Ethiopia

27 November 1999 - 17 January 2000

Journal (weeks 3&4) Addis Ababa - Lake Tana

Saturday 11^th December 1999

Having said farewell to the Spawls, I left Addis along the main road to the north at about 09h00 and drove to the Sululta Plains, an area of grassland that is extensively harvested as fodder. This grass is loaded as very bulky loads onto donkeys, which are then driven along the main road into Addis together with many other donkeys carrying firewood. This, as can be imagined, causes huge problems for any vehicular traffic, which has to dodge both potholes and donkeys, resulting in some of the most erratic driving I have even done. The plains are only about 20 km north of Addis, but allow an hour for the trip.

Sululta had a variety of species of birds, including Wattled Ibis, Pallid & Montagu's Harriers, Black-winged Plover, Yellow Wagtail, and plenty of Red-throated Pipits, a variety of Wheatears as well as Groundscraper Thrushes - a bird of open grassy plains in Ethiopia.

Here the two main "specials" are the Red-chested Swallow and White-winged Flufftail. The former was seen at a small bridge over one of the small streams. Many more of these Swallows may have been seen on the rest of the trip, but they require careful identification to separate them from European Swallows, so although I know that I should have made the effort, I never specifically identified any more such swallows. White-winged Flufftails were not searched for, but the species appears to be quite common (i.e. several hundred pairs) in the area, with the only other known population being summer visitors to a few small wetlands in the South African highveld.

From Sululta, I continued north on the Bahir Dar road for a further 60 km until reaching the village of Muka Turi, where I turned right onto a gravel road to the north-east. This road is in good condition, being one of the few genuinely gravel roads travelled on. This made the going easy, and one could comfortably cruise along at 40-50 km/h, without risk of damaging the vehicle, and still being able to watch the scenery and keep an eye out for birds. After approximately 80 km, one reaches the edge of the Jemmu valley, and the latter part of the good road running right alongside the escarpment. At this point the altitude is around 2700m, while the bottom of the valley is at 1200m - so a 1.5 km near-vertical drop.

Bird-watching along the escarpment produced a variety of excellent birds, including Erckel's Francolin, Rüppell's Black Chat, White-billed Starling, Little & Blue Rock Thrush, Crag Martin, Thekla Lark and Black-eared Wheatear. However, to me, the most memorable site was my first views of Lammergeyer as one cruised along the escarpment, often no more than 5 metres away from me - a truly memorable sight.

Once you pass through a small village on the escarpment, you face the road down. Although used by trucks and busses, don’t think it is an easy drive. It takes less than 10 km to drop the 1.5 km vertically, and the road is extremely rocky - and only levelled to allow the busses and trucks to pass. This means that great care had to be exercised with a Landrover, and even then, I still scraped the bottom of the vehicle and U-bolts a couple of times. This is definitely a road to be travelled in first-gear low-ratio to ensure that the optimal track can be navigated - both going down and driving back up (the road continues to a village a further 40 km on called Alem Ketema, but not much further than that).

Obviously there had to be a reason for me to want to drive down this bad road, and then back again. Quite simply it is that this valley is an excellent spot for bird-watching, and the easiest place to find one of Ethiopia's most restricted endemic birds - Harwood's Francolin. It appears to be entirely restricted to reed-beds in the Jemmu and Blue Nile valleys, of which this road provides the best access.

On arrival in the early afternoon, I realized that there was an excellent spot at which to camp just beyond the bridge on the left of the road - a nice flat area, approximately 30m from the road itself. The evening was warm enough, that the light duvet was quite sufficient.

During the remainder of the afternoon, I wandered around the area of the river, trying to identify optimal areas for the Francolin - it appears that it is only likely to be found in the early morning, and even then not for long. During this period, I found a variety of species including Senegal Thick-knee, Spur-winged Plover, European Hoopoe, Black Redstart, Mocking Chat (but not the endemic White-winged Cliff Chat), and Streaky-headed Seed-eater.

Sunday 12^th December 1999

On waking up at dawn, I found one of the local herdsmen watching over the Landrover from the rocks above with his rifle held at the ready. As soon as he saw I was awake, and had climbed down from the tent, he approached me to shake my hand. Having done so he just wandered off. It was at moments like this that I wished I could speak Amharic - I would love to know what he expected from me.

Having walked back over the bridge, I wandered upstream to the areas of reeds which looked promising for the Francolin. An early excitement turned to disappointment when the Francolin was identified as a Crested Francolin . However, the real thing started calling a few moments later, and Harwood's Francolin was seen briefly before hiding quietly in the reeds for the remainder of the day. At around the same time I heard a call that was clearly that of a Stone Partridge, although I was unable to actually see it.

Thereafter I continued looking for birds for another few hours, but with few new species found other than Northern Red Bishop. I considered staying for another night to find more species that had been seen in the valley by others (European Griffon, Masked Shrike, Black-faced Firefinch & White-throated Seedeater). However, since this was still early in the trip, I reckoned that I had a good chance of seeing them elsewhere. I was right for all these, except for the Masked Shrike.

Having struggled my way back up the escarpment, I continued through the village at the top of the escarpment, and on through the next, after which there was a gravel track to the left heading eastwards. This is a "new" road, only completed in the early 90's, and so does not appear on any map I have seen. However, it is an excellent gravel road, and goes almost straight to Debre Birhan. Along the way, many families of Common Cranes were seen, invariably a pair with one, or occasionally two, young in attendance. Red-capped Lark and Black-headed Siskin were also common.

Having reached Debre Birhan, I turned left to the north-east through the town, and then turned to the right just beyond the end of the houses, to continue east further up into the highlands towards Ankober. Again, the aim was to find a specific species of bird, namely the Ankober Serin, for which very few localities are known. I was aiming for the original site from which the first specimen was collected. Richard Webb's Ethiopian Trip Report provided excellent directions, but just before reaching the point, something went wrong on the Landrover.

Without warning, or any strange noises, I was simply not travelling forwards. After trying all the gears, I was still getting no joy. I then tried low ratio, and that seemed fine - everything was OK again, except I wasn't likely to be travelling too quickly. After a bit more experimentation, I tried high-range and four-wheel-drive. This also worked, although the traction appeared to be rather poor. This was when my brain finally started working. I had broken a rear half-shaft - or even the main drive shaft. A quick inspection revealed that it wasn't the latter, so I only had front-wheel drive. Well, since I was only a few km from the Ankober Serin site, why let trivia like a broken half-shaft stop me? While I had no problems continuing to the site, I had that nasty nagging feeling that while it is easy to drive down steep inclines, how easy was it going to be to get back up them with only front-wheel-drive and a heavily laden Landrover?

Having reached the site, I wandered up the steep hillsides looking for the ground-feeding Serins. Of course, there was no sign of them anywhere appropriate, so I continued wandering round the hillside, having attracted a small following of local children who were clearly trying to work out what this faranji was up to. Not only could I not find the Serin, but there was literally no bird life at all, except some small brown bird hiding in the only shrub in sight. After a further 20 minutes there was still no sign of anything, and my return path took me back past the isolated shrub. Determined not to fail to see anything at all on this stop, I approached the shrub, only to find the bird emerge and start singing from the top of the bush. It was, of course, the Ankober Serin.

While my original plan was to continue along this road for a further 20 km to a small village called Melka Ghebdu, where anther species of Serin occurred (Yellow-throated), this was likely to be pushing my luck - and the species could also be found at Awash National Park - my next port of call anyway. Although Richard Webb indicated it was possible to drive from Melka Ghebdu direct to Awash, this road no longer exists, and so there is no option but to proceed to Awash via Addis Ababa. Hence I was able to return to Addis to effect repairs without missing out on any birds.

Of course, first I had to return to Debre Birhan. And I was right - those steep declines were OK, but now that they were inclines, travel wasn't all that easy - in fact in a couple of instances I was forced down into first-gear low-ratio spinning the front wheels to get any traction on the dusty road. However, in the end I succeeded in getting back up to the top, from which it was an easy cruise back to the town. I stayed the night in one of the local hotels which was supposedly recommended. I cannot fathom why, since the Hotel Helen, was neither particularly clean, nor offered hot water, nor even any food. Since I got there by about 16h00, I used the opportunity to try and identify the problem with the vehicle. Much local advice was offered, including a most earnest "mechanic" who was convinced the problem was in the handbrake. Before he did any real damage I persuaded him that I knew what I was doing (which he could clearly - and correctly - see was not true).

Monday 13^th December 1999

With no reason to stay in Debre Birhan, I left at 06h00 heading for Addis Ababa and back to Selassie Teklu's garage. The road was good tar, and the 130 km was covered in two hours, so I was able to arrive at the garage as it opened. It didn't take long to locate the fault, which was that the right rear half-shaft flange was stripped, as well as the half-shaft itself showing some signs of wear (although it was not broken). Clearly this was caused by the previous problems with the rear springs, which must have forced the rear axle into a slight angle to the prop-shaft and hence the angle of the wheels themselves. If this was the case, then I could expect a similar failure from the left half-shaft as well. Consequently I decided to replace both half-shaft flanges as well as both the half-shafts themselves. However, since this was Addis, the expense was very considerable - approximately US$ 750 for the four components. This expense was to impact on the trip later on, but at the time it seemed like a sensible precaution.

By late afternoon, everything was fixed up (again) and I was ready to set off for Awash National Park. However, although the road was good, I was unable to reach the Park before dark, so decided to break the journey at Nazret, staying at the Bekele Mola Hotel. While the hotel was OK - good, clean room with pleasant (cold) shower - no food was available.

Tuesday 14^th December 1999

Again, an early start was possible, so I was able to descend into the eastern Rift Valley by 07h00, and reach Lake Beseka soon thereafter. The road was still an excellent tar road, except near the Lake, where extensive road-works were taking place. They appeared to be having to completely rebuild the road through the lake (it runs through a causeway at the northern end). I am not sure whether this had any effect on the bird-life, but it was immediately obvious that absolutely no waterfowl were present - not even a single Egyptian Goose. This, following on from Lake Ziway, was a major disappointment, and still one of the major puzzles of the trip - where were the ducks?

I didn't bother to stay too long at Lake Beseka, and so continued on to the national park itself. This proved much more rewarding, with a large variety of both mammals and birds seen. Entrance was 80 Birr for two nights - very reasonable for Ethiopia's premier wildlife park. The camp sites are all based along the Awash River just above the falls, and is in a very pleasant setting within the riverine forest. There are about 6 separate camping areas within 300m, each quite nicely secluded. However, absolutely no facilities are provided, although the rangers will sell firewood - although there is nothing stopping you collecting your own.

There is a lodge further down-river, where it is possible to get cold beers, food and toilets. There is occasionally running water, but management only turns it on when paying guests request it for a shower. The restaurant is beautifully placed on a balcony over the river gorge - probably the best site to find the Ethiopian Cliff Swallow - a species seen quite often but has yet to be collected, and so not formally given a scientific name.

The southern part of the reserve had a wide variety of animals, including Swayne's Hartebeest (an endemic and rare species), as well as Beisa Oryx, Grevy's Zebra, Soemmering's Gazelle and Egyptian & White-tailed Mongooses. A pleasant surprise was to find African Cat near to the lodge in the evening. This area has three predominant vegetation types, with a variety of woodland species occurring adjacent to the river, including Von der Decken's Hornbill, Olivaceous & Upcher's Warblers and African Collared Dove. The thorn bush holds a variety of species of interest including Ostrich, Red-crested and White-bellied Korhaans, European Turtle Dove, Abyssinian Roller, Black-throated Barbet, Menetries' Warbler, Northern Crombec, Silverbird, Black-headed Batis, Fulvous Chatterer and Reichenow's Seedeater. Black-shouldered Kite is also common. The third habitat type is more open grassland, which holds African Swallow-tailed Kite, Arabian Bustard, Common and Harlequin Quail in considerable numbers, Ethiopian Swallow, as well as Red-tailed, Grey-backed, Somali & Great Grey Shrikes.

It is possible to do a night drive, since campers are allowed to have dinner at the lodge, and drive back afterwards. Although I failed to actually have dinner (a couple of cold beers were, however, consumed), I then took the long route back to the campsite. Although this totally failed to produce a single nightjar, it was fully compensated for by a Little Owl sitting in the middle of the track, allowing fabulous views.

Wednesday 15^th December 1999

A relatively early start allowed me to collect the armed guard / guide at the entrance gate before proceeding to the northern section of the park. The need for this is simply to find the right track, as even the track is not always clearly marked, and in some cases in such bad condition that description as a track is not merited.

Starting off to the east along the main road, we passed Lake Beseka again - still no waterfowl. Just beyond this we turned north along a good track through overgrazed grassland. Skirting the eastern base of the lava flows, there is a turnoff to the right. This 10 km track leads up to the crater rim of the volcano. Should one get to the top before dawn, the lava flows glow red, but if - like me - you arrive after sunrise, the steam can be seen rising from various points. The crater is a very impressive sight, but I suspect it is not practical to descend into the crater without ropes and the necessary climbing gear.

Bird-watching in this part of the park should be one of the most rewarding to the endemic hunter. Just after turning off the main track, at the edge of the lava field is a good place for Gillett's Lark. On the way up to the crater there are good chances to find Black-tailed Rock-Chat, Sombre Rock-Chat and Yellow-throated Seed-eater, with a second opportunity for these species at the crater rim itself. Also at the crater top, Boran Cisticola is to be found.

This was my nightmare spot. I only managed to find the Boran Cisticola, missing out on all the others. Some compensation was to be had in finding Rüppell's Griffon, Hemprich's Hornbill, Tawny Pipit, African Grey Flycatcher and Somali Chestnut-winged Starling at the crater.

One should not underestimate the condition of the track up to the crater, and the 10 km cannot be covered in less than an hour - and care must be taken in "bouncing" the vehicle up the lava flows. It was here that I sheared the windscreen hinges, which was to have such a devastating effect when I got to Djibouti. However, if possible, this trip should be tackled. Rock Hyrax were common in this area, with some Hamadryas Baboons also to be seen.

After the crater, one must return down the same track, along which Black-billed Barbets and Shining & Beautiful Sunbirds were common. From the base I continued northwards up to the Filowha hot-springs. At first it is easy to be disappointed at the springs, since huge numbers of cattle mill around the area - but don’t be fooled - the "swimming" pool is not here, but a few yards further on into the palms. Once found, the pool is almost indescribable - a beautiful white sand floored pool of absolute perfect clarity - I only wish I could keep my swimming pool looking as good!

From the springs, one follows the track south through Kudu valley, where Gillett's Lark can be found (I, of course, didn't), and several Kori Bustards were to be seen, as well as a few Kudu (glimpsed through dense bush, and assumed to be Lesser Kudu). We finally got back to the main road at 15h00, so it was back to the cold beers overlooking the gorge - but still no sign of the Ethiopian Cliff Swallows. A pair of Fan-tailed Ravens perched on the balcony railings hoping for food. Unstriped Ground Squirrel were seen near the gorge. On returning to the vehicle I found a flat tyre - so quickly changed it. I returned to the campsite - but again no nightjars.

Thursday 16^th December 1999

At his point I was still uncertain of my goal for the day, so left early in order to reach the Djibouti border in time to turn back if required. This was to be decision time. Although all the indications were that there would be no problem getting in to Djibouti, what would happen if I couldn't get a second visa for Ethiopia? If this was to happen, I could try and go north into Eritrea - but sadly, Djibouti seemed to also be at war with Eritrea, so not very practical. Alternatively, I could go south-east into Somalia - which was little more appealing. Hence the only other choice would be to ship the vehicle back to South Africa and abandon the remainder of the trip. I decided to make my final decision at the border post after evaluating the attitude of the border officials.

The drive from Awash northwards was on good tar, with road-works underway on the few areas which had pot-holes. Hence it was an easy drive, with several Arabian Bustards occurring along the road. After a approx 100 km one enters the Yangudi-Rassa National Park (although there is no indication of this). It is one of the few areas that the Wild Ass still occurs, although there are also many feral donkeys in the same area. I saw one herd of donkeys, which had very notable striped legs, indicating that they could have been the true wild asses, but I am not sure how this could be verified. It was near here that I passed an area of grassland which held a remarkable number of raptors, with hundreds of Pallid & Montagu's Harriers as well as over 50 Long-legged Buzzards. Salt's Dik-Dik were seen along this road.

Continuing along the road towards Djibouti, the countryside became more and more arid, although recent rains had left many small pans still holding plenty of water. The wildlife also changed dramatically, with fewer donkeys and cattle, their place being taken by camels. In terms of birds, larks became more common, and on the last stretch east of Serdo, Egyptian Vultures became abundant, with virtually every telephone pole having one or more vultures perching on them - and many juveniles were also present. There must have been nearly 1 000 over a distance of around 20 km. This was also an excellent place for larks, with Bimaculated and Desert Larks being seen. White-rumped Babblers were also quite common.

As one drops down the escarpment to the Djibouti lowlands (from about 700m to 150m above sea-level, the road started to deteriorate seriously, although improvements were being undertaken. By 16h00 I had reached the border. I spent a while chatting with the immigration and customs officials, and they convinced me that there was unlikely to be a problem with a return visa - and I got the feeling that even if it was refused, I might still be able to get back. Hence I took the plunge and crossed over. No problems on the Ethiopia side, but then it was matter of the Djibouti border.

The only other people using this road are the commercial vehicles bringing all of Ethiopia's imports from Djibouti - its sole commercial road access from (and to) the outside world. Given the nature of the economy, the only traffic was empty fuel-tankers going to Djibouti, and full ones returning. Hence, the border post was orientated towards such drivers who simply produced their driving license, and were waved through.

I produced my South African passport to baffled looks, and so after a few moments I showed them my visa which was studied for several minutes - upside-down. In the end they decided it was OK and spent 15 minutes searching for a suitable stamp to use - and I was through. Now came customs. That got a blank look, so I tried "Douane". Same reaction. So I just drove on. There are no customs on the Djibouti side of the border.

Apart from the fuel tankers, no other traffic was seen on the road. Hence the road had adapted to this traffic, and although the road used to be tarred, it has degraded into an endless series of large potholes. For a Landrover this meant that one had to travel at around 15 km/h and allow the vehicle to roll from one hole to the next, leaning 20° to the right in one, and then swing through an arc to be at 20° to the left a few metres later. Although the road was not too rocky, it was this constant rolling that took its toll, and it was totally exhausting because one had to hold on tight to the steering wheel or be tossed around the cab.

Leaving the border about an hour before dusk, I was hoping to stop and camp quite soon. But there was just nowhere where this was safe, especially since some trucks decided it was better to drive off the road, and drive across the desert itself. This took great courage, since the quantity of dust meant that visibility was very poor at best - and when returning in daylight I saw a distressing number of vehicles that had been involved in serious accidents. Consequently I ended up having to continue the 100 km to Dikhil - the first town on the main road - a four hour drive.

The only hotel that I could find in the dark was the Auberge de Palmeriae, and for a very mediocre room with no hot water, the price was 5000 Djibouti Francs (approx US$ 30). Of course, there was no opportunity to change any money into Djibouti francs, so after some serious haggling (an interesting experience as I only spoke English, and they only French), they agreed to a price of 150 Birr (i.e. approx US$ 23). No food was available, and the only beer was Stella d'Artois - there is no local brew - costing 750 DFr (US$ 4) for a standard 375 ml bottle. This was my introduction to what was to prove a very expensive segment of the trip.

Friday 17^th December 1999

Leaving Dikhil at dawn, I continued towards Djibouti. The road was a little better, in that rather than 5% tar, it now reached about 60%, so speeds of over 30 km/h were still impractical, but at least one could avoid the majority of potholes, and just slow down in the fairly obvious areas where potholes were unavoidable. After another 80 km I reached the turn-off to Arta, at which point the road actually became driveable, so the last 40 km into Djibouti city was quite reasonable, and speeds of 50 km/h were reached.

My first destination was the Ethiopian Embassy, so I could get my application for a visa in before the week-end, and collect it on Monday. Unfortunately, this was another miscalculation, since Djibouti is a Muslim country. Friday is the equivalent of our Sunday, with all banks, shops, etc closed, while Saturday is a half day, with some businesses opening on Saturday afternoon. Sunday is a normal working day. Hence, I would need to return on Sunday morning. As I result I decided to head around the Gulf of Tadjoura, and try and find the Djibouti Francolin in the Forêt du Day.

First I changed some US$ to Francs, where the best rates were offered on the street rather than the banks and hotels. However, money doesn't go far with petrol costing nearly US$ 1 per litre. Before leaving Djibouti city, I spent some time studying the tidal wetlands just south of the main road within the city limits. This produced many new species, including Western Reef Heron, Eurasian Spoonbill, Hemprich's, Herring and Slender-billed Gull, Dunlin and many other waders.

I imagined the road to the Forêt du Day to be another tough drive, so rather than continue birding in the city environs, left to return west nearly halfway back to Dikhil. To my complete surprise, this - the only other "tarred" road in Djibouti - turned out to be in excellent condition, with the few areas of potholes being actively repaired (at least on the Sunday when I retraced my route).

The drive was through a real desert, not always of sand, but much of the area is simply covered by black lava flows, on which nothing grows, and reaches incredible temperatures in the mid-day sun. However, even the lava had some bird-life, with White-crowned Black Wheatear being regularly seen there. The sandier areas held Black Scrub-Robin, Rosy-patched Bush-Shrike, Desert and Red-tailed Wheatears, Hoopoe Lark, Singing & Greater Short-toed Larks and Black-crowned Sparrow-Lark.

By noon I had reached the turn-off to Randa, the (supposed) starting point for the Forêt du Day NP. This road started off OK, but soon deteriorated as it ran next to a wadi - which clearly could flow quite seriously, as the road was completely washed out in places. This meant having to drive up the wadi, which was very rough.

On reaching Randa, the road almost vanished, and a local offered to guide me up a small track to the Forêt. After half an hour of following little more than animal tracks, we reached the end of the road, on a plateau overlooking some steep sided valleys, with some trees growing in the valley bottoms. This was the northern edge of the Forêt, and totally inaccessible by vehicle or on foot. Clearly the maps weren't as accurate as one would have wished. The only wildlife seen on this trip were a small herd of Lesser Kudu.

However, I had noticed a small sign post a few kilometres from the good tar road, indicating a tourist camp 13 km away, and this might be close to the southern end of the Forêt. Before returning, my guide offered to take me to his house, and provide me with tea. Knowing that quite a ceremony surrounds coffee and tea in Ethiopia, I agreed, with the hope of experiencing some new cultural ritual. Sadly, the tea was just poured out of a plastic thermos flask - not quite what I had in mind!

The sign-post indicated Dittilou, one of the spots mentioned in Nigel Wheatley's "Where to watch birds in Africa". This short 13 km track had to be the most challenging of the trip. Initially it crossed the large wadi, and so no track existed per se, rather a serious of cairns indicated the "best" route. After about 5 km of zigzagging along the wadi, the track headed off the valley floor, and up into the hills. The altitude over the last 8 km went from sea-level to around 800m, but not in a nice steady climb. On several occasions, the track climbed up 400 metres of rock, before dropping back down 300 metres to cross a small wadi. I hardly got out of first-gear low-ratio on this stretch. Overall, the 13 km trip took nearly 2½ hours. This trip further exacerbated the loose windscreen, with the heavy roof-top tent and roof-rack now starting to tear the roof of the rest of the bodywork.

The tourist camp proved to be a couple of basic huts, with no running water, and no other facilities. For this, the charge (even if I were to camp - which I did, it looked more comfortable) was 8000 DFr (US$ 45).

The day ended with a fascinating duet - from Scops Owls. Both African and European Scops Owls were clearly heard calling.

Saturday 18^th December 1999

All the problems of the previous day were put away as I was woken by the call of the Djibouti Francolin. Although I could not see them initially, it was never going to be practical to try and walk through the hills (vertical rock faces would be a better description) to find it - the topography meant that it would have required a serious climbing expedition to reach the relevant areas. However, over the next hour a series of birds were heard to call, and there was absolutely no doubt as to the identification. Also around the campsite were large numbers of Rüppell's Weavers - in full breeding condition. Another interesting comparative observation was to see both races of Common Redstart within metres of each other. Sadly, the cloud level was very low, so the chance of seeing raptors was low - although what chance there really was of finding Bonelli's Eagle I am not sure - it is referred to by Nigel Wheatley as a bird of the forest, but I found no other reference indicating that the Eagle occurred any further south than the Morocco / Algeria highlands.

By mid-morning I started heading back down the track, with the roof clearly having little connection to the rest of the vehicle - and all too clearly being held in place solely by the glass in the side windows. Continuing back towards Djibouti city, I had plenty of time to bird-watch, and was able to find Red Sea, Orphean & Menetries Warblers, Yellow-breasted Barbet, White-crowned Black Wheatear and a variety of waders.

Since there was no point in returning to Djibouti city too soon, I decided to visit one of the beaches I had seen people wind-surfing from on the previous day. Although there was no-one there now, and was surrounded by the black lava, I thought it would be a good spot to relax for a bit. To my amazement, it also produced some good birds, including Osprey, Kentish Plover and White-crowned Black Wheatear. It was such a pleasant spot (with good areas to swim in), that I decided to stay the night there, camping on the beach. While it was pleasant enough, the wind got up in the evening, and was blowing strongly on-shore all night.

Sunday 19^th December 1999

Leaving early in the morning, I headed straight back to Djibouti city to get to the embassy as early as possible. The Embassy only opens for visas from 09h00 to 11h00, so it was lucky I made the early start. However, the visa would take 24 hours to be issued.

This gave me plenty of time to bird the city environs, especially the harbour, which I reached at low tide, so all the mud-flats were exposed. This area comprises six huge areas of mud-flats with good road access, before the area used by the freighters is reached. I spent around 3 hours birding the area, finding many more species, including White-eyed Gull, White-cheeked, Saunders's and Little Terns, European Oystercatcher (surprisingly nowhere near rocks), Crab Plover, Redshank and a flock of Buff-breasted Sandpipers.

From here I took the road to Dorale, north-west of the city, which provided the only bush south of the Gulf of Tadjoura. Although I was hoping to find the Arabian Golden Sparrow, this eluded me. However, I did find European Turtle Dove, Black-tailed Rock-Chat, Graceful Prinia, Pale Rock Sparrow and many Great Grey Shrikes. There were also considerable numbers of Rock Doves, but it was not possible to determine if these were the genuine wild birds settling just south of their range, or feral birds. Slender Mongoose were seen in the area.

After lunch at the Hotel Plein Ciel - which served probably the best pizza I have ever eaten - I went to the extreme eastern side of Djibouti city and to the coast. It was very hard to reach the sea-shore, since a variety of what can only be described as palaces had been built along there, with plenty of armed guards patrolling the vicinity. However, I managed to see more European Oystercatchers, Greater Sandplover and various other waders.

From there I returned to the Menelik Hotel to stay the night in comfort - air-conditioning is not a luxury in Djibouti. In fact I was surprised how apparently dead the whole town was, until after sunset. Then all the shops opened, and people came out onto the streets - really quite a practical arrangement in such a climate. I again decided to eat at the Hotel Plein Ciel, which was just one block away from the Menelik Hotel, and the food was, again, up to the very best French standards - and prices.

Monday 20^th December 1999

Having waited for the Ethiopian Embassy to open at 09h00, I was only able to leave Djibouti city at about 10h00. Without further delay I headed straight back to Ethiopia. The gravel road from Dikhil to the border was no better in daylight - and the large wide potholes may have been easy for the petrol tankers to negotiate, but the Landrover just wallowed in them, swaying 20° from side to side as one went from one to the next. It was this that caused the final collapse of the roof. However, before I was distracted by this problems, I was able to see plenty of flocks of Spotted (not Burchell's) and Lichtenstein's Sandgrouse.

Although not quite that dramatic as a total collapse, the two left hand side windows of the canopy came loose as the sides of the canopy loosened. Luckily both fell inwards, so were not damaged. I tried to fit them back, but the roof was just too loose, and they wouldn't stay in. This weakened the structure even more, so I had to slow down still further. Even so I was able to reach the border by about 15h00, and passed back into Ethiopia without problems. Once back up the escarpment, the tarred road made travelling much easier.

My next problem was petrol. Given the price of petrol (three times the price in Ethiopia), I had not filled up in Djibouti, so was planning on filling up at one of the four or five petrol-stations I had seen driving from Mille on my way eastwards. The first was a Serdo, but they had no petrol, only diesel. The next was at Logia, but they had the same story. So the next target was the Total petrol station where I was planning to stay the night. However, this was leaving it as late as possible, as I was literally out of fuel. I made it to the station as sunset to find the same story - they normally had petrol, but had run out recently. The only help they could offer was that they knew black-market petrol was available in Logia - 8 km back to the east.

So, back I went - and after just 2 km I ran out of fuel. With a total fuel capacity of nearly 200 litres, that was slightly embarrassing. Anyway, now I had a real problem, as I couldn't really afford to leave the Landrover unattended while two side windows were missing. But I was convinced petrol would be easy to get hold of, as there were so many tankers driving past. I waved down the first to pass travelling eastwards, and luckily the driver spoke good English. However, he said that to the best of his knowledge, no petrol was being imported at the moment, which was why none was available - so I wouldn't get any from the passing tankers. Very kindly, he said they would look after the vehicle, while he flagged down the next tanker, and arranged for me to get a lift to Logia. 10 minutes later I was dropped off in Logia at the place where petrol could be bought. It took another five minutes to fill the 25 litre (ex-water) container (the petrol costing Birr 4.00 rather than the normal 3.00), and I flagged down the next tanker. Again, the first one stopped and gave me a lift back. The driver laughed when he saw who was looking after my vehicle - he knew the driver well.

After filling up my Landrover and checking that it was running OK, I was off again. One cannot express the friendliness and helpfulness of the local Ethiopians than in this example. At no stage did anyone ask for money (except for the petrol), and were all willing to help. I wonder how many other places in the world one would get this type of assistance?

The fuel got me back to the Total garage for the night, where I refitted the two side windows.

Tuesday 21^st December 1999

Leaving early in the morning, I drove westwards to Mille, a bigger town with petrol available. Or so I thought. Even here none of the garages had any petrol, so again I had to buy some more petrol on the black-market, to get me to Dese. After passing the turnoff to the south towards Awash, the road became gravel - although in good condition. However, there were enough bumps and potholes to shift the roof enough for the windows to fall out again. Both fell outwards onto the gravel while I was travelling at about 40 km/h - and amazingly neither broke. While picking up the glass, I was saw several Bush Petronias near the roadside - about the only birds I saw on this stretch of road. Slowing down again, I continued to Dese, where I quickly found a garage with a welding kit. Here we welded steel supports from the chassis to the roof-rack - hence securing the roof in position. With that fixed, we refitted the windows again.

From here I continued north on the gravel road to Heyk, seeing Blue-headed Coucal near some woodland just off the road. In Heyk I turned off to the west to try and find the lake. Initially I went round the southern side of the lake, but the road remained about 1 km from the lake, so I returned to try driving round the northern shore. Here the road approached the lake, but at a monastery. I could find no details of this monastery, which was clearly not orientated towards visitors of any kind, and the armed guard would not allow me to camp nearby (it being dusk by this time). I was able to find a good spot to camp about 1 km back along the road. There seemed to be no problem for me to camp here - and there were encouraging bird noises from the nearby lake.

Wednesday 22^nd December 1999

The early morning showed a large number of water-birds on the lake - probably around 400 in total. Of these 397 were Tufted Ducks, with just 3 Common Pochards amongst them. There were also quite a few other birds around, including White-rumped Babbler, Streaky Seed-eater and Eurasian Reed-Warbler heard calling at the water's edge.

From here I returned to Heyk town, before continuing north to Woldiya. On the way, the scenery was quite beautiful with a variety of valleys with high ridges separating them. From one of these I found a pair of Greater Spotted Eagles soaring along a valley, and at another point found four European Griffons soaring above a ridge. Pectoral-patch Cisticolas were also quite common along this road.

On reaching Woldiya, I turned west on the "Chinese" road, which had recently been finished, and was certainly in good condition. However, as with all roads in Ethiopia, it was quite rocky, and at one point drove a splinter of rock through the tyre, deflating it instantly. While inspecting it, I noticed that terrible smell of petrol. On investigation, I discovered that the rear tank had broken some of its mountings, and the filler pipe had come loose, with a very small leak of fuel. This must have been caused by the continual vibration from the roads. Clearly it could not be fixed without welding, and I was not too keen on welding a fuel tank without the proper facilities. Since I still had two independent petrol tanks left, and with a capacity of around 150 litres, this was not going to be a major crisis.

Having changed the wheel, I used up the remainder of the fuel in the rear tank, and probably only lost a couple of litres from the leak. On reaching Dilbe the road turned "north" to Lalibela. I had read the road was only passable in the dry season, but it didn’t seem to be in too bad a condition. On the way I saw a variety of species similar to those at the Jemmu escarpment, including Clapperton's Francolin, White-billed Starling, Rüppell's Black-Chat, Blue-naped Mousebird, Moorland Chat and Great Grey Shrike. White-winged Cliff-chats were also common here.

Confusingly, the road is marked on the Michelin maps as going south to north, yet the GPS clearly showed I was travelling east to west. Only the Ethiopian Mapping Agency map indicated this correctly. I can only assume that it is due to the "Chinese" road following a very different alignment to the old road. However, after travelling on the road for about 70 km I reached a T-junction with a tarred road. This had me totally perplexed, since no-one had indicated anything about a tarred road in this area. Turing right (i.e. north) I soon reached Lalibela.

In the centre of the town is the Seven Olives Hotel, which had been recommended as the best in the area - and the only one where it was possible to camp. However, while the camp site was in a nice spot below the hotel, it was not accessible to vehicles, so I had to camp in the car-park. I spent the afternoon relaxing in the hotel grounds, and was quickly able to find Banded Barbet and Abyssinian Slaty Flycatcher.

On inquiring about the tarred road, I was informed that the Dilbe road had been closed the year before as too dangerous, and the new one opened. While you are not supposed to drive along it, it is an excellent road for birding along (until it deteriorates further) and much more productive than the new route.

Thursday 23^rd December 1999

I spent the day with Eshetu Bedane, a very knowledgeable guide who showed me the 12 monolithic churches in Lalibela, and we then travelled to visit a couple of cave churches much further out, before finishing off with another cave church nearby the town itself.

It is almost impossible to describe the monolithic churches for, while they are not large, the very quality of the workmanship, the artefacts, paintings, etc were unlike anything else I have ever seen. The history behind each church, and the numbers of pilgrims visiting them all, gave such an incredible insight into Ethiopian life. I am not going to try and put into words what I experienced during the day.

While I did not take my binoculars while walking round the churches, Rüppell's Black-Chat and White-winged Cliff-chats were common. On the way to the Yemrehana Christos cave church, I was able to find quite a number of flocks of White-throated Serin along the road-side. On the final cave church a few km to the south of Lalibela I found a Rufous Sparrow of the race shelleyi - far outside its normal range.

Other common birds of the area were White-billed Starlings, Tacazze Sunbird, and the pure-white-headed form of the White-rumped Babbler.

Friday 24^th December 1999

Leaving early, I set off back along the new tar road towards the airport, and turned left over a bridge after about 10 km. This road, which was also new, lead back to the "Chinese" road some distance from Dilbe. The drive towards Lake Tana was relatively uneventful, although there was some beautiful scenery, and an impressive view as one reaches the final flood plains. Black-backed Cisticolas were found on one stop.

On reaching the Bahir Dar - Gonder road, I turned north, passing extensive cultivated flood-plains, which held plenty of birds. Herons were very common, with one area holding approximately 30 Black Herons within 100m of each other - all feeding in the cultivated land and not in the water itself. Nearby was a flock of around 100 Common Cranes. I also caught a brief glimpse of a bird that I could only identify as Abyssinian Longclaw, and while the habitat was right, I wasn't expecting it this far north. Continuing round the eastern edge of Lake Tana, the area continued to be heavily cultivated, and heavily populated.

On reaching the southern part of Gonder, I turned south to reach Gorgora, a small "resort" on the northern end of Lake Tana. There was a very pleasant hotel there, although I was amazed to find myself the only guest for the two nights I stayed there. They had no food or restaurant in operation at the time, but this was not problem to me. I did wonder how more other foreign tourists who hired a vehicle and travelled independently managed.

Relaxing in the late afternoon with a cold beer (nowhere in Africa are they in short supply), I found a Song Thrush near the lake shore in the hotel gardens.