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Well, my first blog entry! Im so sorry it has taken this long to update you all, internet in Ethiopia isnt all that, i.e if they even have internet, they have no electricity!
I'd better start from the beginning, and what a beginning it was! First got to the airport to find my flight was delayed, then I realised that me being a complete technology-numpty I had accidentally deleted most of my songs off my ipod! Ended up missing my connecting flight in Dubai because of the delay so had to catch a different flight via Nairobi, then up to Addis Ababa, unfortunately my baggage didnt have the same idea and arrived into Addis 3 days later! Not good!
Met the rest of the group that I was to overland with for the next 3 weeks very stinky! They are a good bunch, although a lot of them are very old so it's not exactly been a party truck! Fingers crossed for the next one which I join on Monday!
I have done so much in the last 3 weeks that it will take me ages to write it all so i'll just outline the best bits! We visited a Rastafarian community in Shashamene on the way up to the Bale Mountains where we stayed for 3 days, did a really cool horseride through the mountains.
We then had a couple of days in Arba Minch, where we went on a game drive and boat ride on Lake Chamo and saw lots of crocs and hippos! One of the group wasnt very well and we ended up leaving him in Arba Minch while we continued on our travels because he wasnt well enough to join us! It transpired nearly two weeks later that he was rushed to hospital with a twisted intestine and was only 6hrs from death! He had an operation he's doing really well now though.
After Arba Minch we headed to the Omo Valley (of Bruce Parry fame!) for 3 days. We met the Hamer, Dassenach and Arbore tribes! It was really interesting to see how these tribes lived. I would like to say they were untouched by the western world but thats so not true! As soon as we arrived they were asking for us to take photos and then charging us for it! They got quite aggressive too so this sort of wrecked the visit!
However we did get to go to a traditional coming of age ceremony for the Hamer tribe, called jumping of the bulls! The female relatives of the boys coming of age beg and fight to be whipped to show their love for the boys! Then the boy has to run over a row of bulls naked (I have photos and a video!).
Ethiopia was a gorgeous country although the people did put me off! Children would run alongside the truck begging for money and we got harrassed a lot!
Next stop Kenya x
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