In Illeret we signed out at the local police station and headed off to Omorate, 60km away. God knows how de hell people make a living here and from what. The people and police are extremely friendly, even escorted us to the closest cold drink. About 20km away, when a guy came out of a small building waving his arms, we had to stop again. Initially we decided to ignore him but he made such an effort to stop us we rode into the fenced off area he was standing.
He made it clear to us he is the local police officer, certainly not dressed like one, and he must see our passports before going into Ethiopia. I passed our passport over to him and he started to flip the pages which to me seems like he knew what he was looking for. After a minute or so it became apparent the guy can’t read or do not really understand English. I quickly showed him look here and here and here and this is it and cheers we must be going there are beers in Omorate with our names on. A waste of time, but with a smile on our faces and him very grateful for the quick lesson we were on our way once again.
In Ethiopia there was an early start to their rainy season and the only two big rivers we still had to cross, 25km before Omorate, were full flowing, we only figured that out later. The first one I walked and we managed to pushed the bikes through. By now it was midday and hell hot.
Around 5km away, as we came round a turn we found the second river. A big mother of a river, in full flood. From this side of the river it initially looked good for us, to at least be able to walk the bikes through. It was close to 500 meters wide and as precaution I walked the river first. I nearly got washed away by the force of the water on my way to the other side. The bad news was that the bank was washed away too deep for us to get the front wheel on the bank.
We walked up and down the river to look for a better spot with no success. Second problem, we had only 5L water with us and weren’t sure if we could wait for it out. As we stood there contemplating what to do next, a local came up to us on a pikipiki with an AK46 over his shoulder.
Quite a friendly chap, we tried to communicate with sign language and smiles as he did not understand any English. We gathered that he had to get to Omarate himself and that he is a policeman (the reason for the AK). He indicated to us that the river can take around 3 days to get low enough for us to pass, a problem for us with our little bit of water and food. He then suggested we follow him, he knew a round turn to Omarate.
Congratulations. You both rock, but especially Elsebie!
Michnus I’m sure Uncle could’ve kept himself busy in that mop for at least a week =)
Epic!!
jislaaik Michnus nou so lekker gelees, mens raak sommer weggevoer!!! mooi bly
Really Michnos & Elsebie ‘my hart was in my mond’ reading this account. love to hear how friendly people generally are. We had our daughter husband children and grand father from England here in SA and they observed the same here.
Damn epic stuff. You should really spend your evening writing a book about the experience. I will definitely buy a signed copy by both riders.
Enjoy and be safe. We (Jameson 3) are leaving for NAM in 3 weeks, just can’t wait!!!
I enjoy following your reports – keep it up. How did you eventually cross the river? Was there a bridge?
Mooi man! Maak my sommer lus vir opklim en ry! Dankie vir die lekker skryf, en fotos!
Hardcore travelling stuff !!!! Wish I was there…
MIch – in photo no 15 – on whose shoulder were you sitting there?
MIch – in photo no 15 – on whose shoulder were you sitting there? (joke)
This trip remains to be very hard and to the core!
hahaha jou grapgat! 🙂
Hi julle – soos altyd, dankie ook vir Turkana 3 – wat vir my net ongelooflik bly is hoe geseënd julle tot dusver is en die oorweldigende vriendelikheid waarvan julle getuig. Geniet die res vandie reis
Hi julle 2,
Update bietjie die planne vir die future.
Where are you storing the bikes and when will you return to carry on with the trip?
Only reading the stories of the remaining 50% of the group is not fun.