Sat 25 Jan 2014 (17 Tir 2006) Simien Mountains

Sat 25 Jan 2014 (17 Tir 2006) Simien Mountains After a night of almost no sleep, we get up at 6AM. Our tour is scheduled to pick us up at 8 AM. We pack our day bags and go down for the included breakfast. Since Mike had paid only $30, instead of $33,the hotel had decided we were entitled to only one breakfast.(!) We get an egg dish that was bountiful enough to serve us both. We have already noticed that Ethiopian restaurant portions tend to be large, even by American standards. Mike finishes the fish goulash from Habesha - it wasn't very good last night, and it hasn't improved. We go outside and wait. About 8:20 we are picked up. Already in the bus is Thomas, from South Africa, roughly our age. He is a Boer whose family has been in South Africa from the 1600s. After one more stop, we have picked up Sebastian (French), Sheree (New Zealand, currently working in Kinshasa, Zaire) and Claudia (Italy). These three seem to be in their late 20s. Sheree says that compared to Kinshasa, Ethiopia feels safe and clean. Off we go. We pass Wolleke, the former Falasha village, without stopping. Also the Plowshare Women's Training Center. Our vehicle stops at Kosoye, for the spectacular view. We arrive in Debark close to 10:20 AM. There, at the National Park Office, we sign in, and the tour pays the necessary fees and guide permits and arranges for enough security. Our guide is Ami, a friendly young man. In the office, we spot the T-shirt of the day. It says: Save Water, Drink Tej (honey wine). We then go across the street for some coffee, while the tour assembles our to-go lunches. We are ready to go by 11:30 AM. As we are leaving, vendors stick their arms into our vehicle. Sebastian buys a scarf for 125 birr, just as the bus pulls off. We are now 10 - driver, guide, 2 security with AK-47s, 6 tourists. We turn right off the main road onto a rough dirt road in the middle of the market, and we slowly drive through this crowded, bustling market. Sebastian, Sheree, and Claudia are packed for their multi-day adventure. We and Thomas carry only what we need for the afternoon. About 50 minuets later, near Simien Lodge, and the highest cellphone tower in Ethiopia, we have climbed to about 3200 meters (10,700 ft apx). Simien Lodge is a $160 a night ecolodge -solar powered. We stop for the view. Carol asks Ami about a fruit on a bush. It is a caustic fruit, which when crushed, can be used to clean clothes. Even in this wilderness, kids show up selling woven bowls. A few hundred meters up the road, we see out first gelada baboons, hundreds of them, scattered all over the fields in front of us. We take 17 pictures of baboons and more baboons. The ground has lichen and moss, and we see a small white flower growing. A few minutes later, we see a second group of baboons and take 10 more pictures. We turn a curve, having gone another several hundred meters, and it is time for lunch, and then hiking. It is now just after 1 PM. Our lunch is a very filling sandwich, an egg, and a banana. We overlook an escarpment to the north; we will walk along that escarpment for apx 4 km, not quite to the Sankaber campsite. We pass fruit trees and a couple of sleeping sheep. After about a half hour, we are at a spectacular place. Ami exclaims: "I can fly," (but doesn't). He gives us his 10 minute tour summary. The Simiens were formed by volcanic eruptions some 40 million years ago. Erosion created jagged mountains and pinnacles. This is considered to be the Afro-Alpine zone. We are at 10,700-11,200 ft. The trekkers will walk at roughly altitude to Chenek, (with a small gain of elevation) and then sharply climb to Bwahit (4430 m). At Bwahit they can get good views of Ras Dashen, Ethiopia's highest peak, and turn back. This is as far as they will go, but given two more days, they could get to Ras Dashen (4543 m) and back. We can see the outlines of Bwahit in the distance. Finally, after going up and down, and across and around, we finish our day trip. Our car is waiting there to drive us back. We pose as a group for the photos. There are two local kids who have created a kechaita (a stringed instrument) from, of all things, a crushed 2-liter plastic bottle and some string. They have also created bows and are scratching out a tune. Mike gives them 20 birr for the serenade. They also have a tiny lidded turquoise-blue woven basket. Mike holds out another 30 birr ($1.60 US). It is a deal. It is now close to 4 PM. 20 minutes down the road, we see another, even larger, pack of baboons, and stop to take 16 pictures. 16 km along the road, we reach the gate to the park. Simien Mtn Natl Park is a world heritage site, however, it is also on the World Heritage Endangered List, because of the large number of people living in the park. We have seen thickly forested areas, but much has also lost its trees. On the drive back, we reach the main road about 5:15 PM. We have some interesting conversations. It turns out that Thomas teaches library science, and is also an archivist. He has some real concerns about how precious materials have been handled in Africa. Thomas has been to approximately 20 countries in Africa. He suggests that a great tour would be South Africa, Namibia and Botswana. He is a proud African, down to his toenails, and very sure about his identity as part of this continent. Back to the city after dark. Dinner at Habesha, where we discover: (1) even good Ethiopian pizza is not quite right by our standards; (2) coffee roasted even more intensely than Starbucks tastes and smells burnt; (3) the most mangled English on the menu we have yet seen; and (4) dinner service can be S-L-O-W! We finally get our pizza as we are prepared to walk out. We eat two pieces, and take six. Habesha Rustica pizza is less to our taste than we can have imagined. Back to the hotel, next door. Thankfully, the music seems to stop about midnight.