Original Log
This map, Ethiopia and Eritrea, gives a perspective of where the trip took place.
We were stationed at Kagnew Station, Asmara, Eritrea during 1966, when we decided to take a trip down to Addis Ababa and back. This map covers the area of the journey. We traveled from Asmara to Aksum, to Dabat then Gonder. From Gonder to Bahir Dar to visit the Blue Nile Falls. Then we moved on to Debre Markos, and from there to Addis Ababa. The return trip was East and North out of Addis toward Dese.
For a week prior to the trip, we shopped for food and supplies to take on the trip. Dave picked up several Jerry cans and filled them up with gas. We planned to get all the way to Addis on the gas that we had in the vehicle. Food was purchased in meal size quantities. Dinty Moore beef stew, cans of soda, italian sausage and spanish rice. We also packed in a bottle of italian wine for a toast when we crossed over the bridge at the Blue Nile river. ( Don't forget the toilet tissue. ) The trip would start in late March, and we took sleeping bags and jackets to keep warm at night. Everything had to be packed into Dave's VW. Would there be room for the three of us? A small single burner Coleman stove was taken to insure we had hot meals.
Dave, Phil and Mike. Ready to go. Camera on self timer.
You never know what you'll see along the road on the way to Axum.
These people collect wood and pile it roadside waiting for trucks.
The map called these "All weather roads". For the most part, we would travel for hours without seeing another vehicle. When we would come across one of these, we would have to roll up the windows. Once into the dust, you couldn't see anything.
At Axum, there were many stone slabs sticking out of the soil.
There was a tomb that we visited. Two young boys were our guides.
$1 Eth fee.
Using available light.
The remains are long gone.
Mike and Phil at the market place
All the young girls have their hair done in this fashion.
The Coptic priests get out the old crown jewels for you to view.
119 granite stelae survive. They mark burial catecombs. Shown here is the tallest one. It stands 71 feet tall.
The largest Axumite stela is over 100 feet long. It was the largest single stone ever quarried in the ancient world
Saint Mary of Zion church. It has a domed roof and a lofty bell- tower in the shape of an obelisk. It was by Haile Selassie in the 1960s.
71 Feet tall
In the dimly lit interior of an old chruch, we were able to see several striking murals including one depicting the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ.
The road near Axum.
During the heat of the day, the men would gather in the shade of this big tree.
The women fill up their containers at the well.
This is someone's humble home.
Everytime you come to a tree along the road, you will probably find some people under it.
On the road near Gondar
Dave got out and went into a small market near Gondar.
King Fasilides and his dynasty built some of the most remarkable buildings in Africa, and Gondar became an imperial walled city of towers and castles. Although influenced by Portugese design, the castles emerge as thoroughly and uniquely Ethiopian.
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The largest castle is four stories high and was built of rough cut stones and lime mortar with cedar doors, beams and furniture. It is a large rectangular building with a grand outside staircase, a watchtower and four semi-detached rough turrets at the corners. Around the great castle of King Fasilides is a stately group of castles with their turrets, narrow windows, dungeons, and staircases all surrounded by a battlement wall with twelve gates.
From Lake Tana, the Blue Nile flows for 800 Km within Ethiopia to meet the White Nile in Khartoum to form the Great river- Nile. More spectacular than any other place, the Nile River thunders over the Tisisat falls literally "Smoking Water"- near Bahir Dar.
We never noticed many animals, but these birds posed for us.
Back on the road again, after visiting the falls, we wrapped our 7Ups in a tee shirt and soaked the shirt with some water we got out of a river. After driving for a while, the 7Ups were cooler that they had been.
After a long day, we stopped at a place called St. Marks. This was typical of the way we had our evening meal. In this case, we had luck with the stove.
This was taken in the early morning just prior to getting started for the day.
Gas stations were few and far between, and the gas was expensive. Good thing we carried so much of it with us. We only purchsed gas once. Just in case.
We finally made it to the Blue Nile Bridge.
Our Mobile road map had a cover with a photo taken from this vantage point.
Not much water flowing down stream. This was the dry season.
We had a toast when we got this far. The dog that Mike is holding was found along the road. As it turned out, it had flees.
We finally arrived in Addis Ababa. One of the first things we saw was the Russian department store. We went in and looked around at the appliances etc.
This was the Ras Dashen. Our hotel for the night we were in Addis.
We stopped here at the U.S. Consulate and filled up our Jerry cans for the trip back to Asmara. This was the cheapest gas around.
Have donkey will travel.
Phil at the Ethiopian University
This was the last stop in the evening befor we left Addis. The price was $3 Eth.
