Ethiopian customs did not hassle us on Monday morning and we were keen to sample the good tar roads. Don’t believe a word of it! Potholes and people everywhere along the road, plus donkeys, goats, horses, sheep, dogs, cattle make any speed above 50km/h impossible. Another tough day in Africa! The scenery is picturesque, especially once you leave the badlands of the low acacia countryside behind you. Although everyone is extremely friendly, Moyale is such a dump that it takes a while to realise that Ethiopia is rather nice, the further north you drive.

Late afternoon the sluices of heaven opened, and we had long since realised that we were not going to make our intended destination. Philip Briggs, who knows the country like the back of his hand and wrote the Bradt Guide to Ethiopia, recommended the Aregash Lodge at Yirga Alem as one of the best the country has to offer. Since this was near enough, we headed there and the reward for our frustrations was immense. We struck gold!

Aregash lodge is run by a Greek-Italian-Ethiopian couple and nothing short of first world standards. Pristine white linen and stacks of fluffy towels, a two bedroom en suite tukul (bungalow) with our own lounge, what luxury! The rain still came down in buckets, but our spirits were so revived. We loved the place, the owners, the food, the atmosphere. Everything just impeccable, and they came bearing armsful of gifts for us – fresh lettuce, tomatoes and carrots from their own garden, part of 11 hectares of private forest. The lodge is especially popular with birders from Europe. The price was so reasonable at R700, and R100 for two dinners of imported Italian pasta, three salads and fruit for dessert. We are brand new!

The trip to Addis is a fairly straightforward five hour drive past six lakes of the East African Rift Valley. The road gets better and better, the traffic gets worse and worse, and finally we arrive in Addis in another storm, rain and hail, with the obvious implications for the traffic. This entire blog has been written in the rush-hour chaos. We eventually make it to Wim’s Holland House, although Tracks4Africa has it wrong, and constructions works have blocked off certain routes. After asking in desperation where Holland House is, somebody says “faranji” (foreigner) and tells us to head for the station. A block further, a European with an Ethiopian driver is stuck in the traffic alongside us, it turns out he is Wim, and has spotted our rooftent!

We are now camped inside Wim’s bar premises, since the adjacent property is packed, and our rooftent opens nicely underneath the tented section of his restaurant. That’s a first for us too. The rain won’t bother and it is kind of cosy to be surrounded by plastic tables and chairs. Wim is as helpful as can be, and we’ve bumped into a Namibian with a Cruiser conversion who says it has rained all 12 days that he’s been in the country…

The Prado’s service for tomorrow has been booked. We’ve done 9500km without any incidents. That deserves a toast!