The Longest Ride of my Life!

The drive from Shashamene to the Farm was one heck of a trip!  We left Shashamene after having a little breakfast at our Hotel, we new it was going to be a long trip so we decided to stop and pick up some bananas and avacados. We were instantly bombarded by several people wanting a closer look at the forenjees. The girls got most of the attention.

Soon after Shashamene we drove through the most interesting part of Ethiopia in my opinion. It was very green and lush with very large false banana trees and bushes, and of course amidst it all were the most beautiful huts with little cute babies and cows wandering around. The closest thing I can use to describe this area was the Polynesian Cultural Center in Hawaii except that this was all for real. I was in awe, I loved it.

Not ten kilometers away did we start heading into a completely different terrain, a lot more dry and golden. Also very beautiful but I guess you could say that it looked more like Idaho and the Fall I left behind.

 The trees were one of the things that made me feel like I was definitely in Africa, but it was also strange to see fields of grain with all of the trees and huts. It felt a little unreal.

As we drove even further we went up on a high mountain top that reminded me of the road to Jackson Hole, WY.  It was high enough that we were getting cold, but at the top we entered the Bole National Forest where the only wildlife we were able to see were the warthogs. But besides all of the goats we have seen several donkeys, horses and chickens.

 I didn't mention it earlier but here in Ethiopia you can't just rent a vehicle and drive yourselves around, you may rent a vehicle but a driver comes with it, which is good and bad. While driving around Addis it was nice to have a driver because there are people everywhere and who knows what the traffic rules are, but while we were driving cross country we realized that we were all being asphyxiated by car exhaust and we couldn't get our driver to understand what was going on. We had him stop several times to check his engine, he tried to assure us that it was just burning off the oil he may have spilled while filling the tank that morning. My dad was not in a good mood so his nerves were on edge and he couldn't get over it and decided to have us all shut the windows to not allow the exhaust in, it was fine except that it eventually got very very hot and we were a little miserable especially when the road got extremely rocky and bumpy and the Land Cruiser had no shocks. Oh man we were not happy!

It took us five hours to get to Robe (Robay). Robe is a large town filled with people but our driver didn't know where to stop for food so we decided we would drive on to Ginir to stop and eat. Ginir is 3 hours from Robe and my parents knew of a place they knew was a good place to eat so it might be worth it. I have tried the injera and I don't like it, too sour, and I have tried the goat tibbs and they alright but I wasn't excited to eat more. Andrew on the other hand liked the tibbs but wasn't a fan of the injera either, anyway I was anxious to eat in a place with good food. Well we finally made it to Ginir after the bumpiest ride of our lives, we needed fuel so we pulled off to a station and while there got in a very large argument over the price of the gas and how much fuel was put into the Landcruiser.  My Dad was going to stick his ground because he knew that the Ethiopians try to take advantage of the Forenjees and make them pay much more than everyone else. It got pretty heated and started to attract a crowd and a few cops, it didn't help that no one seemed to understand each other. It's kind of a long story and if I was better at story telling like my mom I would explain it all but let's just say that we were there way way way too long.

Only a small portion of people who gathered to watch the action.

The guys who cheated us at the fuel station.

We were getting pretty hungry since it was 6 pm, so we finally talked Dad into getting in the car and went to go eat at the restaurant where we could eat charcoal tibbs which were supposed to be pretty good. Once we got there they informed us that it was fasting day where they were not going to serve any meat. Well that was just great because my parents assured us there wasn't another good place to eat, but we were all pretty hungry since we hadn't eaten since seven that morning. We decided to go to another place where they would serve meat because it was owned by a Muslim and not a Christian. Apparantly all Wednesdays and Fridays are fasting days, which actually means they are Vegans for the day. So anyway we ate at a pretty Dodgy..... okay TERRIBLE place, I didn't eat much but at least a little to tide me over till we got to the farm which was still another three and a half hours away. While we were eating the driver was having someone fix the Landcruiser which was good because we were almost at our wits end. 

Back on the road again, it was dark and my dad told the driver he would drive since he knew the way and also he had been driving for a really long time and needed a rest. But our troubles didn't end there, about a half an hour away from the farm we got a flat tire because the terrain was so uneven. That was okay because it gave us a chance to get out and stretch and to go potty. :) By 10 that night we pulled into the farm, unpacked a little and dropped into our beds.

`It was a rough day but we are really glad to be here on the farm to see and meet the people that my parents and we have fallen in love with over the past year. I feel so fortunate to have seen what we saw on our ride down, I wouldn't change it for the world.

p.s. the girls were way better than expected, I was so relieved.
p.s.s. We were so dirty after being in that car so long with dust everywhere. The girls hair turned gray instead of it's normal white.