Ethiopia Map

 

 

       Map of the Horn of Africa

latest picture: November 18, 2015

• click a picture to see details

001  October 25th, 2015: After our

516th border crossing from Kenya to

Ethiopia in Moyale, Emil adds as our

183rd country “Ethiopia” to

our country ribbon

002  Gate at the border crossing in

Moyale: While on the Ethiopian side

the road is tarred, its counterpart on the

Kenyan side is dusty and broken gravel

003  Two ladies in a Muslim outfit.

In Moyale – not like in otherwise

Christian Ethiopia – the population is

surprisingly almost entirely Muslim

004  A young lady in Moyale attracts

attention with her green,

beaded headscarf

005  A crowd of colorfully dressed people

are populating Moyale’s only main street.

Ethiopia has 90m people with a

yearly growth of 3%

006  The Monday market in Moyale is

in full swing: Goats are being traded;

news and pleasantries exchanged.

The atmosphere is lively

007  We sleep in the parking lot of

the “Bekele Mola Hotel” in Moyale.

The daily water supply is carried by

donkeys from a nearby water tower

008  Emil sits skeptically in front of the

national dish “Injera” – a sourly flatbread,

arranged with small heaps of stews,

salads, rice, vegetables and meat .….

009  ….. after the spicy food we

quench the thirst with four bottles

of the local St. George Beer at

our hotel-camping

010  A herd of cattle occupies the whole

street. The larger the herd, the more

respected the owner, even if there’s

nothing anymore around to chow

011  A dark cloud promises rain –

a blessing for the country that already

shortly after the rainy season is

threatened by a severe drought

012  The stream of students leaving

their university never ends. What

future do these young people have?

Who gives them work?

013  Villages with round thatched huts

are still widespread in Ethiopia.

Daily life is still performing as it

did decades and centuries ago

014  Goats gather around the simple

hut. They need little to survive and are

a milk and meat source for the people

015  A farmer is working on his

field the ancient way with his two

oxen and a one-furrow plow

016  We are ready to hit the 60 miles

[100km] bumpy gravel road from Yabelo

to Konso. Emil deflates the tires …..

017  ….. after about one third of the

distance, Chinese road work is on its

way. The track itself deteriorates …..

018  ….. a herd of cattle uses an almost

finished road subsection, which is systematically

blocked for cars by stones across the road

019  Cacti are in full bloom, decorating

the lush green landscape between Yabelo

and Konso with shiny red dots

020  Termites are perfect master builders.

Their thin red towers as high as a house rise

skywards. Here between Yabelo and Konso

021  Acacias with their wide spread

branches are part of the African steppe

and always a fascinating sight

022  Lush green hills, only interrupted by the

narrow gravel road, accompany us on a section

to Konso, where it obviously rained more

023  Traditionally dressed ladies of

the Konso tribe walk along the gravel

road in direction Konso

024  The verdant mountains appear

as we near Konso in the

Southwest of Ethiopia

025  A tiny homestead nestles on a small

strip of flat land between the gravel road

and the forest shortly before Konso

026  In the African bush, women are

still considered as “pack donkeys”. Due

to deforestation they often walk great

distances daily to find some firewood

027  A neat village with spiky thatched

roofs along the way to Arba Minch.

Contrary to often rubbish strewn

cities, bush villages are clean

028  The woman carrying a huge pile of

straw on her back needs a break while

collecting the meagerly available “firewood”

029  Archaic donkey carts carrying

people and goods are (still) a

common mean of transport in Ethiopia

030  The two donkeys are not any more able

to pull the heavy carriage under their own

steam. The woman needs to push from behind

031  Wood collecting point: Antique

carts are loaded with wood slats and

drawn by donkeys to their destination

032  The moss on the trees is a sign

of a pretty humid climate, while the

air carries a lot of oxygen

033  A piece of nature: View from

our camping at the “Bekele Mola Hotel”

in Arba Minch to the green leaf canopy

of the “Bridge of God National Park”

034  Lake Chamo is besides Lake Abaya

one of the two Rift Valley Lakes near

Arba Minch. The “Bridge of God National

Park” separates it from Lake Abaya

035  Emil enjoys from our “Bekele Mola

Hotel” Camping in Arba Minch the view

over the reddish-brown Abaya Lake,

with 449 sq.mi. [1’162km²] the

second largest lake in Ethiopia

036  Early morning the sky finds

its reflection on the almost motionless

surface of Lake Abaya

037  At the Rastafarian Camp “Zion

Train Lodge” in Shashemene, the portrait

of Tafari Makonnen, also called “Ras Tafari”,

decorates the wall. He was as “Emperor

Haile Selassie I” the last Emperor of

Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974 …..

038  ….. Coronation poster of November 2nd,

1930, of Emperor Haile Selassie I and Empress

Menen Asfaw. He was crowned “Negusa

Nagast”, literally “King of Kings” (= Emperor).

We arrive at the camp on its 85th anniversary,

on November 2nd, 2015 …..

039  ..... portraits from different stages

of life of Emperor Haile Selassie I,

born July 23rd, 1892,

died (assassinated?) August 27th, 1975,

and Empress Menen Asfaw

040  Rastafarians from the Island of

Réunion visit the Camp “Zion Train

Lodge” in Shashemene and pose for a

picture in front of our LandCruiser

041  Michael, son of the French owners

of the Rastafarian Camp, is a smart boy.

He is totally enthusiastic about

our LandCruiser!

042  A remembrance picture with the owners

Sandrine and Alex of Camp “Zion Train Lodge”

in Shashemene. Emperor Haile Selassie I

donated 1948 about ½m acres (=0.77 sq.mi.)

[2km²] of his private land to the Rastafarians

043  “Is the blue LandCruiser already

leaving?” The goat at the Camp “Zion

Train Lodge” in Shashemene peeks

curiously through the barn window

044  Cultivated fields in the highlands

are laid out in terraced patterns. They

form a colorful patchwork – here on

 the way from Sodo to Shashemene

045  Men on horseback are

riding with pack mules through

the lush green grassland

046  The landscape on the highland

between Shashemene and the Bale

Mountains looks like out of a

picture book

047  A quaint spot on the Ethiopian

Bale-Highlands: The combination of

brown, yellow and green of the

cultivated fields harmonize wonderfully

048  Yellow wheat fields, interrupted

by green umbrella acacias, dominate

big stretches of the landscape

around the Bale Mountains

049  A man is on a routine ride

through his land with his horse

050  The landscape in the Bale

Mountains shows its hilly and green

character above the Dinsho-Lodge

051  At the “Gaysay Grassland” sign we

enter the “Bale Mountain National Park”,

another candidate to the nine Ethiopian

UNESCO World Heritage Sites

052  Right after the “Bale Mountain

National Park” Park sign, warthogs

(Phacochoerus aethiopicus) are

grazing by the wayside

053  A male mountain nyala

(Tragelaphus buxtoni) looks

alert in our direction …..

054  ….. also a female stands stone

still and pricks up its ears until it abruptly

runs away – just above the Dinsho Lodge

055  Mountain ridges, gorges and

escarpments: The mountainous road

climbs from Shashemene (~ 6’550ft.)

[2’000m] to the “Bale Mountain

National Park” over more than 11’800ft.

056  A little farmhouse surrounded by

wheat fields. In the highlands grows also

the smallest millet in the world, called

“Teff” in Ethiopia. With its flour, the

National dish “Injera” is made

057  A remote little farm on the

highlands along the “Bale Mountain

National Park” mountain road with

kraals for their animals

058  An Egyptian Goose (Alopochen

aegyptiacus) with a bright plumage wanders

on the shore of Lake Langano at the

“Karkao Beach Cottages”. The water is

brown. stirred up by the fierce wind and

tributaries carrying soil along …..

059  ….. we set up camp

beneath a shady acacia at the

shore of Lake Langano …..

060  ….. next morning at sunrise,

the pink sky reflects in the calm

water of Lake Langano

061  The old train station of the “Chemin

de Fer Djibouto-Éthiopien” is an attraction

in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia on

an altitude of 7’726ft. [2’350m]

062  Liliana at the breakfast table

with three dogs on our camping site at

“Wim’s Holland House” in Addis Ababa.

The mega capital has nearly 5m people

063  The friendly crew of

“Wim’s Holland House” in Addis Ababa

gathers around our LandCruiser

for a farewell picture

064  A stately new Christian church rises

from the Ethiopian savannah between

Adama (Nazreth) and Awash

065  Prickly pears, also called opuntia

(Opuntia microdasys), form a natural

fence around the modest thatched huts.

Their fruits are edible

066  A herd of camels comes our

way. Camels can travel 350 miles

[560km] without drinking and have a

life expectancy of 40 to 50 years

067  The Awash waterfall in the

“Awash National Park” tumbles into

the 500ft. [150m] deep Awash

Gorge in three sections …..

068  ….. a crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus)

 is basking in the sun well hidden behind twigs

on the Gotu campsite in the “Awash National

Park” at the shore of the Awash River and

frightens us quite a bit

069  Breakfast at our bush camp at

“Awash National Park”. Without a

long breakfast nothing works for Emil

070  A gracious East African oryx

(Oryx beisa) in the “Awash National

Park”. Newborn calves can run with

the herd immediately after birth

071  The yellow canopy of the

two scrubby trees add some

color to the barren landscape

072  A bottle tree (Adenium obsium)

with its delicate pink flowers, also called

desert roses. It delighted us already in South

Oman and the Island of Socotra in Yemen

073  Stepping through the picturesque

Shoa gate to the 0.4 sq.mi. [1km²] big

historic fortified old city of Harar in

Eastern Ethiopia takes us into

a seemingly Arab world

074  Taxis and tuk tuks (auto rickshaws)

from China animate the streets of Harar

075  A little boy is playing with an

empty plastic bottle in his backyard.

Children in Africa are still content

with such simple things

076  The old city of Harar is a maze of

twisting and narrow alleyways. It is one

of the nine UNESCO World Heritage

Sites in Ethiopia

077  In Harar’s old city the colorfully

dressed Harari women compete with

the brightly painted house facades

078  A young lady is carrying her

bundle graciously on her head. She is

negotiating the fare with one of Harar’s

tuk tuk (auto rickshaw) driver

079  The liveliest alleyway – the Ugga

Street in the old city of Harar starts right

at the Shoa gate. Souks, markets,

mosques and shrines attract big crowds

080  In Harar’s old city 387

alleyways are squeezed into

only 0.4 sq.mi. [1km²]

081  May it be a facial massage?

A “beauty salon” in the

historic city of Harar

082  One of the 97 family mosques

in Harar’s old city with its nice

and colorful facade

083  The “Medhane Alem Cathedral”,

originally an Egyptian mosque, is situated

at the main square of the old city of Harar

084  In “Ras Tafari’s House”, Emperor

Haile Selassie I spent his honeymoon in

the lovely wooden house of his father

085  Museum of famous French poet

Arthur Rimbaud. He lived from 1880

to 1891 in at that time called Abyssinia

086  The green-pink mosque with the

(unofficial?) name “Italian Mosque”

(Moschea Italiana) is at the market

square of Harar’s fortified historic city

087  Yellow water jerry cans

are for sale. They can be

seen all over Ethiopia

088  A thick 16ft. [5m] high and

2 miles [3.5km] long wall surrounds the

historic city. The wall was erected in the

16th century and was later additionally

protected by a second outer wall

089  The Fallana Gate in the North

is one of the six gates to the fortified

historic city of Harar

090  The Buda Gate in the old

city walls of Harar. Today its

wooden door is missing

091  Pushcarts, horse-drawn carts,

rickshaws, tuk tuk’s, motorbikes. cars

and in between people and animals –

Harar is brimming over with activities

092  On horseback: Statue of Ras

Makonnen, father of Emperor

Haile Selassie I, in Harar’s four lane

main road (Charleville Avenue)

093  The festively decorated Ras

Makonnen Church in Harar, where there

was once also Makonnen’s grave, which

however decayed (200 yards [200m]

northeast of the same-named statue)

094  Ethiopian coffee ceremony corner

at the “Fresh Touch Restaurant” in Harar.

It belongs to the social and cultural life of

the country and can be found virtually at

every hotel, restaurant and suchlike)

095  The “Oromo Martyr Memorial Statue”

in Chelenko, in honor of the dead in the

1887 battle, is on 7’120ft. [2’170m]

altitude and 30 miles [50km] from Harar

096  A flock of flamingoes gather

at the little Lake Aramy, 11 miles

[16km] northeast of Harar

097  A watering place in a village,

where people not only gather to collect

water in yellow jerry cans but

also to exchange news

098  Farewell from peaceful

Lake Aramy near Harar with

its flamingos in the distance

099  18.11.2015: We share the Ethiopian

custom in Galafi to neighboring Djibouti

with goats. Despite leaving the country,

the officer steps on the roof of the car

and snoops in our large aluminum box

Continuation to the next Ethiopian page: Ethiopia Part 2 – November 27th to December 9th, 2015, from Djibouti to Sudan

 

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Iran - part 2: Pasargad (excl.)-Yazd-Esfahan – May 2013

Iran - part 3: Esfahan (excl.)-Chelgerd-Hamadan-Sanandaj-Orumiyeh – May 2013

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Georgia - part 1: Ajaria-Gori-Tbilisi-Kakheti-Azerbaijan Border – June 2013

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Nagorno-Karabakh: Armenia-Stepanakert-Gandzasar-Martakert-Tigranakert-Tnjri-Shoushi-Armenia – July

Armenia - Part 2: Nagorno-Karabakh-Goris-Tatev-Noravank-Khor Virap-Echmiadzin-Yerewan-Geghard-Gyumri-Georgia Border – July 2013

Georgia - Part 2b: Armenia Border-Ninotsminda-Tbilisi-Mtskheta-Kazbegi-Kutaisi-Zugdidi – July 2013

Georgia - Part 3a: Zugdidi-Swaneti-Zugdidi-Abkhazia Border – July/August 2013

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