Sun 3rd Jan, Africa Hotel, Aksum Not too much to be said of the day. It was a full day of travel. Beginning at the lodge, we headed down at 7+ am. The terrain was truly spectacular, winding through the mountains, into the valleys and back up into the mountains. To Aksum, it was a full 12 hour journey, with a lunch stop at Adi Arkay. The road was gravel and sand. Everyone was breathing dust, and i could imagine how much more uncomfortable it would have been had we taken a public bus instead of the minivan. On reaching Aksum, we boarded at Africa Hotel (90 birr, double bed), before going out for dinner. Tomorrow’s plan would be to explore the town and its surrounds.
Sat 2nd Jan, Sankaber Lodge, Simien Mountains National Park Today we made our way to the next lodge, a 3 – 4 hour trek. This time, we caught sight of an entire community of baboons, thanks to our scout Bokat. At points, I was less than 3m away from them. They were scratching themselves, foraging for food, completely oblivious to the humans around them. Reached the next lodge (40 birr) and dumped our bags there. It was my bag, for without it, i had no problem keeping up with the much fitter duo in front of me. We saw deers, more gelada baboons, ravens and some breathtaking views below. After that was done, we headed back to camp. Of course, there was much more to see if we were to trek beyond Sankaber, but that would be a lot more costly. Instead we slept at the lodge. The family manning the place were a lot friendlier than the previous night’s and we really enjoyed the stay. We (no, kang) had injeera (20 birr each, overpriced but hey, we’re at 3000+ m). Plus there was a room heater, i’m not sure what you call them.. We bought a stack of wood (15 birr) and chucked them to burn inside the stove heater thingy. The whole room was lovely and warm. I really hated the cold. For someone who comes from a country where the average temp is 30 degrees, 0 degrees at night is unbearable. Also, with the metal tray used for the injeera, we cooked our instant noodles by placing the tray with water on top of the stove thingy. All in all, it was a great evening by the fire inside the dorm. And we meet a couple of drivers who stayed in the dorm lodge with us. They would be picking up some campers and bringing them down to Debark, before departing to Aksum. This is great, we agreed on a price (300 birr each, steep). We’ll hitch a ride with them tomorrow and make the long journey to Aksum in a day.
Fri 1st Jan, “Lodge”, Simien Mountains National Park Took the 8am local bus out from Gonder to Debark (4hrs, 30 birr). The bus ride included a couple of scares where the bus stalled and needed fixing. On reaching Debark, we waited outside the tourist information centre / park headquarters till they re-opened at 1.30pm. Initially the HQ people said that it was not possible to leave at that time, since it is too late to arrange all the logistics. Fees were 90 birr per day per person, 40 birr for the mandatory Scout. Besides that, a Guide costs 120 birr and a Cook would cost 75 birr. Further costs would include mules, their handlers, cooking material, tents, and maybe some arrangement for 4WD hire. After consideration, we decided to go ahead for 3D2N, with one Scout. We will not camp, instead will pay 40 birr per night at two lodges along the way. Our target would be Sankaber, over the 2 days. Any further up will require camping since there would be no other lodges. The terrain was spectacular, covering hills and valleys, bypassing villages. The first day didn’t see us spotting any interesting. Though i was completely exhausted by the time we reached the lodge, no thanks to me carrying extra unneeded weight. Reached the lodge just after dark, it was effing cold, my nose was running and we had no gear. All we had amongst the two of us were 20 hard boiled eggs, some biscuits, and 10 packs of instant noodles (with no cooking material). We had leftover injeera from this afternoon’s breakfast, but i passed on it. And so, after 4 hard boiled eggs, i went to sleep at 8am, effing cold. Altitude: around 3260m.
