Simien National Park, Ethiopia
Posted by: Ewan McGregor | Date posted: 22/06/2007
Pictures
The look of a man with very wet socks ©
Ewan and the crickets give us the lowdown on their arrival at Simien National Park.
'Day two in Ethiopia, and we've had an extraordinary ride up the mountains to the Simien National Park where we saw the gorilla baboons, it's the only place they live, and some spectacular scenery. And rode up a mountain and down a mountain and up a mountain and down a mountain. Came off on the gravel, dropped my bike on the gravel, it was hairpin after hairpin, lots of loose gravel, horrible really, then it poured with rain and we had to put our camp up in the rain which we did and it's now just stopped raining and it's quite nice, and the crickets are out. We're having a great time, and we should have our first UNICEF visit in two days up near the Eritrean border, and everything's going really well. My bike's taking a real panning and just asking for more, which is good.'
Charley's having problems though ... 'I've spilt tea all down my front. It was my only dry area. Oh well. No, it was good today actually, a lot better than I thought. It was bad on the gravel, but the straight bits were nice. But it's just the rain. I'm sure anyone who's camped in the rain knows what that's like. It's kind of cool. Ethiopia has become everything that we thought it would be and more. It's beautiful here, it's the most stunning countrysides I've seen, with the most amazing mountains. You gotta get your asses out of here because it is so stunningly beautiful. Nice people as well. Always nice people, everywhere you go.'
And here's clip that's turned up from Khartoum, from a week ago or so, but we thought you'd like to see it anyway - the guys got showered specially for this clip, and were in the mood for a song ...
Well, we finally made it to Khartoum. We got the Nile on the right of us, ..' and at this point, Charley and Ewan burst into song '...the bikes to the left, stuck in the middle with you.' We've had a shower, and a shave, food, and now we've got to fix the bikes'.
Ewan tells us to 'stay tuned, more news from us the further south we go'.
We wanted to know how you cheer yourself up when the going gets tough. See the comments you sent in below.
Comments
Comments 1 - 10 of 34
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At 04:55:23 PM on 22/06/2007, Julie (NJ, USA) wrote:
Silliness
These are "ugh" worthy because you said they had to pass decency guidelines. 1. There's a technical term for a sunny, warm day which follows two rainy days. It's called Monday. 2. Did you hear about the cow that was lifted into the air by the tornado? It was an udder disaster. 3. How can you spot a motorcyclist on a beautiful day? He's got bugs in his teeth. LOL, you asked for it! Can't wait to hear more about Ethiopia. Stay upright and be safe!
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At 05:00:56 PM on 22/06/2007, Rob (Loughton) wrote:
Great stuff...
I'm sitting here with my leg bandaged up after a motorcycle accident a couple of weeks ago, catching up with Ewan and Charlie's tales. Great stories, guys. Looking forward to each installment, though I probably won't be back on 2 wheels until after you're back! Keep it shiny side up.
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At 05:16:40 PM on 22/06/2007, Morgan (Waterloo, Ontario, Canada) wrote:
getting my ass to Ethiopia
Sounds like your Ethiopan experience has been nothing short of magnificent. Curious, though, that if I brought my ass to Ethiopia, would they let it through customs? I imagine showing up with a donkey might provoke more than a few grimaces.
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At 05:31:16 PM on 22/06/2007, Richard A W Tortorella (Langley, BC Canada) wrote:
Clean joke for the lads
Well, it was tough thinking of a clean and good motorcycle joke, here goes --- --- Top 9 Reasons Why Dual Sport Riders Don't Wave Back: ----- 9. Vibration of knobby tires prevented the rider from taking his hand off the bars..... 8. MX style safety gear was too bright to see you wave..... 7. His front fender prevents you seeing him wave back..... 6. Was too busy configuring his GPS/Enduro Roll/FishFinder..... 5. His rain/wind/thorn/bug/bird proof thousand-dollar jacket won't allow it..... 4. Was too busy re-arranging his 500 pounds of luggage..... 3. Too busy splitting lanes/filtering through traffic..... 2. One handed wheelies are not easy .... 1. On single-track trails you stop, not wave..... Hope this made you laugh! - Richard T.
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At 05:44:26 PM on 22/06/2007, Kristen Olsen (Vancouver, BC) wrote:
Mud
Maybe it was the magic of editing, but it seems like you didn't get rained on at all during Long Way Round, so now you have to get your share! If I'm hiking or camping and it starts to rain, I have fun by slogging right through it...get wet and muddy...why not? Sounds like you're keeping your spirits up. Please take care.
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At 06:06:48 PM on 22/06/2007, Florence (Philadelphia) wrote:
compare
You Guys are just about half way there. I'd like to ask, how do you compare this trip so far compared to Long way Round ? Thanks Florence PS I love You guys Please Take Good care
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At 06:10:02 PM on 22/06/2007, Alex Hart (Portland, OR) wrote:
Rain, Rain, Go Away...
Sometimes rain is a refresher to the body and spirit. There's nothing like trekking in heat for days then to have a downpour...a cleansing if you will. Glastonbury is a lot like Portland, OR...beautiful and sometimes wet. It's a must visit.
You all come across as in good spirits. Keep it up! We're monitoring you! -
At 06:51:02 PM on 22/06/2007, Pascal (London) wrote:
I'm loving it...More ! More !
Hello guys, I have just tuned in and caught up with all the logs. I'm not there but enjoying, thanks to you and great Claudio's little clips. Your adventure reminds the previous you had in Mongolia... I loved Long Way Round and I'm loving this one. This is fantastic what you are doing for Unicef. All my support. Have a great ride. Thanks for making us travelling with you. By the way, don't miss London too much. Take care
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At 10:46:48 PM on 22/06/2007, Kristina (Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA) wrote:
Fabulous!!!
I'm soooo excited to find this web page! I found LWR so interesting to watch, to see people from 'round the world in a way that wasn't so sanitized. Appreciate the unique viewpoint!!! As for the rain - when I go camping I look at it as making up for all the showers I've missed! Take care.
At 04:44:31 PM on 22/06/2007, Su (Bristol) wrote:
Gorilla baboons?
As much as I hate to pick one of our heroes up on his facts.... Think Ewan misheard the name of the baboons they saw... Gelada or Gelada baboon (Theropithecus gelada) is their usual name. It's a species of Old World monkey found only in the Ethiopian Highlands of Ethiopia and Eritrea, with large populations in the Semien Mountains. Sorry Ewan, but being an animal person, I couldn't ignore these amazing monkeys being mis-named. But I can quite see how it could've been misheard.
Complain about this post!