Deer, near Singing Springs, Ethiopia, 14 Feb 2014
Picnic near Singing Springs, Borena, Ethiopia, 14 Feb 2014
Goats drinking at Singing Springs, Borena, Ethiopia, 14 Feb 2014
Raising water at Singing Springs, Borena, Ethiopia, 14 Feb 2014
Ethiopian houses, Borena, Ethiopia, 14 Feb 2014
Jak & Corinne at the top, Saline crater lake, Borena, Ethiopia, 14 Feb 2014
Tony at the top, Saline crater lake, Borena, Ethiopia, 14 Feb 2014
Starlings, Saline crater lake, Borena, Ethiopia, 14 Feb 2014
Man collecting salt, Saline crater lake, Borena, Ethiopia, 14 Feb 2014
Saline crater lake, Borena, Ethiopia, 14 Feb 2014
Our vehicles, Yabello, Ethiopia, 14 Feb 2014
Although we had warmish water at 6.00 am there was no electricity for lights or power. The hot water had stayed reasonably warm from the brief heating period last night before the generator was shut down. We all had a meagre breakfast of cold scrambled eggs, bread and very strong coffee and were on the road by 7.30 am.
The road southwards towards Mega (near Kenyan border) is a recently built highway and is of superb quality; the best we’ve seen anywhere in Ethiopia! The Chinese built the road and there are still two bridges yet to be completed so there was a short gravel detour around these construction sites. There was an immigration point on the way checking for Kenyan and Somali entrants. We were not stopped or questioned which is just as well as Corinne had unintentionally left her passport in our room back at the hotel.
About 65 km south of Yabello we turned off the highway onto a rocky road and after 20 km came to a small Borena village on the rim of a saline crater lake. After some discussion on prices and the hire of walking poles we started heading down the steep, rocky and rough pathway to the crater-lake 340 m (vertically) below. We had a guide and there were other ‘hangers-on’ who wished to act as personal guides but we declined their offers. Donkeys use the path too for transporting the salt back up to the top. At the bottom two local boys demonstrated the procedure for wading out into the black salty water and in one metre of water they brought armfuls of grey/black mud to the surface. This mud is later dried and the highly impure salt is then used for cattle in the nearby Ethiopian and Somali regions. We walked 400m around the crater-lake which is littered with discarded plastic bins and associated rubbish. The walk back up the path was reminiscent of parts of the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. This climb took about 45 minutes and involved some rest stops and opportunities to photograph birds. The red breasted azure starling is common and much more attractive than our starlings at home!
We then drove a short distance through more Borena village homes to a so called singing well. In a small evergreen grove the Borena people have dug by hand and shovel an alleyway through the clay rock to a well that is at the base of a 50m deep shaft. During the dry season the locals form a human chain and with buckets and much chanting bring the water up to troughs which are accessible to stock. While we were there only three water lifters were operating near the top just to show the tourists how the system works. We were surrounded by several hundred goats and sheep eagerly seeking out the cool water.
After a picnic lunch under a nearby tree we headed for home. On our return journey we managed to get quite close to and photograph gazelles that were grazing along the roadside. They were very shy and soon ran off into the acacia thorn trees that abound.
Our return journey was interrupted by our vehicle hitting a stone causing a puncture which the drivers teamed up to change wheels very swiftly.
We arrived back at the hotel at 4.30 pm in time for showers and pre-dinner drinks!
Another great day in this remarkable country!!