Onwards to the very green and easy Malawi!

I flew via Lubumbashi in the Congo which was an interesting experience.

Journey back to Addis: poles apart from the word ‘nice’

I wandered to the bus station at 4.30am in the dark and found my bus. It’s amazing how busy it can be at that time! Every bus leaves at the same time which is hugely sensible as there’s only one small exit gate to leave the bus depot but hey?!!! Queues.

Government meetings, muddy tents and back to Arba Minch

Met with some of the tourism heads from Awasa and the region, and Sedeka from Arba Minch had also come to the meeting so it was good to see him again. I couldn’t face my tent that night so asked if I could rent a single room but they only had doubles left.

On the road again…and against the clock with South Omo transport

Meetings were complete and my work was done here for now. I have the partner projects and schools organised and a house to rent. I needed to get back to Jinka where all the federal tourism and wildlife representatives were having a conference because they’d arranged for me to meet them and present all my findings and suggestions. So I was looking for a truck heading that way. There weren’t any buses that day as they are pretty far and few between. I was told there was a truck coming from Omerate by the cops so I waited at the junction. For 5 bloody hours! And then it didn’t come at all. A bit concerned I was going to miss my meeting with all the tourism guys in Jinka. In the end luckily I found a pick up that was leaving at 6am the next morning and going to Key Afar which was in the direction of Jinka.

Partnership with Hamer women’s group arranged

Got a very packed bus back to Turmi and headed to the police station which would be my home for the next few days. They first suggested I put my tent pretty much in the middle of the road junction. Not so subtle and private! I shifted back a little behind the pile of logs that the police lounge around on most the all day. Headed to meet my first cooperative which was a women’s group set up by a lady called Yashi.

Big Beyond confirms Mago National Park and the Hamer tribe as volunteer destination No.1

The main wildlife in Mago National Park are elephant, kudu, hertebeast, buffalo, leopard, lion and giraffe, although many are now in small and declining numbers. The ecosystem of Mago has been hugely affected and is still under threat from the surrounding communities.

Yellow tent relocates to remote Hamer village

We decided to stay in Gadi’s village so stopped there on the way to put up my tent before going to Turmi town. Gadi took me to a posh lodge that evening which was such a surprise after everywhere else and we had COLD beers and really nice food that wasn’t injera. Did not expect that. Was a nice evening. We got back to his village where his mates were waiting, sleeping on goatskin outside the tent apparently guarding it, and they chatted while I didn’t understand anything. We brought back some cold beers from town so we all shared them. Gadi’s village is in a lovely location. It is entirely traditional and I didn’t really expect that to be honest. His mates and family are in no way modernised like him, guys wearing blue blanket/sarong round their privates and nothing else but jewellery, and his granny has the red hair and goatskin clothes.   

Living in Dimeka police station in my tent

When we got back to Dimeka, Gadi asked why I was staying at a hotel (funny that?!) and that my stuff would probably just get stolen so I should move to the police station and camp there. Which I did, and their “police stations” or dusty areas in the middle of the road, became my new home. I went and took a cold shower in the rented shower place down the road which felt so so good because wow was I dirty, dusty and sweaty. Mmmm.  

To Demeka… the heart of the Hamer Tribe

Reported my findings back to the tourism department and park manager and we decided on the places I should go to check out. I was to head to a place called Demeka where I first needed to meet the administrator of the Hamer region who’d help me organise my community meetings so I could delve a little deeper into the issues with them. 

The Mursi Tribe … a horrible human zoo

On the way back to Jinka we stopped to visit the Mursi tribe as they wanted me to check them out for research. The Mursi are the most visited tribe by tourists and the whole thing is quite simply horrible.

Exploring opportunities in Jinka & Mago National Park

Met the tourism head the next day, planned my trip to Mago National Park to meet the park scouts and they gave me one of the staff as a translator. Managed to persuade them to let me use the parks vehicle luckily, left the next day, bought the usual limited food from the market and a cooking pot, travelled to Mago and set up camp in the scout camp with my little yellow mobile home tent. Trying not to think about the total lack of air to breathe in my tent (it was 45 degrees that day) and my sweaty state I was pretty comfortable with my new inflatable mattress which was the best investment ever. Farewell inflatable lilo! 

To the depths of the South Omo

To cut a long and very irritating story short, I eventually found some transport going to a town called Jinka, near Mago National Park in the South Omo. I’d managed to organise a meeting with the tourism person there which was great. I ended up travelling in the front cabin of a big truck delivering cement with a driver who missed a few teeth, had a very bright green fluffy cab interior including gear stick and ceiling, and he spoke absolutely no English along to match my totally failed Amharic! Anyway, we were finally en route. 

Travelling to Arba Minch and Nechisar National Park

Reached Lake Awasa with relative ease where I planned to break up the two day journey, chilled out, had my first Injera (the local dish which is a big silver tray covered with a large rubbery bread/pancake-like thing with spicy veg concoctions in small piles on the top, that you eat with your hands - sounds nasty but nice). The start of a lovely relationship on the food front - in African terms! I’m a big fan of chilli and also like actual flavour in my food so it was a very nice surprise from the familiar beans and rice I know so well. 

In search of some of Africa's most fragile places and people in the name of Big Beyond

By the way, I’m in search of protected areas (for now I’m looking at national parks) that are challenged in terms of bio-diversity conservation and where associated communities are in need of development. I’m starting in some of the least developed countries of the world, but those that are incredibly beautiful yet enormously fragile; Ethiopia, Malawi and Uganda.  


Malawi... 

 Uganda...

 Ethiopia...

Amy, why not get a ‘normal’ job and just settle down?!

… I seriously thought to myself as landed in Addis Ababa airport on Feb 22nd 2011. I really did properly question what I was doing putting my backpack on and checking in to a basic and grim African hotel again, surely I was too old for all this now?!