Please turn the page
We have finished the first page of the tour schedule. Before the tour started we received a three page schedule, outlining the distances we would cycle each day and where we would be camping. It is three A4 pages. We have now finished page one. Unfortunately, due to the political situation, we have had to spend an extra day in Addis Ababa (so two full days here), and instead of cycling two days we are having to travel by bus. We are all pretty disappointed but also resigned to the fact that it’s better to be safe, and to have the opportunity to cycle in Ethiopia at all. Last year, due to political unrest, the tour bypassed Ethiopia altogether. They cycled to the border in Sudan, bussed back to Khartoum and then flew to Nairobi. I’ll take a few days on a bus to be able to cycle through the country. Especially because Ethiopia has offered such rewarding cycling. The plan now is to travel by bus for the next two days, then have a day cycling as planned before a three day stint in the Omo Valley. This three day period is a new aspect of the Tour d’Afrique. No one knows what to expect. The understanding is that we will be camping, and visiting the villages in the region, and the Omo tribes. There will be one cycling day out of seven. I think we will all be getting cabin fever. I am already missing the exercise and bike! The fatigue I felt coming in to Addis has resolved, my cold seems to be clearing and my toe is all better too. Addis has provided two days of entertainment. I have been here before, so my approach to the city has been to enjoy being here, and follow the majority. We have said goodbye to four riders - Bob and Gregg (who have been with us since Cairo), and Ash and Joost (who did the section from Khartoum). It will be funny not to have them, however the group has still expanded: seven new riders have joined us, for a selection of time frames. Briefly. Yesterday was spent exploring the city by foot. Starting at the Piazza, we found a pharmacy and had a weigh in. I am convinced the scales were poorly calibrated but it allowed us to compare weights with each other. The consensus was that the men had lost around 5kg each, and women between 3-4kg. If the scales are to be believed I have lost 3kg, however I think this is unlikely. Don managed to find some more plasters at the pharmacy too, apparently they have been difficult to find up to this point. I was very impressed with Don’s flexibility…he managed to get his foot up on the counter to point to the plaster on his ankle and ask for one of those. The poor Pharmacist started waving his hands around in dismay, asking him to get his foot off the counter! Feeling good about our weight loss we sought refuge from the Ethiopian sun in a coffee and cake shop. Addis has quite a few cafe/bakery establishments. Alistair has started a biscuit ranking theme - namely as entertainment on the previous bus day - however the theme continues and the top ranked biscuit so far was found. Jenna was in search of a power bank as her solar panel has stopped working, and Alistair still hadn’t replaced his stolen phone. We spent quite a few hours meandering the town in search. By about 2pm we realised meandering wasn’t achieving alot. Frank and Marty jumped ship and found a pub; David, Jenna, Steph, Alistair and I squeezed (very much squeezed) in to a Blue Donkey (local slang for taxi…such is evolution!) to the ‘phone area’. It did exactly what it said on the tin. The city seems to be divided into regions - phone region, lighting region, clothing region. It was about 15mins taxi ride from the clothing region to the phone region! We managed to source both hard drive and phone within an hour. Slightly hangry, tempers were fraying. We found nourishment in a fast food chain called ‘Chicken Hut’. They served the chips and burger straight on to Alistairs tray. We were lucky enough to get a bowl. I had bought some brown diamond shaped things on a polystyrene tray in the supermarket which I handed out. We thought they would be something sweet and tasty, maybe even fudge. Mass disappointment - they tasted like stock cubes! The taxi ride back to the hotel lived up to expectations. Halfway up the hill, stuck in traffic and at a standstill. Four of us in the back, sitting at angles to fit. The traffic in front pulls away. The driver revs the engine, but doesn’t seem to be lifting the clutch. People start beeping and driving around. We offer to get out and push, thinking we must weigh too much. The driver puts the handbrake on. Lifts the bonnet and pours bottle of water over it. Attempt 2. No go. Start rolling backwards, against the traffic, and reverse into the side of the road. Driver disappears behind some buildings. Returns with more water and repeats the process. Sit for a bit. Retry. Revving. Revving. Revving. Suddenly we pull away. The car had overheated and run out of water! No Blue Donkey ride in Addis is complete without something happening! We had been in a hurry to get back to put our permanent bags on the truck by 4pm. We were greeted by a White Board informing us that we would be staying the extra day. At that point the plan was the cycle the day after, however as described above, this has not prevailed. The hotel restaurant was extremely busy,especially for a Tuesday. It took over 1.5hours from ordering drinks and food, to having the drinks on the table! We literally had to follow the waiter upto the kitchen to get his attention! Today we caught the Light Rail into the city to go to the National Museum, and enjoy more Ethiopian coffee. The light railway was very well organised, and probably took only about 10mins longer than the taxi. A taxi cost 250birr for 5, the train cost 20birr for 5 of us! The lady on the speaker said everything in Amharic and English. It did differ to the tube - instead of ‘Please mind the gap’ we were informed that ‘……… and fowl (chickens) are not permitted on the trains’. Relaxed evening in the bar; relearning how to play Hearts, eating and drinking. Such is life on a bus tour of Ethiopia - none of this early to bed and up with the sunrise malarkey! Not convinced the bus will be very comfortable, historically we have been pretty cramped and warm on the minibus. Tomorrow will be no exception, especially as our group size has increased!
10 days to Kenya, and Jenna's birthday. Not sure if we will have internet before then or not.
