When i was first told i was going to Ethiopia i started Googling. One of the things mentioned was that their temperature is roughly 20 degrees all year around. Hmm, nice comfortable temperature i thought, plus there is te rain season in June through to September. Then i started having conversations with people who have spent time here; Alice who lived here for 4 years told me it gets cold so take the Fluffy socks for bed time. Niamh previous PULSE Alumni re emphasised the rain, my response was “phah i live in Cumbria we know rain”, she laughed and pointed out that she was ‘Irish’.
So in my first few weeks i laughed at this so called rain. It was pathetic, it would be nice and sunny and then around 2pm or 6pm it would rain for about 20 minutes each day, while still being warm.
So in my last post i said that the rain had nothing on Cumbrian rain. Well i jinxed it. It is raining far more often now. Hiking boots are on more frequently, rain coat on and the new umbrella Dad bought me the day i left has come in handy, it is wet!.
Plus side there are some awesome thunder and lightning storms. Even got some hail stones yesterday.
We are still In July so we are still getting nice sunny days; more rain is to follow in the coming months where we will truly experience this “rainy season”.
I am however getting to learn that “Chicka” means mud (where my first accommodation was there was a lot of it). I also have two new phrases; “Zareh Zinebe” and “Zareh al Zineb em”, Today it rained and Today it didn’t rain. I haven’t been able to say the later for a while.
Good luck Kaye
Brilliant Kaye, I was laughing out loud looking at your photo’s ……splish,splash,splosh!!
Great photos, Kaye! And too funny about you jinxing the rain! Have fun in the puddles, and hopefully you’ll see the sun soon 🙂
Hi Kaye. I was in Eldoret, Kenya for Pulse in 2012. Eldoret is in the mountains and the rainy season lasted through the end of July. The best thing I brought with me was a good rain coat and boats. Some days it would be beautiful with no clouds in the sky. I would walk 20 mins to work with out my umbrella. Many days there were downpours that lasted for hours and I had to walk home in the rain & mud. Enjoy the experience!