Moenco (Toyota Ethiopia) in Addis, with a spotless workshop, was kind enough to analyze the roar Konstantin was emitting and decided (against Uli’s recommendation) that the gasket between engine and manifold had blown. It is a half days work to open up and another half day to assemble. As we turned the key in the evening, the same roar was still there. So, unfortunately they had to do the same exercise again. The only difference, they had to take the turbo out as well. Half a day out- half a day in. Turning the key the second time round, Konstantin was his old self again.
The following morning we left Addis on the northern route to reach Bahir Dar on Lake Tana, which is a two days drive. Over and over again we feast our eyes on this fertile green country side and cultivation is intensive, continuous.
If there is a stoney patch in between, hundreds of cows and sheep are grazing.
The highlight on that ca 600Km is the spectacular Blue Nile Canyon. It can easily be compared with the Fish River in Namibia or the Grand Canyon in the USA. The only difference; we had a breathtaking tar road through this. The spectacular pass, built by the Japanese and finished in 2004, hair pinned its way down and up the gorge with over 1300 meter dropping and climbing in altitude. Due to the heavy rains the river was in flood with muddy brown water - a magnificent site.
As overnight stop we wanted to reach Debre Markos. Some 20 Km before this village, we were stopped dead by the flooding Chemoga Shet River together with ca 100 stranded vehicles. The spillway crossing was blocked by a truck, a bus and a passenger car. As the rain increased and it was rather late already, Uli made a deal with a brave local to show us the depth and strength of flow through to the opposite side.
Amidst much cheering and egging on (by non drivers!), Konstantin made it bravely through, being the only vehicle daring to do this stretch of 400 meters of swirling, rushing brown waters, passing the stuck vehicles with mm’s to spare before going over the edge. Overwhelming waving and shouting was received on the successful crossing, (this time by the drivers as well!). We were surprised nobody took our example and followed - and we missed ‘Mad One’ sorely, who surely would have braved the flood!?
The next day we visited the Blue Nile falls close to Bahir Dar. We had to walk a 30 minutes track; crossing the beautiful ancient Agam Dildi Bridge built by the Portuguese in the 1620’s to reach the view point opposite the falls.
The falls were once described as the most spectacular falls in Africa until the Italians spoilt this by diverting the water for a hydro power plant. They were once falling on a width ca 200 meters and 40 meters depth. In our opinion no comparison to the Vic Falls- but we could only use our imagination to visualize its former beauty.
Bahir Dar, a vacation city for the locals, offers a mixture between African and ‘modern’ facilities. Its streets are wide boulevards. The recommended campsite was nothing more than a mud hole. The decision was easy, camping was abandoned and we took lodging in the hotel. For the next day we booked a boat drive to visit some of the monasteries on or next to Lake Tana. The monasteries cannot be compared with a European cloister but more to a (Einsiedelei) hermitage, a small building for prayers at chosen spots. It was taken over by followers and was decorated with remarkable ecclesiastical batik paintings. They were mostly from the 13th century but have been redone and renovated in the 19th- 20th century. Motives were repetitive in each monastery, artists differed slightly.
Unfortunately on these visits you are surrounded by ‘guides’, kids, beggars, who think you should dish out all of your belongings in particular money.
After our return we changed Hotels as the plumbing in the present one just disintegrated and we had been promised that it would have been repaired in the evening – a mammoth, futile task in these parts of the world.
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