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 Ethiopia Ethiopia Part One Ethiopia is a strange place in many ways. They have a different time system for a start 7am is 1 o’clock, their calendar is different being 7.5 years behind the western calendar (they have just celebrated the 2000 millennium and we try to tell ourselves that we are correspondingly younger being 20-something again), and there are 13 months (12 x 30 days and 1 x 5 days plus one for the leap year). The roads are something else to get used to. Technically you must drive on the right hand side of the road, although most of the buses and trucks seem to prefer life on the left hand side of the road. The main traffic hazard apart from the millions of people who insist on using the road as a foot path while being totally oblivious to the approaching ARB bull bar on Truckasaurus, are the number of suicidal goats and cows. They will stay off the road until they see you approach, then walk straight out into your path, look at you and refuse to move. Their life must be so bad that they seem to say to you “go on hit me, make it quick and put me out of my misery, I want to die, you will be doing me a favour. Come on just do it, hit me please.” If there are two options open to them, they will always choose the one that takes them right into our path. They take the award for stupidest animals in Africa. It is amazing how they are so different from cows and goats on the rest of the continent. You cross the boarder and the stupidity of the animals change instantly you cross that imaginary line in the sand.     Ethiopia has perfected a two tier pricing system, which attempts to extort as much from the tourists as is humanly possible. The price will always go up for foreigners for food, drinks, taxi, accommodation, everything. Taxi drivers ask between twice and three times the normal fare in the hope you have just arrived in the country and have no idea what a fair price is. Add to this the amount of people that expect you to give them money cause you are a tourist and it becomes a little draining travelling through here. Kids stand by the side of the road asking you for “highland” which is a brand of bottled water; they are asking for the plastic bottle. They will also ask for anything, money, pens, whatever they can get out of you. It appears as though people only know two words of English; “highland” and “youyouyouyouyouyouyouyouyouyou”. The roads here chew tyres for breakfast. Most of the roads are made from sharp stones surrounded by fine dust. The stones rip great chunks from your tyres while the dust gets into every corner of the car, your clothes, your equipment and every body orifice. A tip for driving in the dust. If you have aircon, use it. Keep the windows wound up as this creates a higher pressure inside the car that helps stop the dust getting past the seals. If you don’t have aircon, wind down the windows and learn to enjoy dust. The positive side of Ethiopia is that petrol is very cheep (around USD 0.70/L), the local food is awesome, the coffee could teach the Italians a thing or two, they have the best beer in Africa (Saint George), the women are beautiful and the people who don’t want to rip you off are genuinely very friendly and hospitable. So where have we been I hear you ask? We finally got Truckasaurus back with new windows and what not and made a run for the boarder. We had gotten hold of spare rear shock absorbers and luckily I checked them before we left as they were the wrong ones (we have not had a good run with shocks – if you do this trip in a Disco II, bring spare shocks). We left Nairobi at 6am and Jacinda did a good job of getting us lost in the dark – the maps are not correct to be fair. A bit of intuition and navigating by the stars had us back on the correct road and heading north.    Thankfully we did not see any trouble and strangely enough were glad to leave the tar behind as we hit probably the worst section of roads we have seen in Kenya between Isiolo and Marsabit. We finally arrived in Marsabit around 5pm having driven almost non-stop (mostly over mind numbing corrugations that ended about 5 minutes before my sanity was about to call it a day). We stayed at Swiss Henricks campsite (unsigned and you need to ask locals where it is). This place is a little gem and we slept well on our last night in Kenya. Up early the next morning we took under 5 hours to do the remainder of the “bandit road” to Moyale and the boarder with Ethiopia. We had heard many horror stories about this road, and while it is atrocious for a major highway (corrugations, ruts, sand, rocks etc) it was not as bad as expected thanks to some recent grading of the road. We had lunch at the boarder post on the Kenyan side (only because the customs office was at lunch). This was the smoothest boarder post we had exited so far. We also got out of paying road tax. When we entered Kenya I convinced them that we would be in the country for less than 7 days so I didn’t need to pay the $40USD. I argued that I could always pay it upon exiting the country. They finally caved in and the Moyale end did not ask for my receipt so we got a bit back on the Kenyans. AWA didn’t apply for a change. The Ethiopian side was a little harder though. They insisted on checking my engine number on the car. “Where the F^%$ is my engine number?” I thought. Finally we talked our way out of finding it. I have since found where it is, and in typical Land Rover fashion, it is very inaccessible if the engine is not dead cold. We decided to hire a local guide for the Omo Valley (I actually had seen a website of other travellers that had hired him and had a premonition that we would meet him the previous day).    The Omo Valley is a strange place. It has a variety of tribes that take you back to a pre-colonial Africa, it is remote, initially overwhelming, exploitive and yet fascinating. The local tribes being natural capitalists charge money per photo that you take of them (1-2 Birr each or 10-20c per photo). If you visit a village you are bombarded by people (from kids to bare breasted women to elderly people) shouting, “photo, photo?” They mob you, they hound you, They surround you demanding you take their photo so that they can get some money out of you. If they help you with anything, a hand out of the boat, directions or any request for information they will expect payment for it. Having a guide helps to negotiate the price of photos down, keep the people from totally overwhelming you and reduces the amount that you can be ripped off. The trick is to turn off your flash so you can take more than one shot, take secret photos when the camera is by your side and try to milk what you can. You come into these villages the tourist but leave feeling like the one that has been exploited. We seem to exist for their benefit not them for ours. That said, once you get used to the circus, the Omo is a fascinating place. It is amazing seeing all the different tribes and cultures. The kids who are too young to understand the value of money are beautiful. We could have brought dozens of them home with us. Although Jacinda wasn’t happy with my suggestion that she should respect the local culture and walk around naked above the waist. We also had a typical LE.com experience (our name for when locals try to give you taste of an authentic experience, but given piss poor organising it ends up being a shambles – Local Experience). This LE.com involved trying to see a traditional dance in a local village. It was organised for late afternoon and we voiced our concerns that it should be held before it got dark so that we could take photos and video in order to get our monies worth. True to form it was held too late, it got dark without any sign of the dancers and we asked for our money back.    The next day we were told that it would be organised for 6pm, not 7pm. This was soon shelved as we heard that there was a bull jumping ceremony on and local dancing was a part of that. We drove that afternoon for several hours through the bush to find out that bull jumping was postponed. Back to the campsite and we were told the dancing would be back on tonight at 6pm sharp. True to form it started at 7pm as darkness descended. It was so dark that we couldn’t even see the dancers. We complained and then it was rescheduled around a large fire. We were still unable to take photos but at least we could see the dancing. AWA. We went to leave the next morning to find that Truckasaurus wouldn’t fire over. As soon as the bonnet was opened a large crowd of would-be mechanics stood around getting in the way. One guy was particularly persistent and I turned around and said “is anyone a mechanic?” of course they would say no and I could then tell them to back away and let me work in peace. He said, “Yes I am” in a fine German accent. Damn, he called my bluff. “It’s battery” “No, I have tested it, it’s the starter motor.” I replied He proceeded to hit it with a large spanner and the engine fired up. I would work out over the next few days that it was not the teeth in the starter that were playing up (I said to Jacinda that it was an earth problem which she confirmed from some other travellers a few days later) but a loose earth strap cable. The alleged mechanic had actually started the car by completing the earth connection via the spanner to the engine. In the process he had tripped out the engine computer meaning that I needed to get it reset in Addis a few days later (in the meantime I suffered a lack of power due to a combination of altitude and the computer being a little fried. A clean down of the earth connection and a re-tighten fixed the problem. Lesson learned, don’t let anyone else touch the car.    Next on the agenda was a trip to the Bale Mountains. It is a long drive to get there and we ended up at the Dinsho Lodge; a run down place with no hot water, a big omission in an area that gets down below freezing at night. We took a drive up to the mountains to try to see the rare and endangered Ethiopian Wolf. There are only around 200 of them left in the Bale Mountain area. We ended up seeing three Ethiopian Wolves and some really beautiful scenery. Along the way we hit an altitude record for us at 4374m above sea level. It was also bitterly cold up there, but well worth the days drive up and back. We wouldn’t want to be camping up there at night though. Our guide Biruk had decided to tag along with us once we left the Omo and he introduced us to his family along the way. It was a great experience (and a genuinely good LE.com experience) to meet his family, see their homes, experience a traditional coffee ceremony (where they roast the beans, add spices, grind them up, heat the water over a fire, brew the coffee etc) and eat more good traditional food. One thing that you take away from this sort of thing is the realisations that no matter where you live, what your language, how rich or poor you are, we are so very similar. Our families operate the same. Kids run to see their dad when he gets home from work, parents care for their children, brothers and sisters have disagreements and the family home is a place of sanctuary and comfort, regardless of whether it has dirt floors or carpet.    We are now in Addis doing the rounds of the embassies to get the visas that we will need over the coming weeks. We needed to get our Egyptian visa so that we stand a better chance of getting one for Sudan. You need copies of visas, letters of introduction from the Australian embassy and copies of your passport in order to stand a chance. We got the car cleaned to find that we have damaged another shock absorber. We hit a large stone (probably way back in Kenya) that has caused the rear shock to leak oil. We are doing the run-around to get replacements sent to us, as our plan to get spares in Nairobi didn’t go according to plan. Shocks have been our achillis heel on this adventure, for sure.     Costs and Info Our Guide for the Omo: Biruk Desalgn +254 725 271 801 +251 911 840 703 elsabiruk@yahoo.com www.africaoverland.com.au (Ron & Viv Moon’s Site) Cost: USD $20pp/pd Distance travelled to date: 24,195km Average fuel consumption: 6.98km/L * Best fuel economy: 8.56km/L Cost of a local meal for two people: USD $1.20 Cheapest fuel: AUD $0.84 (Ethiopia) Most expensive fuel: AUD $2.07 (Uganda – thanks to the Kenya crisis) Cup of espresso coffee: AUD $0.12 Visa for Ethiopia: USD $20pp Visa for Egypt: Birr 235pp (AUD $28 USD $25) Visa for Sudan : USD $61pp *This is due to really bad roads, altitude and some smart arse tripping the engine computer (which I have since found out can be reset by disconnecting the battery for an hour or two) Ethiopia Part Two While Ethiopia has its positive side, it is the type of country that does wear you down reasonably quickly. We had heard Ethiopia described by other travellers as "a beautiful country, just shame about the people". While we would not echo those exact sentiments, there is a part of that that has an element of truth. Children have a habit of hurling rocks at passing cars as a form of sport. "I am bored, lets go down to the highway and throw some rocks at cars". On one stretch of road we had three attempts, one missed, one hit and bounced off without leaving a mark and one left a nice little dent at the bottom of the door. The same kids are probably the same ones that then ask you for money, or pens, for food, clothes, your car or the sweaty shirt on your back. We discovered in Addis that we had gone through another rear shock. We suspect that the running the blockades in Kenya was responsible for a large rock strike to the OME shock and then it had slowly leaked oil since. Our options were to get shocks from either Nairobi or the UK and have them sent to either Addis or Khartoum. We worked out we could get Bilsteins from Nairobi sent free of charge to Khartoum or we could get OME or Bilstein sent from the UK only to Addis not Khartoum. Not having to wait another week in Addis we elected to go for Bilsteins and pick them up in Khartoum.
The drive through the rest of Ethiopia spelt the end for the other rear shock. Lucky I ordered three (and now have one spare). We have ended up now buying 11 shocks in total and have 2 spare (one front one rear) for this trip. We think that the reason for the trouble with shocks is a combination of the following. The original bilsteins were most likely a bad batch (although we are yet to confirm this). The OME’s have been great until the rock damage. The dramas now however come from badly specified travel lengths. For the Disco 2, the shocks that we have used have been specified from ARB and Bilstein as being appropriate for a 50mm spring lift (we have effectively 45mm in the rear). Unfortunately I have reached the conclusion that most people that sell you suspension do not understand suspension. With a 50mm lift there is insufficient travel in the shocks (both OME and Bilstein). We now find that the shocks in the rear hit their limits over potholes. The Bilsteins only have around 20mm of extension left in the rears, and around 20mm of compression. The OME’s have about 10mm more travel in them. Effectively our shocks in the rear are at least 50mm too short and could possibly handle another 70mm or more of travel (extension). The truth is that these shocks are not suitable for any suspension above standard factory height. A tape measure and a spreadsheet will easily show this.
The end result of this is that we have decreased 4wd ability because of the lack of travel (we suspect the front are not much better), and we are placing excess wear on the shocks each time we bit a large bump in the road and hear the shock crack the end of their travel. The options are either find a shock that has sufficient travel or fabricate a bracket that alters the distance between the shock mounting points so that we allocate the excess compression that we have currently unutilised and make that available for increased extension. Once fabricated I might look at marketing this to other 4wders along with a solution for the front as well. Looking back at video of the car before we shipped it I can see that the suspension was not set up perfectly from the start. Shocks aside, we spent the remainder of our time in Ethiopia around Gondar and Lake Tana in the north. We decided against seeing the sights in the far north because of the bad state of the roads. With one shock gone it was not really an option and the roads in Ethiopia chop up tires for breakfast. That said we have been impressed with the Coopers, they are amazing, but these roads would destroy even Cooper’s. With many more miles to cover on the trip we don’t want to have to spring for new tyres just yet. From Ethiopia it is onto Sudan, Egypt and then the Middle East. We are somewhat thankful to be leaving Ethiopia. It is a beautiful place but the constant hassle and the rock throwing is somewhat tiresome. Add the razor sharp roads and it becomes just another country, which is a shame as it has so much potential.
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