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Atravelynn
On 7/3/2017 at 2:16 PM, michael-ibk said:

But of course we did not know that when we started walking, and actually were nervous if we would get to see them at all. And indeed, we had to walk for almost an hour until Abiy finally told us we were close.

I recall that nervousness and concern.  Oh, where are the geladas?  Moments after a klipspringer sighting, the first geladas came into view, at a distance, but we had found them! And many.

medium.59597d154e492_IMG_4117klipspringe   medium.59597d74ca384_IMG_4537cominatyage

In contrast, the first wolf sighting that caught us by surprise and the serval even more so. 

 

medium.59597d065c01f_IMG_4106firstwolfgu  medium.5959b52cb1509_IMG_5481serval.jpg.

Guassa

 

Based on our experience, I’d be comfortable stating that anyone spending a couple of days at Guassa has a near guarantee of geladas, if using a guide.  For wolves, Abiy felt 5 nights was needed for a very good chance to see them in Guassa.

medium.5959b59cb579e_IMG_5689geladababyo  large.5959b59741a07_IMG_5670herecomedage

                                             The intertwined tails were a common sight

large.5959b5a337a83_IMG_5706geladababyon

The youngest member that we saw

 

 

 

 

Edited by Atravelynn
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Very interesting report.  a long time ago I once had a meal at an Ethiopian restaurant in Dar es Salaam and thought the food was delicious and didn’t dislike the injera, so when I was going to Ethiopia a few years later, I thought at least I know the food will be good. However, when I got there I was very disappointed and decided I didn’t much like injera after all and that the food whether local or international. was pretty poor, certainly meat was always pretty tough. The only food I remember that was really good was some fried fish we were given at the lodge outside Nechisar NP, but this was around 18 years ago, so I would hope that things have improved at least a certain amount. The one other thing I found rather curious and I would hope this has changed, is that wherever we went the only bottled water you could buy was the local Ambo mineral water, this is naturally carbonated and came in a glass bottle. This is a very popular drink in the country, but not with me as I’ve never really liked sparkling water, but still water just wasn’t available, I would prefer ideally not to have to buy water at all, to avoid the plastic bottle issue but in a country like Ethiopia, particularly when you’re driving long distances there’s little choice.  I guess besides the occasional St George’s beer and other beers, I must have drunk plenty of the ubiquitous sodas and probably not as much water as I would do normally.

   

@Peter Connan Sadly I never got to see geladas on my trip, as I lost the first couple of days of the tour and my best chance of seeing them, due to thick fog at Heathrow Airport, I had an outside chance of seeing them at a birding site, I visited near Ankober at the end, but was not lucky. I don’t claim to be any kind of expert, but though I’ve not seen them in the flesh, I’ve seen geladas on TV quite a few times and read about them. They are because of their diet sometimes referred to as grass monkeys, but obviously they don’t need those huge canines for grazing, my understanding is that only the mature males have these long teeth but I may be wrong. They are weapons, but ones they hope not to have to use, basically they're a deterrent to avoid fights, the males signal to each other by performing a lip flip where they flip up the top lip revealing their bright pink gums and huge canines, this will hopefully intimidate a rival male enough, that he will back down. Those teeth could cause horrendous damage and they know this, so the last thing the males want to is get into and actual fight. I had a look at the relevant volume of The Mammals of Africa to see if it confirmed my view that only the adult males have such huge canines, but it doesn't say specifically if this is the case. Certainly they are not very aggressive animals, because the grass they eat is everywhere, so the females have no need to fight over food, the only real rivalry is between males competing for mating rights. Their predators where they still occur, are as you might expect leopards and spotted hyenas, I would guess leopards are probably quite rare in the Ethiopian Highlands, as I imagine they are persecuted by people for killing sheep and goats, this may also be the case with hyenas. It is also possible that at least young geladas are taken by large eagles, this has not been observed, but geladas have been seen reacting nervously when raptors fly over.

 

Maybe one of the authors/participants @Atravelynn, @AndMic or @michael-ibk got a good enough view of a female gelada's dentition to tell me whether I'm right that they don't have the huge canines that the males have.

 

Meanwhile looking at the other end of a gelada, the one other thing I learnt from MOA is that the extra pads on their bums shown so clearly in @michael-ibk's photo, allow them to slide their bums along the ground while they are sat grazing, so that they don’t have to get up, very useful.:)

 

I’m pretty sure from recollection that I saw a serval in the Bale Mts, but I don’t think it was such a good view.   

 

Looking forward to more of this.

Edited by inyathi
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michael-ibk

@inyathi

 

Actually food was ok. There was no need to eat Ethiopian food (we just chose to do so a couple of times). Pretty much all places (also when we stopped on the road) at least offer pasta (tomato, meat or carbonara), some even pizza. Always servicable to really good. Even though Ethiopians obviously are not very fond of the Italians they were wise enough to keep some of their food. Sometimes we would skip lunch on our longer drives but had really excellent sandwiches from restaurants. And at least in Haro Lodge (Langano) and Bale Mountain Lodge they offered classic international stuff which was quite good to excellent. The water we had (also in a lot of bottles I´m afraid) was perfectly normal still water - which did not keep me from having quite a lot of beers, though. At Bale Mountain Lodge we also had some Ethiopian wine which was ok. So overall, while food standards might not be up to what one is used to from classic safari camps, it was absolutely alright (if one is not too picky), and there´s no need at all to eat Injera if not inclined. I just always like to try local stuff (and usually like it), that´s why I kept on with it despite my not even lukewarm first reaction. Not a very wise decision as I would have to see pretty soon...:unsure:

 

It is my impresssion you´re right about the teeth of the females but will have a go through my photos later to check.

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Atravelynn

 

Tooth check on the female

 

large.5959a94f0ea49_IMG_7635dramawithtee

A little drama that required revealing the pink gums.

 

large.5959b7ef921b0_transferofbabygelada

A wee bit 'o gums on the left as part of the infant exchange

medium.59597d3b85dcf_IMG_4311showingteet

 

medium.5959b5bb9bf10_IMG_5811gelada.jpg.

Noticeable teeth even in peacetime

 

@Michael-ibk's previous photos show dental closeups where the males have the definite incisor advantage.

 

 

Edited by Atravelynn
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Atravelynn

No Ambo that I noticed @Inyathi. Overall, food was good and much of what we chose could be considered western cuisine.  One common characteristic that I noted throughout was that the food was a little spicy for me, but I am a wimp when it comes to hot stuff.

 

medium.5959b5a87f09a_IMG_5734geladagroom  large.5959b5b77bc15_IMG_5797geladayoungb

Littlest Gelada once again

medium.5959b575a0586_IMG_56232geladadrin   large.5959b56bb8b38_IMG_5616drinkandsmil

Group R, studied by Kaylee the researcher, getting a drink

 

medium.5959b55901bdd_IMG_5572geladasunni    medium.5959b54cd1244_IMG_5556geladamalea

 

medium.5959a92aa4979_IMG_5276babyonboard    medium.5959b55248830_IMG_5566femalegroom

 

       medium.5959b53ec5ec8_IMG_5549malegeladai   medium.5959b56000109_IMG_5592sunlightand  medium.5959a8e057e56_IMG_5039geladastand

 

large.5959a9223bb70_IMG_5272babybehind.j

 

medium.5959a8b82cec6_IMG_4844mothergelad

 

medium.5959a935dfa26_IMG_5288groupofgela 

 

medium.59597d8587c98_IMG_4557thewholefam

Flowing Geladas

 

medium.5959a88cc15c5_IMG_4785niceprofile      medium.5959a91a1926f_IMG_5226geladababyb

   

medium.5959a9009e86e_IMG_5208closeupgroo   medium.5959a8f747d20_IMG_51263inarowgela

 

medium.5959a8efa7bbd_IMG_5092rollyyoungs

 

large.5959a8de1ffd7_IMG_4961maleandfemal 

 

medium.5959a8cb363ed_IMG_4930youngsterge    medium.5959a8e7a37bc_IMG_5041malenearlys 

 

medium.59597d526ea51_IMG_4396matinggelad    medium.59597da609081_IMG_4604motherandba

 

 medium.5959a8af73abf_IMG_4828babyonback.

 

 

medium.5959a8c306533_IMG_4919babypeek.jp   medium.5959a8a939010_IMG_4820grazingmoth

 

medium.5959a8784b7e2_IMG_4722groomthebig

 

large.5959a86f84ade_IMG_4667groupgroom.j   medium.5959a90a059cf_IMG_5220onegroomsan

 

 

medium.5959a887328eb_IMG_4753scratch.jpg          medium.5959a89f0fc8f_IMG_4799geladawindy   

medium.59597d59ef702_IMG_4408backlitmale

 

 

 

large.5959a93bda722_IMG_5304guassamother

Such expressive eyes - they don't look real

medium.5959a95643dc2_IMG_7639yesheeshand  large.5959b5348a339_IMG_7757coldmornguas

                         Yesheesh, our local guide, part of Guassa Community Lodge                                                 Me in the cold, early morning                            

large.5959a96e0ae0e_IMG_7647guassalodgin    medium.595ed6676b680_IMG_4380matchingbut           

Guassa from the hilltop                                                                              Double bums                         

                

 

 

Edited by Atravelynn
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Fantastic pictures and trip report!!!

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Peter Connan

Thanks for the info @inyathi.

 

Certainly there are pictures here of adult Gelada with blunter/smaller canines. But there is still the binocular vision as well.

 

Really enjoying this report.

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What a wonderful series of photos of the Gelada. Fascinating and beautiful animals. You had wonderful sightings - it must be amazing to be so close to so many of them.

 

@Peter Connan (I am not claiming any expertise here!) - it is possible that all monkeys/ baboons have binocular vision. If living and moving in trees it is clearly an advantage, and also for vegetarian monkeys that eat leaves or fruit it would be an advantage. Having that basic structure already , when the species evolved taking advantage of grass there was no particular "need" to evolve eyes on the side of the head to see predators. Being in a large group would give vision (to the group) in all directions. This is conjecture based on no detailed knowledge of Geladas:)

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Peter Connan

Good point @TonyQ!

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SafariChick

@Atravelynn Wonderful photos in post 56, Lynn - especially love the standing Gelada and the babies <3

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Dying, dying, dead of jealousy!! But wow, you guys keep on hitting one jackpot after another. Wolves within 15 mins?! Serval?! Hundreds of gelada?! Abyssinian hyrax (I love the sound of that too). What a fantastic report so far & awaiting the rest with eagerness.

@Kitsafari, even if they saw so much more, I think we can at least brag that we had better food ?

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@Sangeeta absolutely, our chef was a "michelin-star" chef, replete with a chef's hat and coat! 

 

@Atravelynn you looked really wrapped up. it appears it was colder when you were up there and than when we were. I see all three of you hiked up the hill facing the lodge!

 

can't wait to read the rest of the journey!

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screentraveller

Dear Game Warden, administrator, admirable  master connector of animals and people and get-togetherer of people from all over the world! 

 

Your DREAM is Working.

 

Since my son @michael-ibk was on his first safari, I have enjoyed reading his TRs and felt like a member of your wonderful community. Last year he invited me to share a safari in the Aberdares. It was the experience of a life time. Now I am no longer only a @screentraveller. This would not have happened without your HP.

 

THiis year we had the 2nd Central European ST Gettogether with Michaels Slovenian friends at my home in Carinthia.

I love reading TRs of at least ten members

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Game Warden

@screentraveller Absolutely fantastic: thank you so much for you kind words. And of course if anyone is ever passing by the HQ, I'll do a nice braai. @wilddog can bear testament to how much food there will be :)

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11 hours ago, Game Warden said:

@screentraveller Absolutely fantastic: thank you so much for you kind words. And of course if anyone is ever passing by the HQ, I'll do a nice braai. @wilddog can bear testament to how much food there will be :)

I can indeed. @Game Warden is a very generous host and a 'braai master'.

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Wow!  Love the photos and videos!

 

Am looking forward to more of your report!

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On 10/07/2017 at 10:26 AM, wilddog said:

I can indeed. @Game Warden is a very generous host and a 'braai master'.

 

As I love to meet ST members, and am a keen GTG follower, please enlighten me where the @Game Warden HQ's is?!

Edited by xelas
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Fascinating comments on the binocular vision @Peter Connan and @TonyQ!  Coupled with the incisor comments by @inyathi, we're approaching a scientific white paper on the gelada with this report.

 

@Kitsafari, it got down to 4-5 C at night and I never really warmed up until the rays of sun did too. So until then, I layered up.  @Michael-ibk was usually in shorts, as I recall.  Our guide and driver were really cold as well.  EQ provided sleeping bags upon request.  Their website suggested them for trekking activities.  I brought my own liner.  It was so cold that I actually forgot the bag and liner because it was under a pile of blankets, which the lodge provided.   Out of sight, out of mind.  The sleeping bag got returned to EQ by the family with the guy who talked about taping money to his naked body.  The liner is still somewhere in Ethiopia.  I just sewed an old sheet into a pocket, so no big loss on the liner.

 

I was glad I have some shots of the gray sweatshirt, in which I bundled.  It was a gift from my sister-in-law.  She has exquisite talent in picking out unique gifts for each of about 60 different family members and will get a kick out of these photos of "her" sweatshirt in Ethiopia, especially the video where I am eating with the geladas.

Edited by Atravelynn
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On 7/9/2017 at 1:40 PM, screentraveller said:

Dear Game Warden, administrator, admirable  master connector of animals and people and get-togetherer of people from all over the world!   So that's @Game Warden's  new title!

 

Your DREAM is Working.

 

Since my son @michael-ibk was on his first safari, I have enjoyed reading his TRs and felt like a member of your wonderful community. Last year he invited me to share a safari in the Aberdares. It was the experience of a life time. Now I am no longer only a @screentraveller. This would not have happened without your HP.

 

THiis year we had the 2nd Central European ST Gettogether with Michaels Slovenian friends at my home in Carinthia.

I love reading TRs of at least ten members.  Assuming your son is one of them!  ;)

What a truly lovely post!!

 

 

Edited by Atravelynn
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On 7/7/2017 at 11:34 PM, Sangeeta said:

Dying, dying, dead of jealousy!! But wow, you guys keep on hitting one jackpot after another. Wolves within 15 mins?! Serval?! Hundreds of gelada?! Abyssinian hyrax (I love the sound of that too). What a fantastic report so far & awaiting the rest with eagerness.

@Kitsafari, even if they saw so much more, I think we can at least brag that we had better food ?

 

On 7/8/2017 at 1:58 AM, Kitsafari said:

@Sangeeta absolutely, our chef was a "michelin-star" chef, replete with a chef's hat and coat!

 

This shows exquisite dining at Guassa is entirely possible.

Since food has been a topic…

 

Food talk

 

First, a list of some food I ate, not a complete list. I kept track because there might be more questions about “what did you eat, what kind of food was there?” in Ethiopia vs. other destinations. The ***standouts of the trip are IMHO.

 

 

Jupiter Hotel

  Greek salad, also a big buffet

 

Eva Restaurant in Debre Birhan

 Lunch-Goulash fish & injera

 

Guassa Community Lodge

  Breakfast-Toast & eggs

  Lunch-Sliced cheese and lunchmeat, spaghetti

  Dinner-Various pasta dishes

  Apples & bananas

 

Road Runner

 Lunch-Greek salad & veggie pizza***a standout of the trip

 Farewell dinner-Barbeque several meats and fish***a standout of the trip

 

Awash Lodge

 Breakfast-eggs, toast

 Lunch- cheese sandwich

 Dinner-salad, carrot soup, tuna salad, meat entrees including goat

             -Injera, which did not agree with Michael

 Dessert-Fried bananas***a standout of the trip and I believe @AndMic would agree.

 Fresh mango juice, made from mangos we brought along—***a standout of the trip

 

Doho Lodge, near Awash

 Breakfast-pancakes, toast, eggs

 Lunch-vegetable soup, various sandwiches

 Dinner-spaghetti with cloves

 

Bethlehem Restaurant, Ziway

  Lunch-Tilapia cutlets, rice, vegetables

 

Hara Lodge, Lake Langano

  Breakfast-toast and eggs

  Lunch-Cucumber salad, chicken and rice, fried banana

  Dinner-Olive salad, fried fish, vegetables

              -Carrot soup, fruit salad, pepper steak, potatoes

  Desert-Mango mousse

 

Bale Mountain Lodge

 Breakfast-several petite pancakes accompanied each breakfast, toast, eggs, omelets, porridge, fruit

 Lunch in the field-ham sandwich or cheese sandwich or ham & cheese sandwich, cookies

 Lunch at the lodge-extensive salad plate, spaghetti

                               -cole slaw, spinach quiche

 Dinner-French onion soup, fish with vegetables and couscous

             -soup, steak and rice with mixed vegetables

             -barbeque chicken, spinach, rice

 Dessert- chocolate cake (Gluten free by request of another guest), apple cake & cream, chocolate custard—***a standout of the trip.  I made a special request at Bale Mountain Lodge for the chocolate custard dessert to be part of my breakfast the next day.  Request honored.

 

 

Haile Resort, Hawassa

 Dinner-fasting injera as the meal and ice cream & cake roll.

large.596970d3ce4a2_menuhaile.jpg.8b83b6

                     Menu at Haile Resort.  Pricing in Birr, about 23 Ethiopian Birr to the US Dollar

 

Sandwiches to go from a hotel/restaurant in Shashamane-Choice of Chicken, Fish, Cheeseburger

 

We had mangos from a roadside market but no knife to cut them.  The Shashamane hotel where we picked up the lunch kindly lent us a knife to go for the mangoes with the understanding we’d return it on the way back.  And we did.  Where are those guys waving machetes around when you need them?

 

 

 Strawberries as our Master

When the family we met at Guassa shared some of their fresh strawberries they had recently bought, we were eager to purchase some if the opportunity arose.  Abiy knew where we could buy freshly picked strawberries and we got a couple of quarts that were as delicious as the samples in Guassa.  We enjoyed many handfuls, which still left half the berries uneaten.

 

There is a saying, “A man builds a house and now he has a master.”  Since we could not leave the berries in the hot car whenever we got out for meals, wildlife, etc., the perishable strawberries went with us.  The strawberries had become our master.  Poor Begashaw very obligingly carried around my ever-diminishing supply of strawberries for the next two days whenever we exited the car.

large.5968f48063ad9_IMG_7007amanbuildsah

Bega and the strawberries.  The feathers are unrelated to the berries.  Bega and Abiy got a kick out of wearing feathers on their head.

 

 

Mule Food for Atravelynn

In our itinerary and costing info, there was a line that stated

 

“6. Kitchen, Mule, Donkey and Firewood in Guassa”

 

I was very intrigued about the prospect of a mule or donkey joining us.  When I told people about my upcoming trip, I always mentioned the shared mule.  To reward our future beast of burden, I packed a small Tupperware containing lumps of brown sugar.  Our donkey would have treats! 

 

When we arrived in Guassa, Abiy sized us up and determined no mule would be needed.  That actually was a compliment, and his decision was right; but I was a little disappointed there’d be no donkey nibbling my sugar lumps. 

 

While I may not have needed a mule to schlepp my stuff, the altitude did take a toll on my appetite and I was not able to eat regular meals.  For a little added boost of energy, I found the sugar lumps worked nicely.  I ended up nibbling the mule fuel.

 

 

Edited by Atravelynn
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@Atravelynn once again you astound and impress me with your meticulous and disciplined note keeping - that's such a comprehensive food list!

 

I'm sorry to hear that the altitude affected your appetite. was it just in Guassa or the other high altitude areas as well? i was worried about altitude sickness when I went to Guassa, so i went to the pharmacy to get some altitude sickness pills. I'm not sure whether the pills had any effect or whether I wasn't affected by the altitude, but I was fine (other than panting my way walking up the mountain which we gave up very quickly!). thank goodness. 

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@Kitsafari, fortunately no nausea, just could not eat.  Some altitude pills would be a good idea.  I have used them in the past.

 

A few more Guassa and pre-Guassa comments before moving on to Awash...

~Addis Ababa – We stayed at Jupiter International Hotel.  Very comfortable and they even had a spa, plus this attractive chandelier.

small.5959b7e83ddce_IMG_8078JupiterHotel

 

About 15 minutes away from Jupiter, we birded around Ghion Gardens for a couple of hours, where ABIY GOT MARRIED about a decade earlier.  A very picturesque location and loads of interesting birds! There is a Ghion Hotel next to the gardens, but currently it was under renovation and not up to EQ’s standards.

large.59597caeafc46_ParadiseFlycatcherGh  large.59597b9ce182a_IMG_3654redeyeddoven

                                                                                          "I am a red-eyed dove.  I am a red-eyed dove."  Always hear them, found  one in

                                                                                                   Ghion Garden, Addis Ababa

 

~For anyone who gets car sick, a Bonine or a portion of, is a good idea for the drove to and from Guassa. 

 

large.5959b813494f2_guassacommunitycente

Simple, but I'd go back to this peaceful place with a well managed habitat.

 

large.5959a96e0ae0e_IMG_7647guassalodgin

Overview from above - we did lots of climbing in Guassa, and not just to photograph the compound

~ Geladas like to forage near the lodge. They are quiet so it is unlikely you'd hear them in your room or the main lodge.

small.5959b518731fb_IMG_5382atlodge.jpg.   small.5959b527436e4_IMG_7712atthelodgege    large.5959b51e9ba04_IMG_5385atlodge.jpg.

It's all happening at the lodge                                           Even midday I wore 3 layers on top and 2 prs of trousers                  Mother and baby visit our lodge

 

medium.59597cfcd60e4_IMG_4058whitecollar

The Ethiopian endemic White-collared Pigeons also came to us and sat on the roof.

 

~Geladas can be found even many kilometers outside of Guassa.

large.5959b5c860e67_IMG_5831sceniclookou

Not at Guassa--this gelada was found along the road at a scenic lookout point

 

medium.5959b5c0d1027_IMG_7836guassafullm

Full moon over Guassa - it illuminated the path to the loo in the night, no torch needed.

Edited by Atravelynn
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13 hours ago, Atravelynn said:

 

Fascinating comments on the binocular vision @Peter Connan and @TonyQ!  Coupled with the incisor comments by @inyathi, we're approaching a scientific white paper on the gelada with this report.

 

To add to the point about binocular vision which is a typical characteristic of predators, monkeys are thought to have evolved from prosimians that would presumably have been pretty similar to some of the extant prosimians like the galagos, tarsiers, lorises etc, these animals are often voracious hunters of insects and even small lizards. Some of them like tarsiers are I think exclusively carnivorous where as galagos also eat fruit and sap and other plant food, so as well as the fact that binocular vision would be an advantage for animals that were originally arboreal, their ancestors were likely also predators for a time.

 

If you had no problem finding bottled still water then I’m not that surprised you didn’t come across Ambo, a year or two after my trip I was in Singapore and visited the zoo and they had an Ethiopian exhibit, with an artificial cliff home to Hamadryas Baboons and Nubian ibex. On one side of this was a replica of an Amhara village and on the other side a Konso village and inside one of the huts was a cafe called the Konso Cafe and according to the menu they were serving the national dish injera with doro wat and Ambo mineral water. I wasn’t tempted even for old time’s sake and chose to eat elsewhere, but it stuck in my mind particularly the water, I don't know but I wouldn't have thought that Ethiopia does good business exporting Ambo mineral water and they must therefore have imported it specially, of course having said that the teff flour needed to make the injera would have had to be imported as well.

 

I’m very glad to hear that the standard of food has improved and I would guess that the accommodation is overall of a much higher standard. Looking at that menu I do recall having tibs somewhere which I think was actually quite good. The one other dish that I had which sticks in my mind is steak a la Bismak a piece of beef with a fried egg on top, this is not a traditional Ethiopian dish it’s actually properly called steak a la Bismark and should be a beefburger with a fried egg on top. Not the most amusing of menu spelling mistakes I’ve seen, but for some reason it stuck in my mind.

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Sometimes the errors and misspellings are the most endearing, @inyathi.

 

Awash & Ali Deghe

Awash (also spelled Hawash) is named for the river that runs through it, and which forms a picturesque waterfall (Awash Falls), then heads underground and into the Red Sea.  Fantale Volcano/Mount Fentale, which erupted 170,000 years ago, is prominent in Awash.  The park is 756 square km.  Ali Deghe Wildlife Reserve is larger at 1800 square km and less exposed to the challenges that Awash faces.

awash.jpg.d5c533b84500fa30b4c8015600c87b34.jpg

 

 

 Challenges to Awash and its flora and fauna include:

 

~ Nearby Metahara Sugar Company, discharges chemical pollutants into the Awash River, endangering not only the park but the surrounding communities.

 

~ Private and state-sponsored farms, including sugar cane farms, have expanded in the area.

 

~ Illegal grazing occurs within the park due to no enforcement of rules.

 

~ Burning to increase grass for cattle has changed the habitat so that grassland has replaced brush.

 

~ Large carnivores, seen as a threat to livestock, have been shot by pastoralists. 

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On a walk in Awash

 

~Settlement and permanent structures occupy much of the park either temporarily or permanently. With the development of schools, clinics, mills, water treatment facilities, and places of worship, parts of the park are becoming urban areas.

 

~ Cutting of forests for firewood and for charcoal production is decimating the hardwoods.

 

~ Invasive species are proliferating.

 

~ A lack of cooperation between those in charge of managing the park and the communities within and around the park means there is no shared vision for sustaining the park’s resources.

 

~ The Dire Dawa Highway and Railroad, which run through the park, contribute to road/rail kill. 

 

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Fentale Mountain, seen while driving in Awash, early eve

 

Sustainable Tourism can play a positive role:

The scenic beauty, the waterfall, which gushes even in the dry season and huge number of bird species (450) of the park draws visitors.  PHE (Population-Health-Environment)  Ethiopia Consortium trains local people from the Afar community as tour guides.  Women are being trained in handicrafts to sell to tourists. PHE promotes local ownership and collaboration between park management and the community.  Educational outreach by Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority emphasizes the tangible benefits of a thriving park for the local community. 

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Awash Falls as seen from Awash Lodge

 

A few of those 450 bird species…

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Blue-cheeked Bee-eater (seen on foot at Awash Lodge)                                       African Hawk Harrier  (seen on foot during a walk in Awash)

 

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Klaas's Cuckoo (seen on foot during walk in Awash)

 

medium.5959c20cc2acb_IMG_6258GrayishEagl    medium.5959c016a78b3_IMG_6035NearAwashLo

                       Pearl spotted owl (seen on foot during walk in Awash)   Two classics:  foreground is Fish eagle, background is Goliath heron (at Awash Lodge)

                                              

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                       White-bellied bustard with something to crow about                                      Tawny eagle chick (on walk in Awash)

                                     (seen while driving in Awash, early eve)                  

 

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 Dark chanting goshawk (seen on drive in early eve, Awash)

 

I like to think our presence and dollars helped contribute in some small way to the preservation of Awash and Ali Deghe.  This region has a lot to overcome if it is to remain viable for wildlife.

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The first Sommerring's gazelle, endemic to the Horn of Africa, seen on our evening arrival into Awash

 

Back when I was a teenager with a new driver's license, it was popular to pull up to a stoplight, everyone got out of the car and ran around it, then jumped back in, and we drove away when the light turned green.  That’s kind of the novel approach to game viewing in Awash and Ali Deghe.  You could call it an Ethiopian Fire Drill.

 

 

One of our first sightings in Awash (after we all exited the vehicle and approached on foot) of a nursing Beisa Oryx was a highlight of the trip and the challenges facing Awash seemed far away.

 

medium.5959bd7bcdc3e_IMG_5883nursingoryx  medium.5959bdbb4fd0f_IMG_5890nursingoryx

 

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I like how the calf's little horns are so evident; of course the turds are too.

 

Edited by Atravelynn
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screentraveller

Dear @atravellyn, i am happy that you have befriended michael and andreas. You are the perfect team and so your joint TRs are highly enjoyable, you complement each other. I have a very adventurous, well-travelled friend who finds YOUR reports very helpful. At the moment she is in Kamtchatka and i am happy in my big garden.

 

I loved you sitting happily among the geladas.

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