months ago surrounded by donkeys on a dusty road in Southern Ethiopia is something unreal. And the same little Suzuki will commute with me again to our office in North Sydney in some seven months from now. That will be just as unreal. No more donkeys then.

Ethiopia is pretty densely populated, particularly along the roads. So it is often impossible to find a good bush camping spot. Most of the time we retreat to camping in school compounds instead. This is really easy here. There is a security guard all night. So there is someone to ask for permission. Which is usually granted. And schools here feature a big grassy common area, perfect for camping. And the kids seem to love us as their early morning surprise when they get to school.

However, last night was different. Let me just tell you a story about the ups and downs and how quickly things can change.
In the afternoon we arrived at a town called Jima. Jima is famous (at least locally) as the town where coffee was 'discovered' and started it's success story around the world all the way to Starbucks centuries later. So we had a coffee in Jima in recognition of the importance of this place for the world. The other thing Jima is famous for is the old royal palace of the ruler Abar Jifah some 10km out of town on a hill. So we decided to visit that one too. Which proved a bit more difficult because nothing here is signposted and this palace is also not found on any map. So it took a while to find it. When we came close we met another group of tourists. And they recommended us to ask the security guard at the palace to camp there, it would be a 'really beautyful camping spot'. Perfect! We knew that by now the palace would be closed for the day but having the prospect of 'palace camping' we rode up there anyway. And found it. And the security guard. As soon as we stopped the bikes outside he started running and was never seen again that evening. No security guard, no access, no camping. So we asked people there, forming the typical crowd around us, for other places to camp. And achieved nothing. There was one unfriendly fellow in a suit who barked at us that we should go back to town and stay in a hotel. So we went back just a few metres and noticed a school on our left. Perfect! People around us assured us, it was no problem to camp at that school. Perfect again! All we needed to make sure was to ask the security guard of that school. We would find him in the nearby school administration compound. One guy out of that crowd really stood out in excellent English and stayed with us as our friendly translator.
Arriving at the administration compound we met the security guard. It was the unfriendly guy with the suit. And now also with a big gun hanging lazily over his shoulder. Not perfect! He barked at us again why we rich tourists don't stay in a hotel in town. And we need to call the headmaster of the school and ask for permission. He also barked the headmasters phone number at us. So we left the administration compound. And called the headmaster. Our translator doing his best to talk to him. But mobile phone networks in Ethiopia are not the same as in Australia. Even he could not understand the headmaster in this broken phone connection. It was now starting to get dark. And Martin and me, we gave up on that school. We rather try to find some other place before it was completely dark. We just did not seem to get anywhere by trying it any longer here. So we went down the hill towards the town again. And down the hill it went from there. When we reached the school administration compound the unfriendly suit guy jumped out of the shadow of a tree. And demanded us to stop, his gun pointed directly at Martin. So we stopped. But not fast enough. So angrily, with the gun still pointed at Martin he lectured us that 'Stop means Stop'. He also called Police and we would have to wait for them to arrive. This even shocked our friendly translator. Who bravely stayed with us to calm us down.
Some 15min later the local Police chief arrived. No uniform. But accompanied by another guy with a big gun. Also no uniform. But our translator assured us it was indeed the local Police chief. Who probably had to leave his Sunday evening

behind to attend our matter. Not a happy man. Also, whenever our friendly translator tried to talk to the Police guys he was promptly pushed aside by the unfriendly suit guy who instead talked to the them, looking extraordinarily important. Soon the Police demanded to see our letter of introduction from our government. We of course did not have one. Because we did not need one. Big problem! Having a passport with a valid visa did not seem to count for him, our important looking Police chief did not even spare a look at our visa. He instead called the Federal Police to come here and take over the matter. Until their arrival we need to wait there. It was now very very dark. But our friendly translator stayed with us all the time, assuring us that everything was 'no problem'. Everything that happened only happened the way it did due to the 'uneducated village people'. Which, to us, was even more reason to concern. Because it were these 'uneducated village people' who had the guns here. However, the real village people stayed around to, reassuring us, being really really friendly. But powerless.
Much later another car arrived. That's a lot of action for this place on a Sunday night! It was a marked Police car, full with uniformed people. The unfriendly suit guy jumping straight to them. But this new Police rather talking to the crowd around us. Completely ignoring us. After 5 minutes of this I lost patience and went to them too. The new Policeman now asking me, in perfect English, what was going on. So I told him. That we just asked if we could camp at the school. And starting with that question everything else started to happen automatically. Culminating in his arrival. Which made him laugh. He was obviously not of the 'uneducated village' type. Also the unfriendly suit guy had by now disappeared. He was probably not taken serious enough to honour this scene with his ongoing presence. So our Federal Police friend quickly let us know that everything is fine, we are free to go. But we cannot camp at this school. At which time, instantly, the people of the village invited us to camp on their little grassy public village green. Or even to stay in one of their houses. Police had no arguments against that and went off.
So we stayed one late night camping on the village green. Had friendly company till late. Sharing stories. It ended up being a really cool night. This is Africa!

**BikingMarco** · #**146** 24 Jan 2012

Little Suzuki and donkey cart

A crowd curiously watching us whenever we stop.

The United States of Africa

Creek near Lake Shalla

Bushcamping

Sunset over Lake Shalla

**BikingMarco** · #**147** 24 Jan 2012

We have fantastic connection speed here in Nekempte. So let's show some more pictures:

Little Suzuki with an Ostrich

Yes, this is actually the road!

Salty beach near Lake Abiata

Flamingoes in Lake Abiata

View across a valley near Nekempte

**wakold** · #**148** 24 Jan 2012

Yikes! Happy that your little misadventure turned out well! I've never had a gun pointed at me but I'm sure it's not a very pleasant feeling...

Keep up the awesome reports and be safe at all times!

Sam

**johanarnt** · #**149** 24 Jan 2012

Hi Marco!

Really enojoy reading you stories. You`re a great writer! I havent been following your trip earlier, as I just logged on to search the Hubb for information on the addis nekemte road. Incredible to see that you just passed nekemte one of these days!

I`m planning to travel that stretch in a car 4th of february, and would love to get some detailed info, especially on bridges, or lack of them. I`m trying to plot the route on tracks4africa, but the map wount let me pass one of the rivers. probably just software issues, but would be nice to get updated info.

And again, your stories are really putting me in a good mood. I dd three months motorcycle journey around madagascar some years ago, and reading your posts brings back memories! If you are still in addis around the 2nd or 3rd of feb, maybe we could grab a cofee or something if time permits. would love to share some stories.

all the best, and safe travels!!

Johan

**BikingMarco** · #**150** 26 Jan 2012

Hey Johann,

the road between Nekempte and Addis Ababa is going through, no worries. The 137km before Addis is brand new tarmac, no problem at all. Between Nekempte and there though the road is a huge construction site. River crossings are no problem, the road would be suitable for 2WD cars all the way. BUT it is rocky, really really dusty and slow going.

I am sure you will enjoy it as much as we did. And the hot shower in Addis even more.

Good luck,

Marco

Shipping the Bike

Regional Forums

Other Forums

Horizons Unlimited presents!

Links Page - wow, what a resource!

Bike Tech

Other Gear

Bike Forums

Stuff

Other Forums

Horizons Unlimited presents!

Links Page

Shipping the Bike

Crossing Borders

Staying Safe & Healthy

Getting There

Life on the Road

Horizons Unlimited presents!

Links Pages - A few samples...

Tell your Travel Story - Blog on HU!

Horizons Unlimited Communities

Horizons Unlimited Presents!

Links Page

Where are HU Meetings?

HU Travellers Meetings

Non-HU Events

Participate!

Photo Contest!

Why become an HU Member?

Horizons Unlimited presents!

New to HU? Start Here!

Your Hosts

I haven't been everywhere...
but it's on my list!

Announcements

Next HU Events

What others say about HU...

New to Horizons Unlimited?

Membership - help keep us going!

Shipping the Bike

Other Forums

Horizons Unlimited presents!

Bike Tech

Other Gear

Stuff

Other Forums

Horizons Unlimited presents!

Shipping the Bike

Crossing Borders

Staying Safe & Healthy

Getting There

Life on the Road

Horizons Unlimited presents!

Horizons Unlimited Presents!

HU Travellers Meetings

Non-HU Events

Participate!

Photo Contest!

Horizons Unlimited presents!

New to HU? Start Here!

Your Hosts

I haven't been everywhere... but it's on my list!

Announcements

Next HU Events

What others say about HU...

New to Horizons Unlimited?

Membership - help keep us going!

I haven't been everywhere...
but it's on my list!