Totally Unauthorized

Saturday was a day of rest, in theory.  We had no workshops, and were just going sightseeing.  Sometimes work is easier than fun.

We set out early with a new driver, who doesn’t seem to have a name and doesn’t speak any English that I can discern.  But he does a great job, and doesn’t disappear on us, so I’m happy.

The plan was to drive 2 hours northwest to Ambo, a secondary city, and then head over the top of a dead volcano, down the other side and home by another route.

The ride started out beautiful.  Wide green fields, people plowing by hand or with an ox, using a homemade wooden plow.  The rich guys have a piece of steel to attach as a blade to the plow.  There was really nothing to see in Ambo, so we left the excellent paved road and headed upland on dirt roads to Wenchi, the town in the caldera of the volcano.

Our timing was perfect;  Saturday is market day, and there were thousands of people streaming into Ambo and we got to see them all, carrying their chickens and vegetables, leading the sheep and goats and cattle, dressed for a day in town.  They were walking from great distances, all downhill, and would have to make the 3 or 4 or 5 hour trek home, uphill, at the end of the day.  The most common means of transportation here is by foot, and people think nothing of walking 5 or ten miles.

Nearing the crest of the road, (remember that we started out at 7700 feet in Addis), we saw a crew working feverishly to build some sort of radio or telecommunications tower–the feverish part came from the Chinese bosses who were directing the Ethiopian crew.  The Chinese are a big presence here–lots of commerce, lots of public works which are in trade for mining and power licenses.  America just gives aid–China ties it commercial rights and privileges. Guess who’s more successful?

The town of Wenchi is pretty amazing.  It absolutely stunning in a wide caldera, very clean, all new corrugated steel roofs on the houses, which are either squarish mud/dung/straw buildings or round huts made of straight branches of Eucalyptus.  Either type of home is usually thatched, but the sight of a town with all new steel roofs is wonderful.  We saw a crew of men dragging heavy electric cable to be strung on brand new cement power poles, most likely imported from China as well.

Just out of the town is the entrance to the park, where we stopped and paid the entrance fee and then paid for horses and a guide.  There is a beautiful crater lake at the bottom of a 4 km (2.4 mile) path, and we weren’t going to go hiking up and down at 11,000 feet.

When it came time to mount up, the adventure began.  There are the smallest horses you have ever seen, more like big ponies.  I am the largest man these people had ever seen.  The combination was not good.

After considerable arguing amongst the guides, a loser was chosen and I got a horse.  Then that didn’t work, so I got another horse.  Off we went, slowly walking down the steep and rocky hill.  I had guides on both sides of me holding on so I didn’t fall, but the saddle still slipped once and over to the side I went.  They caught me and righted me and tightened up the saddle (which is nothing like one of ours, much smaller and more simple).  All along the road we were greeted by kids–this is a land of children, young women popping out new Ethiopians early and often.

Finally, the bottom of the hill. And,……nothing.  A pretty lake.  No amenities, no nothing.  So after 5 minutes we started back up.

With, of course, a huge fight among the horse drivers to see who would get stuck with me (all new horses from the trip down).

So some poor kid with his horse had to make it back up the hill with the biggest guy they could imagine.  Slowly, slowly, we did.  I gave the kid a tip of more than the original price of the ride, and still he was unhappy–or they are so accustomed to insistently begging for more that he couldn’t help himself.

The begging is pretty tiresome, but that’s the price of poverty, I guess.

Next on the agenda was a greet lunch at a resort.  Italy has had a strong presence in Ethiopia for generations, since long before their abortive occupation in 1940.  I had a tagliatelle with oil and garlic that was splendid, and we all enjoyed our meals.

Back on the paved road, we ran into a huge thunderstorm which included so much hail the side of the road looked like there was 3 inches of snow.

One more trip to the airport to continue to find that my luggage was in Cairo, and would be here “tomorrow”, and I fell into bed.

Today we are all sunburned and sore from using strange muscles on the horseback ride.  What a great adventure it is.