Ethiopia

27 November 1999 - 17 January 2000

Journal (weeks 5&6) Lake Tana - Bale

Saturday 25^th December 1999

Christmas Day - according to the Gregorian calendar. However, since Ethiopia remains on the Julian calendar, they were waiting until January 7^th. Hence, while I had an easy day of relaxing and bird-watching in the hotel gardens, it was a good time to get the Landrover serviced. A local mechanic from the Marine Authority (in whose grounds the hotels sit) was happy to do the necessary oil changes, etc.

The gardens (as with most Ethiopian government-run hotels) were impressive in the variety of habitats they provided, and a large range of birds were found, including African Collared Dove, European Turtle Dove, Eastern Grey Plantain-eater, Yellow-breasted Barbet, Short-winged Cisticola, Blackcap, White-headed Buffalo Weavers and the albiventris race of the Variable Sunbird – called Yellow-bellied Sunbird in southern Africa, but this was the white-bellied race, so I finally appreciated why it has a different name in the rest of Africa. Geoffroy's Ground Squirrel were seen nearby.

However, the great excitement of the day was caused when a Saker Falcon weaved through the trees between the hotel and lake shore. A beautiful falcon, which I had not expected to find, and was a delight to watch once the opportunity presented itself.

Sunday 26^th December 1999

Leaving very early, I was able to reach Gonder by 7h00 am, and briefly visited the Royal Enclosure area. I am not quite sure why, but I found this to be one of the most disappointing areas, and didn't live up to expectations at all. I suppose this was partly due to the constant shouting of the locals at the sight of a faranji, this being the first (and last) area where it was a real problem. As a result I only stayed about an hour before leaving. I am sure that it is possible to enjoy Gonder, but I failed.

From here I drove out north and upwards into the highlands, and reached Dabat by about 12h00, stopping to repair another puncture. Again I was heckled, but couldn't help enjoying it this time. Instead of the continual shouts of "You" and "faranji", the cry was "hello breakfast". I would love to know how they got this refrain, but it was certainly different, and a welcome change.

Another hour brought me to Debark, the headquarters of the Simien Mountains National Park. Here you must hire a guard, and also a guide if they can persuade you. I turned down the guide (to their obvious disappointment). Once the guard had collected his rifle and small blanket, we drove west out of town up into the mountains. Curiously, the climb up isn't too steep or long, as one is already on the highland plateau, and the dramatic scenery is the escarpment from this plateau down to adjacent valleys. However, the scenery is quite stunning, and in the late afternoon the sunlight cast shadows that enhanced the effect.

Stopping of at several view points along the road, Red-rumped Swallow and White-billed Starling were common, as were many crows. At one point we were able to get fabulous views of the endemic - but very rare - Walia Ibex. I couldn't work out why I could see it so clearly at first, since it was some way down the escarpment (probably 1 000m below us, even though only 200 metres away horizontally). Then I realized it was lying flat on the ground with its legs stuck out sideways - once it stood up, it was very had to see.

Walking out to the waterfall - quite a spectacular sight - we passed a mixed flock of birds feeding near some White-rumped Babblers. I spent a long time studying the Babblers since the only reliable characteristic was their white rump - a diagnostic feature. Apart from that, they were unlike any other illustration I have ever seen of the species. However, equally interesting was the fact that Ethiopian Catbird and Abyssinian Woodpecker were also feeding nearby. Twice more during the afternoon I found parties of Babblers, and both times Catbirds and the Woodpeckers were feeding nearby. I can find no reference to this association, and am not sure if it was just coincidence. Chiffchaffs were also to be found in the bush areas, and I disturbed several Klipspringer.

Just before sunset I watched the crows I had seen previously circling and making quite a noise - except that it wasn't really a crow noise. That was when I realized that Red-billed Choughs are actually quite large birds - I had somehow assumed they were more blackbird size. There must have been over 100 in the flock I was watching.

Gelada Baboons were common in several areas, especially around the ranger's camp. That night I camped next to the ranger's camp at Sankaber.

Monday 27^th December 1999

By sunset the temperature was dropping rapidly, and by morning the temperature must have been close to freezing, with a heavy dew covering everything. Consequently I was stunned to find that my Guard was not allowed to sleep in any of the nearby huts (where he had been chatting with the other rangers during the evening), but had simply laid down on the ground, and covered himself with his blanket. He then explained that this was part of his duties, so he wasn't complaining - his job was to guard me. Against what I never worked out.

Originally I was planning to stay up in the mountains for much of the day, and even for a second night. However, having already seen the target birds and animals (I wasn't expecting to see the Simien Fox here), the extreme cold which continued for a couple of hours after sunrise, I decided to get down to a warmer altitude, and drove back down to Debark. As it happened I had to take it very slowly, since a leak on the brake master-cylinder developed, resulting in very mushy brakes - and I didn't have enough brake fluid to bleed the brakes.

After buying some extra brake fluid, I then continued south back through Gonder to Bahir Dar. The cultivated wetlands near Lake Tana continued to produce plenty of birds. I also found a pair of Black Crowned Cranes on the outskirts of Bahir Dar.

I stayed at the camp site at the Tana Hotel. This was the first hotel where I met tourist groups. While there were 2 Europeans walking in the Simien mountains, and another two at Lalibela, I hadn't met another tourist since Awash NP. The hotel has excellent facilities, and a beautiful terrace overlooking the lake. Black-headed Gull were seen on the lake, and Yellow-fronted Parrots heard in the grounds. Ethiopian Grivet were found in the trees.

Tuesday 28^th December 1999

In the morning, I started by driving along the east bank of the Nile just south of its source, and found a single White-cheeked Turaco. Then I drove down the west side of the river to the Tis Abay falls. The falls were impressive, but - in my opinion - not as impressive as either the Victoria or Murchison Falls. There was surprising little bird-life along the road or the path near the falls.

From here, I returned towards Bahir Dar, before taking a new road west towards the main Addis Ababa road. This road was in reasonable condition (gravel still - the last tar road I had travelled on for any distance was in Djibouti). After reaching Bure, I turned south, continuing towards Nekempte. This road was significantly worse, having less gravel portions than the previous roads, and several areas of bad potholes. This meant slowing down, but even then it was still impossible not to hit the occasional pothole quite heavily.

Quite soon after leaving Bure, the road starting dropping rapidly down into the Nile valley. Curiously the most notable species was the African Reed-Warbler. The local race was a beautiful rich cinnamon colour, and the bird was common foraging around the roadsides, and even on the road itself. It took a little bit of identifying, as it behaviour was very chat-like.

I wasn't able to reach Nekempte that evening, so started looking for a place to camp for the night. As I started to descend the next major river valley (the Anger river) I saw a Stone Partridge just next to the road. Shortly afterwards I found a suitable place to camp and pulled off the road. There was absolutely no-one around this area, so I couldn't even ask permission.

Wednesday 29^th December 1999

The first sounds I heard in the morning were the calls of the Stone Partridge. However, after that there were few birds to be found. The road did not improve, and by the time I had reached Nekempte, I had broken a couple of leaves on the front springs. This was easily repaired in Nekempte, but I realized that should I have a more serious failure I was going to run short of cash. So at this point, I decided to quickly divert to Addis Ababa where I would try and top up my wallet.

The road from Nekempte to Addis Ababa was tarred, and in quite reasonable condition, so even though I only left after midday, I was in Addis Ababa by 17h00. Stopping at Gafersa Reservoir, I failed to find Green-winged Teal, but there were several Northern Pintail there instead.

On arrival in Addis Ababa I stayed at the Wanza Hotel, on the road towards the airport. This was a very pleasant hotel, and relatively cheap, but didn't serve food. However, there are many good restaurants within walking distance.

Thursday 30^th December 1999

In the morning, I went to the main branch of the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, hoping that there might be some way of using my credit card to obtain cash. They assured me that there was absolutely no way of doing this, and even the airport was unable to handle credit cards. Not only that, they were unable to change any currency other than US $ or one of the major European currencies - certainly no African currency - even though they had brochures on the walls stating that they changed Kenya Shillings. Apparently this was out-of-date. This was intensely frustrating, since I had nearly US $500 worth of Kenyan & Tanzanian Shillings, etc - for buying petrol on my return journey. Clearly changing the money early (so I wouldn't have to bother changing any on the way back) was a serious error. The only advice they could offer was to try the Hilton Hotel.

Arriving at the Hilton in the late morning, I was politely received by the Financial Manager, who said that limited arrangements could be made. They were able to advance me US $100 in cash, and I was able to pay for the room, etc on the credit card. While there I was able to contact some South Africans staying at the hotel, one of whom was prepared to change my SA Rands (of which I was still carrying approximately R500). Given the price of Birr 2.80 per litre, this would allow me to travel west to Gambela, and then back to Bale, and the complete planned trip in Ethiopia - and leave a bit of spare cash for emergencies.

Having now sorted out my problems, I enjoyed the facilities of the Hilton for the remainder of the day.

Friday 31^st December 1999

Another early start, and I was able pass Gafersa Reservoir just after sunrise, but there was such a heavy mist over the water that I couldn't see much at all, other than large numbers of Dusky Turtle Doves and Red-rumped Swallows. Continuing back along the road to Nekempte was uneventful, and I reach there by noon. However, my luck was really running out. On filling up with petrol, I discovered that the Government had raised the fuel price by 20% overnight. My money problems were now back where they were before I took the excursion to Addis Ababa. However, having got this far, I decided to continue on to Gambela, and play it by ear thereafter.

On leaving Nekempte to the south, the road reverted to gravel (rock), and I slowed right down again. Travelling along this stretch with occasional stops I found Shikra, Little Sparrowhawk, and Foxy Cisticola. After passing through Bedele, the road heads west. After about 20 km, the tar road degrades quickly, and as it turned to gravel I found a reasonable spot to camp for the night.

Saturday 1^st January 2000

Not having bothered to wait up for the new millennium (it was not due until 11 September 2007 in the Julian calendar anyway), I awoke without a hang-over, and to the call of approximately 5 Stone Partridges.

Continuing through Metu and down to Gambela, I stopped frequently, as a wide variety of species were seen. Abyssinian Ground Hornbills were regular, Gymnogene - not having been seen yet on the trip - became common, with 5 seen within an hour, all hunting close by the side of the road. A little further on, in an area of open farmland a European Sparrowhawk was seen, and when returning to a more wooded area Violet Wood-hoopoe and Black Saw-wing (race blanfordi) were seen. Red-breasted Wheatear and Red-winged Pytilia were quite common, and in one spot I found a small flock of Black-faced Firefinches.

Once past Gore and Bure, the road dropped down into the Soudian lowlands, with the temperature and humidity increasing dramatically. The scenery was stunning, especially as the road approached the Baro river. While virtually no water-birds were to be seen (the river was full and fast-flowing), the were a number of other species around, including the Exclamatory Paradise Whydah, which was quite common. Other birds seen on the road to Gambela included Vinaceous Dove, Black-billed Wood-Dove, Blue-naped Mousebird, Singing Bush-Lark, African Thrush, Grey-headed Batis and Red-pate Cisticola.

Gambela town itself was not an impressive site, and had little to offer. The local government hotel (the Ethiopia Hotel) was asking US $10 to camp. Given my cash shortage, I decided to try camping in the bush. However, before I left I noticed that there were Tantalus Grivets in the grounds. Leaving town on the Gog road, I found that travel in this area was not going to be easy. At first the road was in excellent condition, but after passing the grader, I found that it was little more than a small track, and so decided to camp in the woodland nearby. I had seen little near the town, and even after walking around the area, found little in the way of bird-life.

By this time the flies were becoming a serious pest, and given the heat and humidity, I realized that this area was not going to be one of the nicest places to stay. After dark the flies departed, but the heat remained throughout the night, dropping to perhaps about 25°C by dawn, when the flies reappeared. I could only be grateful I was there in mid-winter.

Sunday 2^nd January 2000

Given the paucity of bird-life near Gambela town, I returned towards the escarpment as quickly as possible. However, once some distance beyond the town, the bird-life improved again, and I was able to find Northern Black Flycatcher, flocks of Brown Babblers, White-rumped Babblers and Cinnamon-breasted Bush-Shrikes within a matter of a few hundred metres. By about 08h00, the heat was building up again, so I started up the escarpment to Metu, finding Scaly Francolin, Crimson-rumped Waxbill and Chestnut-crowned Sparrow-weaver on the way.

Once back up to a reasonable altitude at Bure, I travelled back through Gore and Metu to Bedele. From here I continued east to Jimma. En route I saw a few Black Saw-wing (race oleaginea) and Matschie's Grivet. Luckily the local government hotel in Jimma was very cheap, and provided better food and facilities than many of the more expensive ones I had camped at before. A nice shower was most welcome after Gambela.

Monday 3^rd January 2000

By this point it might seem that I was not seeing much in the way of bird-life, but that is not true. On these latter stages, I was still seeing plenty of species, but finding new species was becoming progressively harder, given my considerable luck during the early part of the trip. However, the novelty of the country was obviously reduced, as was the ability to ignore the faranji situation. In many respects it was no worse here than at the beginning, but after a month, it does become quite wearing to be the centre of attention everywhere you go.

Although the maps indicate that there are "roads" between Jimma and Sodo, none of the locals had ever heard of them. So it was necessary to follow the tar road to Addis Ababa, turning off to the south just after Welkite. On leaving Jimma I was very surprised to find Rouget's Rail crossing the road - with no apparently suitable habitat in sight. On the way one passes through the Gibe gorge, which is supposedly the nearest place to the "normal" birding route to find various western species. I have to say I say no sign of suitable habitat or the species themselves that I had seen in Gambela. I suspect one would need to be very lucky indeed to find them here.

From Welkite, there was another gravel road to Sodo, which was also very rocky indeed. On this road, a small woodland patch provided a single Neumann's Colobus. By the time I had reached Sodo, the front springs were again in very bad condition, with several leaves broken. On reaching Sodo, the new tar road to Arba Minch was virtually complete. There was one short stretch of 2 km near to Arba Minch that was incomplete, and a deep 50 cm wide trench across the road, which if not seen timeously would have done catastrophic damage to the suspension. Obviously there were no warning signs.

On reaching Arba Minch, I turned off to the Nechisar National Park, and camped in the woodland at the river near the entrance gate. This official campsite had no facilities of any sort. The only major life in the area were several (presumed) Lesser Galagos calling in the evening.

Tuesday 4^th January 2000

The morning was quite quiet, with few species encountered in the woodland area, although Bushpig and (presumed) Gambian Sun Squirrel were seen. Not wanting to risk damaging the springs further, I did not drive anywhere until it was late enough to return to Arba Minch and fix up the springs. However, I slightly misjudged it, and just as I turned into the first garage, there was a sickening thud as a spring completely broke - still, it could have happened in a worse place! After a couple of hours we had welded it up as strongly as was practical, but yet more money was used up doing it. It was just a matter of trying to avoid any more repairs before reaching Kenya.

On returning to the park, I drove past the campsite, and on towards the plains themselves. The road quickly deteriorated, to a level that was almost as bad as any I had encountered. It was definitely a first-gear low-ratio effort. However, by taking it very slowly, I was able to get over the hills and reach the plains themselves, where the road was quite reasonable. On the way, many groups of Rufous Chatterers were passed. On crossing the plains the first time there was little bird-life, other than finding a couple of White-tailed Bush Larks at the northern edge.

On the southern end of the plains the road enters a hilly bush area, which lead to the hot-springs. There was little bird-life even there - and as usual for any pleasant tourist spot in Ethiopia, several families were living right at the edge of the springs, and allowed no peace.

I continued along the road to swing back onto the plains close to Lake Chamo, but no signs of any bird-life near the lake edge. Returning towards to the bush close to the hot-springs several Secretary Bird and Kori Bustards were seen, as well as several herds of Burchell's Zebra, as well as Thomson's Gazelle, Greater Kudu and Spotted Hyaena. In the late afternoon, bird-life started to appear, and a few Rufous Scrub-Robin were found, as well as Dark Chanting Goshawk, Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse, a flock of Red-billed Wood-hoopoe, a single Black Wood-hoopoe, White-rumped Babbler and Orange-winged Pytilia.

Remaining there until it was dark, I then drove across the plains towards Lake Chamo, and then back to the northern edge of the plains. During this time I saw several Spotted Dikkops and a few Nightjars, mainly Dusky, but one Plain Nightjar was also identified. As always, there were many that "got away". I camped just off the side road leading to Lake Abaya, under the happy impression that not much traffic would be expected. During the night several hundred people passed by, at least 8 groups before 22h00, and many more throughout the night. I saw no sign of them during the day, so am not sure where they came from, or went to.

Wednesday 5^th January 2000

The dawn chorus was notably absent. After a brief walk which produced almost nothing at all, I returned to the park entrance. No new birds were found on the way, although White-rumped Babblers were in evidence. From Arba Minch, I returned to Sodo and then eastwards to Shashemene, all on good tar. On reaching Shashemene, I took the short road to the edge of the rift valley at Wondo Genet.

The Hotel allows camping in the flat grass area next to the parking lot, under a number of large trees. I spent some time sitting on the roof area of the restaurant, which gives an excellent view into the canopies. Here I was able to find a variety of birds including Yellow-fronted Parrot, Brown Woodland-Warbler, Brown Parisoma and Black-headed Forest Oriole.

I then visited the hot-springs, which are genuinely hot, and you need to be careful not to get too close to the water inflow into the pools. Afterwards I walked up along a nearby path, past a quarry, and reached a wooded valley, one area of which comprised endemic forest. White-cheeked Turacos were very common here, as were Rameron Pigeon, Abyssinian Ground-Thrush and Yellow-bellied Sunbird.

Thursday 6^th January 2000

Early next morning I returned to the forest, and found a whole range of species, including Double-toothed Barbet, White-cheeked Turaco, Red-shouldered Cuckoo-Shrike, Ethiopian Hill-Babbler, Slender-billed Chestnut-winged Starling, Ethiopian Crimson-wing and African Citril. In the small quarry just below the forest, Black Saw-wing (race antinorii) and Green Sandpiper occurred. Before leaving Wondo Genet I returned to the hot-springs, and while relaxing in the water, saw several Sharpe's Starlings in the trees nearby.

On leaving Wondo Genet, I returned to Shashemene, before taking the road west up towards the Bale mountains. The first part was uneventful, and I continued until I reached the Long-eared Owl site at Kofele. The moment I stopped in the location indicated by Richard Webb, about 20 children and young adults raced towards me screaming, while a comparable number ran over to a particular tree. Clearly there was no doubt about where the Owls were, but it was not a very comfortable form of bird-watching. Sadly, it was the type of environment where, once one has seen the bird, one leaves. However, there was just no way of continuing bird-watching with everyone milling about screaming. It didn't affect the owls.

From there the road started to climb up towards the mountains, and I encountered quite large numbers of Spot-breasted Plovers, most of which were on the road itself. Further on I encountered a flock of about 8 large Steppe Eagles circling low.

Given the relatively poor quality of the road, and the steady climb (by now the road was at over 3 500m, I was travelling quite slowly. I reached Dinsho, and considered turning off and camping there for the night, but my cash reserves were so low, I decided to continue and find somewhere to camp by the road further on. However, after passing Dinsho, there was a lot more agricultural activity, and I even saw my first combine-harvesters, all other harvesting having been carried out by hand.

Near to Robe, I pulled of into a small area of woodland, having first checked with some of the locals as to whether this was OK. Since there seemed to be no problem, I prepared to camp there. It was only later in the evening that some soldiers came along and asked to move on, although they couldn't suggest where to. So they posted a soldier to keep an eye on me over night, saying there were many "insurgents" in the area. I must admit, there was much gunfire that night, but it sounded rather like the "celebratory" gunfire to be expected on a night such as this - Christmas Eve.

Several Mountain Nightjars called in the evening and early morning from the ground around the Landrover, and a Brown Parisoma was seen the following morning.

Friday 7^th January 2000

In the light of dawn, I discovered why the military were so concerned at my presence. I had camped within 50 metres of a bridge, which had a permanent guard post. In the dusk, I had not seen this. Anyway, the soldiers had behaved in a very friendly manner, and even refused any payment for their duty - an attitude that is hard to believe anywhere, let alone Africa.

From here, I drove on through Robe to Sof Omar. The trip took about 3 hours, and was through mechanically farmed areas, and there was minimal bird-life. Once at Sof Omar, I walked down to the dry river bed, and started searching for the Salvadori's Seed-eater, which is virtually restricted to this area. While I failed to find any here, the following species were seen: European Snake Eagle, European Turtle Dove, Orange-bellied Parrot, Blue-naped Mousebird, Abyssinian Scimitarbill, Pied Wheatear, Brown-tailed Rock-chat, Yellow-breasted Apalis and Northern Grey Tit.

While down in the river valley, I walked downstream to the caves, an amazing sight, but since I hadn't brought the necessary torches and other gear, I was unable to explore them. I suspect one could spend a day exploring these fascinating caves, although I am not sure how far one can explore without proper diving gear.

Since the time was then getting on, and the temperature was approaching 40°C - the altitude was around 1 000m - I decided to leave in order to get onto the Bale mountains by evening. Once back up to the top of the ravine, I had just started to leave, when I saw three small birds fly off from beside the road - and they appeared to have whitish rumps. To my surprise, these turned out to be the Salvadori's Serins that I was looking for. Looking at the references I have, I wonder if they don't stay in the valley bottom in early morning, and "migrate" up to the cooler farmland during the heat of day.

I then returned to Goba, arriving at around 15h00. Here I hit my next problem. The fact that there was no petrol station open since it was Christmas Day was not totally disastrous. The fact that there was no petrol at all was. I was advised to go back to Shashemene where the nearest petrol would be available. If I were to do that, I would not be able to afford enough petrol to return, and complete the journey. After some inquiries, I was advised that it might be able to purchase petrol on the black-market, but only in bulk. Even this was going to give me problems - I was very short of money. I dropped in on the Goba Ras Hotel, hoping to find some advice on where to find some cheaper petrol. No such luck, but I was fortunate enough to meet a local Scandinavian UN official (although I stupidly forgot to get his name). He was prepared to change some Kenyan Shillings into Birr, since he was soon going to be leaving Ethiopia, and so could change the money once he had left. I reckoned I had just enough money to get out of Ethiopia.

Returning to the trader, I purchased a 200 litre drum of petrol. Having filled both front tanks (I still hadn't fixed the rear tank), I had to put the rest in my empty water containers - hence ruining them for future water usage. I was left with no Birr at all! I was now totally dependent on looking after myself until I could get to Moyale - and be able to use my remaining Kenyan Shillings.

On this note, I left Goba at about 16h00, and reached the Sanetti plateau within an hour. By now the altitude was around 4300 m. On reaching the top, there were several small mountain lakes, which were searched for Ruddy Shelduck, but without luck. There were Blue winged Goose, Thekla Larks, Moorland Chats and Black-headed Siskins. There were also a few groups of both Moorland and Chestnut-naped Francolins seen both in the afternoon and the next morning. Otherwise, bird-life was very restricted. Amazingly, the first raptor seen was a Golden Eagle, which had only been discovered there within the last 10 years (Steven Spawls photographed one - which was rejected as a valid record - the year before one was first confirmed by a sight record).

By this time, the sun was setting, and the temperature started dropping, so I put on some long trousers over my shorts. I decide to camp just off the main road, in a flat area next to one of the lakes. By dusk, the temperature was dropping fast, and by 20h00 it appeared to be freezing. A hot evening meal was very welcome. I retreated to my tent, where I used the sleeping bag, with the duvet as a blanket.