happy with the state of affairs in their
country. The hope for a better future
is still intact. The friendliness of
everyone I met bowled me over.
Since leaving Denmark in early Au-
gust I had not seen a drop of rain, ev-
ery day I was riding in temperatures
between 30 and 40 degrees Celsius.
It all changed as I entered Ethiopia
at the Metema border crossing and
headed for Gondar at 2,130 metres in
altitude.
With darkness setting in and rain
coming down in buckets, the tem-
perature plummeted. Riding in just
the outer layer of my suit, I quickly
started freezing. With only 100km
left to reach Gondar, I decided to just
continue. What I had not counted on
were the thousands of people driv-
ing their cattle home for the night,
slowing down my progress to 20-30
kilometres per hour.
Arriving in Gondar a few hours
after dark, I checked into a hotel, and
defrosted under a long hot shower.
Ethiopia, or Tjopia, as the locals
say, is a fascinating place. The natu-
ral beauty of the country is astound-
ing.
Visiting the Simien Mountain Re-
serve, I couldn’t help thinking of it as
Paradise on Earth; ethereal and awe
inspiring. The same could be said of
TRAVERSE 43
the Lalibela church complex, as well
as Lake Tana, the source of the Blue
Nile. I only scratched the surface
of this inspiring country during my
seven day visit.
Entering Kenya felt like arriving
in real Africa; savannah, bush and
animals in the wild.
The road between Moyale and
Marsabit, often referred to as “the
road from Hell”, before it was upgrad-
ed, saw me stop several times for ele-
phants and giraffe crossing the path.
A real “melting pot” for
overlanders, I stayed at the Jungle
Junction in Nairobi run by Chris and
his lovely Kenyan wife Diana. Situat-