October was our last month in the B’more hotel. From the 1st November we moved into our little cottage in Mekanisa, a suburb of Addis.
During October Ursula went to Switzerland for two weeks for a Swiss Red Cross workshop, leaving me in Ethiopia. However, all was not doom and gloom because I had made contact with some Americans, also keen birders. And Cornell University has what they call the Big Bird Day on the 19th of October when people around the world are encouraged to go out and count the birds they see at sites of their choosing.
Three of several hundred Glossy Ibis we saw on the Big Bird Count
In the end only 2 of us took part from Addis, a man called Dan and myself. We went to three sites and saw 80 + species, which wasn’t too bad considering that we are both fairly new to Ethiopian birds. We also saw some Gelada baboons, which look more frightening than they really are.
Gelada alpha male observing the world in quiet contentment
Gelada females leading their young up a cliff
Before we left B’more hotel the owner had a barbecue (braai) for all the residents of his hotel. It is something he apparently does each year at this time to encourage his residents to socialise and mix. The “Braai Master”, naturally enough, was a South African – only South Africans know how to do this properly – who also supplied Karoo boerewors he had brought back from South Africa specially for the occasion.
Lucas (left) the braai master at work
Our landlord, the owner of the B’more
In some ways it was sad to leave B’more, the staff are friendly and the place is very comfortable, but for us it was too much in the city centre, too polluted and the neighbourhood too crowded.
The house we moved into is in a much more residential suburb, cobbled streets, local neighbourhood shops and so forth. Chickens calling at dawn compete with the mournful cries of the Yellow-billed kites later in the day. We feel safe to walk about in the streets after Ursula gets back from work and I do a lot of our shopping in the local, small shops - what South Africans would call “spazas”.
The house has a small garden with 2 guava trees and an Abyssinian olive tree. These 3 are now in fruit and so much frequented by birds, in particular Mousebirds, the juvenile delinquents of the bird world, and Bulbuls, which behave much like old fashioned Teddy boys, for those of you old enough to know what I mean.
Mountain Thrush in our new garden
Unfortunately, before we moved in, I had painted the inside of the cupboards and they were still smelling strongly of paint, so Ursula politely declined to put her clothes in them until the smell had worn off. So we lived from suitcases for a couple of weeks.
It is nice to be able to cook properly again even though the kitchen is shall we say, not large. And in the evening we are able to sit out on the veranda and watch the birds enjoying the bird bath I have put up, while we enjoy a St. George beer or two before supper.
On the 8th November we went to Awash National Park with another birding friend, Ian. This was a lovely trip and we made a long weekend of it, going up on the Friday and returning on the Sunday. (The occasion being Mohammed’s birthday and so a public holiday for some). Awash park is about 250km from Addis and the drive up is “interesting”. It is the main road to Djibouti, Ethiopia’s access to the sea, and the road is an almost solid stream of lorries bearing large containers, petrol tankers and the like. All trying to overtake each other in the face of the oncoming traffic, us. We had an Ethiopian driver, which is really the most sensible way to travel, one who knows the roads and the behaviour of the other drivers on the road.
The park itself is beautiful and the lodge is on the top of a cliff overlooking the falls, a bit reminiscent of a scaled down Victoria falls. After a hard day’s birding it was so relaxing to sit there with a couple of beers and watch the crocodiles catching the last rays of the sun on the banks far below.
The Awash Falls viewed from the restaurant
The park is well used by local people for grazing their cattle so it is not a pristine park in the South African sense, and there are no threatening animals left, so it is quite safe to get out of your car and walk about. There are several mammal species left, in particular the Black-backed jackal and the Ethiopian Oryx, as well as several smaller antelope. But the main attraction of the park is the birdlife.
Abyssinian Roller at the Lodge
Fish Eagle eating a fish it is holding in its talons
Ian, our companion and organiser of the trip is a keen birder and a bit of a “twitcher”, interested mainly in ticking birds off as he sees them, whereas we are more of birdwatchers, preferring to spend time watching and observing. This meant that perhaps we didn’t spend as long as we would have liked doing "our thing” but it was a really good introduction to the park and we would love to go back there sometime in the not too distant future.
Ursula bird watching with Mekennon the driver
Besia Oryx
Black-backed Jackal
On the Sunday before we left back to Addis we visited a second park nearby, the Hallaydeghe Asebot National Park. Here we were lucky to see 2 Secretary birds, a whole flock of ostriches and much else besides.
Ursula bird watching with guard on a termite mound
The drive back to Addis was not quite as fraught as the drive out as at least we were moving in the same direction as most of the traffic. Nevertheless, it is not a journey that I would like to drive, at least not yet. More familiarity with the prevailing road safety ethos is necessary.
And there are camels everywhere, in the park, on the main roads, staring rather superciliously at the world.
Camels and……..
more camels
And so back to getting the house in order so that it becomes a home for the next couple of years, with at least some of the creature comforts conducive to civilised life.
Love to all
Chris and Ursula