Etiopía: Gonder, Aksum, Lalibela & Danakil

Tomorrow, 6am, I’m starting a road trip to North Ethiopia, the Danakil depression and Ert’Ale, an active volcano. I’ll do the first bit (blue line) on a LandCruiser with 3 Italians I contacted on internet. For the Danakil depression and Ert’Ale (area in a circle), I have to find other companions. After that, I will still have to make it back to Addis Ababa, via Lalibela (purple line).
It’s gonna take between two or three weeks of rough roads and, in the Danakil, wild, harsh, sparsely populated desert below the sea level, in what people say is the hottest place on Earth.Mañana a las 6am, empiezo un viaje por tierra por el norte de Etiopía, la depresión de Danakil y el Ert’Ale, un volcán activo. Haré la primera parte (línea azul) en una LandCruiser con tres italianos que contacté por internet. Después tendré que hallar otros compañeros para Danakil y Ert’Ale (área en un círculo). Y al final, habrá que ver cómo retornar a Addis Ababa, vía Lalibela (línea púrpura).Me tomará entre dos y tres semanas de caminos duros y, en Danakil, de desierto salvaje, agresivo, escasamente poblado y por debajo del nivel del mar, en lo que la gente dice que es la zona más caliente de la Tierra.

— inAddis Ababa, Addis Abeba.

Bad omens

This can’t be good: as I wrote yesterday, four weeks ago I took an airplane on the same flight as the one that had the crash in Beirut on 25 January. And in about six weeks, I should have been checking-in at the Al-Hamra, one of the four hotels that were destroyed by bomb attacks on the very same day, the 25th… Moral: stay home on the 25ths. Read, watch tv, just don’t fly nor check-in in hotels

Near tragedy

I took this flight four weeks ago:

BBC News – Ethiopian Airlines jet crashes into sea off Beirut

Back to Africa!

I was stunned by the jungles and rivers and lake Victoria, as seen from the plane coming from Ethiopia. Landed in Uganda, the road to the city was beautiful! The red soil was shining after the rain, the vegetation greener, the houses and shops and vehicles and people’s dresses had 1,000 shades, a colour festival gladly welcomed after the months spent in gray cities and sandy deserts!