9 May, Monday Konso to Starling Paradise Bushcamp
We wake up in the middle of the night with thunder rumbling and lightning flashes streaking through the sky. Rain pours and we hope the boys are ok in the tent.
It is still raining softly when we wake up and the world outside is a red, muddy mess! Clods of clay collect around your shoes that it feels like overtsized padded gumboots. The guys stayed dry in the tent during the storm. We are back on the road again after a delicious traditional flaky pastry egg kind of a dish.
The next town after Konso on our way to the border is Yabelo. It is a corrugated road through a beautiful mountain pass and deep valleys. It is a remote area and the people in the valley are farmers, cattle - and goat herders. They wear traditional clothes: men a colorful robe draped around them and they all carry walking sticks; the women wear bold colored skirts and layers of beaded necklaces and bracelets – very different from what we’ve seen in the rest of Ethiopia this far
Nothing is different though in the frenzy our presence creates amongst the yelling children running beside and after the car asking for money, water bottles or pens – the familiar, “yoo-yoo-yoo!” accompany us. I have to say we are getting tired of constantly dealing with this and fighting off hordes from the car, but we try to be as patient as we can, most of the time.
It is beautiful landscape and nature we drive through and the further we travel villages become more scattered with fewer people on the road. Willie says more than once that he just feels like bush camping right here.
We pull off the road and park under a big tree to have lunch. It is so peaceful and quiet that we embrace Willie’s idea of bush camping and he drives a little deeper into the bush where we pitch camp under a big tree –hopefully away from prying eyes. We will see how long it will last before we are discovered? Rain chases us back to the canopy, but not for too long. We see many birds and identify 3 new starlings of which one is a brilliant yellow and purple.
Yes, our hiding place is discovered by a goat herder boy and his beautiful sister. They just stand and look at us with great curiosity for a long time and then leave. We do enjoy being in the bush. The guys make a fire and I cook an improvised ‘potjie’ with onions, tomatoes and
pasta – never to be repeated again. It tastes really good and I have to fight to save some for Sammie who is without dog food since we left Sudan.
The stars are bright and in the distance, not too far away, beating of drums with people singing and clapping hands drift towards us through the quiet night – some kind of festival or celebration. Hugo and Andrej decide to walk to the village to see what is going on when we go to bed.
A strange, grunting/croaking sound pulls me back to consciousness. Willie is also awake – we hear it again and it now sounds as if there are 2 of this whatever? Hugo, who was sitting at the fire, gets up and tries to find out where it comes from. He shakes a few trees and branches and
we finally realize it is in the tree under which we are parked. Our flashlights are not strong enough to see what grunts and croaks monotonously and almost non-stop…a sound we’ve never heard before. If it did not come from the tree then I would have thought it is a pig/boar/warthog…maybe a tree frog?
The village party is in full swing with drums and singing, and the ‘party’ in the tree makes for a very noisy night! The longer I listen to this nocturnal duet, I begin to wonder if it could be owls? As if these annoyances are not enough the tent fills up with smoke coming from the smoldering fire and I finally get up, add extra wood and rekindle the fire…oh, what a night!
Photos: Gallery: Starling bush camp between Konso - Yabelo
We wake up in the middle of the night with thunder rumbling and lightning flashes streaking through the sky. Rain pours and we hope the boys are ok in the tent.
It is still raining softly when we wake up and the world outside is a red, muddy mess! Clods of clay collect around your shoes that it feels like overtsized padded gumboots. The guys stayed dry in the tent during the storm. We are back on the road again after a delicious traditional flaky pastry egg kind of a dish.
The next town after Konso on our way to the border is Yabelo. It is a corrugated road through a beautiful mountain pass and deep valleys. It is a remote area and the people in the valley are farmers, cattle - and goat herders. They wear traditional clothes: men a colorful robe draped around them and they all carry walking sticks; the women wear bold colored skirts and layers of beaded necklaces and bracelets – very different from what we’ve seen in the rest of Ethiopia this far
Nothing is different though in the frenzy our presence creates amongst the yelling children running beside and after the car asking for money, water bottles or pens – the familiar, “yoo-yoo-yoo!” accompany us. I have to say we are getting tired of constantly dealing with this and fighting off hordes from the car, but we try to be as patient as we can, most of the time.
It is beautiful landscape and nature we drive through and the further we travel villages become more scattered with fewer people on the road. Willie says more than once that he just feels like bush camping right here.
We pull off the road and park under a big tree to have lunch. It is so peaceful and quiet that we embrace Willie’s idea of bush camping and he drives a little deeper into the bush where we pitch camp under a big tree –hopefully away from prying eyes. We will see how long it will last before we are discovered? Rain chases us back to the canopy, but not for too long. We see many birds and identify 3 new starlings of which one is a brilliant yellow and purple.
Yes, our hiding place is discovered by a goat herder boy and his beautiful sister. They just stand and look at us with great curiosity for a long time and then leave. We do enjoy being in the bush. The guys make a fire and I cook an improvised ‘potjie’ with onions, tomatoes and
pasta – never to be repeated again. It tastes really good and I have to fight to save some for Sammie who is without dog food since we left Sudan.
The stars are bright and in the distance, not too far away, beating of drums with people singing and clapping hands drift towards us through the quiet night – some kind of festival or celebration. Hugo and Andrej decide to walk to the village to see what is going on when we go to bed.
A strange, grunting/croaking sound pulls me back to consciousness. Willie is also awake – we hear it again and it now sounds as if there are 2 of this whatever? Hugo, who was sitting at the fire, gets up and tries to find out where it comes from. He shakes a few trees and branches and
we finally realize it is in the tree under which we are parked. Our flashlights are not strong enough to see what grunts and croaks monotonously and almost non-stop…a sound we’ve never heard before. If it did not come from the tree then I would have thought it is a pig/boar/warthog…maybe a tree frog?
The village party is in full swing with drums and singing, and the ‘party’ in the tree makes for a very noisy night! The longer I listen to this nocturnal duet, I begin to wonder if it could be owls? As if these annoyances are not enough the tent fills up with smoke coming from the smoldering fire and I finally get up, add extra wood and rekindle the fire…oh, what a night!
Photos: Gallery: Starling bush camp between Konso - Yabelo