Soon the paved road goes over into a gravel road. But it is in good condition and we can drive comfortably with 60 km / h.

After about an hour we reach Gorgora, from here it is about half an hour to Tim and Kim Village at Lake Tana. People at the roadside marvel, not often foreign vehicles come along here. We will see later in other parts of Africa that children sometimes run away in panic at the sight of white people. We later learned that here in Africa the white man is the one who steals the children, of course, not the black man like in Europe. Here the whites are the evil.

In the last village before Tim and Kim Village we come to a halt. The truck of Bodo and Bine is wide and high, and have problems with the low-hanging power lines. Because we are smaller and lighter and the road is uncertain, we drive ahead to see how the road condition is. The road is bad, but not impassable, we pass this information on by radio to our friends. And suddenly there in front of us, Lake Tana, the largest lake in Ethiopia. It is situated 1860 meters above sea level with a depth of 72 meters.

We drive to the camping area directly situated on the banks and are amazed that we again see the Dutch couple we had met months earlier in Cairo. Unfortunately, they continue on the same day. We have an idyllic spot overlooking the lake and want to relax for a few days, the last days we spent many hours in our vehicles.

Kim and Tim Village is a relief project, which goes back to a Dutch donor group. The goal is to build a lodge with a campsite in a few years and pass it on upon completion to a local manager. Tim and Kim build everything themselves, they only have a few helpers and work hard from morning to night. They are also far from civilization, thus exposed to many diseases and had been some serious attacks of malaria.

Schistosomiasis is apparently not existent in this part of Lake Tana, and so we use the water from the lake for washing and cooking. We enjoy the peace and tranquility at the lake and the beautiful landscape. Lake Tana is a paradise for ornithologists. There are countless species of birds, some only exist here at the lake.

Patient and disciplined people are waiting for the start of the distribution. The tension is high, the goods are spread out, and one can even munch on what pieces you can get hold of.

Tim manages the distribution, because he knows the residents of the village and tries to distribute balanced. Finally everyone should get its share and not one person all of the things. He also makes sure that everyone gets only those things he can also really need. Of course, it is difficult to prevent, that one or the other piece is finally sold on the black market, which however should not happen. On the other hand, if a shirt is exchanged or sold for something else, which is perhaps more urgently needed , the clothes donation meets its purpose, as long as no alcohol or drugs are purchased.

Of course there is juice and cake, a nice gesture of the two Dutchmen, because thus it is a meeting among friends and no relief distribution, the two really organized with sensitivity.

The distribution of Western goods is always problematic, in general the issue of development aid is controversy. We discuss on this subject many evenings and there appear some questions to be answered with great difficulty. Is it a disturbance for the culture of the people here, will they still produce their traditional clothing, does it create a dependency from the West,does it encourage begging, are people really in need or are they just in need within the meaning of Western thought, is one in need if there is no satellite dish on thatched roof? All difficult questions and we have seen, unfortunately, just a lot of abuse in Ethiopia from relief organisation, expensive land cruiser rushing down the roads, the sign of charity at the door, ultimately, everybody must decide for itself, how he deals with these things.

In any case, the action was much joy and we sort out our thoughts and our pictures, because we will head to Gondar, a city with much history.

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Our first Ethiopia impressions are mixed. Gallabat consists only of a few mud huts, and the customs officials sitting in a mud hut as well.

We have heard a lot about Ethiopia from other travelers. Apparently a lot of people gather around a vehicle as soon as it stops. Some have also said that they were really harassed. Forewarned, we depart from the main road out of sight and find a good place for the night, it promises a peaceful night.

In such situations, Tara is a big help. Most Africans and Arabs fear dogs, especially black dogs and therefore we had always been lucky at the borders, because the officers avoid to search the car if possible, because Tara does not tolerate strangers in the car. But officers have a rather easy going way, passports stamped, carnet stamped, although none is required for Ethiopia, but here they like stamps, not a single look into the car, unimaginable.

The night was really quiet, just in the evening two shepherds guided their animals home, they greeted us and did not else take notice of us.

The road to Gondar is in good condition, but we do not drive to Gondar, but first turn off into a gravel road to Lake Tana. There, Tim and Kim, two Dutch, have started a relief project.

Slowly, the road climbs up into the mountains. Time passes and again we drive through roadside villages and every time there are a lot of people on the road.

Everywhere in the country highways are improved at the moment. The building of fresh tarmac of the main routes is progressing rapidly. Built by Chinese companies, of course, they want economic influence in the country.

The road villages are always created equally, simple mud huts with tin roofs, the modernized form of round huts with thatched roof, it is our first Ethiopia impressions.

We enjoy the ride through this beautiful country, we imagined quite differently.

Commuter transit is carried out, as in the rest of Africa, by small mini buses for 9 to 15 people registered. The road winds uphill more steeply. Ethiopia is generally situated at very high altitude , we will cross passes, which are above 3000 meters and our vehicles will fight rather heavily due to the thin air of the mountains. At the top, we stop and enjoy the view. Here true Africa starts, savanna-like landscape in hilly areas.

It is extremely dry here, everything is dried up, apparently it has not rained for a long time. Bine is enthusiastic and shoots photo by photo. Bodo also loves photography. They are both very committed and make really good pictures. We enjoy the time with them and have loads of fun.

A heavy truck crawls up the street. At road construction in this rocky terrain no regard is taken to the steepness of a road, unlike in Europe, as in Western countries they build more tunnels and bridges, which would be far too expensive here and here you have time anyway, the only thing the Africans have plenty of.

Soon we reach the first really large city. I urgently need a Sim card for the phone, here we will try our luck. You learn from faults a proverb says. As we had a lot of problems with our car in Tunisia we had to call several times to Europe, we ended up with a phone bill of 1000 €. Since we always use SIM cards from the respective countries, our phone costs have fallen dramatically. So we hope to get an Ethiopian SIM card here. We look for the post office, there should be cards available. Found! Stopping left at the side and try our luck. Sorry, no! In Ethiopia, one needs a passport, that is not the problem, 2 photographs, no problem, submit a request and after 6 weeks you get the SIM card sent to you, then you have to buy phone credits and load to your mobile phone. Just one problem, we can not wait for six weeks, perhaps there is a different solution.

In the meantime, Tara has displaced my wife from the front passenger seat and enjoys the scenery. She likes to sit in the passenger seat, in Western countries it is strictly prohibited. Here, nobody cares, the people are more than surprised or laugh when they see a dog in the passenger seat. The best she likes, when animals cross the road, which she finds really exciting.

In Ethiopia, more than anywhere else you have the impression that the road is built for pedestrian traffic, tons of people are on the road. About 77 million people live in Ethiopia, of which 43% are under 15, the age of 65 is reached only by 3%. From 1994 to 2007 the population rose from 49 million to 77 million. The average life expectancy is 48 years, per 1000 live – there are 110 stillbirths.

In Azezo we turn towards Gorgora on Lake Tana. So far our first Ethiopia impressions.

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