Ethiopia is a vast country and is the one which will take us
the longest time to traverse. Within the African continent it is particularly unique, with its own script and language – Amharic. The
Unfortunately our time in Ethiopia will necessarily be tainted with the experience of having rocks thrown at us. When we sit and chat with adults they continue to insist that the children are just playing and mean no harm by it, but as we said before, having hoards of children at the roadside shout and throw things at you is incredibly intimidating. We will also remember it for the begging, by children and adults alike. This has been a key feature of our time here. Although interestingly as we move further south this has diminished, although not disappeared.
As with Sudan, the presence of the Chinese looms large. These road building folk are certainly our friends, (the smoother the better) but having never before been mistake for Chinese it is remarkable that in some areas the shouts of faranji (foreigner) are replaced by China. A small price to pay for having beautifully smooth tarmac to ride along. On our last night in Ethiopia, we were actually joined by a Chinese round-the-world cyclist, who happened to pass our campsite, who had ridden here from Beijing over 18 months and will take another 12 months to ride down to Cape Town. He was even more grateful for the Chinese construction companies as they provided him each night with showers, a place to sleep and Chinese food – a home from home!
We would certainly recommend anyone a visit to Ethiopia due to its enormous beauty – however, unless you have the skin of an armadillo, don’t tour it on a bicycle.
Ethiopians, whilst sharing their aptitude for long distance running with their neighbouring Kenyans are quite different in appearance and culture from their Swahili speaking neighbours. They are predominantly Coptic Christians (although we have also passed through some Muslim areas) proudly sporting their own calendar, which is about 7 years behind ours.
Ethiopia is a much more populous country than Sudan and Egypt, and as we have travelled through we have seen the change in people as we go. This has been evident is many different ways, the type of houses which they build, the shift from herdsmen to farmers, the change in face shape, language and dress and most noticeably, the way that they interact with us.
Ethiopia is a much more populous country than Sudan and Egypt, and as we have travelled through we have seen the change in people as we go. This has been evident is many different ways, the type of houses which they build, the shift from herdsmen to farmers, the change in face shape, language and dress and most noticeably, the way that they interact with us.
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| A Southern Ethiopian house |
Above all, Ethiopia has been beautiful, perhaps more noticeably given the aridness of Egypt and Sudan. Here we have discovered as we propelled ourselves along, round corners and up and down mountains, Ethiopia has kept us interested by revealing one new landscape after another. In recent days the soil has begun to contain swathes of deep rich red colour, which enhances the appearance of our tans significantly and makes for stunning views. The climbing has been tough, but it is (nearly) always rewarding. Somewhere before Addis we reached the highest point of the trip at 3,104 metres, marked, perhaps unsurprisingly, by a huge blue Chinese factory.
Were we to be bird watchers, Ethiopia would have been a dream. Many fanatics do come here just for the birds. Our untrained eyes have no idea what we are looking at, but on a daily basis we see birds that look pretty and aren’t pigeons.
Our campsites have also become more varied; there were a couple of atmospheric forest camps by the Blue Nile Gorge and further south we were in the grounds of a deaf school. The only specialist school for deaf children in Ethiopia it was a boarding school. Free for the children and funded by foreigners it provided a standard education following the national curriculum and offered vocational skills too. A wonderful treat not to be shouted at as we cycled in, many of the riders had the best conversations they had had with Ethiopian children by exchanging hand written notes in English.
Were we to be bird watchers, Ethiopia would have been a dream. Many fanatics do come here just for the birds. Our untrained eyes have no idea what we are looking at, but on a daily basis we see birds that look pretty and aren’t pigeons.
Our campsites have also become more varied; there were a couple of atmospheric forest camps by the Blue Nile Gorge and further south we were in the grounds of a deaf school. The only specialist school for deaf children in Ethiopia it was a boarding school. Free for the children and funded by foreigners it provided a standard education following the national curriculum and offered vocational skills too. A wonderful treat not to be shouted at as we cycled in, many of the riders had the best conversations they had had with Ethiopian children by exchanging hand written notes in English.
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| A beautiful forest camp |
Unfortunately our time in Ethiopia will necessarily be tainted with the experience of having rocks thrown at us. When we sit and chat with adults they continue to insist that the children are just playing and mean no harm by it, but as we said before, having hoards of children at the roadside shout and throw things at you is incredibly intimidating. We will also remember it for the begging, by children and adults alike. This has been a key feature of our time here. Although interestingly as we move further south this has diminished, although not disappeared.
As with Sudan, the presence of the Chinese looms large. These road building folk are certainly our friends, (the smoother the better) but having never before been mistake for Chinese it is remarkable that in some areas the shouts of faranji (foreigner) are replaced by China. A small price to pay for having beautifully smooth tarmac to ride along. On our last night in Ethiopia, we were actually joined by a Chinese round-the-world cyclist, who happened to pass our campsite, who had ridden here from Beijing over 18 months and will take another 12 months to ride down to Cape Town. He was even more grateful for the Chinese construction companies as they provided him each night with showers, a place to sleep and Chinese food – a home from home!
We would certainly recommend anyone a visit to Ethiopia due to its enormous beauty – however, unless you have the skin of an armadillo, don’t tour it on a bicycle.
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Due to Italian influence, even in the most rural parts of
Ethiopia you will find a very posh coffee machine in a wooden shack, and can order wonderful Macchiatos |
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