Over the past couple of weeks we have met some fantastic people. It has been a real privilege and has made our journey so far, truly enjoyable. Sadly, many of the people who help us along the way, have no way of us contacting them other than in person and although we don’t write about each of them individually it doesn’t in any way deter from the gratitude that we feel for the help they offered us. Occasionally however we do meet people who have the ability to stay in contact either via this website, phone or by email.

Our time in Nazret was hugely facilitated by two young teachers, both teaching business studies at the university in Nazret whilst trying to gain their Masters in Addis Ababa . Their English was exceptionally good and given that our Amharic is a little on the sparse side to say the least, it gave us the rare opportunity to discuss a huge range of topics about Ethiopia in general. Ethiopians have become quite the beer drinking community and our introduction to Aschalew Birhanu and Mesfin Abebe was ceremoniously blessed with several St. Georges (The only beer in Ethiopia I believe). I have to say that the evening got a little hazy towards the end and Katie and I retired gracefully before things got out of hand. Whilst I slept like a baby I did wake up feeling a little on the jaded side so probably will be abstaining from the St. Georges for a little while.

As you would expect from the birth place of humanity the whole country is deeply routed with customs and traditions, some of which we have been privileged to enjoy along our journey. As with many cultures around the world, meal time is a social occassion and most certainly isn’t designed to be a small and personal affair (I am sure it can be but we have yet to see that side of it). Although I am unsure of the exact translation I believe that the word ‘Enebla’ means please join us to eat. It is incredibly common for people to invite complete strangers to sit down and eat with them. Almost all food is served on a savory pancake like food called ‘Injera’. It’s the most fundamental staple food here and is eaten for every meal of the day and tastes just like a slightly bitter cold pancake. Personally I think it’s absolutely delicious although Katie keeps reminding me that she wont miss too much once we have moved into Kenya. On the ‘Injera’ you get all sorts of fantastic concoctions, from Kitfo (raw meat) to Doro Wat (Chicken wings) and everything in between. We have stayed clear of the raw meat for the time being and most things either have chili’s mixed in with them or you get served a red sauce called ‘Berbere’ that will slowly numb all the taste buds in your mouth. All eating is done with your right hand only (I haven’t worked out exactly why this is but I can take a pretty good guess) and it is customary for a host to put the food in your mouth for you. In practice you shouldn’t touch your fingers or your hosts with your mouth but this is considerably harder than it sounds and people are very understanding of the fact that this is new to us.

So far we have been incredibly lucky with finding places to eat along the way and on the odd occasion when we haven’t been able to get anywhere for the evening we keep a loaf of bread and fresh fruit that we buy on the side of roads everyday in our panniers for such emergencies. In fact only yesterday we went past a strawberry farm and our progress was seriously impeded as Katie proceeded to gorge herself to the point of explosion and had to take a short break to recover.

Shortly after we got underway after the strawberry feast Katie’s bike (now called Flashdance by popular request… thanks Marika) broke AGAIN and we had to push it to the next town were we met an incredibly kind American Ethiopian and his brother who owned a farm outside of the village. We talked about all manner of topics trying to fill in the extensive blanks in our knowledge of Ethiopia. To our complete astonishment we learned that the average life expectancy of an Ethiopian is 27!!! Considering how well everybody looks we were very reluctant to accept this figure but we were assured that in fact the age is falling rather than rising! We spent so much of the afternoon chatting away that we ended up having to stop in accommodation on the outskirts of town. These are technically called Hotels but so that you don’t get confused with roadside hotels in Europe these are usually literally just a bed. The advantages are that they have a person on guard all night so we don’t have to worry about animals and the bikes quite so much. If we can’t find one of these ‘hotels’ we simply put up camp in clearing that looks suitable.

Contrary to what I had expected before arriving here Ethiopia is actually very green and lush and water is readily available to most places. Unfortunately just because there is water doesn’t make it drinkable!!! I am sure that if we iodized the water it would be fine but just to be on the cautious side we are drinking bottled water… and a lot of it. When we are fully loaded we are carrying about 13 liters and that will last us on average, a day.

The only thing we have found that saddens us slightly, is the manner in which people treat their animals! Donkeys and horses are the real workers of this country as they are in much of the world but in Ethiopia we have seen little care for the animals health. They are literally worked to death it seems. We are always cautious about judging the situation based on our personal feelings but we have passed countless donkeys who have sustained serious and often debilitating injuries and yet their work loads are still extraordinarily heavy. Many of the poor animals are now incredibly deformed, unable to sustain a trot and yet still their owners laden the carts to the brim and continually whip them to move faster! It is heart breaking having to watch this day by day without intervening. We have been especially taken a back by this because in China (notoriously branded by the west for its cruelty to animals) every animal we passed was exceptionally well cared for. A donkey for many of the rural people was their life line, it was not only their transport but their way of harvesting, buying and selling, so it was imperative they took good care of such a valuable part of the family. I hadn’t given the matter a huge amount of though but I subconsciously expected a similar mindset over here.

The other day as we were pushing the bicycles up a seriously steep section of road we passed a very old weary donkey pulling an enormous cart. The donkey was shaking and coughing heavily under the strain. The owner was half heartedly pushing the cart from behind in a bid to help the donkey up the hill quickly whilst chatting away to him mate sitting on the cart. I felt like putting the man on the cart into the harness and getting him to pull the load. Instead of implementing my ludicrous plan I figured I would simply give a helping hand and as soon as we reached the brow of the hill I left Katie sitting with our stuff and I ran back down the hill to push the cart in a bid to try and ease the donkeys day a little. Unfortunately I don’t know what the answer is? Of course every culture has its own views on such matters but I find it very difficult to understand why anybody would want any animal to suffer.

On a more positive note we are just about to cycle into Shashameme, an extraordinary place on the road south out of Ethiopia. Apparently it is a kind of Mecca to Rastafarian who travel from all over the world to visit. Unbelievable yet seemingly true! If you have heard of it or you know about it we would love to hear failing that we will endeavor to find out more and will let you know in a few days when we get there.

I don’t think we emphasized enough in our last post just how wonderful Ethiopia is. With it being the oldest civilization in the world and the only country on the entire African continent not to be colonized, it is Africa in its truest form. Even now having traveled through the East, Center and moving into the South of the country, we have been met with a truly warm welcome. Other road users give us huge toots, waves, thumbs up even applaud whilst the people we pass along the way cheer, wave wishing us a ‘bon voyage’ and everyone holding a beaming smile. The kids will run with us for several kilometers at a time until there village is far in the distance, at which point they wave and turn back for home. Most recently, now we have come into areas where people actually use bicycles (thankfully as we were beginning to wonder if Africa used bicycles at all!) we find people of all ages cycle along with us chatting the best we can with our very limited Ethiopian, and there limited English. With such a huge portion of the population living in such poverty and westerners deemed as having endless pockets of money, we have been surprised at the generosity of those we have met. We have received food parcels out of windows of passing vehicles, meals bought for us when we stop at restaurants and bread handed to us by villagers. Everybody wanting to welcome us to their fabulous country and hoping we enjoy our stay. Many people we pass out in the countryside carry riffles, which at first made us fell a little uneasy, but we are now getting used to the fact they hold a gun in one hand whilst waving at us with the other.
Having been fortunate enough to travel to many African countries previously I would undoubtedly like to highly recommend this country to any one who wants a taste of real Africa. Don t expect luxury safari lodge, in fact don’t expect much in the way of luxuries at all…..we have yet to find toilet paper!!!
Prior to coming out here we had spoken to numerous people and all had warned us that Ethiopia can be quite hostile and unfriendly, and that we should expect to be pelted with stones by villagers as we pass. Our time here couldn’t have been more different so don’t let anyone put you off exploring this amazing place for your self. We will defiantly be coming back, as we would love to see all the history and beauty the North of the country has to offer.

Feeling a renewed lease of life and with gleaming smiles, we headed out of Dire Dawa at break neck speed and headed for the mountains. We made a whisker short of 10km before the chain snapped on the new bike, sending parts flying off into the bushes and we were once again left pushing our companions and looking for a place to try and repair them. As a general rule we try to have camp set up before dusk but with a distinct lack of villages and the road being precariously carved out of the mountains, camping space was a little on the sparse side. We had to walk 2 hours after sunset before we managed to find a little ledge were we could put up the tent. Thankfully our Mountain Equipment tent was designed specifically for this purpose and we huddled together for the first time on this journey in our sleeping bags. Although the broken chain impeded our progress considerably the road quickly became too steep to cycle up and we had to walk the 1500m climb regardless.

I would like to point out that my new bicycle is without a doubt the most difficult bike I have ever attempted to ride. The front wheel is so far in front of the handlebars, it is a real art to stabilize especially on the winding mountain bends. More problematic is the size of the front cog, it’s enormous, and therefore I can only peddle when the road is dead flat and preferably with a little down hill tilt. For this reason, since reaching the top of the mountain and fixing the chain, I have not ridden the bike, and have temporarily swapped with Tark’s, Even Tarka’s thunder thighs are finding it hard work turning the cog!. I was extremely grateful for the swap when we came to our first major downhill as it was Tark’s and not I that established that the new bike had no brakes what so ever. Somehow he manages to control the bike whilst sat on the crossbar, planting both feet firmly on the road. I’ll be very surprised if his trainers make it as far as Kenya! Despite all our repairs, new parts and even a new bike the furthest we have cycled without a breakdown is 28km and we are therefore a little behind to say the least.
The long climb to reach the high mountain road that runs between Harar and Awash was well worth it, the landscape is breathtaking, rich in colour, people and farming. I doubt we will travel along a more beautiful road for the rest of our journey. The twists and turns built into the cliffs has a very Italian feel and with little traffic it has been a joy to travel along. We walk up the hills at about 5km/h and freewheel down at break neck speed (not by choice). Our current top speed is 44km/h, which on the shuddering wheels is somewhat hair raising.
We had been pre-warned that the people in Ethiopia can be difficult and unwelcoming yet so far we have had the warmest of welcomes with beaming smiles, waves and plenty of followers on foot everywhere we have been. I have also been offered numerous babies, with their mothers pulling at their cheeks and stretching out the legs in a manner to show me that it is good quality! Tarka tries to explain that they haven’t got a hope in hell of getting me of all people to take their baby. One lady even tried to demonstrate how it could sit in one of the pannier bags nicely!
Most people who cycle Africa would typically follow the Cairo to Cape Town route (or vise versa) which would not take in the part of Ethiopia we are currently traveling through and we are therefore somewhat of a novelty. Perhaps this is why we have been met with such friendliness.
I forgot to mention in our earlier posts that in the 4 days we traveled through Djibouti we did not see one other bicycle!! Confirming it was not the ideal starting choice.