Ethiopia...just across the border but a whole new world!
Beyond the Saddle ....Cairo to Cape Town
Howard Fairbank
Fri 9 Feb 2007 16:47
In the first bit of ethiopian mountains camping just off the road to Gonder...Elevation is 1400m.....from about 800 this am...so a bit of climbing today.
Cyled 95km....all bad sandy and stony roads....but what a pleasure to be in Ethiopia.....its ABSOLUTELY remarkable how the scenery, vegetation, birdlife, and people culture have changed so abruptly.
I love my bird watching and today must have spotted at least 20 different varieties....more in the newsletter.
I thought the riding would be easier than it turned out to be,m so spent a lot of the morning taking walking excursions to see the birdlife, and people stuff.... This made it a long, hot and very dusty day.....got in at 3pm. Was surprised to see I was 4th rider in..... It wasn't a race day today so probably most took it easy.
The last 5km were a climb up big hill, in 43 deg C heat and same temperature water from the water bottle! Must have gone through 8 litres of liquid today.
Today's distance means I have cycled 700km in 5 days, and tomorrow sees us doing 110km, into Gonder where we have our first two day and very much deserved rest days.....I can't wait...its been a hard, albeit rewarding and interesting week.
I guess the progress on the map, and the fact that we are now at 12 deg N, and tthe furtherest west we have been since the start in Cairo, says the week would have delivered great progress to the end goal! Whether its too fast...time will tell......
Talk again tomorrow