Trekking

On Saturday 27th July Therfield School finished their trek in the Bale Mountains.

6 days previously we had left Dodola. Dodola had done us well. It provided us with lots of necessities for the trek like biscuits, tinned tuna, pasta, rice, vegetables and toilet roll (very important)

On Sunday Morning we drove to Dinsho in the Bale Mountains national park. The drive took us on a nice Chinese built road that twisted through the mountains. We drove into the mountains. Excitement broke out when we spotted baboons, warthog and nyala.

After only about 2 hours we reached the campsite. Unfortunately the parking was at the bottom of the hill so we had to schlep all our heavy equipment up hill dodging wild life.

In the night there was a sudden burst of hailstones. We hope this isnt the pattern for the next few days?!

The following day we started the trek. It is cold and rainy as we start but clears quickly. We walk deep into the national park. The scenery is stark, undulating and spectacular. We are particularly remote as we reach the Ethiopian wolf sanctuary. From there we have a walking safari to spot the wolves. These wolves are rare, only about 300 in existence, but we are lucky and spot several.It is hard however to get close as they would hurry away.

The trek took in 5 days of steady walking through amazing, remote landscapes. One campsite was set amongst boulders and was inhabited by several Rock Ajax that would scurry down their burrows. Another campsite was under the shadow of an extinct volcano.

Our days would start early, with porridge. and we would get on the road early to avoid the afternoon rain. There were some tough uphill slogs, especially the one that took us up to our maximum height of 4000 metres! Up there the air was thin but what a tremendous achievement. Our dinners with good,pasta and rice usually but there was some craving of meat, which is impossible to transport.

All the challengers (and the leaders (just about!) finished the trek with ease and aplomb. There was a bit of the sniffles and a cold going round but nobody let it affect them.

We triumphantly walked into Dinsho Lodge again. We were able to hire the bunk beds for the night which was a welcome relief from camping.

That is the hard and tiring bit over, now time to head for the rest and relaxation phase and the Rift Valley!