| Ethiopia:
Oromiyaa Adventure Bicycle Africa / Ibike Tours |
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 Small
group, self-contained people-to-people bicycle
tour from Addis Ababa across the high plateau and into the
gouges of the Horn of Africa. This tour passes through some spectacular
countryside and traverses some the culturally rich territory of Amhara,
Oromo and Gurage Peoples of Oromiyaa. And
samples some of the wonderful hospitality of the region. Both the
people and the scenery seem to get more and more wonderful everyday.
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| Photos by Neil Cowles, with
comments by the muse.
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Most nights we stayed in "rural hotels." If there is a "typical" rural hotel, this has most of the characteristic: one level, small rooms big enough for a single bed and room to get around. | ||
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The further you travel from the capital the more traditional the architecture; round house with thatched roofs. Some traditional Oromo houses are huge -- large diameters and high. The people in the door give a little scale, and this is by no means the largest house in the district. | ||
 This
family invited us to stop for tea and snacks. The kitchen hearth is in the
middle of the room. The area behind the curtain serves as the master
bedroom. The height of the curtain give a sense of the height of the walls
and the ceiling above them. This is not a building you had to duck to get
into. |
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It was fairly routine to have kids running along side the bikes. It reflects the stamina that their lifestyle develops. From there it is not a big step to understand why Ethiopia consistent produces world class marathon runners. The kids are running barefoot on the pavement, creating a flash back to Abebe Bikila's winning performance at the 1960 Olympics. | ||
 There
is extensive farm land on the plateau. This is not a district that is
usually subject to the food crisis that attacks media attention to Ethiopia.
Oromo land generally helps to feed the rest of the country. But like
agriculture everywhere they are subject to the fickleness of the rains -- too
light or too heavy. |
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This photo gives a hint of the roughedness of the territory ahead, and a lot of Ethiopia. Between the foreground farm and the background hills is a deep river valley. The road follows a gentle route, but some of the hills -- down and up -- are long. | ||
 Where
is sufficient water the agriculture is more lush. The banana-like tree is
actually enset (called "kobe" in Amharic), which produce an edible root which is
part of the local cuisine. |
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There is not a great density of local bicyclists, but we met this young man with his bicycle. It is still wrapped in the packing material it came in showing its newness. The wrapping will probably stay until it is fairly tattered. | ||
 If
you like Ethiopian cuisine, Ethiopia is a great place to bicycle. Along
the main roads it is the exception to find a village of any size without a
restaurant serving up a tasty plate of injera (traditional crepe) topped with
several meat and vegetable condiments. |
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After several days we ran out of paved road, but the scenery continued to be gorgeous. The roads don't present too much of a challenge for the wide, sturdy tires of a mountain bike. | ||
 Where
the soils are too poor and the moisture insufficient the land is covered in
grass, shrubs and scattered low trees. Millenniums ago Ethiopia was
largely forested. Increasing population and associated land use practices
have dramatically changed the ecology. |
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The patchwork pattern of the farms is a indicator of the limited size of the plot of individual farmers. Small farms creates another challenge to the viability of the agricultural economy. | ||
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Here the bicycles are parked at a slightly fancier hotel -- the rooms are larger and the bathroom is part of the suite. The developer had hope to attack more international visitors, but there were few around when we passed by. | ||
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 Our
route takes in a loop. Eventually, as we are heading back to Addis Ababa,
we pickup the paved road again. Despite that in places it seems to be more
patch than pavement, it is a welcome change from the dirt and gravel. |
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 We
met this bicyclists as he traveled from town to town doing presentations on
HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention. |
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This
is the good size audience the campaigner generated for his HIV/AIDS awareness
program. Before we continued to pursue our separate itineraries we set up a A parting group photo. |
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 This
cut in the hillside exposes some of the areas geological history. If your
knowledge of geology is good enough it would have a lot of meaning to you.
There is an interesting crystal structure to the rock. |
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Poinsettias (Euphorbia pulcherrima) and bottle brush (Callistemon citrinus) trees thrive in the warm dry climate. Neither are indigenous to the area. They are from Mexico and Australia, respectively.
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The Ethiopian Orthodox Church is a
cousin of the Egyptian Coptic Church. It is the main religion in this
region. Similar to religious buildings in many parts of the world,
the churches often dominate the community or countryside from a lofty perch on a
hill. They are generally largest and most colorful building in the area.
Interestingly, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church
  has
some elements that seem to hearken back to period of Judaism before destruction
of the Temple, when there was still a priestly class. (The Ethiopian
Orthodox Church claims to be the custodians of the Ark of the Covenant, which
likely
 would have last been in
the custody of Jews who rescued it during the destruction of the last
Jewish Temple.)
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