Cape to Cairo 2010

We left Yabello late this morning because we needed to do some maintenance work on the bikes after the Marsabit road yesterday.

We had 580km to do from Yabello to Addis Ababa and we assumed it would take us no more than 6 hours…well, you know what they say about assumptions!!??

Ethiopia is incredibly beautiful and scenic and whilst the road conditions themselves are not bad, the problem is that it is narrow and almost every single linear mile of the road between Yabello and Addis Ababa is occupied and therefore treacherous.

The rule of the road in Ethiopia is that there are no rules. People, cows, goats, donkeys, trucks, cars and bikes share the road with equal rights. Even the cows have perfected their bovine look of disdain should you hoot at them because they happen to be standing in the middle of a national highway…the goats and donkeys have learned that look too whereas on the contrary, the standard facial impression for one riding a bike between Yabello and Addis is mouth agape and eyes bulging!

Because the road is so treacherous, our average speed never really went much above 75km/h and as a result, we only got to Addis at 8pm. The first rule of the road in Africa is DO NOT DRIVE AT NIGHT! Unfortunately, we couldn’t do anything about it as we were committed to the destination. Addis, at peak hour traffic in the dark is no joke. I consumed my delicious dinner of about 1000 grams of diesel smog whilst trying to get to our hotel for the night whilst simultaneously dodging Ethiopian kamikaze’s and navigating roadwork’s that in parts were akin to the Marsabit road!

When one thinks of Ethiopia, and because of the myriad of Ethiopian jokes, it is not a place that one would consider to be synonymous with wealth and therefore I had low expectations of the Sheraton hotel in Addis. I couldn’t have been more wrong. The Sheraton is an oasis of Super Luxury amongst an old and decaying city. Like most American hotels in countries where there is a large Muslim population, the security was beyond ridiculous..I suppose it doesn’t help when Storm troopers Nobre and Edwards walk in looking like they have just been dragged through a camels backside asking for a room when the place costs $360 a night!!

Needless to say, it is Fantastic to finally spend a night in a decent place..so much so, we have decided to stay for 2 nights after perhaps one beer too many!!!

Unfortunately, because we were under time pressure today we didn’t have many photo stops.

The Yabello Motel..Clean, comfortable and well priced at R250/night.

Katie getting some TLC after the Marsabit road yesterday.

Ethiopians sharing the road.