Home » Ethiopia » Cycle to the Summit Part 13 - Northern Ethiopia

13th - 22nd March 2002

Cycle to the Summit Part 13 - Northern Ethiopia

Toby Hammond
2006-06-25 19:53:22

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Malaria; he had had the disease and confirmed all the classic signs in Owy. We said 'Surely not, we have only been in Malarial parts so briefly' 'It only takes one bite' he replied. He gave us some medication from his first aid and left us as he was only going as far as the mechanic in the village to have his gearbox seen to. The village of Maka looked very small for a garage to us but he left us at the side of the road fearing the worse. We read Toby's medical book about all the likely maladies and prescribed Owy a concoction of various drugs before hauling him on the back of a truck heading back to Shady, were there was some form of hospital. Toby went to look after him taking their bikes and kit. Ruth and I would continue the journey and as the truck pulled out, it was agreed we would all reconvene in Gonder in a few days time. We slept in the village outside a teacher's house, after sampling the local cuisine. Injera is slightly sour bread like pancake with the texture of that rubbery carpet underlay. The odd vegetable or stew (Wat) is placed on top. They are about 18 inches in diameter and are usually eaten communally, using the right hand to tear off a piece of injera to pick up some of the toping. The Lonely Planet describes this local staple well as 'edible cutlery' and claims an American tourist family once mistook it for the tablecloth. It seemed we had picked a bad time to visit Ethiopia as far as sampling the cultural cuisine was concerned because they take fasting very seriously especially in the countryside. Their diet was essentially vegan during lent. But to make things worse some of our accustomed staples like jam and tinned tuna were only available in the big cities. We sat talking to two teachers Bakela and Belew in the quiet street illuminated only by flickering light, emerging through cracks in the adjacent houses from oil lamps. We discussed allsorts from the price of cotton to the female donkeys. We did not sleep ...