Day 34 Simien Mountains
After the freezing night, the arrival of dawn was truly a blessing; however this new found happiness did not last long. Hoping that the solar powered heaters had managed to heat the water, the team was very disappointed to find the Arctic still flowing out of the showerhead. Now filthy and tired of finding grit in weird places the team braved the chill, huffing and puffing as the icy water stole the remaining heat from their bodies. Breakfast was scrambled egg and two week old, hard toast and we were very frustrated to find that no fires had been lit. After breakfast we set off for a walk to go see the Gelada, which is a baboon that lives in the Simien Mountains. Inspired by National Geographic, Paul put on his best ‘Naturalist’ impression and sat patiently trying to earn acceptance of the troop, obviously tired of the team. Once we were finished witnessing the baboons’ daily routines, we headed back to camp for Lunch. The Chef treated us with Italian pizza; he even managed to put together a Hawaiian, after master chef Les had enlightened him on the inner workings of the pineapple pizza. The rest of the day was spent huddled by the fire, plagued by intermittent blackouts and non-existent cell phone reception, Craig and Les busied themselves with fixing Craig’s shock.. Supper was an over-carbo-loaded pasta dish and after braving the Ethiopian red wine, which had the aroma of surgical gloves, the team retired to their icy lairs to wait out the cold night. The next morning, tired of the cold and the hotels inability to ease it, the team packed up and headed off for Gonder, away from the power outages, poor reception and freezing cold.
The Simien Mountains.
The Team on their walk.
Paul making friends with the Gelada.
There is no sneaking up on these men.
A local board game.
Craig and his bike.
Absolutely Beautiful.
Craigs new and improved, broken shock.
COMMENTS
Amazing - your first picture could be somewhere in the Eastern Transvaal. I wonder if any of you are as surprised as I am about the countryside that you have driven through of did you expected it? Sounds like you had a chilly time in the . .more
by Marilyn on July 02 2009, 19:52
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