Ethiopia

border crossing at metema turned out to be very straightforward and uncomplicated. after we had finished people customs, we wanted to carry out the paperwork for flora, but we had not included the customs officials’ lunch break in our plans. therefore, we had to bridge the time by changing money, organizing a sim card and drinking our first ethiopian coffee, while admiring the traditional coffee roasting ceremony. when we are thinking back to ethiopia, we still have the aromatic scent of freshly roasted coffee beans in our noses, which hangs like an invisible mist above the whole country. we were almost responsible for a heart attack of a customs official, since we are used to lay out our rubber snake in the back of our car for security reasons. while he inspected our car, he jumped suddenly and terrified back from the car and got only calmed down after we had ensured him the spuriousness of the snake. certainly, this experience was a welcomed acceleration of the whole border process.

on the ethiopian side, not only roads with much less potholes expected us, but also a picturesque green mountain landscapes arising from a red fruitful soil. sunken into a hazy golden light of the sunset, it felt like entering garden of eden. only the enormous presence of armed forces did not fit into this peaceful image. later we found out that the northern region faces some troubles and instabilities within the population at the moment and that the metema border got even closed because of protests some days after we had passed it.

late in the evening, we reached our first stop at a beautiful campsite next to lake tana. surrounded by a lush vegetation and colorful birds, we enjoyed having a two days rest in nature, where we could recharge and plan our journey through ethiopia.

after passing the town gonder, where we arduous tried to fill up our food locker (besides bananas, green oranges and avocados, fresh fruits and vegetables are rare, especially if a weekly market cannot be visited), we drove northbound to debark, the starting point for our trip to the simen mountains. as it is a well-protected national park, it is only allowed to enter it accompanied by a guide and a scout. so, it turned out that we carried these two guys along on the small bench in the back of our reconstructed tiny defender. over a bumpy (welcome african massage!) and in terms of altitude high road, we entered the ethiopian highlands and a scenery, which reminded us of the swiss alps. on the way to our first camp situated on 3300 meters above sea level, we met the first wild-living animals of our trip: a huge herd of gelada baboons that are endemic to ethiopia and easily approachable since they are not too shy. we were also impressed that even at this altitude, there is still grain farming taking place (mainly wheat, barley and teff for the preparation of ethiopia’s traditional meal «injera»). not to imagine the life of the farmers and their livestock like donkeys, horses, ox, cattle, goats and sheep that are subjects to this harsh and challenging environment. after a very cold night at the campsite and having been lucky to spend it in our heatable flora and not in a thin ground tent, we got up early in the morning in order to climb up to the summit of mount bwahit. it does not only belong to the highest mountains of ethiopia but was also our first peak over 4000 meters above sea level that we have climbed so far. while climbing up, we enjoyed the unique flora at three different vegetation belts consisting of grasslands with giant lobelia, erica bushes, scelrophyllous trees and various species of acacia. literally breathtaking was not only the ascent, but also the amazing view from mount bwahit’s top. on the way back, strolling through a fairytale jungle, where erica trees are decorated by symbiotic mosses, we discovered a huge cliff with an impressive waterfall and bearded vultures gliding over it. the appearance of nature in its entire beauty! this eventful day was completed by a joint dinner with our french friends, a lovely and adventurous five-member family also overlanding to south africa.

after we brought our guide and scout back to town, we drove along a scenic serpentine road all the way to ancient civilization-aksum, where we tried to solve its riddle about the queen of sheba and the ark of the covenant that supposes to hold moses’ 10 commandments. but actually, we were even more pleased about the nice food and drinks we have got at trendy kuda restaurant and the wonderful hot shower in our simple hotel. by giving to our in the simen mountains met swiss friend a lift to hawzien, we had a very kind, interesting and entertaining companionship on the way to tigray region.

we are still in love with the beautiful lodge and the cute dog puppies of the lovely swiss-italian couple françoise and luigi, where we could camp for four nights and got to know more about the country and its people. from there we undertook another tough climb and went together with our swiss friend on a whole day hiking and climbing trip to explore the rock-hewn churches of tigray. these intriguing churches are carved from cliff faces, built into pre-existing caves or constructed high atop some improbable perch. getting there is a huge adventure and often requires surefootedness and head for heights. monks living there are giving regular services and it is hard to imagine how crowds of people are climbing up to attend prayers and religious ceremonies there. the landscape springs like from an african fairytale: sharp orange-red peaks rise into the sky out of a sandy, rolling semidesert.

our next adventure awaited us readily and after we had been on our personally highest peak and toughest climb, we undertook an expedition to the lowest point of -144 meters below sea level and one of the world’s hottest and most inhospitable places: the surreal landscapes of danakil depression. with its completely salt-covered plains, bubbling volcanoes and sulphurous mounds and pools showing off in various colors, it is so overwhelming that it does not feel like part of earth at all! all the efforts of the day like getting up very early, sitting tide together with an armed policeman and scout from the local tribe sweating on our back bench for hours and driving hundreds of kilometers were more than worth to experience this nature spectacle!

our journey brought us along a beautiful nature scenery and quite a few mountain passes over heavily negotiable roads to a place, which is well-known among most travelers: lalibela, home of the mystical churches hand-hewn from rock to create the jerusalem of africa. they are freed from rock and built below ground level around 900 years ago. it is believed that they were constructed solely by its king lalibela and the help of angels. this world heritage site is a mystery frozen in stone and its soul alive with the rites and awe of christianity – spirituality in perfection!

another impressive experience was our overnight camping visit at awra amba village (http://visitawraamba.com). this village is a community founded by zumra nuru in the 70ies to put his ideas into practice: the equality of women, respecting children’s rights, caring for those who are unable to work due to ageing or health problems, avoiding bad speech and bad deeds, accepting all human beings as brothers and sisters regardless of their differences and living in solidarity with everyone. being introduced to the community’s life and feeling the peaceful spirit there deeply impressed us.

a long and occasionally challenging drive (memorizing the road that crosses the nile gorge fulfills us still with nightmares) brought us to the capital addis ababa, where we used the occasion to get some daily stuff done. getting out of this lively and densely populated city required strong nerves since the road was constantly blocked due to several chinese road constructions and thus a traffic jam out of tuk-tuks, cattle, goats, donkey carriers and trucks. as we could finally escape this mess accompanied by sandy dust and a windless heat, we found ourselves driving through a green and mostly flat landscape from where ethiopia’s world-famous coffee origins. by driving through this scenery, where this region’s economy is rather based on huge international companies compared to the yield crops of the small farmers in the north (notable: sugar and ground coffee are only available on the black market within the country), our thoughts were circling around the country’s current political situation, its role in the world from a political, economic and also ecological point of view, about the climate change that is causing problems for the country, about the future perspective of the tremendously growing population and its high demand. several experiences made us aware how happy we can be with every moment we are allowed to spend and experience peacefully, and that the feeling of freedom and security is anything but self-evident.

sunken into memories of ethiopia’s boast landscapes of stunning beauty and dramatic contrasts, we got started to our last stop in ethiopia, where we had a short overnight stay and enjoyed our last yummy «injera» before we crossed the border to kenya.