Please Exit Through the Gift Shop - Bahir Dar, Part 2

No Pictures today, the wifi died last night before I could upload any, and I don't have time this morning...

When Werku told us how long the drive would be, I thought he said 10 minutes.  After 30 minutes, I was thinking, ok, that must be “Africa time” lol, and after an hour I was half worried he was taking us somewhere to hold us hostage or something! lol  Just kidding.  I realized he must have said “An hour and 10 minutes” as that is about what it ended up being.  We drove through some beautiful countryside and a few villages to get to the base of the falls.  It was Saturday, which is Market Day, so many people were out and about.  There were a lot of animals on the road, and I asked if they were all being moved from one pasture to another or something.  Werku explained that because it is rainy season, the pastures are very wet, and so the animals are brought to the roads (high ground) to graze along the ditches during the day. Many of the shepherds were not any older than Faith and Thomas, and I was more than a little concerned we would hit an animal, or even a child!  But the drivers seem to know just when to honk, and the kids and animals seem to know just when to get out of the way, and somehow it all works.

When we got to the base of the waterfalls, the driver dropped us off and we began the hike.  Again, the path was rocky and uneven, and there was a woman offering walking sticks.  I asked the price, and she said “200 birr”. I said, “No thanks”.  She said, “10 birr”. LOL.  Ok, that I can do!  The price fell from $10 to 50 cents! lol. It was a sort of walking stick “rental” as one returned the stick at the end of the hike, so that seemed reasonable.

As soon as we were on the path, we were inundated with children selling souvenirs.  “Please Miss, you buy a flute for your babies.”  “My name is [Kalkidan]; you remember me when you come down the mountain!” We would just finish with one child or group when we would be approached by the next.  It felt nearly incessant. Werku would give a gentle scolding if the children were rude or overly pushy, but in general, it wasn’t that any one child was doing anything wrong, necessarily, but that there were just so many of them!  I ended up buying 2 scarves, a small basket and 3 bottled waters but that felt like a drop in the bucket.  I especially don’t like being pressured to buy when there isn’t anything that suits my tastes... We were also approached several times to exchange USD for birr.  Apparently some well-meaning tourists give US cash to the people on the mountain, but there is no bank there and they have to way to spend it.  I exchanged for a few people before I realized we would quickly become a walking ATM if I kept it up. 

The walk took about 1 hour to get to the waterfalls.  They were beautiful, though very “red” looking from all the soil that is washed downstream this time of year. It was a gorgeous view of the whole valley, and a beautiful sight to behold. 

After we spent a while viewing the waterfalls, we hiked back to the van.  Werku was worth his weight in gold, as he helped us carry tired children down rocky paths and ran “interference” with the vendors.  We made it back to the van tired, sweaty, but very glad we had made the hike to see such a beautiful example of God’s creation.

The drive back to Bahir Dar went faster than the way out, probably because I knew better than to think we would get there in 10 minutes! lol.  They dropped us off at the hotel and made plans to pick us up the next day at 7 am. 

We ate supper at the hotel, which was surprisingly good, and then went to bed.  Poor Faith had a heck of a time.  There were holes in the mosquito nets, which totally stressed her out, for there wouldn’t BE mosquito nets if you weren’t supposed to use them, and yet surely the mosquitoes would just come in the holes!  The bed was lumpy and the pillows were rock hard lumps and she cried herself to sleep, wishing we could be “home” in Addis.  Poor thing.  As for me, I wrapped my pillow in a blanket from home, wore full body pjs, took a sleeping pill and hoped for the best!  I got a few hours sleep, and was very glad when the alarm rang in the morning and we could get out of there! haha.