Road trip to Awassa

On Wednesday afternoon we headed to our next destination. We would be performing lab assessments in Awassa on Thursday and Friday, and then Joy and Adrian would be staying there for the rest of the week to perform another 4 days of training.

The road to Awassa was busy, but not as bad as the one to Awash National Park. The scenery was very different as well, with much more farm land and several lakes to be seen.

Frequently, along the side of the roads, there would be groups of locals selling produce. Piles of red onions, bushels of tomatoes and even a few strawberry stands. We stopped at one stand and picked up 2 boxes of bright red strawberries. It was so difficult to wait to eat them until we could wash them properly!

We decided to make a stop at the Abijatta-Shala Lakes National Park to do a little more sight seeing.

Immediately, we were greeted by 2 Grants gazelle and a small herd of Ostrich.

The grasslands were beautiful, especially against the blue sky.

According to the guide, it was Ostrich mating season. There were several males who were trying very hard to impress the ladies, all the while trying to chase off their competitiors. It was pretty entertaining and I'm not sure anyone has ever told the Ostriches how silly they look.

We kept driving to the edge of the lake in hopes of seeing a huge flock of Flamingo. Unfortunately, it wasn't the right time of year and only a few birds greeted us as we made it to the shore.

We piled back into the van to make the journey back to the road, but the weight of all the passengers was not a good combination with the soft sand and we got stuck.

Fortunately, we were able put a little elbow grease into the mix and we were soon free.

In order to keep from getting stuck a second time, we thought it would be better for us to walk until we got to more solid ground. Besides...it was a gorgeous day out!

We headed to one more viewpoint while we were in the park. A spot on the top of a plateau which gave us beautiful views of both of the lakes.

There was also a young boy there selling limestone carvings for 55 Birr each. Who knows if they will survive the trip home, but each of us ended up getting 1 or 2.

On our way out of the park, we spotted a few more animals. This Giant Hornbill teased us by staying just out of 'good photo' distance.

Next, a family of wart hogs came out of the brush...along with a small flock of grouse. They actually seemed to be travelling together, but paused long enough for us to get some good photos.

Right before we left the park, another group of female Ostrich came out to say 'farewell'.

A gorgeous sunset was the perfect ending to a fabulous day.

Koka Dam - Shhh...be vewy vewy quiet. We're hunting Hippo!

Tuesday evening, we decided to make our way to Koka Dam in search of Hippos. Our guide book, as well as several other websites, indicated this was a 'reliable' spot to see Hippos, so we were excited.

The road to the dam was not paved. Poor Amir's Toyota van has taken quite the beating on this trip. I'm not sure all the off-roading we've been doing was what he signed up for when he took this driving job.

On our way out to the dam, we encountered a lone adolescent camel who was more than happy to stop and smile for the camera.

A troop of Baboons crossed the road in front of us as well. These are some BIG animals and I would not want to come across one of these if I was on foot.

We reached the power plant and decided to park and walk instead of continueing to abuse the car. There were several young men at the power plant and one offerred to take us down to the river. No Hippos he said, but plenty of Crocodile to see.

It was a short hike down to the water, but a welcome bit of exercise after being cooped up doing training all week.

It was a good thing we decided to walk. The road quickly became undrivable, with huge ruts from the water making it only possible to drive if you had a nice 4 wheel drive vehicle.

we hiked along the top of the river bank for a half mile or so, seeing nothing more than a few waterfowl.

Since Hippo are most active at dusk, we had started our adventure late in the afternoon. It quickly started getting darker and darker, but luckily was a relatively full moon which made it easy to see where we were going.

Finally, we spotted one lone croc on the other side of the bank. By now, it was too dark to get any good pictures. Our guide wanted us to keep going..only 5 more minutes until a rocky outcropping where we would be able to see a number of these scaley creatures.

Figuring it would be REALLY dark on our way back if we kept going, all of us opted to turn around and head back to the car. I think our guide was worried we wouldn't want to pay him since we really hadn't seen what we came to see, but his fee was only 100 Birr for all of us, so we were happy to give him the money. Even though we hadn't seen any Hippo, it was still a gorgeous hike.

Awash National Park

Sunday was our first full day off, so we took a little road trip to Awash National Park.

The drive was a busy one, since it was one of the main roads to & from Djobouti.

As we were driving along, we came upon this truck. At first we couldn't tell what they were transporting, but as we got closer we realized it was a truck full of CAMELS!

Packed in like sardines, they really didn't seem too concerned that they were flying along the highway at 100kph. They seemed to be on a sight seeing trip, and every time the truck would have to slow a bit, all the camels would raise their heads and crane their necks so they could see over the railing. It was very amusing.

The scenery was quite beautiful, with large expansive grasslands as far as the eye could see. There was still quite a bit of foot traffic though, especially each time we passed through a small town or village.

As we got closer to the park, we came upon Lake Basaka. Instead of driving around it...we drove straight through it! The water lapped the road on each side, and I'm sure in the rainy season often was impassible.

Finally we made it to Awash National Park.

There were LOTS of rules, which was rather nice to see since it meant they were serious about conservation.

One of the rangers was quick to offer to be our guide. He spoke minimal English though, so once again our driver Amir stepped in to play interpretter.

It soon payed off to have a guide though. We immediately spotted a few Oryx in the distance.

And then a couple of Soemmerring's gazelle stopped by to say 'hi' as well.

This Abyssinian Roller posed nicely for us when we stopped to take his picture.

We drove through the park for a little while, and all of a sudden could hear the rush of water. A LOT of water.

Suddenly, around the bend, came this sight. A huge waterfall formed by the Awash River. We were able to stop and hike around the top for a few minutes before heading down a long flight of stairs to the base of the waterfall.

It was so impressive! As we got closer to the falls, we could feel the mist in the air. A welcome relief from the hot dry weather.

We explored the base of the falls for about an hour. Lots of picture taking and rock skipping occurred. I think the massiveness of the falls made all of us feel like kids again.

Across the river, someone spotted this guy. Sunning himself on the rocks, a nice sized (6-8 feet?) Croc basked in the warmth of the sun's rays. He blended in really well, and reminded all of us to take caution near the waters edge.

Finally, the guide growing impatient, we were herded back up the stairs. By now, all of us had worked up an appetite and there was a lodge nearby so we bribed the guide to let us stay for lunch by offerring to pay for his meal.

The lodge had seating that overlooked the river gorge and we were able eat lunch while we watched the water roar by. If you are ever in the area, you should look into staying here. The modest little cabins all overlooked the gorge and would be a fabulous place to stay overnight.

We finally called it a day and started to head back to Adama, hoping to make it back before it got dark. The roads at night seemed just as busy as during the day, however without the benefit of daylight the chances of hitting an animal were much greater.

During several miles along our trip back, the roads were buckled. Amir told us it was from the summer months, when the temperature sored into the triple digits (F). The pavement would get so hot it would soften, and then when the heavily loaded trucks traveled slowly up the hill it would squish underneath the weight of the load.

Along the way we passed by a huge herd of camel. It was a fun sight to see, especially what appeared to be some brand new, gangly legged babies at the end of the pack.

Throughout our drive, young kids would often be walking along the side of the road...herding their goats or cows along, as soon as they saw us they would break out into wide grins and begin running along side the van. It was always a fun sight and brought a smile to all of our faces.

What a great day we had. Happy to be back at the hotel, we had a 'quick' dinner and then all headed to our rooms to crash in our beds.