Day 167
Sleeping location: Forty Springs Hotel, Arba Minch, Ethiopia
Distance (km today/total): 0 / 11912
Estimated climb (m today/total): 0 / 88000
Locking methods lost/broken: 2
Distance (km today/total): 0 / 11912
Estimated climb (m today/total): 0 / 88000
Locking methods lost/broken: 2
Day in three words: ‘keys and hogs
After breakfast we went to head out into town to check out the likelihood of getting a tour the next day to the nearby Nechisar National Park, which has all kind of beasties and a big lake with many hippos and crocodiles. But we couldn’t actually leave as the room key had gone missing in the last 15 minutes. We turned the room upside down but didn’t find it, and eventually resorted to locking the door with my cable lock. In town we discovered that trips to Nechisar were expensive (upwards of £60) and you couldn’t go to the savannah bit because there was some tribal warfare going on. We decided to investigate going under our own steam to cut costs, and went for some beers and two different kinds of raw beef. On the way back to the hotel we found a shop that sold fancy foodstuffs, where I went a bit crazy and bought 1kg of peanut butter because it was only twice the price of a 200g jar, not fully cognisant of the fact that I would then have to carry 1kg of peanut butter for several weeks.
Rebecca then went for a walk and I went to do some admin at a nearby hotel which had fantastic views over Nechisar and its two lakes. Whilst I was there a troupe of baboons rolled up and started moving through the hotel grounds with impunity, eating all the fruit from the trees and rooting around in the grass for other delicious mystery foodstuffs. The alpha male was really big, probably a metre tall if he stood up straight, and I can see why they’re considered dangerous animals. When Rebecca came back she had bad news; it was basically impossible to get into Nechisar ourselves so we’d have to pay full price for a tour. We had a beer then I headed back to our hotel, but on the way out I was startled to see five warthogs snuffling around the hotel grounds. Who needs the national park, this hotel is where the real wildlife is. We watched them for a bit, then Rebecca got bored and I watched them for a while longer. They are big beasts, and two of them kept fighting and making the occasional weird noise.
Back at the hotel the cable lock was now broken and wouldn’t unlock. Thankfully Rebecca had re-locked it the wrong way and I was able to squeeze in, just about, but then had to cut the lock open so we could get our bikes out the next day. We had to have dinner in the hotel so we could watch our room whilst the hotel staff found a replacement key, during which we got a message from the Nechisar guide association saying that a tour was available but had now jumped in price to $270. We decided not to bother, and leave Arba Minch tomorrow rather than sticking around, as we might not actually see anything and will hopefully have more chances to see hippos and crocs. Back in the room we unfurl the mosquito net just before getting into bed. The key is stuck in it.
After breakfast we went to head out into town to check out the likelihood of getting a tour the next day to the nearby Nechisar National Park, which has all kind of beasties and a big lake with many hippos and crocodiles. But we couldn’t actually leave as the room key had gone missing in the last 15 minutes. We turned the room upside down but didn’t find it, and eventually resorted to locking the door with my cable lock. In town we discovered that trips to Nechisar were expensive (upwards of £60) and you couldn’t go to the savannah bit because there was some tribal warfare going on. We decided to investigate going under our own steam to cut costs, and went for some beers and two different kinds of raw beef. On the way back to the hotel we found a shop that sold fancy foodstuffs, where I went a bit crazy and bought 1kg of peanut butter because it was only twice the price of a 200g jar, not fully cognisant of the fact that I would then have to carry 1kg of peanut butter for several weeks.
Rebecca then went for a walk and I went to do some admin at a nearby hotel which had fantastic views over Nechisar and its two lakes. Whilst I was there a troupe of baboons rolled up and started moving through the hotel grounds with impunity, eating all the fruit from the trees and rooting around in the grass for other delicious mystery foodstuffs. The alpha male was really big, probably a metre tall if he stood up straight, and I can see why they’re considered dangerous animals. When Rebecca came back she had bad news; it was basically impossible to get into Nechisar ourselves so we’d have to pay full price for a tour. We had a beer then I headed back to our hotel, but on the way out I was startled to see five warthogs snuffling around the hotel grounds. Who needs the national park, this hotel is where the real wildlife is. We watched them for a bit, then Rebecca got bored and I watched them for a while longer. They are big beasts, and two of them kept fighting and making the occasional weird noise.
Back at the hotel the cable lock was now broken and wouldn’t unlock. Thankfully Rebecca had re-locked it the wrong way and I was able to squeeze in, just about, but then had to cut the lock open so we could get our bikes out the next day. We had to have dinner in the hotel so we could watch our room whilst the hotel staff found a replacement key, during which we got a message from the Nechisar guide association saying that a tour was available but had now jumped in price to $270. We decided not to bother, and leave Arba Minch tomorrow rather than sticking around, as we might not actually see anything and will hopefully have more chances to see hippos and crocs. Back in the room we unfurl the mosquito net just before getting into bed. The key is stuck in it.
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