Day 203- Bus to Arba Minch - Staying at the Catholic Mission - Monkeying Around at the Haile Resort
Tuesday, January 22, 2019.
Henok arrived at 3:45am(!) to help put the suitcases in a spare room. Which turned out to be next door our apartment He then drove us to Meskel Square where we took our bus.
We got there in five minutes and when we asked and noticed that our bus wasn’t there yet because it was 4:00am, Gregory wanted to kill me. [Gregory's note: who, me? Why would I want to kill you? Just because I told you over and over that the bus was going to leave after 5?] Oh well, Carlos had advised getting there earlier because the bus left on time. What they didn’t tell us was the truth because the bus actually left at 5:10am! [Gregory's note: I told you.] It was cold and we were wearing light jackets but Danielito reminded me that soon we would be sweating.
Henok arrived at 3:45am(!) to help put the suitcases in a spare room. Which turned out to be next door our apartment He then drove us to Meskel Square where we took our bus.
We got there in five minutes and when we asked and noticed that our bus wasn’t there yet because it was 4:00am, Gregory wanted to kill me. [Gregory's note: who, me? Why would I want to kill you? Just because I told you over and over that the bus was going to leave after 5?] Oh well, Carlos had advised getting there earlier because the bus left on time. What they didn’t tell us was the truth because the bus actually left at 5:10am! [Gregory's note: I told you.] It was cold and we were wearing light jackets but Danielito reminded me that soon we would be sweating.
In the beginning, I was upset by a man who was coughing consistently. I was worried that he was going to get us all sick. Then, I wrapped myself in my scarf, put on my sleeping mask, and before I knew it, I fell asleep. I would only wake up from time to time when I heard the beep beep of the horn or when the bus hit a big bump (which was frequent). We stopped for a bathroom break and luckily, I didn’t have to go because there was no bathroom to be seen, just a bunch of trees!
After more hours of driving, we stop at a restaurant for a 25-minute lunch break. We had coffee and yummy fruit juices. There was a primitive bathroom, without toilet paper but this I already knew. Another thing that I noticed is that there was a tiny soap for men and women to wash their hands and all of them eat without silverware. I rinsed my hands and preferred to use hand sanitizer. [Gregory's note: gringa!]
We finally made it to Arba Minch around 1:00pm. Even if we drove for 7 hours, I wasn’t tired. The drive wasn't bad. Daniel thought it was and said that he only slept for a couple of hours but I think he slept for more.
When we got to Arba Minch, another passenger offered to help us get to our destination. He said he was going that direction but when we got off the bus, he left us with a bajaj [tuk tuk] driver and told us that we could trust him. I thought it was his friend but it wasn’t. This is the part that I do not like at all, the negotiation with the drivers. It has been hard for me, to wait and arrange to go to our destination after a long drive. You just want to get a taxi and arrive at a nice hotel right? [Gregory's note: gringa!]
Well, we finally agree on 100 birr to the mission which we had never seen pictures of. Gregory warned that it was going to be basic but I pictured basic but clean. [Gregory's note: Lili kept talking about the 1 time she had been on a retreat in a Jesuit mission and how nice it was, which sounded like a setup for disappointment.]
Carlos had told us the mission was a 10-minute walk from town but it was closer to a 10-minute tuk tuk ride. When we arrived, no one was expecting us and no one there spoke English. The priest was inn Hamer, 4 hours south and would not be returning today.
It was roasting by then and I just wanted to take a shower! I called the priest and talked to him. I could not understand his English at all but he spoke with the man at the mission who went to look for the person who had the room keys.
A woman came and showed us three different bedrooms, all with one small double bed. We asked her if she had individual beds and then she showed us other rooms with twin beds. The kids took the only room with a water heater in the bathroom. The bathrooms were basic, dusty and full of ants and bugs around the shower. The rooms were very plain and simple. I was expecting a little cleaner but the kids reminded me that I couldn’t complain because I had voted to stay here. [Gregory's note: and... this is Africa!] The kids wanted to stay in a hotel that, according to Carlos, was on top of a noisy bar downtown. I did not take a shower because the water was cold.
The good thing is that because the priest wasn’t in Arba Minch, he assigned another person to welcome us. His name was Dagim and he was very friendly. He took us to a very nice resort called the Haile Resort, which was a new, 5-star hotel with a view over the forest and lakes. Well, after seeing that hotel, we felt very poor but Queen Sunshine said, “pretend we're staying here” and we did!
We paid 120 birr (about $5) each to use of the pool. The amazing thing was that when the kids were swimming, all of a sudden, we saw a baboon right by the pool! At first I thought that it was a kid but then I saw the pink butt and realized it was a baboon! The kids yelled with excitement and got out of the pool to see if they could find it!
The security guard ran over with his rifle and sat by the cliff to watch for more baboons. We told him not to scare them because we wanted to see them but he needed to do his job. We kept looking at the stunning view of the mountains, the forest, hoping to see more monkeys but we didn’t. After that, the kids rinsed off, got dressed, and we decided to sit outside at the bar. I was a little worried about the prices because we were in a five-star hotel and we didn’t look at the menu. Well, guess what, the big glass of fresh juice was only a dollar! Gregory had his beer also for a dollar. We decided we were going to spend more time there!
We called Dagim to come and pick us up at 6:00pm. We drove home and waited for dinner to be served at 7:30pm. The food was amazing, very simple but tasty. We had an interesting time talking to Dagim and sharing about our trip.
After more hours of driving, we stop at a restaurant for a 25-minute lunch break. We had coffee and yummy fruit juices. There was a primitive bathroom, without toilet paper but this I already knew. Another thing that I noticed is that there was a tiny soap for men and women to wash their hands and all of them eat without silverware. I rinsed my hands and preferred to use hand sanitizer. [Gregory's note: gringa!]
We finally made it to Arba Minch around 1:00pm. Even if we drove for 7 hours, I wasn’t tired. The drive wasn't bad. Daniel thought it was and said that he only slept for a couple of hours but I think he slept for more.
When we got to Arba Minch, another passenger offered to help us get to our destination. He said he was going that direction but when we got off the bus, he left us with a bajaj [tuk tuk] driver and told us that we could trust him. I thought it was his friend but it wasn’t. This is the part that I do not like at all, the negotiation with the drivers. It has been hard for me, to wait and arrange to go to our destination after a long drive. You just want to get a taxi and arrive at a nice hotel right? [Gregory's note: gringa!]
Well, we finally agree on 100 birr to the mission which we had never seen pictures of. Gregory warned that it was going to be basic but I pictured basic but clean. [Gregory's note: Lili kept talking about the 1 time she had been on a retreat in a Jesuit mission and how nice it was, which sounded like a setup for disappointment.]
Carlos had told us the mission was a 10-minute walk from town but it was closer to a 10-minute tuk tuk ride. When we arrived, no one was expecting us and no one there spoke English. The priest was inn Hamer, 4 hours south and would not be returning today.
It was roasting by then and I just wanted to take a shower! I called the priest and talked to him. I could not understand his English at all but he spoke with the man at the mission who went to look for the person who had the room keys.
A woman came and showed us three different bedrooms, all with one small double bed. We asked her if she had individual beds and then she showed us other rooms with twin beds. The kids took the only room with a water heater in the bathroom. The bathrooms were basic, dusty and full of ants and bugs around the shower. The rooms were very plain and simple. I was expecting a little cleaner but the kids reminded me that I couldn’t complain because I had voted to stay here. [Gregory's note: and... this is Africa!] The kids wanted to stay in a hotel that, according to Carlos, was on top of a noisy bar downtown. I did not take a shower because the water was cold.
The good thing is that because the priest wasn’t in Arba Minch, he assigned another person to welcome us. His name was Dagim and he was very friendly. He took us to a very nice resort called the Haile Resort, which was a new, 5-star hotel with a view over the forest and lakes. Well, after seeing that hotel, we felt very poor but Queen Sunshine said, “pretend we're staying here” and we did!
We paid 120 birr (about $5) each to use of the pool. The amazing thing was that when the kids were swimming, all of a sudden, we saw a baboon right by the pool! At first I thought that it was a kid but then I saw the pink butt and realized it was a baboon! The kids yelled with excitement and got out of the pool to see if they could find it!
The security guard ran over with his rifle and sat by the cliff to watch for more baboons. We told him not to scare them because we wanted to see them but he needed to do his job. We kept looking at the stunning view of the mountains, the forest, hoping to see more monkeys but we didn’t. After that, the kids rinsed off, got dressed, and we decided to sit outside at the bar. I was a little worried about the prices because we were in a five-star hotel and we didn’t look at the menu. Well, guess what, the big glass of fresh juice was only a dollar! Gregory had his beer also for a dollar. We decided we were going to spend more time there!
We called Dagim to come and pick us up at 6:00pm. We drove home and waited for dinner to be served at 7:30pm. The food was amazing, very simple but tasty. We had an interesting time talking to Dagim and sharing about our trip.
Dagim told us about the time he had been taken away by the military because he was planning to protest with some of his classmates against the "democratic" government in the early 2000s. He was 21, the soldiers came into the class and grabbed the students, shaved their heads, took off their clothes, made them walk barefoot over sharp stones, and beat them for 21 days. He expressed how helpless he felt afterward. I think Gregory and I were more shocked that the kids, to think that a government can do that, especially so recently, and one that was supposedly liberal. And as Dagim pointed out, he was lucky because the army had released him and his friends in the middle of the night, but alive and in one piece. Many people never came back! I was very impressed with his story. That night, I thanked God to have been born in a very privileged place in the world!
Please click here for pictures
https://photos.app.goo.gl/HKYZV3JezTfx6tMw7
Comments
Post a Comment