A lovely last W/E in Ethiopia

The plan was to leave at 2PM for the voyage to Ambo. I found out from finance that my cheque would be ready at 2:45 so we hung around waiting. I sent Dereje to get Melaku and come back with Mulumabet too for a 3PM departure. We head north then west out of Addis. As usual while still in the city, the roads are crowded with habesha doing all the things they do in throngs all over the streets. It does not take long until we break the crowds in the city and hit open countryside.

The 1h45m trip to Ambo is uneventful except for when Dereje's ball cap flew out of the vehicle and Melaku retrieved it from the side of the road. We pass the standard assortment of small towns bustling with citizens doing who knows what. Finally in the distance we see a cluster of houses and buildings and Melaku confirms my suspicion that this is Ambo. The hotel looms on the horizon as the tallest building in the berg. We check in and I get room 301, the same number as my lodgings at TDS. I unpack and head with my guitar down into a very nice garden. The rest of the gang trickles in and I get ready for a few songs. To my horror the guitar strap amplifier is not working well, symptomatic of a weak battery or a loose connection. Proud ferenge heads up to his room, so pleased with himself for bringing an extra battery. Lo and behold, the amp is still not great so I ensure the terminals are snapped into the 9-volt battery which they are NOT. This fix does not work either and I must resign myself to finding another battery in town at the local battery dispensing establishment.

We quaff a few St. George's beer and chat in the garden and at one point the standard Ethiopian intrusion begins ... loud music that disturbs an otherwise tranquil afternoon. We visit for a bit then decide to meet in the lobby at 7PM for dinner. Prior to sustenance Melaku and I visit every possible photo store and anything else that could possibly have a battery, and there is none to be found in Ambo.

We head to the Ambo Ethiopian hotel for our dinner and enjoy a large menu with seemingly scrumptious offerings. The first two things I try to order they are out of so I settle on the mixed grill. The food arrives and all is to our liking. We discover the server is married to the front desk guy we just encountered at the hotel, and she enjoys a picture I show her of her beau. After the bill is paid we walk back towards the hotel and sit in the lobby for a bit chatting. We then hook up with the guide we hired for the trek to the lake on Saturday. After the details are ironed out and we are told to be in the lobby at 8AM Saturday, we venture across the street to a very dimly lit bar and chuckle and chat for the better part of 2 hours. Even this ferenge type had a few shots of Ouzo, rare in my history of bar-hopping. We head back to the hotel and I crash around 10:45. I leave my balcony door and window open to enjoy the cool night air. That turns out to have been a mistake as the street noise and the canine vocals are very annoying. About 3AM I finally get up and close the door/window and attempt to drift off to sleep again. I think I had 4-5 hours which turns out to be resting.

I am up for good about 6:30 and after dressing, head down for coffee and breakfast. I am the first of our party to end up in the restaurant. I order coffee with milk and french toast which are both great. The gang appears in trickles and we load up the truck and head out about 8:45 for the trip to Lake Wenchi. The drive is all dirt road and there are sections that have obviously been subject to vast quantities of rain water deluges. They are carved with fissures that remind me of "Tales of Brave Ulysses" from Cream where they mention "carving deep blue ripples through the tissues of your mind ...". As usual there is an abundance of small towns with the usual assortment of shops and throngs of people everywhere. The guide gets us to pullover and we ramble up a very steep path. At the peak of the hill we discover a panoramic view of Wenchi Lake and the landscape and waterway are quite a sight to behold. We pile back into the vehicle to finish the voyage to the place where the hike will commence.

We get to the mouth of the park, and the first of many swarms of little-ones appear. They want to sell us bundles of weeds and flowers and we agree simply to give them the pleasure of having a bit of money to show for a good day's work. The smallest of the throng looks about 2 and when the money is all given out he bursts into tears since he did not get any. I walk up to him and give him a 1 birr note amidst a large cheer and clapping from the balance of the adult habesha assembled by the administration hut for the park.

There is a lengthy discussion with the workers at the hut and we discover there are a few ways we can handle this trek. We can walk down then up; we can horse-ride one or both ways; we can walk down and horseback up. We select the third option then there is another long heated exchange about the price. When that is settled, we head off! The grade averages about 10% all the way down, taking us the better part of 90 minutes to descend the 1200 metres to the lake. The periphery of the road has clusters of huts all over the place and the natives, especially the young ones, are pleased to see us. Melaku and Mulumabet disappear into a church close to the bottom of the road, and we hang on for about 15 minutes for the receipt of some blessings from the clergy in the church. We arrive at the lake and there is a makeshift wharf and a few boats tied up to the poles emerging from the water. There is a handful of natives close to the edge of the lake and they are obviously the horsepower that will end up propelling us to the island. The boat is aluminum and the ride to the island takes 15 minutes. We climb to a small church with the roof painted in the familiar green/yellow/red of the Ethiopian flag. We hang out there for about a half hour then descend the hill to another part of the island for the voyage back to the mainland. During this trip Melaku keeps moving from side to side of the boat and earns the nickname "Cabedah" which is Amharic for "heavy". I take great joy in this new handle, my always having been a fan of nicknames.

Our boat trip ends, and we spend 30 minutes traversing the edge of the lake until we finally reach a clearing full of horses. We each choose our modus-transportation and the staff assists mounting of the beasts where required. I feel comfortable in the saddle but a little out of balance. I have not been on a horse for over 40 years. On that occasion, I was in Osoyoos BC and fell off the animal, doing no damage in the fall. I am told to sit as far forward in the saddle as I can and hold the butt of the saddle to assist my balance. The voyage begins with a guide leading each animal. Melaku and Dereje walk and the rest of us ride. Some of the land we cover is a bit hilly and we cross a handful of streams on the back of these great beasts. During the more hilly portions the guides help by assisting ferenge and habesha to maintain their balance on the horses.

Then the fun begins yet anew. During the navigation of a seemingly benign hill, ferenge loses his balance and the ground comes rushing up to said Canadian, terminating with a thud on my right hip as I hit the ground with my right foot still in the stirrup. So it's now 2 for 2 as far as horse rides go, and the guides help me up. I have a distinct pain in my right hip so walk it off as best I can. I end up walking the next while and the hip is not great. Even though it is bothering me, I can walk with little discomfort. We stop at a waterfall and it is a hot spot where the locals hang out and some wash their clothes. We walk some more then ferenge decides to try the horse again. This time it is pointed out that probably the last beast I rode was too small and therefore not strong enough for me. My only question to myself is why they let me on the horse in the first place if it was obviously too small for me.

We get to some rough terrain again and dismount, clambering up some steep embankments to softer ground then ride the horses again. We are on and off a few more times until we reach what is reported to be the end of rough going. We ride the horses to the lodge where we prepare for a well-deserved lunch. We have a choice of tibs or tibs and the repast is lovely. We head back to Ambo and return at about 5:30. The power is off all over the town and we make plans to convene in the lobby at 6:30. We want to find a DsTV outlet and watch Chelsea play Aston Villa at 7PM. Alas, this is not to be ... the hotel's generator is fixed finally and its power comes back on but teh rest of the town is still out. There is a spattering of establishments with generators but the streets are dark. We head off to a restaurant and chow down on some beef tibs. The meat was chewy and downright close to inedible. We complain to the server who says "tough" :). We then head back to the hotel and hang out in the lit restaurant. After a while the power appears to return to the rest of Ambo. We want to watch a Barcelona Real Madrid football game at 11PM but it is not on the dish at the hotel so I retire.

Sunday AM I am up early and madly check the hockey scores. Buffalo finally beat the Sens it appears. We gather for breakfast and head out to the Ethiopian hotel down the street. After an OK meal, we pile into the vehicle for the trip back to Addis. I sleep a log of the way. We stopped at a church about 45 minutes out of Addis and hang out taking pictures and visiting with the locals. It was quite a weekend and loved the exercise we got. As it turns out Lake Wenchi is quite well known in many circles.

Back in Addis I watched the ManU/Blackburn scoreless draw then most of the Liverpool/Fulham 0-0 natch as well. I had a nice Turkish dinner then headed back to the hotel to finish a quiet evening. The highlights of the trip to Ambo were:

1) Ambo
2) The Wenchi crater 7 hour/9 kilometre hike
3) Horseback riding
4) Ferenge falling off a horse
5) The company

At one point I found Mulumabet, Melaku, and Dereje all on their cell phones at the same time. I asked them if I should call them or if they are willing to speak with me in person ...