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I will go to Mekele, try to join a salt caravan and with them I want to go to the Danakil Depression.

One Year Africa: Maybe the Hot Season

Maarten de Boeck
2006-05-01 17:15:05

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me considerably. It has an outspoken rustic character. Its dusty streets, coming out in the spacious central place with its colourful painted house fronts. It felt a bit like a place at the end of the world.
In Assaita, I stayed at a place called Basha hotel, a guesthouse with only few rooms, though inside it had a pretty spacious patio, filled with one-person beds, each of them covered with a mosquito net, due to the fact that most people in Assaita prefer to sleep outside to enjoy the nocturnal breeze to cool down. From the back of the patio, one had a nice view over the raison d'être of Assaita, its river. You could see children playing in it, in the settings of leafy palm trees.

The process of getting the letter was pretty straightforward. Fortunately I arrived in the early afternoon, being able to obtain the paper the same day and not having to wait till after the weekend. Although I had to wait for the right person to arrive, although they asked various questions about how and why, they were satisfied with my explanations. They drew up a paper and put an official stamp of the Afar authority on it. The only thing I could read on the piece of paper was my name. Therefore I had travelled two days and had still two days ahead of me to get back to Mekele, but I was happy to have it in my hands. I was happy not having to wait till after the weekend.

When I appeared at Assaita's square at 05.30 am the next day, I found a bus brimmed with people. Initially they refused to take me, but when I was standing in the aisle, passengers arranged a seat for me. I had only a few inches to sit upon, but at least I was on my way to Dessie. In my possession, I had the piece of paper, which would open the gateways to the desert. I finally was on my way to the Danakil Depression.

(Being pick pocketed in Dessie)

In Mekele, it took me only one more day to arrange the final preparations. In the evening I had had ...