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>Wondo Ganet isn’t terribly far from Shashemene. The road is >the same smooth road from Addis and I hear this road can >take you straight to Kenya! On both sides you get to >appreciate the wonder Nyame’s creation. The landscape >changes considerably. It’s just open field, fields of tef, >cindi (wheat) and piccolo (corn). There are circular >natural homes with thatched roofs that often have a pointy >object at the very peak. In Maharishi architecture this is >very important as it focuses energy, this can be seen >throughout Ethiopia. There are young girls carrying large >bundles of sticks on their backs the way the women of Entoto >carry the bundles of eucalyptus. Sometimes there are >collections of houses surrounded by hedges. Some houses >have been decorated with paint, some say ‘welcome’ on them, >others have geometric designs reminiscent of Zulu design. I >also saw some tombstones like those on display at the IES >that I described. They had pictures painted on them of a >person, sometimes it was a person atop a horse with a sword, >which reminds me of the pictures i have seen of St. George >here. Yes, a smooth road until you get to an intersection >which separates the way to Wondo Ganet and that to Awassa. >There was a sign turn left to Wondo Ganet, 14 km. Ha! 14km. >When you visit Ethiopia you will notice that people >sometimes get teens and ties mixed up. That is, you might >have to say four-zero when you mean 40 because 40 and 14 >sound similar and people often get them mixed up, hence the >saying of the individual numbers for clarification. Well let >me tell you, I fear they have made that mistake with that >sign because trus’ di I when I say, that 14km feels like >114! The road to Shashemene has made you thoroughly spoilt >and makes the unasphalted road to Wondo Ganet slightly >annoying. Bump bump bump! Somehow land cruisers manage to >speed their way through this area, leaving a cloud of dust >so thick sometimes we had to crawl to a halt because we >could not see in front of us. Sometimes it’s a truck to >your left, a horse-drawn cart to your right and you in the >middle. There is a section of winding road on the side of a >mountain that reminds me of tv shows I’ve seen of people >driving on the coast in Cali. To your right and down (way >down) is grass of varying shades of green, more traditional >homes. The view is really beautiful so it makes up for the >road. But then the road gets really really rough. There is >mostly red dirt in this area and you can’t go more than >5km/hr. Up up up you go. There are some false banana plants >lining the road. There are homes in this area so >neighborhood children can keep pace with you, going so >slowly. Some are selling papayas, others, guavas, some >aren’t selling anything at all. Just as I thought I could >bear the bumping no longer we spotted the blessed sight of a >light blue sign with white lettering. It had 2 arrows, one >pointing left for Wondo Ganet hotel and restaurant and the >other right to the springs. > >We went left so that we could take a sit down and eat >properly. We went up the path leading past the hotel and we >parked. The area is really beautiful with several tall, >trees with overhanging branches. Their roots are thick and >there is one tree that sits in front of reception that would >take several people to encircle it, so thick its base. There >is another path which leads to the restaurant. It is lined >with beautiful flowers. It looks out of place though, with >its spaceship-like architecture. You can sit on its roof >and enjoy the view of the mountains in the distance. My >hosts said that the food at the restaurant wasn’t that hot >so we made sure we were prepared. We had packed dabo (baked >that morning!), fruits, peanuts and peanut brittle and a >roasted barley snack that is particularly popular here. We >then sat on some stumps that partially encircled a tree. On >the tree the staff had put a little garbage can. We got our >food out of the vehicle, unwrapped our dabo and got some >cookies out and water. Then we had an uninvited guest. A >little monkey decided it would join us for lunch. We tried >shooing it away at first, it backed up then moved forward >again. The people at reception called out to us and said >“dabo, dabo, dabo!” oh it wants dab huh? We gave it pieces >of dabo and it ate. Then its friend or cousin or something >jumped on the vehicle and tried to go inside! After getting >it off of the vehicle it joined us too. 5 min later there >were no less than 7 monkeys around us. They had been in the >large trees. Some were still there. Some were small and >brown-grey. Some were large and black and white. The black >and white ones are called Guereza and the brown ones I >believe called Vervet, so look that up so you can see what I >am talking about. I myself had never seen monkeys that close >up. I watched them, it’s interesting how human-like they >are. We gave them bananas. They peeled them, ate the inside, >put the peel down and wiped off their hands in some cases! >Other times when we had already eaten part of the banana >they ate what was left before throwing way the peel. I >watched them eat orange. They took the wedge ate the inside >of the orange and took out the white skin; the part that I >eat myself apparently is not good enough for them. They >didn’t spit it out either, they used their hands to take it >out and put it down. They ate our peanuts, they didn’t too >much care for the peanut brittle, oranges, bananas and dabo >and were looking expectantly as if they expected us to give >them some water and a glass. The brown ones were more polite >than the black and white ones. They would just come up to >sitting on their rump and look at you, sometimes crossing >their hands. The largest of the Guereza came over and we >could not shoo it away at all, it even tried to grab some >food! Well I snapped some photos while they were there. >Afterwards we packed up all the food and put it back into >the vehicle. My host wanted to take some pictures of them. >Well let me tell you, after the food was gone, so were they. >I don’t mean they weren’t on the ground anymore, I mean we >couldn’t even find them in the trees! It was like they >completely disappeared. So, no photos for her unfortunately. >After taking a little tour of the grounds we set off for the >springs. > >The springs are a stone’s throw away from the restaurant, we >parked got out and went to the entrance. It costs 5.25 Birr >to get a private room, I don’t know how much for the >communal place. The manager got the key for my room and >unlocked it and gave me a small bar of soap. The tub had >already been filled and the water was still going. At the >bottom of the tub is a large wooden plug. You can take this >out and let the water run out and opt to take a shower or >you can just sit in the tub. I closed the door, removed my >clothes and stepped into the tub. >Just as quickly, I stepped back out. >Obviously I was going to have to do this gradually; the >water was scalding!!!!! I put in one foot at a time and >ever…so….slowly…I lowered the rest of my body inside, >oftentimes having to start over because I just couldn’t take >the heat. About 5 min later my whole body was immersed in >the water. Aaah! The water felt great. I spent about 30-45 >min in Wondo Ganet’s healing mineral waters. The water is >channeled from the mountain, I hear further up the mountain >the water is about 10 times as hot. They channel the water >into about 5 or 6 private rooms, an outside area, one side >for men, one for women, where the water comes through pipes >and off the rocks onto you. There is also a large pool you >can go swimming in. when people need healing, they stay for >a number of days and take the baths everyday for the >duration of their stay. I let the water out of the tub and >took a shower in there, washing my hair. I felt really good >when I finally emerged. We all did. We then hopped in the >vehicle and off to Awassa we went.
"The camel never sees its own hump but that of its brothers is always before its eyes"- N.African proverb
Alhamdullah For Everything!
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