Day 204 - Lake Chamo Water Safari
Wednesday, January 23, 2019.
Today we had to figure out how to go to the lake and the forest that we came to see. Dagim, our host at the mission, had found us a guide that could take us to the lake. The price was high so we declined. Instead, we walked to a tourist information office near the mission. There, Gregory negotiated with the guide who was surprised to see that Gregory knew the real prices.
We agreed to pay $160 for the boat ride to lake Chamo and the entrance to the Nechisar national park with guide and park ranger. The guide wanted payment in cash up front, but I felt uncomfortable. We had to go to an ATM first to withdraw the cash. To me this has been a hard lesson, to trust people with money. Apparently, this is how they do business here but still, when the guide walked away with our 3000 birr, I felt robbed.
The guide gave me his official guide ID so I could trust him but I was still feeling uneasy. Anyway, there wasn’t anything we could do but to wait for the afternoon. Meanwhile, we went looking for a pharmacy to buy mosquito repellent (the big one I brought fell out of my backpack on the bus -- grrr) and sunscreen, which doesn’t seem to exist in this little town.
We then stopped for drinks in a local place where everyone kept staring at us. I guess we look very white to them! Now I know what it feels to be stared at. Many little kids walked by and just waved at us. Sunshine wasn’t feeling well. We think it's the malaria medicine that we have been taking. We took a bajaj (tuk tuk) back to the mission for lunch.
I’m loving the fact that I don’t have to worry about the meals. It is like a vacation for me. We had a delicious lunch, read, took a nap, and got ready to take the boat at 3:00pm. Our guide arrived on time. See? He showed up! I need to trust people. Gregory borrowed a car from the mission and drove us to the lake. [Gregory's note: driving here is easy -- the roads are bad, but the only traffic is the odd truck, tuk tuk, and herd of cattle.] The guide brought a captain for the boat. I was honestly expecting a nice boat so when I saw the rickety boat, I panicked a little bit. Imagine if this little boat flips, we will get eaten by crocodiles or hippos!!! [More likely, we'd get a waterborne illness.]
The ride was very pleasant. We saw a beautiful landscape with mountains of different shapes and sizes. We saw an island of pelicans surrounded by tall green grass, the same they use to put on the floors for the coffee ceremony. The sun was very strong but we didn’t seem to mind because we were enjoying the beauty and the calmness of the lake -- and the boat had a roof.
The captain took us to an area called the crocodile market. We arrived and we saw two crocs sleeping but when we rounded the corner, we saw another huge one and then a whole bunch of them half in the water. The boat got closer and we were able to take good pictures.
After that, we saw a family of hippos. We were so excited that the captain stopped the boat. Of course, we didn’t get too close because they are very dangerous animals and could tip the boat over.
On our way back to the dock, we saw more ears of hippos and Daniel and Gregory saw a crocodile following the boat. When we arrived at the dock, Gregory had to make a business call, so the rest of us sat down for coffee, which is a very common thing to do here in Ethiopia. I love this tradition, you can find coffee everywhere for 5 birr -- less than 25 cents. Here it was a little more because we were in a touristy spot by the lake, but it was still less than $1 per cup.
Sunshine and Daniel fed the local monkeys their peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and in no time, we were surrounded by a group of monkeys. One, in particular, looked weird. First I thought it was the breast of a mamma monkey but when I looked closer, I realized it was a baby holding into the mom from underneath. Sunshine took an amazing picture while trying to feed her! After that, we drove home and took more good pictures of cows on the road, of people carrying huge bundles of straw, and my favorite, the straw cones hung in trees made to collect honey.
Gregory was very brave to drive on these bumpy roads with all the obstacles like goats, cows, tuk tuks, and even people just crossing the road. We made it safe and sound after dropping off our guide and our boat captain. At the mission, we had another delicious dinner and we met the priest, Father Kilimpe, and two Spanish girls who are building a kidergarten in Hamer. We had a good time just chatting until 9:00pm. Afterward, we just hung around in the common room which has very comfortable couches and a TV that we haven’t used.
We went to bed late because Gregory participated at his Encinitas Rotary meeting b phone. I could tell that he was happy to "see" everybody and that made me happy as well, to see that they miss him!
For pictures please click here
Today we had to figure out how to go to the lake and the forest that we came to see. Dagim, our host at the mission, had found us a guide that could take us to the lake. The price was high so we declined. Instead, we walked to a tourist information office near the mission. There, Gregory negotiated with the guide who was surprised to see that Gregory knew the real prices.
We agreed to pay $160 for the boat ride to lake Chamo and the entrance to the Nechisar national park with guide and park ranger. The guide wanted payment in cash up front, but I felt uncomfortable. We had to go to an ATM first to withdraw the cash. To me this has been a hard lesson, to trust people with money. Apparently, this is how they do business here but still, when the guide walked away with our 3000 birr, I felt robbed.
The guide gave me his official guide ID so I could trust him but I was still feeling uneasy. Anyway, there wasn’t anything we could do but to wait for the afternoon. Meanwhile, we went looking for a pharmacy to buy mosquito repellent (the big one I brought fell out of my backpack on the bus -- grrr) and sunscreen, which doesn’t seem to exist in this little town.
We then stopped for drinks in a local place where everyone kept staring at us. I guess we look very white to them! Now I know what it feels to be stared at. Many little kids walked by and just waved at us. Sunshine wasn’t feeling well. We think it's the malaria medicine that we have been taking. We took a bajaj (tuk tuk) back to the mission for lunch.
I’m loving the fact that I don’t have to worry about the meals. It is like a vacation for me. We had a delicious lunch, read, took a nap, and got ready to take the boat at 3:00pm. Our guide arrived on time. See? He showed up! I need to trust people. Gregory borrowed a car from the mission and drove us to the lake. [Gregory's note: driving here is easy -- the roads are bad, but the only traffic is the odd truck, tuk tuk, and herd of cattle.] The guide brought a captain for the boat. I was honestly expecting a nice boat so when I saw the rickety boat, I panicked a little bit. Imagine if this little boat flips, we will get eaten by crocodiles or hippos!!! [More likely, we'd get a waterborne illness.]
The ride was very pleasant. We saw a beautiful landscape with mountains of different shapes and sizes. We saw an island of pelicans surrounded by tall green grass, the same they use to put on the floors for the coffee ceremony. The sun was very strong but we didn’t seem to mind because we were enjoying the beauty and the calmness of the lake -- and the boat had a roof.
The captain took us to an area called the crocodile market. We arrived and we saw two crocs sleeping but when we rounded the corner, we saw another huge one and then a whole bunch of them half in the water. The boat got closer and we were able to take good pictures.
After that, we saw a family of hippos. We were so excited that the captain stopped the boat. Of course, we didn’t get too close because they are very dangerous animals and could tip the boat over.
On our way back to the dock, we saw more ears of hippos and Daniel and Gregory saw a crocodile following the boat. When we arrived at the dock, Gregory had to make a business call, so the rest of us sat down for coffee, which is a very common thing to do here in Ethiopia. I love this tradition, you can find coffee everywhere for 5 birr -- less than 25 cents. Here it was a little more because we were in a touristy spot by the lake, but it was still less than $1 per cup.
Sunshine and Daniel fed the local monkeys their peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and in no time, we were surrounded by a group of monkeys. One, in particular, looked weird. First I thought it was the breast of a mamma monkey but when I looked closer, I realized it was a baby holding into the mom from underneath. Sunshine took an amazing picture while trying to feed her! After that, we drove home and took more good pictures of cows on the road, of people carrying huge bundles of straw, and my favorite, the straw cones hung in trees made to collect honey.
Gregory was very brave to drive on these bumpy roads with all the obstacles like goats, cows, tuk tuks, and even people just crossing the road. We made it safe and sound after dropping off our guide and our boat captain. At the mission, we had another delicious dinner and we met the priest, Father Kilimpe, and two Spanish girls who are building a kidergarten in Hamer. We had a good time just chatting until 9:00pm. Afterward, we just hung around in the common room which has very comfortable couches and a TV that we haven’t used.
We went to bed late because Gregory participated at his Encinitas Rotary meeting b phone. I could tell that he was happy to "see" everybody and that made me happy as well, to see that they miss him!
For pictures please click here
https://photos.app.goo.gl/nTQXEQa3tL2GytFj6
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