Ethiopia in the rainy season!(Jun-Oct)
 

For the inexperienced bikers(like ourselves!) out there, here is a bit of advice: rainy season in a country without sealed roads is slightly different from cruising around asphalt roads in the rain!

We were like most people who say that bikes go everywhere, and they probably do, but two up, fully loaded in the mud is not much fun!

Our plan was to go from Gondar to Axum via the Simiens Mountain Park, and then down to Lalibela. In 100km we came off twice,once hitting a guy in one of the villages along the way(no damage or injuries, thank God!), the second time when the backwheel just disappeared from underneath us! However, the road from Debark to Axum is meant to be breathtaking, and for the experienced, hard core offroaders this might be a nice challenge.

Needless to say that we decided to came back from Debark to Gondar, and from there it is mostly sealed roads in reasonable condition. Another thing to watch out for is the huge amount of people and animals next to the road that can be hard to spot in the rain.

All that said, Ethiopia is stunningly beautiful, but we will be back in the dry season!

Namsa.

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Yes, I agree
 

Heh Guys,
Good to catch up with you in Addis after missing you in Cairo.

I agree completely. Although I've many many years off road on a KTM, I was very pleased to be in the Landcruiser for the last few days. The main road Dessi to Woldia (Waldeya) would have been very unpleasant loaded up on a bike (many many detours) and the road from Dessie over to Lallibala would have been virtually impossible. This was big rubble rocks covered in half a foot of very slippery mud. You'd have to be very competent to cope with this in the pissing down rain.

Good luck for the rest of your trip.

James+Lee