This past April-May, I spent 20 days in Ethiopia on a photography tour that was unequivocally, indubitably and incontrovertibly the worst I have ever been on in 5 years of such activities.
Highlights from the first 10 days of the trip (the so-called 'Northern Route'), are chronicled in my posts about the night hike up active volcanic crater Mt Erta'ale (itself an unmitigated disaster) and a day in the hottest inhabited place on Earth. Sweeping first place in the hall of shame though, are the latter ten days of the trip (the 'Southern Route'). While the night hike was akin to a blitzkrieg, the Southern Route was an interminable siege of the body and mind.
It was like a twilight zone of endless suffering, in which I spent all my time and energy crawling up the cliff-like lowest two tiers of Maslow's pyramid. No wonder the higher order functions like self-expression thru photography never quite hit their stride.
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Below is a map of the original itinerary we were given (in yellow with dots) vs. the actual route travelled (in green). Ethiopia, by the way, is about twice the size of Thailand or, if you like, Texasss (yeehaw), just so these little lines can be put in perspective.
This is a massive departure from the original itinerary, made possible because the group was too small to put up resistance.It was like a twilight zone of endless suffering, in which I spent all my time and energy crawling up the cliff-like lowest two tiers of Maslow's pyramid. No wonder the higher order functions like self-expression thru photography never quite hit their stride.
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PART 1 - RAIDERS OF THE LOST PARK
Below is a map of the original itinerary we were given (in yellow with dots) vs. the actual route travelled (in green). Ethiopia, by the way, is about twice the size of Thailand or, if you like, Texasss (yeehaw), just so these little lines can be put in perspective.
On the second leg of the journey, there were only 4 of us (including the organizer) participating. To be fair, we were prevented from moving further south into the Omo Valley by unexpected rains, but we also had fewer days to play with due to the Gambella diversion. Now you may ask, what is so special about Gambella that we had to detour 600km to see it? Apparently, top attractions are a tribe noted for their above average height and a national park with lions. The plan was to stay one night in Gambella town and the following one camping in the national park.
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Double locks on every door! |
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Hotel Gambella - you can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave? |
I saw many things in Ethiopia that defied its international stereotype of abject poverty and backwardness; however, the pictures of the malnourished children clothed in rags and living in bare huts here merely buttressed it. Although I did participate in shooting UNHCR poster shots with the rest, I felt the real story was on the plains.
Two faces of Africa: Stereotypical malnourished child... |
...or World Cup fever? |
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Proposed campsite in Gambella National Park, vetoed by 3 out of 4 people |
I suppose anyone with any common sense was thinking along the same lines, as all 3 of us told the organizer and our local guide, in no uncertain terms, that we did not want to stay the night. A campsite (in our tourist-oriented minds) was *supposed* to include, at minimum, a perimeter fence and some extras like an outhouse, tent stakes, hut etc. Our guide was furious at the change of plans (and probably the increase in cost to him), but in the end we drove back another painful 3+ hours to stay at Gambella town again for the night.
The next day, there was no petrol at the stations and the drivers had to beg 30L each off the local army chief. At the Gambella province exit checkpoint, one of our cars was all but strip-searched as the border guards went over it tooth and nail. To say the security situation was 'tense' and 'tight' would have been an understatement.
In my opinion, there was no sane reason to come here unless one had to.
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