Gondar and the Simien Mountains

Every night it rains heavily and we are grateful for the good tarred roads ahead to Gondar. Here we effortlessly met up with a guide ‘Ababa’ who brought us to the 18^th century Debre Birhan Selassi, the famous church with prolific paintings and the well known ‘Mona Lisa’ portrait of Maria. Lammergeier roost in the huge ancient juniper trees of the quiet church grounds which is enclosed by a high stone wall.

The next day saw us at Fasil Ghebbi, the Royal Enclosure. A walled park of 70,000sqm in the centre of town that had once upon a time six castles plus several smaller buildings on its grounds. When wandering through the grounds with vivid explanations from Ababa (rendering ‘truths’ much debated by archeologists and historians) it is possible to imagine the ancient culture that had its highlight here and is called the ‘Camelot of Africa!’

You are drastically reminded of the present at the front entrance with the ‘skedunk’ of a taxi and the poverty of the present-day inhabitants and the begging kids, only kept at bay by Ababa. The next highlight of Gondar was Fasilidas bath in the lower part of the city. A river filling an oversized Olympic pool on the holiest days when white robed citizens and priests celebrate from and around a two storey building (castle).

The Simien Mountains

Our map shows tar onwards up to Axum but that was wishful thinking. Fair gravel, soaked by rain, slowed proceedings. In Debark we have to get the obligatory ‘scout’ with a gun (AK-47) and the entrance permit for the Simien Mountains, the highest mountain range of Ethiopia, a hiker’s paradise. Again it had rained the night before, and we are quickly in the clouds as we gain in altitude on drivable gravel in this National Park which is inhabited by farmers with terraced fields to every accessible peak.

Soon our scout shouts: “baboons” and points to the Gelada (red heart baboons) which were disguised amongst goats in the mist. Further on we encounter large herds of up to 400 of this grazing and amazingly vocal monkey.

Again, we are the only self drive vehicle and are a curiosity for every Ethiopian. We proceed close to the highest peaks, still hidden in clouds, where our scout questions every villager on the whereabouts of the rare and endangered Walia Ibex. Everybody shakes their head, - none seem to be around.

So we carry on and rounding the next corner . . . . . . . . . . . there they are:

Five magnificent Ibex males! (Steinbock) Resting in the mist, quite close and not shy at all.Their horns are huge. Four females accompany them.

Mission accomplished for our scout and he goes to sleep in Konstantin’s cozy back seat.

The clouds open up on our way back and we can see how magnificent this ‘giant’s chessboard’ is, with glimpses of endless formations of mountain peaks.

We take shelter in a Hotel in Debark and have given up camping altogether as there are no facilities at all.