Wading through rivers to buy candles...
on Tara's Ethiopian Adventure (Ethiopia), 25/Aug/2010 06:16, 34 days ago
Last night I got into the house just in time (or so I thought). No sooner had a shut the door but the heavens opened and the most incredible rainstorm began. It was the kind of rain that would knock you sideways if you stand in it! The sound on my tin roof was thunderous and I felt quite relieved that I was home and dry. I was just thinking about what wonders I could cook up for dinner when the power went out. This wouldn’t normally be a problem as I would carry on cooking by candle light but on this occasion I realised that I only had about 1cm of candle left! Oops! I may have just about been able to whip up a good meal before the candlelight ran out if it weren’t for the fact that I had a huge pile of dishes to wash before I could even start. So...backup plan... I had a very uninspiring dinner of avocado and tomato on toast while I waited for the rain to subside. It was possible that the power cut would not last that long but a few days earlier the power cut lasted for 12 hours and I really didn’t relish the thought of an evening sat in perfect darkness. Just as I thought the candle wouldn’t hold out another 5 minutes the rain began to ease off a little. Don’t get me wrong... it was still very heavy rain... but at least of the variety that I might be able to stand up in. Very grateful for my waterproof trousers and top I braved the storm using the pathetic torch on the end of my phone to guide me through the total darkness. Thankfully it is only a short walk (200m) to my local shop but it still felt like quite an adventure. I sloshed my way along the path in my flip-flops but the real fun when I needed to cross the main road to reach the shop. When I say‘main road’ I don’t mean a paved highway I just mean the local mud track covered with loads of sharp rocks (the rocks have been put down to help stop the mud all washing away during the rains and to make it possible to walk on in the rainy season). On this occasion it was nothing like a rocky muddy track, it was a river. As I started to cross I was amazed at the force of the water rushing down the hill. The water easily came half way up my shins and it was all I could do to stay upright and stop my flip-flops from washing away! But the good news was I made it! I bought a packet of candles and then had a similar adventure making my way home. You can imagine how happy I was when about 20 minutes after my return the electricity came back on!