To the Simien Mountains (1)

? June 2008

The highlight of the trip was the visit to the Simien Mountains slightly tarnished by the extremely poor service at the Simien Lodge.

My friend Mulash had organised the trip and like Monty, I wasn’t overly sure about what to expect. We were picked up early in the morning by Mulash, his friend and a driver in a hired line taxi. We drove to Debark where we picked up two more passengers, this time a guide, Bibi and a scout – with a Kalashnikov rifle! The latter two are compulsory when travelling in the Simiens. Though I never did quite make out what the rifle was for.


Ruth and Monty

The road was nothing more than a mud track and the journey hazardous but the scenery was stunning. We arrived at the Simien Lodge at lunchtime. The lodge is made up of locally designed truckles; a large central one houses the administrative centre, kitchens and restaurant and a series of smaller ones contains the rooms. The rooms boast under floor heating and showers powered by solar panels. Unfortunately, on this particular day, there had been a power cut – something we’re very used to in Ethiopia but oddly, this ‘international’ complex has no generator! They also seem to have a problem with the solar panels because there was no heating and no hot water.

We enjoyed a 4 hour hike during the afternoon and returned eagerly awaiting a hot shower and decent meal. I had set aside savings for this treat since the cost of an overnight stay at the Simien Lodge is in excess of Birr 1000 and that doesn’t include meals.

The room was freezing. That is not an exaggeration. The beautiful shower room with it’s power head unit and beautiful tiles was like walking into a fridge.
So, no shower. It was too cold to wash. We simply changed.

At 6 o’clock, we made our way down to the main lodge for dinner. Still no power so the restaurant was also cold. The waiters were busily making a fire in a large central fireplace. They moved our table closer for warmth and provided a candle for the table.

Sadly, the only other guests on that evening were a group of large evangelical Americans who found it necessary to pray and sermonise their way through the evening.

No menu was available, the ‘chef’ had managed to produce a chicken soup (from a packet) and chicken cutlets with vegetables. Had I been eating in the Lamergeyer Hotel close to my home, I would have been satisfied and would have expected to pay in the region of Birr 50 including a glass of wine. Here my bill came to over Birr 300!

The walk back to our room was stunning. It being pitch black, the stars were magnificent. Layer upon layer indicating those closer and further away….

By now the temperature had dropped and we were not sufficiently well-prepared to stand for ages gazing and so it was an early night.