From Addis we took a bus South. On the way to the bus station we made use of our hybrid luggage and switched from trolley to backpack. The bus ride was ok and we were even served water and some dry cake. They dropped us in Ziway directly in front of our hotel.
Located on Lake Ziway we arranged for a boat tour the next day hoping to see hippos. Wandering around town, we saw that horse carriages are the main transport vehicle for people and donkey carts are used to move goods.
We found a restaurant serving fish directly opposite of our hotel. Chris discovered looking into the kitchen that the fish was still alive so we felt confident to eat here. 😊 The food was really good and they had lots of different beers to try.
The boat tour over lake Ziway was very nice and we were the only passengers. We had hoped to see hippos but it was a windy day and the hippos apparently don’t like that. We landed on a small island to do some bird watching and to climb up to a small church on a hill.
From Ziway we took a minibus to Shashemene, around 1.5 hours south. The ride to the bus station ended in a discussion because the driver claimed to have driven us to a different, further bus station and wanted double the pay. Before entering the bus we haggeled with the people there. They wanted 50 Birr per person (which was the price we were told before) and another 50 for each our bags, which I thought was to much. After some discussion we agreed an 150 Birr for us and the bags. The minibus left as soon as it was full. Full by Ethiopian standards. A row with three seats sat five people. While this works well with the very slender Ethiopians it was almost to crammed for us. And when we thought no one could possibly fit in anymore, two more people showed up and found a spot. For a 90 min ride it was ok, but we will try to avoid longer rides.
Arriving in Shashemene we went to our hotel, the Zion Train Lodge. The Loge is part of the Rastafari community. The Rastafari believe that the last Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie is their prophet and that they should return to Africa, humanity’s birthplace. Many of them have subsequently moved to Shashemene. This seems rather confusing, so don’t quote me on that. But the people here are very nice.
We visited an artist who makes pictures purely from products of the banana tree. We actually met the artist on the street after being turned away from his gallery because ha wasn’t there. He explained to us that making this art was his life’s purpose and blessing. While we are rather skeptical about such things, the art was impressive. He builds fascinating scenes and is an interesting man.
We spent a lot of time in the Zion Train lodge and used the time to recover from a cold we both got. It is a good and idyllic place to rest and hang out.
