:: Carnet de Voyage ::David

// Nikon D7200 | 2,75621 : 36,72124 | alt. 383m

Well, quelques mauvais mots pour Nikon ici, c'est mon deuxième reflex numérique D7xxx, et le deuxième à mourir sur moi en voyage…. Cette fois ressemble à un dégât des eaux, et je n'arrive toujours pas à comprendre ce qui s'est passé. La caméra fait un court-métrage, and burning batteries in a few hours, but as long as I store the battery out, it’s fine to take a picture.

After I left Nairobi, ethiopian visa in my pocket, I went on a short section of the Turkana route with my friends Eiji and Chizu, and god….. I wish we could have done the entire route, Turkana area is one of the most beautiful drive in Africa, it reminds me of northern Chile, in this very remote corner where the salar de surire lies, hundreds of kilometers from human settlements. It was time to make a wise choice, and to accept the simple fact that mister Fox is not in good shape enough to go further into the wild……
It’s about 40°c outside with a very warm wind from the desert, since my thermostat from Rwanda is not designed for my van, the engine always overheat a little, my water tank got stolen, and the fuel pump on the second tank just died. I managed to drive that section of the Turkana route, but I had to crawl under the van to manually pump all the fuel left in the second tank. I could barely make that journey back !
We drove as far as we could with what we had of fuel, I wish we could have done the entire trip….. There is now camels in the bush, tribal people with AK47 and left overs from the war. This place looks like a different planet, hostile, yet, appealing. Hard to describe what we feel here really.

This is where I have to say goodbye to my friends Eiji and Chizu, after a few months together on the road. Unfortunately, they didn’t manage to get a visa for Ethiopia, and they will now start their way south back to South Africa, before taking on the west coast !
We will meet again for sure, somewhere around the world, in the bush.

I drove the 250kms from Marsabit to the Moyale border very quickly. Amazing new road, flat landscape, and now totally safe. This used to be a different story, and a few years ago you had to take a police convoy to cross this area.

Addis Ababa……Addis Ababa….. this cannot be right. Addis Ababa, Addis Ababa, Addis Ababa, Addis Ababa…. Addis Ababa. Addis Ababa, Addis Ababa, then I get my stamp. I then went to customs, they asked me to pay for road tax (40usd), but I’ve been told I could get 2 weeks for free at the Ugandan border, and I’ve been in Kenya for 16days….. insert a smile here… and here it goes ! I didn’t have to pay the road tax 🙂

Now, let’Addis Ababa. Addis Ababa, Addis Ababa, Addis Ababa’Addis Ababa, Addis Ababa. Addis Ababa, Addis Ababa. Addis Ababa, Addis Ababa !!!!!
Addis Ababa, Addis Ababa, Addis Ababa, Addis Ababa. Addis Ababa ! Addis Ababa ??? Anyway, j'ai déjà mon visa, ils m'ont donné l'autorisation et l'approbation en 5 minutes, et j'étais dehors pour trouver les douanes. Personne n'est là, alors voici le fixateur, il a demandé à mes 50 USD d'appeler quelqu'un de la douane, mais pour ce prix, Je leur ai dit que je pouvais dormir sur le parking jusqu'à lundi prochain. On ne s'y attendait pas ! Le prix a baissé, ça a pris du temps, et j'ai fini par payer 15usd, et le gars était énervé à ce sujet !! Allez ! C'est l'Ethiopie, that’c'est beaucoup d'argent pour un appel téléphonique !!
J'ai changé quelques shillings avec mon fixateur, and this point I’Je ne demande pas encore le taux du marché noir, donc il’s évidemment faire un bel avantage, et arrangé pour imprimer des copies directement depuis nos téléphones vers un cybercafé local à proximité gratuitement’n'en profite pas, et m'a invité pour quelques cafés. Comme il était tard, il m'a aussi réservé un hôtel à la frontière. Reception was asking for a steep price but this guy cut it by half 🙂 In the end, I paid his drink.
He also gave me a few advises about roads, and it looks like the main road to Addis is badly damaged on a long section.
By the way, the coffee was excellent !

  // Nikon D7200 | -1,36214 : 36,74015 | alt. 1818m Traverser la frontière était facile. Du côté kenyan, attitude très amicale des douanes, sourire et tout, une des premières frontière comme celle-ci ! Encore 50 USD pour le visa, et je devrais payer 40 USD en plus pour la taxe de circulation, mais ici au Kenya,…