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PEOPLE NEWS
Even more to my surprise we re-joined Penny and
Narinder. We chatted for hours discussed time
schedules. They had indeed broken down and had asked
some officers in the Royal Horse Artillery to radio
ahead and inform us of their dilemma.
In spite of seeing so many troops, and parking next to
a base, we did not get the message. Penny and Narinder
were heading down to Addis Ababa to collect their
sudan visas and follow us. We promised to try and meet
again if possible.
The Lanky Dutchman and his delightful girlfriend also
turned up. They chatted for 20 minutes and then
decided to keep on driving. They like driving 2-3
hours a day. This fits into no-one's timetable and so
who knows when we will meet them again.
THE TOWN OF GONDAR AND SOME HISTORY
Gondar is a small town with an ancient castle. It was
one of the local capitals of the Amhara tribe. Many
people have ravaged the city. Dervishes, Turks and
Italians to name but a few.
Stuart was so pleased to find out that the final coup
de grace to Fasiledes' castle came from an un expected
quarter.
"And this building was bombed by the British in 1940"
Our guide intoned souldessley " The Italians were use
this as headquarter and British bomb them"
We looked up, the Archive building had taken a direct
hit through the roof.
"Bloody hell, that must have been the RAF's top bomb
aimer or they were the luckiest guys in Bomber
command" exclaimed Stuart.
"And now we move on...." While the guide took our
French companions on into the complex, stuart and I
secretly filmed a spoof sequence for our video.
A GOODBYE
Sadly we had to say goodbye to Elize and Benjamin,
(les Frogs) this morning. We have met so many
dickheads on this journey that is seems unfair to have
to say farewell to such lovely people.
THE FUTURE
Last night Stuart and I were mumbling about going on
alone. I pulled out the expedition route reports of
the 1975 Joint serices Trans sahara expedition. We
pored all over the sage words of Squadron leader Tom
Shepperd, and two different maps. Our route seems to
be mostly marked tracks, and tdhe distances between
towns and fuel managable. All looked do-able. After
some thought we have decided to go West if politically
possible. We will no doubt overtake the dutch couple,
and we hope that Penny and Narinder will catch us up,
but we do hope to be done by February 10th.
CISCA
Just in case her family were wondering, I picked her
up at the Airport today. The Three of us hope to
depart for the Sudan border today..... so until
Khartoum.....(Insallah!)
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