Digging out the Truck
We left Addis Ababa at 8am. With us are our new travellers which are two Dutch guys in my age and two Norwegian twins in the age of nineteen. We drove towards Lake Abaya and Lake Chamo. Swimming in both lakes is not advisable since there is a high concentration of Hydroxide ions (OH-) which damage the skin.
We arrived at the gate of the Nechisar National Park at 12pm. Here we were supposed to meet our local Ethiopian guide which will accompany us during our whole stay in Ethiopia. Unfortunately he was delayed and so we just picked up a scout. Actually we don’t really need a scout but it’s a requirement to have one while being in the national park. This will also ensure employment in the region.
To kill time until the arrival of our Ethiopian guide we decided to drive closer to the lake and have lunch while waiting. As we drove towards the lake the ground suddenly became very soft and our truck got stuck. Our drivers Tom and Daniel were leading the initiative to dig out our truck and some local guys and three boys of our group were helping them. It actually took a total of three attempts and four hours to dig out the truck. During the first two attempts the back wheels went even deeper in the sand. We also tried to organize another truck or tractor to pull us out but there was none available since we were in a remote area of the National Park. The final strategy which got us out in the end was to lift both back wheels with a jack and put sand mats under both wheels.
Since our group is quite large it made no sense that everybody participated in the digging. Therefore, we first had lunch next to the truck and then played with the locals kids which showed up after a while. Some of us also took the opportunity to walk to the lake and watch the flamingos.
In the evening my cooking group was up for preparing dinner. We cooked some non-spicy chili since some people complained about the spicy food during the last days.
