The place the Internet forgot
By admin. Filed in Ethiopia |
This is just a quick post to let my loyal viewers–both of you–know that I haven’t abandoned this blog. I’m just struggling to find places that have both electricity and adequate Internet bandwidth to post new entries. I’m now 3,500km into the journey in Addis Ababa, where “Broadband” means 14,400kb dial-up connections shared by at least 20 computers. Viewing web pages that contain even the smallest graphics is time-consuming. Uploading any pictures is a strict no-no.
So this is just a temporary post to fill in the gaps. In summary, Ethiopia is much different from Sudan. The landscape changed dramatically from sparse deserts to beautiful, fertile mountains. There are children everywhere, shouting “YouYouYouYouYou” and “Where are you go?” Most are friendly, but some of them are angry and throw rocks. Most rocks are small, but others have left riders with stitches, bruises, dented helmets, and damaged bicycle frames. We always have an audience when we set up our tents, eat, brush our teeth, or go to the bathroom. It takes some getting used to.
The brakes of one of our trucks went out, and shifting it into low gear to bring it to a stop destroyed the engine, so we had an extra rest day in Dongola and are using a rented bus and flatbed truck for the time-being. We had another rest day in Bahir Dar and had a Mardi Gras theme party. After that, it has been a lot of climbing through the mountains and the Blue Nile Gorge. From here we head South toward Nairobe, Kenya. There are some rough roads ahead.
Tuesday, February 23rd 2010 at 00:15 |
Dan just know that we are here cheering for you and bragging about your adventure to anyone who will listen. We look forward to your words and check often to see if you were able to blog from your unbelievable trip. We are quite proud to say a family member/cherished friend is on this crazy amazing life changing trip.
We miss you and just think riding at Burning Man will be nothing compared 😉
PS We are in the Silicon Valley right now while Dale gets RedHat Engineering Certified.
We are supposed to drive the bus back to the valley on Saturday. I say supposed to because the bus needs to run correctly before we drive off into the sunset. I talked to a Bus mechanic and he told us what to look for when checking the engine on the bus to make sure all is well for us to purchase it.
Phil is meeting us in Elk Grove where “Ol’ Bessie” is parked and we are going to convoy the moss covered aluminum fuselage on wheels over the pass which was snowy on the way here. I pray the passes are clear and the Detroit engine lives up to its rep, not only to get us safely to the Carson Valley but to Burning Man as well as years of camping to come! <3 hugs and kisses from all of us
Saturday, February 27th 2010 at 18:07 |
Wow, what an adventure you experience! Take care buddy!