The keener trekkers in the group took a two day / one night trekkng option. After loading our kit onto mules, we set off Saturday morning and reached a spectacular waterfall mid morning. There are baboons everywhere in the Simien Mountains and you can get really close to them. Our aim was to reach the Gogo (not sure the spelling is right) summit (3926m) the following day, so we climbed steadily upwards reaching our camp by mid pm.
We stopped en route at one of the villages to see a coffee ceremony performed by the local women. Coffee drinking is important in Ethiopia and they go through a ritual of washing and roasting the beans. You then get three cups of coffee - the first fairly strong, then a weaker one, and finally one with lots of sugar. Shame I didn't realise this before I accepted the first cup because I then felt obliged to drink all three cups (and I don't normally drink coffee at all)!
The coffee ceremony took place in one of the local villagers homes. It was fascinating to see inside and get an idea of how they live. Their homes are round wooden huts with thatched roofs. It was very dark inside as the only light comes from a small fire. There was a raised area where the six members of the family slept and below separate areas for the animals. It is just incredible how basic and hard a life the people in the Simien Mountains live.
Tougher still is the life the children lead. Their job is to take the animals out on to the mountains to graze and they spend their days watching over their livestock. Some of the children we saw could not have been more than six years old. The weather conditions in the mountains are harsh, particularly now during the rainy season. It rains most afternoons and can get very cold. Whilst we were sheltering at camp in the cooking hut, there was a hailstorm and these poor children bringing their animals back down to the village were caught in it. They ran as fast as they could to shelter in our hut. We may have found it cold and wet in the mountains, but at least we have top of the range thermals and waterproofs. These children are barefoot, dressed in little more than rags with just a blanket to wrap around them for warmth - not a lot of help in the pouring rain.
The following morning was bright and clear so we set off for the summit. Well worth the effort - it is hard going as you gain altitude and the air gets thinner and it becomes harder to breath - but the views were spectacular. On our way back down, we were lucky enough to see an Ethiopian wolf. These are rare and only found in the Simiens - they look like big foxes.
We celebrated the end of our trek and rejoining the rest of the group with a chicken dinner. So far, it has been difficult to buy meat in Ethiopia (except live meat) so there have been numerous discussions among the group about killing animals. It started as a joke but has now become reality! Obviously, we could just pay the local guides to kill, pluck and prepare the chickens for cooking, but some of the men in the group decided it would be "fun" to learn how to do this for themselves. So one poor chicken was bought to camp live (along with its already dead friends). I fear a goat could be next....
After a night of thunder, lightening and heavy rain, we left the Simien Mountains this morning and are now back in Gonder for one night getting our fill of western food. Burger and chips for lunch, pizza and wine for dinner may be? Tomorrow, we have a ten hour drive to Lalibela, our next stop in Ethiopia. Will upload some photos of trekking when I have a better internet connection.
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