To Debremarkos

Roadside scenes.

Rural farm life.

A small farm we visited. The pile to the right is manure for sale.

The daughter of the farmer.

Chaffing wheat.

A kite and a pied crow sharing a dead chicken.

The Monastery of Debre-Libanos

The mosaics above the front entrance.

The interior.

A holy man outside.

The Portuguese Bridge.

The Jem River Gorge.

The road down into the Blue Nile Gorge.

And up the other side.

Saturday, January 20^th.

We had a quick breakfast while our luggage was packed up on top of the truck. We left Addis Ababa and headed north right through the heart of the city. We drove out of the valley and across the Entoto Hills, driving through the central plateau that stretches hundreds of miles. Once we left the lush valley the highlands became dry yellow grassland. Along the way we saw some houses made with shiny tin walls, rectangular houses made of vertical sticks and covered with a mix of mud, grass and manure and round houses with thatched rooves. Like other countries in Africa I noticed that many houses had fancy and probably expensive large metal doors in their exterior fences protecting the house and belongings. Kaleb pointed out eucalyptus trees that have been imported here from Australia because the locals had burned most of the native trees and eucalyptus trees grow very quickly. They also grow very straight and are used for poles for fences, house construction and scaffolding.

About two hours in, we stopped by the side of the road for a pee break. Then Kaleb led us across the road to a little farming village. It was very basic and primitive, with no electricity, dirt and rock floors and wood and mud buildings. They grew wheat and a few other crops and raised cattle. We had a look around watching as the threshed wheat with a pitchfork and collected cow patties to dry for use as fuel. Apparently a lot of the farms here sell them to people who take them into Addis Ababa to sell in the city for cooking, as other methods are expensive. There were children there who were quite interested in us and followed us around. The farm does not have electricity, but they were given a solar panel, but not enough information about it, because when they claimed it didn’t work, it was found to be so dirty that the light couldn’t get to the cells. This is another Intrepid real life experience that gives us an inside look at farm life and the provides the farm a little cash. All the farmer has to do is let us look around and take a few photos and he makes some much needed money.

Then we left and continued our drive to a restaurant on the lip of the Jema River Gorge. We placed our lunch order and then got back in the van and drove a short distance to the 13th century Monastery of Debre-Libanos is one of Ethiopia’s holiest sites. The monastery is Christian Orthodox. The building has a large dome and beautiful vibrant stained-glass windows of the new and old testament. The building is used for religious services, but the monks live in the forests around the site as hermits. Most wear yellow robes. There is a small tent community a short distance from the monastery where people live who applied to be a monk and were rejected.

After we had had a look around we drove back for lunch which we ate overlooking the gorge, which is similar to Grand Canyon. When we were finished we went for an hour long hike a little way into the gorge to the ‘Portuguese Bridge’, which was built in the 16th century by the Portuguese. We hiked down to it and across it to reach another pass that led to a couple of beautiful viewpoints and what should have been and reputedly is a beautiful waterfall, except that it is the dry season and there is no water.

We loaded up again and continued. An hour later we stopped at a viewpoint overlooking the Blue Nile Gorge. While I was standing there a young boy came up and startled me by reciting the alphabet to me in English. Do I really look like a teacher? Kaleb told us that we were going to descend a kilometre as we drove down to the bridge that crosses the river and then we would drive another 22 kilometres as we climbed back up the other side to the plateau again. The spectacular Blue Nile Gorge extends nearly 400 kilometres and can reach depths of up to 1,500 metres. The road we have been following all day is part of the Cairo to Cape Town Highway. I immediately thought about Denise’s sister Bev, who did the Tour D’Afrik. She would have ridden down and up this road. The road is in terrible shape, as the foundation wasn’t strong enough for the truck traffic (including ones that are hauling limestone out of the gorge for making cement), and it has become heavily rutted and is totally broken in some sections. With all the ruts it is amazing that the pavement still holds together. It would be a long cycle down riding the brakes and a really long grueling climb back up. As we drove we saw a few olive baboons and some vervet monkeys. 

From there we continued on to the town of Debre Markos and our hotel. We arrived at 5:30, settled in and met again for dinner in the lobby by 6:30. I had a good talk with Gary and Ellen about Madagascar as they are interested in going there. Then it was off to the room, no internet and bed.