May 14, 2024 Tuesday

Decision time? Becky to go to the mountains or Addis Ababa?

This morning, we left Gondar and drove to our lodge in the Simien Mountains. Because Becky had to decide this morning whether to go with the group or travel back to Addis Ababa to ensure she’d have the internet to make her class, she was a bit nervous. The power going out the night before spooked her.

While I was writing in the room, Sam and Micah knocked on our door. Becky had asked them to come and get us. She was having a crisis of decision about her class. We had been worried about the internet connection in Gondar since we arrived.

In case you’ve forgotten, we would be in Gondar twice at the same hotel/resort, the Gondar Hills Resort, from May 11th through the 13th and again on the 16th, the day of Becky’s class. Luckily, the internet wasn’t too bad there. If the class had been held while we were at Limalimo Lodge in the Simien mountains, it wouldn’t have worked because they had no internet.

Confused computer

Unfortunately, Becky’s computer got confused that morning, and she couldn’t access the registration desk’s internet. They finally turned her laptop off, turned it back on, and got it going like it should. That scared Becky that it wouldn’t work next Thursday when we were back there. She needed support to decide whether to risk going to the Simien Mountains with us.

If she didn’t, the plan would be for her to fly to Addis Ababa and stay in a hotel, probably the hotel we stayed in for her class. The problem with that plan is that she would have to pay for airfare to Addis and a hotel room for three nights, as well as airfare, to meet us wherever we were on Friday. That’s a lot of extra expense that none of us wanted her to spend. She asked us to discuss it with her to ensure she made the best decision.

In our conversation with Melaku, he assured her that he or someone would help her stay connected. Later, she told me she was feeling high-maintenance, and I told her I didn’t think so. She wasn’t asking for help for personal reasons. If the class had allowed people to choose this class date, the problem would not have happened, but they didn’t. The school set it up that if she misses the class, she fails the course. If she fails the course, that puts her a year behind until the course is offered again. No one wanted that.

Decision made

We decided she should go with us and trust that the Gondar internet would be reliable. Melaku talked about how we all have to take risks. I’d much rather consider it being uncertain. Becky said the instructor for the class suggested that everyone have a backup plan in case their home internet went down. That leads me to believe that they know someone may have technical issues. So, if she disappears for a while but eventually logs back on, she’ll be okay. Her instructor also knows where she is, so hopefully, they will give her some leeway. (Remember the whole “elderly parents” and “adoptive children” to “home country” appeal?)

That decision was made. The luggage was loaded into the van, followed by the people. Becky and I were last on because we decided to use the restroom again. Ironically, we drank lots of water to avoid altitude sickness but found so few places to get rid of the waste product. I’m guessing we got off at about 9:15.

The drive into the mountains took about 2.5 hours and was beautiful. The mud and log huts are much more attractive than the corrugated sheet metal and blue tarps used in the little huts of the cities. In the country, they still use sheet metal, but that’s on the roofs, and I understand how sheet metal would be the best material for a roof.

Learning and discovery

We stopped at one point for learning and discovery time, the phrase O.A.T. uses for the special moments in a tour when the tour leader stops the tour and shows the visitors something unique about their country.

Melaku asked the driver to stop so we could get out of the van and watch a man plowing a field with two oxen yoked to a sharpened stick plow. The farmer had a long rope whip that he swung over his head and maybe into the peripheral vision of the oxen. Occasionally, he’d crack it. The first time he did it, the sound made me jump. After I understood what it was, it didn’t startle me as much. As we returned to the van, locals lined up by the van door with their hands out. “Money,” some said in English. Melaku despaired that tourists had taught them to beg like that.

“Restroom” time

After about an hour and a half of driving, we stopped for an open-air pit stop. Yes, you heard me right. We were to go into this eucalyptus “forest” and urinate there. The men crossed the road, and the ladies went to the right side of the road. That’s all well and good for the men, but I have to expose my whole butt to the world.

The forest wasn’t that thick. I went through the forest and to the edge of a plowed field. While looking for a tree to lean on, I saw a group of people in the distance and decided to return a few tree lengths into the forest. I took a tissue to wipe with. Finding a sturdy enough tree to lean on, I pulled my pants down to my ankles and squatted down. That’s nothing but awkward. But I did it, and I’m proud to say that my bladder said, “Okay, let’s do this.” I managed not to get any on my pants. Yay, me

I dried myself and carried the tissue with me. I didn’t want to litter with it. Of course, there was no wastebasket on the van, so I just put it in the crown of my hat. I also blew my nose on a different tissue, which also went in there. Becky had some granola bars for snacks, which we ate, and the wrappers went into my makeshift trash can, which I emptied when we got to the lodge.

Simien Mountains tour office

The next stop was the Simien Mountains tour office in Debark, where Melaku paid our entrance fee. He invited us, and most of us went with him. We’d been sitting down for quite a while. He told us a stuffed Walia Ibex head was on the office’s wall. He also explained that was the only way we’d see one in Ethiopia because to see one in the wild, you have to hike deep into the park and sit in a blind for a long time, and maybe one would walk by.

I did indeed see the taxidermized Walia Ibex head mounted on the wall. It had an impressive set of horns.

In a glass case, I saw the mountain range model that Melaku had said would be there. The glass case looked like it had seen better days. The front side had a crack, and the top, which extended beyond the case, had a dangerously ragged edge. I warned Ebony away from it. You’d never see something like that in the States. We tend to be highly legislated and litigious as a society, but you’d never see a shard of glass like that, especially not in a public office.

So much of the Ethiopia we saw seemed neglected and untended. Melaku says that part of it stems from the pandemic’s impact on their economy and then the war with the Tigray.

Back to the van

He paid our fee to enter the park, once again exchanging money for a piece of paper. We headed back to the van. While some of us were in the office, Josephine and Ebony had bought three mangos from a man with a two-wheeled wagon for an outrageous amount of Birr. Melaku just rolled his eyes when she told him what she’d paid. She said she knew she was paying too much but didn’t care. She wanted them.

Limalimo Lodge

Then, we drove on to the Limalimo Lodge with rooms scattered across the top of the mountain. Our cabin was number three. The walk from our room to the lodge about killed me. The path was at a 45-degree angle.

The buildings were constructed using a rammed earth technique, which made the walls very thick. I saw a book in the lobby explaining the process and thought it must be complicated to need a whole book.

We had lunch as soon as we arrived at the lodge. As with our lodge in Gondar, we were the only guests there. Melaku told us there isn’t enough tourism in Gondar or the Simian Mountains for the hotels to be open except when the O.A.T. tours were there.

Rooms

After lunch, we got the keys to our rooms and shown the way to them. The rooms were amazing, sturdy, and quiet. Becky’s and the boys’ rooms were in one direction from the lobby, and ours was in the other direction. Our room number was #3. Each time we climbed past room #2, I wished we were staying in that room.

When we arrived, our luggage was in the room. Unfortunately, one of the suitcases belonged to Becky’s boys. I climbed up the path to the office and told them. It wasn’t their fault. I labeled the suitcases badly. One of the staff members returned to the cabin with me and got the extra luggage to take to Becky’s room.

Once the luggage was settled, I unpacked a little in the closet just past the entry door on the right. The bathroom was on the left, and the bedroom was around the closet wall to the right. The view from the windows was spectacular, looking out over the jungle to the mountains across the valley.

Rest time

We had free time until 3 when I started writing this. At 3, we met in the lobby with walking sticks and hiking boots for a guided nature walk around the lodge. A “guided nature walk around the lodge” sounded pretty innocuous to me, but I swear it about killed me. Once again, I was so thankful for having the hiking sticks.

The end of the walk was uphill, and I had to count the steps to reach the top. I’d count to twenty and then see if I could get to forty before I had to stop to breathe. Of course, I reminded myself that the Simian Mountains are at the highest point, 15,000 feet above sea level, so I was doing pretty well if you consider that.

Armed guards

Another notable thing about the hike was that Melaku was required (by the government?) to hire a guide and two armed guards to accompany us. I was never clear from whom we were being guarded or who required this hiring, but we had three men hiking with us carrying rifles. I was okay with two, but the third one didn’t seem to have been trained to walk safely with a rifle. I’m from Texas, and even though I’m not a gun person, I know how to carry a rifle. This guy carried it with the rifle barrel parallel to the ground, which means if he was walking anywhere behind you, the rifle barrel was pointed toward you.

I wanted to walk up to him and point the rifle barrel toward the ground or the sky. I sure hoped he had the safety on or not loaded it. The good news is that he did not stumble and accidentally shoot anyone, but I did my best not to walk in line with him behind me.

Return from the hike

When we returned from our hike, it was dinner time, so we all sat at a table outside on the deck overlooking an incredible view. The menu for meals is prix-fixe (I think that is the term), meaning you get what they cook. Okay, I could live with that. I did ask the manager if John and I could split a plate, but by the time it was served to us, he’d forgotten. It was meatballs and sauce with cheese on top, spinach, and rice. I ate half the meatball and rice. I tried two bites of the spinach, which I could not stand. Ick. I don’t like cooked spinach on its own. I can eat it raw or in things, but not cooked like that. John had a glass of wine with his.

After dinner, we headed for the cabin and bed. It had been a long day, and I was ready to rest.

The next day, we did a full-day hike in the Simien mountains and saw the ubiquitous Gelada monkeys.