Pointless trip to Ethiopia

Week 3

Arriving in Addis Ababa after a 3:30am flight from Nairobi, I spent the whole day with no sleep and a massive headache trying to figure out where the hell I was. That morning I decided to take a taxi through the city and find myself a coach/bus to Dolo South Ethiopia near the Somali border.

This was tougher than I imagined it to be. 1st of all English isn't taught in Ethiopia so the language and communication barrier wasn't easy. Finally got a bus that went in that direction and took it. Ever green land flows for miles and miles with small, quant villages along the way. People living with nothing and just the basics it was clear that these people were happy with just a few chickens, cows, goatsa and a mud hut.

Roads in this part of the world are non existent. Rocky 4x4 terrain stretches for miles and miles. Feeling every bump on the road, it was tough to get any sleep. 12 hours later stopped off in a tiny poor village, of Shashamene, pitch black searching for a room to stay the night. Cold water shower the only option available I took it and survived. 5 hours sleep I set off again to the next town of Neleborana, 6 hours drive and final destination for my bus driver. Found myself another hotel/room for the night.

Next morning I was determined to find some form of transport to Dolo odo. Speaking to the correct people in the market I was so so lucky to stumble across a (WFP) World Food Program Truck carrying 400 tons of maze, flour, wheat and life saving foods for refugees in Dolo odo, Somalia. Sleeping for a few hours we arrived in Dolo. 930 km, 3 days and hardly any sleep. I spent two days in Dolo trying to find different views and pictures documenting the Horn of Africa Drought Crisis and enjoyed a Ethiopian new year (2005) and a day resting in the sun. Pictures I found out were tough to get because, government officals would follow you and ask you not to photograph what the world needed to see. Walking through the camps it was no different than Dadaab, Kenya so it felt a bit pointless to send in the same set of pictures. I then decided that their was no point me getting poor images, so I headed back to the capital Addis Ababa by flight.

Luckly on my arrival, I was offered a feature story for the Daily Nation Newspaper in Nairobi and booked the next flight to back to Kenya.  Sorry pictures next week folks.