The Road to Bale (Jan ’23)

We have a thing for wolves. We both remember lives as wolves, and we know what wonderful, social creatures they are, a beautiful combination of wisdom, strength and love. When we learned we could visit the Abyssinian wolf, endemic to Ethiopoia, in a grand high altitude national park, we knew we wanted to go.

Note that the colors on this map denote altitude and red, then grey are highest. For a sense of scale, Ethiopia is roughly twice the size of France or of Texas.

The first task, was getting there. We’d discovered in Addis that everyone thought we were crazy to want to rent a car and drive ourselves, and while we don’t make decisions based on the limitations of others, everyone we asked was adamant that foreigners driving in Ethiopia really wasn’t a good idea. The roads were bad, police check points could get nasty, armed conflict could break out (!); and we wouldn’t have the language or cultural skills to deal with any of that. Okay. So we took a bus to Awassa (the subject of the previous blog), a beautiful town in the lake district, and a few hours drive from Bale, to see what we could work out from there.

In Awassa we hired a driver, Bereket, to go with us, and we liked each other immediately. We’re still friends, and connect periodically. You’ll hear more about him in a later blog when he helps us help a young woman get out of a war zone. Beautiful human being. (The no automatic weapons sign is to let militants know that there are no guns in the vehicle… part of why it’s a good idea to let a local drive.)

The drive from Awassa to Bale was epic. First of all, you had to know when and where to get gas. This was the line for tuk-tuk fuel that day… tomorrow the prices were going up and there was going to be a shortage. They had to get it today or possibly wait for weeks. Luckily, Bereket knew this was not the case for fuel for his truck.

Hello, Mandela!

Second, there’s a lot of traffic that isn’t motorized, and even more than any other country I’ve ever been in, besides Vietnam, you really need to know the rhythm of every type as well as the overall expectations, or someone is going to get hurt – badly. As the Brits say, things are going to go tits up, and this time, quite literally.

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You have to know when to zig…

…and when to zag.

And third, much of the route was dirt. With holes that spanned the entire roadway… No kidding. I didn’t take many photos during those sections as it was just too bumpy, and, well, swerve-y, so you’re going to mainly see the paved bits.

Also, as we venture along below in images, note that I make it a habit to only take pictures of people if I have their permission. I learned this in Thailand. Some hill tribe cultures consider it extremely rude to take photos of them at all, because you’re stealing a bit of their soul. And they mean it! That was eye opening. I felt into it, and I see their point. So often we take without considering the consequences, subtle or gross. Thus, despite all of the people around, most of these images I took without people in them… no easy feat in the second most populous country in Africa! For others, I did my best to offer appreciation and gratitude vs voyeurism as I took their photo.

Also, of course, because it’s me, I took way more photos of equines than cows, goats and sheep. Which is all just to say, there were a lot more people around than these photos represent, and many more cows, goats and sheep relative to the number of equines.

The countryside opens up… (Do you see the cow herd? He’s easier to spot in the photo below.)

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So many different kinds of housing… not to mention stock fencing, and ways to store hay. I imagine this reflects the variety of ethnic groups, over 80 in Ethiopia (!!), and their particular adaptions to this region’s climate. And so many free animals. Everywhere. Grin.

Are you ready? Here we go in photo…

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We stop and have a coffee, made by this beautiful soul. Her colleagues come to chat about life and enjoy each other’s company. They offer khat, a mild stimulant, like coffee, and explain how to chew the leaves properly.

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So much to see! Appreciating how humans live their lives the best ways they can, in all kinds of conditions. Similar to Thailand, I was impressed at how people are able to make themselves comfortable almost anywhere.

Tetherball!

Back to the road and our photo journey…

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Riders rarely used bits, stirrups, or saddles. Sometimes they sat on blankets like this.
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A car wash.
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It was common practice to tie a following horse’s halter to the tail of the lead.
A nicer section of one of the dirt roads. Note the car ahead is on our side of the road… totally normal as it’s avoiding a hole.
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Winnowing grain (removing the lighter chaff, or husk, from the heavier seed via the wind).
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We made it!

The first stop in Bale was to go to the park headquarters and meet a guide, a requirement for visiting this protected park. I had to laugh that now we had a driver and a guide. Bereket was more of a friend by now, and still it made me laugh.

Next we drove to the park’s border, a forested, lowland area whose flora supports the park’s big mammals. We took a nice hike under the trees and hoped to spot some… And suddenly, here they were, Menelik bushbucks and mountain nyalas. Bereket was as excited as we were as he’d never been here and these animals are majestic.

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The mountain nyala is endemic to the Ethiopian Highlands, east of the Rift Valley. Males can be up to 300kg (660lbs). These guys are BIG.

A few hours later, we arrived at the hotel and had dinner. Bereket’s mother sent a delicious entree (a main course) to add to our communal repast. Wonderful. A delicious end to a very full day.