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‹ Previous (04/11/2007) MONTH Next (2008-01-03)› ‹ Previous (2007-11-09 - Kenya) COUNTRY Next (2008-01-14 - Sudan)› Ethiopia Adis ababa (see on map) 04/12/2007:
After a Sunday of hangover, on Monday we went to change the ring of Alexandra that was too small and she bought me one for me so that from now all the girls know at first sight that I am also engaged. Next, taking advantage of not having more work with the Sudan visa or with the car, we did a little tourism in Addis Ababa, a city at about 2500 meters over the sea level, that despite being the fourth biggest city of the continent with almost 3 million inhabitants, it does not stop being cozy, with modern buildings, trades of every type, monuments, big avenues and, yes, a chaotic traffic. The museums are one of the appeals of Addis Ababa. We visited the National Museum where there is, a female of 1,1m, the skeleton of Lucy that lived about 3.2 million years ago. When it was discovered in 1974, they thought that Lucy was an ancestor of the humanity, a sort of grandmother, but today it is thought that Lucy was rather an aunt. the same with 4 other skeletons found more recently in East Africa, South Africa and Chad, from different periods (one of them of 4 million) but without being direct ancestors of the humanity. The museum also shows other fossils of disappeared animals, thrones and crowns of the old monarchy and a magnificent exhibition of paintings and sculptures by local artists, which contrasts with the absence of craftsmanship in Ethiopia. Another appeal of Addis Ababa are the churches and orthodox cathedrals, however, when they said that we had to pay some 3,5$/person to visit one, we discarded them. So, while we waited for the negotiation of the visa for Sudan we have had quite a lot of time to work and to be with Claudio and his friends. Today Tuesday, Claudio has explained to me that the Ethiopians are very proud and even racist with the other black Africans. In fact, up to the Italian occupation, in Ethiopia there were markets for black slaves for the internal consumption and for Middle East. Part of the Ethiopian pride is due to the brief colonization that they suffered (5 years), which on the other hand keeps them conscious that the problems of the country are their own and not caused by the colonizing Europeans. Claudio also told me that as the Ethiopians, the expatriate Italians are also very proud and that they are much more racist than the Europeans that are not born in Ethiopia. That proved to be true when he decided to marry an Ethiopian girl, costing him the friendship of some Italian friends and strong familiar discussions. They all told: fuck the Africans, but do not marry with them". In another conversation, Claudio explained to me that he pays 40$/month to the guard of his house. It seemed very little, but afterwards he kept explaining me that with this quantity he feeds his woman and son, pays the rent of the house, the education of the son and still has 5$/month to pay another worker than helps his woman. It can seem completely exaggerated, but talking with other people I was informed that a waiter gets 12$/month (+ tips) or that a guard does not usually get more than 20 $ in a month. It is not surprising - also Claudio commented it -, that with these salaries there are so many people asking for money through the streets, cause little or a lot, they can accumulate the same money monthly. Of among many other anecdotes, Claudio explained one that left me amazed. He explained that one of his friend was hired for the Italian embassy Italian in Kenya. There he bought a new and expensive 4x4, but few months later it was stolen. He had the 4x4 assured for every risk, so he could buy another one identical, but despite having it parked in a safe place, after three months they stole it again. Already annoyed, the third one was bought, but this time he put a small bottle of good whiskey with poison in the fridge of the car and expected them to steal it again (this time without taking care so much). After 20 days they stole again the car and... - here a little tension is required, who was the thief? Did he die? - the day after the police is going to search for him and report him that he has 24 hours to abandon the country, because the head of the police of the neighborhood and his assistant had died poisoned. And the diplomatic passport probably saved him from a death or safe revenge... maybe he was happy to abandon such a corrupt country. Harar (see on map) 09/12/2007:
Tuesday in the afternoon we called the Embassy of Sudan and they informed us that they had not received the confirmation from Khartoum and they are not able yet to carry out our visas. They said that the confirmation could take a week or more so we decided to discover the East of Ethiopia up to Harar and on Wednesday we started to go in the morning. We stopped after a while, in Debre Zeyit, a town where there are different volcanic lakes. We visited Lake Hora, in the North of the city, where there was a recreational area where we walked and contemplated some of the few birds that populated the edge. Little afterwards we followed driving towards the East, arriving mid-afternoon to the National Park d'Awash, where birds and some antelopes can be observed. The entry and camping were accessible and we planned on spending the night near the river observing the animals. But at the entry they informed us that in the Nature Reserve armed assaults could take place and that it was obligatory to pay a bodyguard during all the stay. Having somebody next to the autocaravan during all the night was unacceptable for Alexandra and we decide to follow the road (crossing the Park and observing some órixs) and we slept a few km further on. On Wednesday we start to thread the mountains of Chereher that extend along the last 200 kilometers before reaching Harar. The road passes above the careens, where there are the villages and the crops thanks to the most temperate temperatures. The sights during this part of the road was splendid, with distant horizons, wide valleys, occasional forests, golden fields or mowed down, homes of mud and roofs of iron, very nice people... Finally, we reach mid-afternoon Harar, a walled Muslim city that had been the most important market of the Horn of Africa. On Thursday in the morning, we got out to discover the city of Harar in depth, although in some moments I had to drag Alexandra so that she followed me. The main street of the walled city did not have too much interest, there were some trades and small markets, but what more surprised us was the great quantity of misery that there was, with men and women sleeping in the street or asking for charity. At the end of the street we diverted through small labyrinthine alleys with the homes painted in white and some of bright colors: green, red or blue. Towards the centre of the villa we found a square with about fifteen eagles resting on a wall, and when we arrived a man started to throw bits of meat so that the eagles hunted them by flight. Anyway, the main tourist attraction in Harar is the hyena men that every night feed these animals with meat. Alexandra stayed in the autocaravan and I arrived there with a tuc-tuc (tricycle). In a higher area going to the town there were ten hyenas expecting a man with a basket full of meat to give them the food. It seems to be that, the tradition of feeding the hyenas comes from a lonf time, but at present it rather seems a representation for the tourists, they are frightened surrounding and the hyena men who charge some 5$/turista for the show. Yesterday on Saturday we decided to start going back towards Addis Ababa, but before we visited the market of another city few kilometers in the North of Harar, Dire Dawa, that has prospered much more than Harar, thanks to the train that passes connecting Addis Ababa with Djibouti. The market was in a walled enclosure, with the vendors selling their products on the ground. In an end I discovered some boys that played the "bingo" (they called the game like this), betting small quantities to see who entered more wooden parts through some small doors in a big board. After entertaining myself a good while with the boys of the "bingo", I returned to the car and we followed the path towards Addis Ababa, crossing the mountains of Chereher again and marveling with its sights. Today on Sunday we have stopped in Nazret, about a hundred kilometers away of Addis Ababa. There we have met Hibre, who has invited us to his home to take coffee and to observe the ceremony of its preparation. The mother of Hibre has started to toast some seeds of coffee in a small silver on a brazier, meanwhile burned a little incense, triturated afterwards the seeds of coffee blackened and poured them into a teapot of mud that she had put to warm up in the hot coals and from which after a good while, they served the coffee of a strong and delicious taste. While we took the coffee, Hibre has surprised Alexandra explaining that he was listening to Radio Romania International for more than 5 years, and to prove it he has shown us three diplomas that he had. Afterwards, Hibre has explained to us that Ethiopia works as a federation of tribes or cultures. he did not like the system, because he was AMhara but he is living in the region Oromo and he can not obtain work in the government if he doesn't speak the language of Oromo. I explained that in the region that I live, in Catalonia, the people would prefer an "ethnic federation" for Spain, although this federation also provokes injustices as the one that he lives. Hibre preferred the Ethiopian Nationalism, defended by the opposition party, which will hardly be able to access the government, because the current government is supported by the United States. Besides - he has ended up commenting - in Ethiopia there is not freedom of the press and even of expression, and many of the ones that try to challenge the government pay with prison. Adis ababa (see on map) 17/12/2007:
We have remained another week in Addis Ababa with the expectation to obtain the visa for Sudan, but today Monday the 17th, after having been phoning and visiting the embassy in each of the previous days, they have communicated that they had not received any answer from Khartoum. With more insistence, today I have asked whether there was any way to accelerate the obtaining of the visa and then, one of the officials has informed us than if we carried out the visa of Egypt today, we could carry out a transit visa of 15 days for Sudan. And he has continued explaining that if we did not obtain the visa today, we should wait for more than one week because the embassy closes up to the 27th of December for the Muslim holidays of Christmas. We have run towards the embassy of Egypt where they have informed us that at three we would have the visa. We have paid a little more of the official price established in a paper hanged in the wall, but I have not complained, because at three we already had the visa. Next we have run towards the embassy of Sudan and presented ourselves in front of the official who had suggested carrying out a transit visa. But he has sent us to another department and they have informed us there that they could not carry out the visa because they had too much work. In the same situation we met an Austrian couple, a man from Ireland and a Sudanese woman with French passport that couldn't visit her family in Sudan for Christmas. All the whites that were in the embassy have come out with the intention of meeting again on 27 of December and, celebrating Christmas two days before together. When knowing the answer of the embassy of Sudan we have decided to visit the North of Ethiopia this week, for we had nothing else to do in Addis Ababa. Anyway, the previous week in the capital we almost had no time to rest. When arriving from Harar we realized that the battery was discharging too fast and we were half a week checking the acidity of the liquids and looking for a new battery that was adapted to the car. The other half of the week we dedicated it to look for a spare wheel because one that we had was about to burst. And to finish, in the weekend my portable computer lost the windows and I had to take it to a small office of computer service where the data has been recovered and they have reinstalled the windows and the majority of programs. Anyway, having a bit more time to know a little more Addis Ababa, we went up on Entoto Mountain contemplating the greatness of the city and visiting the cathedral of San Jorge (or St George) dedicated to the same saint protector of Catalonia, the saint on the horse killing the dragon. When entering the octagonal cathedral I had to remove the shoes to be able to walk above the carpets. In a corner there was a group of men singing an uninterrupted, rhythmic and hypnotic song. I kept putting aside the curtains that separated every room until I found a group of about 15 or 20 men some with turban, some covered with a white mantle supporting in a stick and making sounds rhythmically using a metalic instrument. Two men accompanied the melody sitting and knocking two big drums with the hands. I remained a good while, captivated by what seemed a Hindu ceremony or Muslim in a Christian church, observing and listening to the songs. Lalibela (see on map) 23/12/2007:
If on a side of the balance we put the visit to Lalibela and on the other one 20$ of the entry, the 1400 terrible kilometers recurred on 4 days of driving (40 hours to the steering wheel), the 70 $ for diesel and the breakdowns of the car (four punctures that we fixed on the road, the crick to change the wheels broken, the protection touching again the engine, the fridge without working, two changed fuses and possible electrical breakdown), I would prefer definitely by the visit Lalibela, but Alexandra had preferred undoubtedly to stay in Addis Ababa. Was annoyed by the bad rocky roads and did not visit any of the churches. But yes I visited them and I went out captivated. The churches of Lalibela, were cut into the rock in 1200 representing the sacred land in reply to the capture of Jerusalem by the Muslims. Four of the ten churches are completely excavated in a stony mass, with thick walls and big columns holding the heaviness of the ceiling leveled from the original rock. The architectonic show is marvelous; the quantity of cubic meters of rock that had to be emptied is impressive. I heard a guide commenting that about 40.000 workers were used, and this number confirmed the thought that the work had to have been a work of ants. The first Church that I visited was the marvelous Bet Giyorgis (Church of San Jorge), that it is said that it was built after the visit that the Saint to Lalibela riding his white horse. Bet Giyorgis is the master peace of Lalibela, the icon of Ethiopia; it is moved away from the rest of churches, excavated in a huge rock. I lowered through a passage of rock cut nearby and crossed two porches up to the courtyard that surrounded the church. I had arrived a little too early, because the church was closed, but waited in a passage of stone, at the end of which there was a group of men and women brought together in front of a curtain. The women went out trembling and with the hair wet and a priest blessed them and touched them with a wooden cross on the face and the shoulders. Despite being in an orthodox Christian church, they all greeted each other with a "salam", as if in a mosque in Catalonia the believers said goodbye with a "good-bye". When the men started to shower also they offered me to shower me jovially, but I refused giggly. When they finished I had a glance behind the curtain, expecting to observe a chorrito of water falling through some channel excavated in the rock, but there was a simple tap that broke all the mysticism of the moment. Later I could visit the marvelous church and all the others, convincing myself that the journey to Lalibela had been worth. Besides, all the mechanical problems suffered during the journey to Lalibela havent been in a complete way negative, since it would have been much worse to suffer them on the way to Sudan. In Addis Ababa we have Andrea Rossetto, a friend of Claudio, which has a service where they work very professionally and economically. I will have to ask Andrea what happened with the four punctures, in two different wheels, some of which were new. Finally, another plus point to the visit to Lalibela has been the landscape, which although in many moments the road did not let us enjoy, it was always splendid. We crossed ranges, plateaus, valleys... with the fields mowed down and the straw piled up, and small villages of houses made of stone, some of a rectangular form (near Addis Ababa), and other circulars (near Lalibela). At all times children also appeared running from the fields greeting us and asking for money, and some adults also. I do not think that anybody of those that ask for money has ever received something from a white person, even so they have the conviction or belief that the whites give money or things away freely. Some ask for money quite aggressively or running long distances behind the autocaravan, and when i faced them and i say I don't give them anything they remain well surprised. we almost never gave anything, either most of the whites that we have known in Africa, so, from where they have taken this belief? I mean that there must be rich tourists that occasionally come full of pens to Africa to give to the children (or even money) and the history of a child receiving a pen or 10 cents of dollar must run as the gunpowder through the community and the different villages, in the same way that the history of the one that won the lottery that cheers up to the rest to keep betting, or to keep asking. In any case, I also think that the ONGs have part of responsibility, because when giving money away to carry out a project in a community or village it generates the idea that the whites give free money. It is also possible that the donations of the white countries during the hunger that Ethiopia has suffered at the beginning of the seventies has contributed to this idea. I have kept desires of contrasting these ideas with some ONG, for we had opportunity to visit one at about 600 kilometres away from Lalibela, but due to the state of the roads, we have discarded the visit. Meanwhile, we will keep disappointing the children, without giving money nor pens, although we will occasionally keep giving away the empty bottles of water or food that we are not going to eat. Adis ababa (see on map) 31/12/2007:
Alexandra felt like celebrating Christmas in Addis Ababa and for this reason we had been running to reach Lalibela, I have visited the churches in 24 hours and we rushed back towards Addis. We reached Addis on Monday 24 in the morning and we met again with Michael, Stephania, and their small daughter Maria, the Austrian couple that we had met in the embassy of Sudan some days ago. With them we visited another group of travelers in a hotel in Addis to organize some dinner or meal on Christmas day, but they had already bought food for the dinner. In spite of everything, they invited us after dining to do drink, but at night Alexandra was feeling bad (there is the flu in Addis) and we remained at the house of Claudio looking films on the computer. Yes, in any case, the following 25th we ate for Christmas in a pizzeria with Michael, Stephania, and Maria. Even if Christmas was an almost sacred tradition for Alexandra, I think that she is also suffering the typical uprooting of travelers, in which the emotive events of the country of origin (holidays, traditions, political conflicts, soccer games...) lose importance. For me its been some time now that happens the same, sailing between two cultures without identifying myself with any of them. On Wednesday the 26th we have been all the day in the service of Andrea Rossetto, fixing the damages of the car caused by the journey to Lalibela. In this same day, all my family was brought together in Barcelona celebrating Christmas. It is curious but, despite having received a call from my parents two days ago wishing us a good Christmas, I did not think in my family brought together until now that I write the journal (more consequences of the uprooting). We had to pass the night in the service, because they had sent the stárter of the car to another service to clean it and would not be ready until the following day in the morning (in fact the stárter had a more severe problem, but I decided to solve it further on). On Thursday 27 in the morning, we took a taxi towards the embassy of Sudan. It was the first day that they opened after 10 days of holiday. Before closing on the 17th, they had informed us that on the 27th we could carry out the transit visa and that we could collect it on the following day. But we could only carry it out, because in the afternoon they informed us that although our visas were accepted, we could not pay them until the 31st and get them on January 1st of the next year. So, we got another 3 days in Addis Ababa, without any damage to repair nor any attraction to visit. In the same situation were Michael and Stephania , so we decided to share the waiting and the end of year with them. We kept camping at the house of Claudio, but every morning we moved the autocaravan up to the hotel where the Austrians were lodged and we spent time with them, conversing or playing badminton with Michaels rackets. Michael is a youngster that soon will be 30 years old, hard working and helpfull, and in Austria he is called to solve or to build anything. Stephania is a 20 years old girl, simple and vegetarian, who little after knowing Michael remained pregnant. Even then, few months after having the girl they made a long journey through India, and after working a little more in Austria, they embarked on a new overland journey up to Ethiopia (not further because the engine of their old autocaravan is not in a good shape). Their daughter Maria is a happy and extrovert girl of 20 months that always captivates the heart of the Ethiopians. At the moment Maria is quite a lot pampered, with her eyes and smile she obtains anything that asks for, even if it is the sweet of a poor child that sells them through the street or a banana of a fruit shop. 31december, the last day of the year, was the day of going to Sudan embassy to pay for the visa. We have arrived to the embassy in the morning, 30 minutes later of the standard time of opening. outside there were about 500 Ethiopians (I counted them approximately) also waiting to enter. The guards have left us to wait near the entry (the whites have priority), even so, we have had to wait for about two hours under the burning sun. Together with us and the Austrian there were other whites of different nationalities: Germans, Belgians, Dutch, English... also a Chinese and two Koreans that we also met before at the embassy. Definitely, the embassy of Sudan is the meeting point of the foreigners in Addis Ababa. The waiting of the 500 people in front of the embassy has seemed to me a shame, but afterwards I have remembered having seen in front of the European embassies similar queues, therefore, i could not complain. When opening the door, Alexandra and the Austrian have been able to be strained, but due to the chaotic subsequent agglomeration, the officer has not let anybody else enter and I have stayed outside. The guards had to start to rinse the entry with the stick and have managed to form two side queues in front of the door, most of them for sure would not enter today. The embassy of Sudan had been closed for the Ethiopians for 15 days and this was the reason of the exceptional agglomerations. On the other hand, the great quantity of Ethiopians that ask for the visa of Sudan seem to be one of the main motifs of the difficulty to obtain the Sudanese visa from Addis. All the foreigners, including the Ethiopians, need the approval from Khartoum to have the tourist visa. However, from Egypt, in 24 hours they deliver the visa. There are travelers that fly to Egypt from Addis to obtain the visa and to be able to follow the journey overland afterwards . After half an hour observing the policemen putting order in the queues, the officer of the door has let me enter. All the whites were waiting to pay in front of a ticket window that was closed. Finally we have been able to pay the passports and to deliver the passports late on so that on Wednesday 2nd the passports will be return with the visa. After buying food and drinks we have gone to the hotel where the Austrian were lodged, to celebrate the end of year with them. Although we had announced to the hotel, to the parking place that we had reserved the place next to the autocaravan of Michael Stephania on our arrival it was taken by two cars. Alexandra was already with a bit of bad humour, but this setback has annoyed her totally. The afternoon has kept passing but the cars did not leave, and the fury of Alexandra has increased, insulting the workers of the hotel and without talking to me because I accepted the reality and did not defend her opinion. Alexandra was of such bad humor that in a moment that I have gone to buy beers with Michael, he has asked me innocently "you will follow the journey alone when Alexandra will not resist anymore"?. Finally one of the drivers has appeared and he has parked the car out of our assigned place, but the other car, a taxi, has continued in the same place. Observing that the taxi driver did not arrive and that the annoyance of Alexandra did not decrease, the workers of the hotel have opened the taxi with some tweezers and been able to put the car aside. So, I have finally been able to put the autocaravan next to the Austrian one. Even then, Alexandra has not been soothed and has followed annoyed and screaming hysterically to the workers of the hotel, so much, that they were about to ask us to leave the hotel. But I have asked them a moment to fix the things, and while Michael invited them to a whiskey I have complied with one of the threats that terrified Alexandra and so i have cut the tail of Tuki, her beloved elephant. That has calmed down Alexandra, even though we have not had one of the happiest ends of years, but i tried to forget the previous moments with beers and half a bottle of whiskey. 02/01/2008:
After the unfortunate night of the end of year, I communicated very seriously to Alexandra that if she had another nervous crisis we would separate. Since Zambia she had 5 crises in different situations and I do not find forces of holding any more. Alexandra is as a spoiled girl that when the things are not as she wants starts to scream or to cry, as when we could not park nearby of the Austrian, when i wanted to move the autocaravan to visit a friend to the outskirts of Nairobi, when we didn’t find a calm place to park on the beach of Diani, when I blocked the car on a road when going to Livingstònia in Malawi, when I diverted before Lusaka to visit a fort that appeared on the map... In any case, the tension seems that has kept being softened today, when at last we have been able to collect the visa of Sudan (did more than one month that we had requested it) and we have started to go towards Bahir Dar, where we expect to relax with the Austrians. We have kept leaving Addis Ababa behind with a strange feeling of fault, during the month that we had passed in the capital, it had not carried out any interview to take the pulse in the world, although it had had quite a lot of opportunities, especially with the friends of Claudio. I have proposed from now to be taken more seriously the project. ‹ Previous (04/11/2007) MONTH Next (2008-01-03)› ‹ Previous (2007-11-09 - Kenya) COUNTRY Next (2008-01-14 - Sudan)› |
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