Ras Dashin: Day 1

It was really happening, we were setting out on an adventure that would take us to the top of Ethiopia. After a restful night of sleep, we all jumped in our mini bus and headed two hours away to the town of Debark. There, we all registered into Simien Mountains National Park, picked up supplies, and most importantly, met up with our guide and scout.

Our guide, Dashin or Dajin, would lead the way and ensure we made it to the top. He spoke great English and was able to educate us about the wildlife and flora in the park. Our scout, Yayu, would be responsible for keeping us safe, carrying the bag of whoever was the most tired (usually me), making us laugh, and being all around the coolest guy ever. He spoke no English.

As we finished up in Debark, some might say debarked from Debark, we piled back into the car and headed up an unpaved road to get to our starting point. I think it was around this time our guide and scout sized us up and made some assumptions about the trip. This was mostly due to Michael, Joe, and Zach having an epic tickle fight, nay, tickle war in the van. Dashin/Dajin tried to not acknowledge what was going on but I am confident he thought, “Oh god, I’m going to have to spend the next 5 straight days with these people”. Yayu on the other hand was giggling, and we all knew we were instant friends.

We arrived at our starting point- all excited to begin what, at certain points in the previous months, seemed like an impossibility. We unloaded our gear and organized a bit. We would carry daypacks with essentials- water, sunscreen, hats, etc. while the rest of it would be packed onto mules and taken to our campsites separately. In all, for six people to climb the mountain, it took one guide, one scout, three cooks, four mule handlers, and four mules. I still feel like it was a bit much, but we trusted they knew best.

As we started walking, we quickly came to a ridge that looked over a huge section of Simien Mountains National Park. The ridge must have been a 500-meter drop and made the whole scene more dramatic. Without a doubt, the view from that ridge is the most awe-inspiring thing I have ever witnessed. Layers and layers of hills and ridges going on for as far as the eye could see. The sheer vastness and beauty of it quickly silenced us all- a difficult task given the six of us. No one in the group had ever been to the Grand Canyon so no one could compare, but I suspect it is a much grander version of the US treasure.

We walked for the next few hours to our campsite for the night. We were moving at a pretty fast pace, as if Dashin/Dajin wanted to test our fitness levels. Fortunately, at some moments, the scenery was so incredible we had to stop to take some photos. I appreciated these views not only for their beauty but each of these places represent a spot where I was able to catch my breath.

Yayu is amazing and this photo with Danielle should be on every PC pamphlet

We eventually made it to the campsite, which overlooked a gorgeous golden valley. Not a bad place to sleep on my first camping trip ever.

One perk of the tour company we used was that everything was set up for us- all we had to do each day was walk. Upon reaching our campsite, all of our tents were set up and coffee, tea, and snacks were waiting for us. This particular night was not my favorite. If I am in the sun too much without taking certain precautions (hat and scarf to block out the sun), I get terrible headaches. Sure enough, I ended up with a miserable one. With the sun going down and the temperate getting frigid, I decided my day was going to end early. As everyone else was eating dinner and relishing the day, I was in my tent sleeping and hoping this would not be a pattern for the trip.

A few notes for going forward…

• Simien Mountains National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage site and everyone in the world should go there at some point in his or her life. Alright, that is unrealistic, but seriously, it is amazing. The Simien Mountains are a range of mountains often referred to as the “Roof of Africa”. In this range, there are some of the tallest mountains in Africa. So while Kilimanjaro in Tanzania is much taller, this is like a giant mountain plateau. The result is the terrain of this trip was crazy difficult.

Here is your average mountain. To summit, you need to climb up for however long it takes and then go back down.

Our mountain would be the fifth one from the left. All this is to say, in climbing Ras Dashin, the tallest mountain in Ethiopia, we also had to climb four other huge mountains just to get there.

• Everyone in Ethiopia pronounces Ras Dashin exactly how it appears to be spelled. Apparently, this is incorrect. It should be pronounce Ras Dajin. If you were to say it this way outside of the National Park, you would be laughed at (think of someone rolling their “r” in the word burrito for a full three seconds- that’s probably the equivalent). But our guide, literally named after the mountain, placed a great importance on the proper pronunciation. If we said it wrong, he would correct us with a lecture. It went as far as Joe was writing notes in a journal one day and Dajin looked over his shoulder and told him to spell “Dashin” the right way. It became an ongoing joke and resulted in most of us being afraid to say the name of the mountain we were climbing. And while it may sound reasonable, we were mispronouncing his name after all, it is worth noting he called Zach “Jack” for five days straight.

Ras Dashin- History and Friendship and Mountains, oh my!

A few months back, Joe Whelan called me with the idea of climbing the tallest mountain in Ethiopia. It was something he wanted to do before our service here ended and suddenly, time was closing in. He was looking for a group of around six volunteers to undertake this adventure with him.  Without giving it too much logical thought (i.e. am I really able to climb a mountain?), I agreed as long as it worked into my schedule. He rounded up an amazing group of people (Zach Morris, Michael Quiroz, Daniel and Danielle Luttrull, Joe, and myself) and worked out the logistics* for us all. 

*We are only allowed to leave our site during semester breaks, but all of our breaks were at different times. There was a small overlap, but with my parents and Zach’s sister visiting, it seemed as though there was no window for us to go. The trip went from a "go" to a "no" to a "go" to "who knows?" Eventually, Joe maneuvered everything and work it out, which was quite an impressive feat. Zach’s sister left Monday night and we left Tuesday morning. We returned back the next Monday afternoon and I picked up my parents late Monday night. We were cutting it pretty close (I was terrified of a flight delay that would leave me, and worse my parents, stranded) but it was the only time that worked. The trip wouldn’t have happened without Joe’s logistics work, which at certain points, I hated him for.

We flew from Addis Ababa north to the historical town of Gonder. We had the full day to explore and I had never been there before. Joe, Zach, and I opted to visit the Fasiladas Bath. It belonged to Emperor Fasiladas and it's one of the bigger historical draws in Ethiopia. During a religious holiday called Timket, they fill the bath with holy water and thousands of people celebrate by jumping in/getting baptized.  The holiday was only two days prior and we heard it was suppose to be pretty amazing while filled with water. 

 

The scenery was beautiful and made you feel like you were back in time. I always laugh to myself when I get the opportunity to see places like this- looking at a wall covered with roots that are older than the country I come from is a pretty incredible feeling.
 

While at the Bath, a theme that would follow through to the end of the trip started: the bromance of Joe and Zach. 

After the Bath, all six of us finally met up. Another great thing about Gonder is that it is home to one of the biggest breweries in Ethiopia and their main beer is named after the mountain we were about to climb- Ras Dashin. As a tribute, we may have enjoyed a few. We sat around talking and enjoying a beautiful afternoon. That time solidified what I already suspected, the trip was going to be a blast if for no other reason than the group of people going. Everyone was mellow, excited, and perhaps a bit nervous. Eventually, we went back to the hotel and pooled our money together because we still needed to pay for the trip. It was more 100's than I'll ever see in my life (irrelevant that they were birr 100's). There was a moment when we saw just how much money it was and jokingly toyed with the idea of skipping the trip and living like kings and queens for the next week in Gonder.

We came to our senses and told the tour guide to come over and pick up the payment. While this sounds simple, nothing ever is in Ethiopia. As we all sat around in one room, we realized we had never met the tour guide before. He came recommended, but we really knew nothing about him. And now, here we were with 30,000 birr all feeling sketchy. We devised a few ridiculous plans, including intimidation tactics, forgetting that our group would be best described as goofy and as far from intimidating as possible. Our tour guide was a nice guy who I would wholeheartedly recommend, but that moment in the hotel room was a little tense. I'm not sure I helped by asking how he was going to get all that money home, did he have a car? Yes. Did he have a gun? Laughter without an answer.

After what felt like a tense drug deal paying our tour guide, we all went to dinner and called it an early night...


There are just too many memorable moments for one blog; check back tomorrow for day 1 of the hike! 

Straight From the Horses' Mouths

I realize it has been a little while since there has been an update, but the last five weeks of my life have been crazy. I have done some amazing thing with many of my favorite people in the world. In the coming weeks, you can read all about them here (or not, do what you have to do) but in the meantime, I hope this special treat will hold you over.

As a thoughtful and entertaining Christmas gift for family and friends back home, a married couple from my group, Daniel and Danielle Luttrull, decided to make a podcast consisting of many volunteers telling stories from Ethiopia. The result is THIS. It is an honest look at life in Ethiopia. Some of the stories are heartwarming while others are silly. Download it all; give it a listen. And while it has an overall Christmas theme, the topic of all of our stories is good year around: things you never expected to happen in your life.

As a note, tracks 4, 6, and 8 have mild curse words if there are little ears around. And track number 2 is a hilariously thoughtful description of a former vegetarian witnessing/helping slaughter a goat for an Ethiopia holiday. If you are a bit squeamish, maybe don't listen to it while driving.

And if you want more, here are the personal blogs of some of the people you'll hear stories from. Enjoy!

Joel Miller (Track 2)
Sarah and Aaron Arnold (Tracks 4 and 5)
Joe Whelan (Track 7)
Daniel and Danielle Luttrull (Tracks 8 and 11 and your hosts for the hour)