Swayne's Hotel Arba Minch

Je suis venu pour les Dorze un peuple avec ses particularites. Ainsi en thiopie tous les 50 kms on change de culture cad de langues, d architecture, d habit,...

J ai de la chance car je rencontre par mon guide que j avais pris dans la vallee de l omo et qui est originaire d ici. Heureusement car les gens sont assez agressifs et apres avoir refuse de prendre un guide local ce dernier s enerve et me repete plusieurs fois ...

... faranji frenzy" had gone to the extreme in Gesergio, and there had been instances of kids attacking cars if denied water bottles or pens. Climbing up the hill on the way to the village we only encountered a few kids throwing rocks, but the local Konso guide who was with us quickly scared them off with threats to go to their parents. (While in Gesergio, there was only a little bit of a frenzy when we were about to leave and Demake gave an elderly man some change out ...

... send you to whatever the newest hotel is in town.) The forest was beautiful and dense - home to the springs for which Arba Minch ("Forty Springs") is named, as well as big vines, good for swinging . . . We then headed for Lake Chamo after lunch, not realizing that the boats that go onto the lake are the only things in Ethiopia that operate like clockwork (except, of course, for Ethiopian Airlines, which we'd previously learned ...

... their reason, that 90% of people are missing out on an incredible experience and what I consider the most memorable part of Ethiopia. The first and last days of the trip were long driving days to/from Addis and the Omo Valley. The other days consisted of a lot of driving as well to the various villages and markets but there were many diversions along the way. Other than the incredible scenery, about 10 times a day we'd see kids ...

... rough cuts he slit its throat and cut its head off. I wish I had given him a sharper knife. It kicked briefly following its decapitation. The butchery process proceeded and as the men suspended the goat by a stick through the achiles it became obvious that this was not Mamoosh's first time butchering a goat. He swiftly removed the hide and inards. He then moved on to cut the goat into pieces. As he came to the tenderloin Gosa snatched a piece and ate it raw. I'm not one ...

... myself to get up early and make a fruit salad. Ever tried to make a fruit salad for 70? Don't. Water issues have everyone frustrated; somehow the hotel has run out of water. As we look down at the biggest lake I've seen in months its hard to believe. TAB. Thats Africa Baby. Lucky for me I've already done my laundry, and I only shower once a week.

... it with them. Who knows if this will happen. We lunch at Weyto. The food here now looks GREAT since our culinary expectations have been adjusted by our 5 days of Omo Valley travel. But Weyto is still so hot, so dusty, so sad. As we climb out of the Omo Valley for the last time, the air becomes enjoyably cool again. A tourist 4WD is having mechanical trouble and we stop to investigate. Seems their clutch has gone totally kaput. It is ...

... everyone the stick, where it had struck her and the red mark it left. A neighbor girl said the boy was bad. Some adults said the parents had gone to the market in town and left the boy at home. Soon we were back on the road again. The incident gave us something to talk about for a long ways and when a man herding cows down the road cracked his whip near Willim's window he dived for cover. Arvid was mostly silent the rest of the day and seemed to be lost in thought. Over a week later ...

... wet Arba Minch and Konso. Stopped for lunch in a dusty little crossroad village of Weyto. A really sad, inhospitable looking place. The dirt floor café had rickety chairs, and cooking only over a wood fire. But they made us edible pasta that, most importantly, had no ill effects. Drove on to our first village visit (not far...still Weyto?). Paid 30 Birr "entrance" fee (per vehicle). Mobbed by about 20 villagers, mainly ...

... with crops. Not at all barren or inhospitable as I'd expected. Apparently coffee originated here. At 5pm we pass through a town as the sun sets. The streets are absolutely teeming with people who must step aside to let our car through. We often encounter large herds of cattle on the road that must be moved aside to let us pass. They are moved out to fields to eat during the day and taken home for the ...