Dorset Echo | Steve Blackmore

The Source of the Nile - Bahir Dar 31 Oct

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 10:59:08 +0000

I awoke early as the sun was coming up. I think it was a tapping on the window. I peered out to see a sea of grinning black faces peering in at us as we slept on the bus. Where the hell do they all come from ? No matter where you park in Ethiopia, within a few minutes your double decker bus will be surrounded by chattering, excitable Ethiopians.

The Mexican Standoff - Gonder 30 Oct

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 10:56:50 +0000

With the bus still not well, I was up in good time to go over to the mechanics. He wanted me there at 9am when he contacted his mate in Addis to get a price for a seal. That's a rubber part, not the aquatic animal. Bill was expecting a price of a few pounds. I was a little taken aback when he quoted 6800 birr, that's about £425. He made the final total about £950. It gave me some serious questions. Was it financially viable to carry on to Addis ? What was the alternative ? I would be gutted to get this far and not actually make it to our final destination. The mechanic would still want paying for the work done so far and the bus isn't moveable now the old, damaged seals have been ripped out. We were at the mercy of the mechanic. He could offer us what he wanted for a non working bus in his yard and we would be obliged to accept what he offered.

The Never Ending Road

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 10:53:15 +0000

I awoke to hear people moving around outside and looked out to see hussle and bustle of a huge number of people. Why ? Its 6am, the border is still closed and there is nowhere for people to go. We had a disagreement with the bloke who sold us the beer. We hadn't drunk it all and he wanted the empties back or he wanted us to pay another 2 Sudanese pounds each bottle. We had only paid 3 for a full one.

African Camelot - Gonder 29 Oct

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 10:20:15 +0000

The bus, with its leaking seals and gaskets, blowing exhaust and bodged pipes was in bad need of some TLC. The huge slick of transmission fluid was not a good sign for us or for the hotel owner.

Khartoum Nightmare - Abu Dom to Ethiopian Border 27 Oct

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 10:16:23 +0000

I was tasked with driving down the fairly new section of road from Abu Dom towards Khartoum. No great hardship, in fact a doddle after the last 2 days. It was wonderful knowing we were actually putting some real distance on the clock. My concerns on the tight timescale were getting worse. Previously I was working in days until we had to be at Bahir Dar to meet Jo and Sean. Now I was counting hours and realising that we could only make the deadline by driving constantly at speed.

More Dust - Dagio 25 Oct

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 10:13:41 +0000

Desert is traditionally supposed to be yellow or orange sand. Gritty and with definate particles. I'm guessing this bit of desert has been around a bit longer and the particles have been ground more. Think of grey flour and you are close. There is no substance to it. If you compact it, its still loose and soft. And this is what we found ourselves bogged down in up to the axles at 8am, with our tight schedule.