84 Back to Addis Ababa

The end of a huge loop through Ethiopia, Somaliland, and Djibouti. We hopped on the truck for the last two day sprint to Addis Ababa, from where we would catch a flight to Cairo. Yes, this was Cape Town to Cairo, but alas, the civil war in Sudan makes overland travel through there impossible. We fly to Cairo, abandoning not just the truck, but also saying a last farewell to Liz and Paul. They have been such a huge part of my experience in Africa and I will definitely miss them. No longer listening to Liz’s briefings over dinner at night, and being told “breakfast at 7, departing at 8.”
The road was pretty good the whole way, although busy at times with multiple trucks carrying goods from Djibouti. We passed numerous small villages along the way, with the dwellings changing along with the environment. Small round huts of the Afar region became long, much larger huts, and then returned to the traditional conical African huts more familiar with further South. As we drove in the morning, we would watch these villages coming alive. Livestock being taken out to graze, villagers busy collecting that all important water resource.
We made it to Awash in plenty of time and could chill drinking a beer at the same small bar we had stopped at on the way to Harar. Then, with no great hurry, the search was on for a bush camp. Not so easy in this region, as there are so many people. When we finally found a place, and had started to cook, the police/military turned up saying we could not stay here. “Where, then?” The guy in charge walked with Liz maybe a kilometer away to show her a spot, but she eventually convinced him to let us stay at the original place. They would, of course, stay with us the whole night, and stand guard over us. While it probably wasn’t necessary, and they did pick up a bit of money for their troubles, I didn’t really mind having their protective presence.
The next morning we made good pace to Addis Ababa, arriving before midday. We had rooms booked, although we would be leaving the hotel at 1 am to head for the airport, and our flight to Cairo at 4 pm. Time to do some packing for the flight, with bags that weighed somewhat more than when I had arrived in Cape Town some five months before. Also time to get a bit of sleep,as it was going to be a very sleepless night.
One last beer with Liz and Paul, and fond farewells all round.
#oasisoverland #Ethiopia #addisababa

Видео 84 Back to Addis Ababa канала Paul Artus