Tag Archives: Ethiopia

An Original Idea For Your Christmas List

By Tom | Published: November 1, 2009
It’s not long until the festive season, with all the left-over turkey, expanding waist-lines, New Year’s Day river and lake swims, and endless lists of resolutions to look forward to. So I’ve just published a photography calendar for 2010. (Last year I didn’t manage this until February, so this year I’m getting organised early!) I’ve done this [...]
Posted in Off The Bike | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Perception Versus Reality In Travel

By Tom | Published: September 30, 2009
It was late April and the Ethiopian highlands had been rolling beneath my wheels for several days. Inching towards Djibouti, I consulted detailed road-engineers’ maps of the country to plan my route, and found an enticing-looking dirt track through the Afar region of the infamous Danakil Depression. I’d developed something of a romantic fascination with this [...]
Posted in Expedition Log, Off The Bike | Also tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Notes From Afar, The Hottest Place On Earth

By Tom | Published: May 6, 2009
I gazed out across the plains from my vantage point by a military watch-tower at the eastern edge of the Ethiopian highlands. I was about to leave the familiar craziness of Amhara and to cross the Afar desert, the site of the hottest air temperature ever recorded, and the home of the nomadic Afar tribes. Even [...]
Posted in Expedition Log | Also tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Ethiopa: No Pain, No Gain

By Tom | Published: April 27, 2009
I waved goodbye to the Tele Café in the piazza of Gondar, where I’d enjoyed many a delightfully-spicy breakfast or pint of mango juice. I was about to experience a magnificent ride through the soaring highlands of north-central Ethiopia. As I rolled out of town towards the green valleys below, however, I was nervous. Aside from [...]
Posted in Expedition Log | Also tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Rest And Recuperation In Gondar, Ethiopia

By Tom | Published: April 18, 2009
I spent four days in Metema. The mild symptoms of malaria were the lesser of my concerns. More worrying was the stiffness and soreness that quickly appeared in my legs, as if somehow sparked off by the unexpected parasites. By the evening of my arrival, my lower calves were sore and stiff, causing some discomfort when [...]
Posted in Expedition Log | Also tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment