April 13 - The drive from Axum to Debark, which is the entrance village to Simien Mountains National Park, was only 168 miles. However, drive time was almost 8 hours due to road conditions. Bareket, our driver, calls these kinds of roads "spaghetti" roads. And today he said, "We ate a LOT of spaghetti!" The scenery was phenomenal the entire way! Every valley and ridge had its own unique character.
This is a village called Adi Ar Kay, where we stopped for lunch.
The valleys were very deep, the plateaus were broad, and the mountains were very high.
We made it to our destination at 4:30pm. The temperature is about 25 degrees cooler than in Axum - a welcome relief from the heat. Situated on the edge of a broad plateau, at 10,700 feet above sea level, the lodge is on the western edge of the national park. As you can see by the sign, the Simien Lodge is the highest lodge on the continent.
This gorgeous view is right outside the door of our own private thatched roof hut. And the mountains are nice to look at, too. Ha!
While Carrie and I were exploring the Simien Lodge surroundings we were approached by the local Chamber of Commerce. After some tough negotiations, I came away with two small handmade baskets, one for 30 birr (about $1.50) and one for 40 birr (about $2.00). Each of the Chamber members also received a bonus birr for allowing me to take their photo. We all got what we wanted and parted as good friends.
No comments:
Post a Comment