Arrived safe and sound at Bole Airport and after an easy visa process booked into an hotel.
12/8/11
It was with trepidation I went to the airport cargo area . I had read that it was a lot of bureaucracy and running around involved to clear the bike through customs and one article I had read stated that it was more or less impossible to do alone. Impossible turned out to be aprox. 45 minutes to clear customs with temporary import docs. stamped. I must be getting very good at this as it turns out the bike isn't even arriving until tomorrow!!!!! This is what comes of believing the shipping agents. I was only a little bit embarrassed when, after accusing all and sundry of losing the bike,the Ethiopian airways cargo manager pointed out that had I followed the correct procedure I would have known that the bike was still in Dubai.
The Cargo manager turned out to be a top bloke and was very helpful.The wonders of the Internet mean that by plugging my airway bill number into the Ethiopian Airways web-site I can learn the exact location of my bike at any time.
There is no sign of any funny business at this destination and the customs could not have been more affable.
Staying at a very nice hotel and the local food, though spicy is very good.I haven't needed to start on my sandwiches yet!
En route to the airport this morning I noticed lots of young lads, wearing lime green bibs, directing the traffic.I was very impressed with their enthusiasm and was surprised to learn that they were in fact street children employed by the government to give them an income. Now I am only a lowly traveller but to my untrained eye I saw proud and enthusiastic lads who obviously felt that they were doing something useful. It made a change to watching the news anyway.
13/8/11
For an African capital Addis has quite a lot of tourists so after visiting Haille Selaisse Cathedral (King, I'll check the spelling later) an evening in a Cultural Restaurant watching the local dances, very nice but I can't imagine Ethiopians coming to England and going for a meal and watching Morris dancing etc.Maybe we are missing something.
14/8/11
Too much culture yesterday and as I write this I am 2.5 Kg lighter.The fourth immodium tablet seems to have done the trick though
15/8/11
Checked on the internet and found that the bike had arrived on the morning of the thirteenth.Back to cargo village and filled out the rest of the formalities to release the bike.Fairly painless but Ethiopian Airlines,having failed to notify me of the bikes arrival decided that I should pay 3 days storage of dangerous goods.It is only twenty dollars but I hate to think what happens if you don't have access to the internet.
I was furious at the time but really compared the the Aggro leaving Iran It was all fairly painless.
16/8/11
Bike garaged safe and sound ready for October when the exciting stuff starts
17/8/11
Witnessed the motorcycling equivalent of the Uni Mog African tourist Bus today.There were a group of bikers at breakfast this morning all with full gear so I surmised they were part of a group.I had the temerity to approach one as you do as a fellow traveller.I was greeted with one word answers except was I travelling alone and then goodluck goodbye. Admittedly I only tried to talk to one guy but I certainly hope that these groups interact with the local people better than with me otherwise the whole travelling experience will get spoilt.
At the airport now waiting to go home.In a way it's easier to plow on into the unknown and fix problems as they arise, I know there is 500 kms of badly rutted road between Ethiopia and Kenya but I obviously can't carry everything that might break so I will just try and plan on knowing where to find stuff ( Taxi, pick up etc).I'll use the time between now and October worrying myself into a frenzy just to have the adrenalin flowing nicely for the next leg to Kampala.
