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Exploring the moorlands around Mount Guna.

One Year Africa: The Stolen Book

Maarten de Boeck
2006-05-01 17:02:47

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he emerged where I had chosen to pitch my tent. An idyllic spot, an open space midst the mountains, the sort of place I had dreamt of in my imagination. On his lips there seemed to be thousands of questions, but talking was impossible. Again and again I had to reply I did not understand him. I could only derive from his gestures he warned me for the nightly cold. He also gestured something eating something, 'jibs' I said and he nodded yes.

Indeed, it would become a cold night, but the day had been a revelation. I felt freed. I had surmounted these negative emotions. They hadn't stopped me. Now I could leave the area with my head up. I had turned what could have been a negative experience into a positive one. I loved to be there, at that lonely place. I loved to do this.

The next morning my feet were thoroughly cold. It had been a freezing cold night, even in my sleeping bag with all my clothes on. I was woken up by someone shaking my tent. I crawled out of my sleeping bag and opened the tent. Room service: my comrade brought me cooked eggs and a bottle of milk. Although his hospitality turned out to have a price, I still appreciated his gesture. I used the milk to cook my rice and added sugar. It was a lot tastier than my usual diet of plain rice.
I had run out of food. I had to return to Debre Tabor. Suddenly my comrade wanted me to leave as soon as possible. His behaviour was a bit contradictory. I couldn't make head or tail of it.

I decided to do an attempt to get back my book. I reasoned it was worth trying, I had nothing to lose. I was to go back the way I had come and ask everyone if they knew about my book. On the mountain ridge, I saw the herds beneath me on the open moorlands. Where there are animals, there are people. I headed straight through the herd and soon I met the young shepherds. I took out my phrasebook. With two words I tried to make my point: 'meusehaf' meaning 'book' and 'leba' ...