The End

My Uganda experience is now complete. I fly tomorrow morning to Europe. The last picture is probably the most important, water flowing from a tap. The project is not complete yet but we now know it definately works. About a month of construction left but all the taps should be on within a week. I am happy to be making my way home but it is sad to be leaving this place. All good things must come to an end and it is time for a change. For me, the fire fighting season starts in less than a month.

Overland: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to Nairobi, Kenya

While in Bahir Dar a couple weeks ago I met a guy named Dave from South Africa. He had driven from S. Africa to Egypt with his daughter in his Land Rover. She flew home and he is on his way home. To fill the empty seat and reduce his fuel costs he has been giving rides to backpackers. I was the second and filled the seat for 6 days from Addis Ababa to Nairobi. It was a 1,800 kilometer drive, with about 600km unpaved through the Northern Kenyan desert.

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia







The night before we left we chewed a bunch of chat, a mildly stimulating local plant. The guy on the right is Johan, the guy who drove with Dave through Sudan





We drove through Shashemene, the home to some 200 Rastafarians who were invited back to Africa from Jamaica by Emperor Haile Selassie in 1963





The start of the rains came after the long dry season in Southern Ethiopia and it was already far greener than when I was here 2 weeks previous. A typical dwelling





As we got further south in Ethiopia the landscape changed. Far less vegetation and very red earth. Lots of termite mounds as well, reminds me of Northern Australia





As we descended into Northern Kenya we left the rains and entered the desert. Not so much the stereotypical desert of sand (except a few sections) but very hot, very dry, and very little vegetation. Not many people either and certainly the worst stretch of road on the drive



About halfway through the desert there is a town called Marsabit where we spent a night. It is on a plateau about 1,000 meters above the desert and therefore has different climate, ie gets lots of rain. The morning during the heavy rain as we headed back down towards the desert we came across this truck. They couldnt get it out so they leveled out the piles of aggregate for road repair to allow us to pass


This guy probably would have been better to stay out of the ditch during this very heavy rain






Back into the desert, lots of camels around







Typical mode of public transport in Northern Kenya, riding on top of cargo trucks






We startled a pack of vulcars on the road. I couldn't see what they were eating but I could definetely smell it






A typical camp set up - Dave slept in the Land Rover and I slept in the tent. We camped 5 nights and got rain on 4 of those nights. This night, when I had good shelter, no rain!








We camped near the base of Mt. Kenya, the second highest mountain in Africa and one of the few with glaciers. Had a good view in the morning while the clouds cleared





Crossing the equator in Kenya










Nairobi, Kenya

Ethiopia - Gondar & Lalibela

The tour of old churches and castles is now over. Monday I start the 5 day, 1,800km drive from Addis Ababa to Nairobi. Gondar is the site of the Royal Enclosure, a bunch of 17th century castles. Lalibela is home to a bunch of rock hewn churches from the 11th century. Both were incredible and well worth the trip.

I thought this rock formation on the drive from Bahir Dar to Gondar was pretty cool









This is the largest castle at Gondar and also the best persevered. Former home to King Fasilada









Some other castle structures. The Italians unfortunately plastered the library (in the center) for some reason, maybe preservation





Debre Selassie church in Gondar. 18th century with original artwork






The ceiling of the Debre Selassie church







St. George rock hewn church in Lalibela










This shows best how the church were constructed: The rock was excavated from around them, they are the natural bedrock





More rock hewn churches










This one is cool because it is 3 stories high and excavated all the way around with a bridge connecting the entrance






This one had probably the best exterior. Amazing considering it is the natural rock - don't screw up!

Ethiopia - Bahir Dar & Lake Tana

After returning to Addis Ababa I arranged the next leg of the trip, the Northern circuit. I decided to fly parts of it to save time. I consider this travel cheating but who am I kidding, I am basically a tourist at this stage. This being said, I have made arrangement to switch back from a tourist to a traveller starting this weekend. I met a South African guy who has driven from S.A. to Egypt and is now on his way back. He went north with his daughter but is returning alone and is looking to reduce fuel costs. Long story short, we are driving from Addis to Nairobi starting Sunday. It will take us 6 days through the very unpleasent climate of Northern Kenya. I am wasting the return leg of my flight and lose one week in Ethiopia but I feel it is worth it. I am starting to get sick of being a tourist anyways.
And with that, the last part of my trip was to Bahir Dar and Lake Tana in Northern Ethiopia. I met some other tourists in Addis and we did some tourist things together. First we visited the Blue Nile falls and the next day we went on a boat tour on Lake Tana to visit 4 of the monastaries. I may be starting to sound a bit cynical but it truth it was all very interesting and worthwhile.



Blue Nile Falls, aka Tis Isat Falls







Most of the monastaries are decorated like this. This one is not old so they allowed flash photography









A priest and a very old bible made of goat skin










This is a better example of the inside of one of the nicer monastaries. Beautiful artwork







An old priest displays a very old cross










Our mighty vessel with it's 25hp engine. Our '4 hour tour' took about 7

This is a local reed canoe. Incredible it even floats but apparently they take a very large load no problem

Ethiopia - Horse Trek Bale Mtns

I arrived in Addis last Monday night and very early Tuesday morning I was on a bus south to Dodola to arrange a short horse trek in the Bale Mountains. Wednesday morning I started a 3 day/2 night horse trek with an older British lady and our guide Hussein. It is a very interesting terrain and it was a great trip. We got up to around 3,500m elevation and the nights were quite cold. A big change from the very hot Ethiopian day. Because most of the country is so high (~2,000m), I'm finding it is very dry and the sun is powerful. Nights are very cool and pleasant. It is amazing how different this country is from the one I visited in East Africa, not only climate but also the culture. They have a very strong national identity and very unique culture. I guess the benefits of being the only African country not to be colonialized.


I know a few people who can appreciate this: Ethiopian street foosball







The primary mode of transport in Dodola and much of the poorer rural areas







This is a typical landscape, flat and dry








Bringing firewood to market








The hut keeper and his kids











The highest point we reached was around 3,500m elevation








Hugicho Mountain








A typical mountain dwelling











My horse on day three. Each day we had different horses. This one was the most energetic of the three

After the three days when we returned to Dodola we were encountered with a dust storm which didn't stop the local kids from playing soccer

Kampala Extension

After Rwanda I was supposed to fly to Ethiopia from Kampala. Unfortunately I made a big error with the flight in that I assumed booking online got me a ticket. In fact, it only got me a reservation and I had to go to the booking office to actually buy the ticket. The result was that I was at the airport with no ticket and there was no booking office at the airport. I had to return to Kampala and the earliest flight was 4 days later. Lesson learned at the expense of 4 less days in Ethiopia.
Before my initially scheduled flight a group of us went to Bussi Island (or possibly peninsula) on Lake Victoria. It was very nice there and relaxing but the bugs at night were quite extreme. As a result of hanging around Kampala I was there while many other people left and also to meet Tyler's brother who arrived just before I left. Finally since my flight wasn't until 6:30pm, I spent a couple hours at the Entebbe wildlife santuary which was quite cool because there was a big family of chimps and also whito rhinos amongst many other African animals.


I am also impressed with the organized chaos of these mini-bus parks. Walking around Kampala's is like navigating a maze

The dock on Lake Victoria where we departed on the 40 minute boat ride to Bussi Island

This guy worked at the hostel on the island and was responsible for catching dinner. Dinner of fresh fish was amazing

Volleyball at sunset

Tyler and Tim - Identical brothers. An excellent example of what 6 months living in Africa will do to a good clean cut young man

One of the chimps at the wildlife santuary

White rhinos at the wildlife santuary

My plane to Ethiopia at Entebbe airport. I was very happy to see it

Sunset over Lake Victoria from the plane