Arba Minch - Days 1-2 of 10 day Omo Valley trip

  Arba Minch, Ethiopia
Monday, October 3, 2005

==========================================
3 October 2005
Day 1 of 10
Addis Ababa to Arba Minch
==========================================

10am departure and headed south. About 1-2 hours south of town city life gives way to rural life. Crops growing, cows, donkey carts, goats. 2-3 hrs out of town the good paved road ends; some houses here are made of mud brick as opposed to cement block in the city, Lunch at a hotel in Shashomene. Another hour on the road and now whole villages are made of mud brick.

On the afternoon drive we see banana harvests, the vast majority of people now on foot, donkey carts are the most common form of 'transport'...no bicycles, no motorcycles. Improvised wheelbarrows made of anything available even wood.

Afternoon tea break at a hotel in Sodo.

The scenery includes lush mountainsides planted with crops. Not at all barren or inhospitable as I'd expected. Apparently coffee originated here.

Frequent road scene

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 night.

Overnight Arba Minch at the Bekele Mola hotel (Room 162Birr; Dinner & Br 62Birr) which is in a fantastic location on a ridge overlooking two giant lakes nearby.

==========================================
4 October 2005
Day 2 of 10
Around Arba Minch
==========================================

Nechizar National Park

Although we had not come to Ethiopia to see animals or go 'on safari' the beautiful Nechizar National Park is nearby and was well worth a visit. It's about a 2 hr drive from Arba Minch.

Animals in Ethiopia are generally for eating, not viewing and most had been annihilated until a foreigner bought the land to establish Nechizar in the hopes of preserving it and perhaps even creating sustainable tourism jobs.

Nechizar plains and mountains

We spent about 1.5 hrs in the park then drove back to town for lunch. Nechizar means 'white grass' and it has beautiful plains, mountains and is situated between two enormous lakes.

Herd of Zebras in Nechizar

We saw baboons; many zebras (a herd even ran along on the track in front of our 4WD for a long time); antelope/gazelle, secretary birds and surprisingly...even a grey squirrel. (Note: We saw tour vehicles from these companies: Ghion; Green Land; Jacaranda; Kioran)

Our driver, Fuad, dropped us in town and we found lunch and walked back to the hotel. We passed a local school and saw adorable kids playing in the street rolling hoops down the road with a hook. English was spoken more readily than we expected.

Hippos in Lake Chamo

At 4:30 Fuad took us over to Lake Chamo for a cruise on the lake. We saw crocodiles, about 10 hippos (a highlight for me) and white pelicans. The sun set as we returned toward shore offering some nice photo opps.

Another night in Arba Minch.