More from Addis

The welcome ceremony was very nice...coffee, popcorn, goodies and beverages.   We sat with some of our Zimbabwean staff and gleaned some useful knowledge about where and when to do safaris, tours, etc.  They are such kind guys, so patient and helpful with all of us, and like any tour like this, kind of like parents to us all, constantly cleaning up after us, doing the thinking for us, making sure food is ready when we need it and generally eliminating the need for us to think about anything other than pedalling our bikes.

As I was doing our laundry this morning, and bear in mind this was in the rather grubby bathtub in our room, with some Zahra soap powder in a box that looks like a Tide box, under a trickle of water, I did remind myself that at least I was not like the woman I saw the other day, getting off a super-crowded bus with 2 big yellow plastic containers of what was probably water.  Then she would have to heat it, then get started on the laundry.  Our clothes were absolutely filthy!  I am so thankful I have a washer and dryer at home to do all that dirty work for me.  It took all morning with that minimal water pressure but I got it done.  Then I spread it all out on the hedges in front of our room, just like we see the locals doing in the villages.  That Ethiopian sun dries things in no time flat!

Somehow, as luck would have it, there is a wedding going on here at the golf course tonight, so it may be a short night of sleep.  Good thing we slept a solid 12 hours last night!  We'll just have to rock out to the African beat we can hear now to fall asleep....

First photo:  at the Blue Nile Falls near Bahir Dar ( only a one hour drive away on a verrrrry bumpy road)

Second photo:  one of Wayne's soccer balls being put to good use

Third photo:  the toughest climb of the tour...the Blue Nile Gorge, 1500 metres of uphill climbing

Fourth photo:  Trish and Sandy with the sprawl of Addis Ababa in the background, about to start the bike convoy down.