William Hay, Writer: Ethiopia- Bahar Dar

This is a travel day. An off day in a sense. I had a good sleep at Best Western and a terrific breakfast. I sat outside in their cafe having a cafe au lait. Elias joined me and we headed out for another coffee at a local popular traditional cafe. Nearby we were able to get me a local telecommunications SIM card as I’d been using up my Canada roaming package. My main use has been finding directions on the internet. I miss a paper map and/or my Garmin GPS with a map, but I think the paper map is still the best. The internet maps are great but require wifi or eat up cellular.

Elias’ friend, the pianist for his Evangelical church band joined us, to be our driver for the rest of the morning. I wanted some local music so we visited a couple of cd stores and looked in at a guitar store. As a musician Elias just kept running into the musicians. I enjoyed watching Elias and Abel interact. We even met Elias beautiful girlfriend . I told stories of my life in Canada.

I told them I rode motorcycles. Abel is married with a boy coming. “You can’t ride motorcycles.” I told him about my brother stopping riding motorcycle when his children were born. My nephew is a father to be so he can’t ride motorcycles either. I only ride motorcycles because I don’t have children.

I told them I found all the Ethiopian girls lovely but I didn’t know if part of it was I saw so many women carrying assault rifle and wearing that fetching blue and black cammo which looked fetching on them. That caused the two of them to laugh. Then as Christian men we celebrated the often unsung hero of the bible, Joseph. I enjoyed the laughter. We encountered a couple of traffic jam. Processions of dignitaries. And a truck that decided to go the wrong way on a one way street. The traffic was as bad if not worse than downtown Vancouver.

I picked up my bag at Best Western and the guys dropped me off at the airport. I was held up getting into the airport by another dignitary procession. Addis Ababa is a major conference centre for African business and politics. That’s why so many dignitaries were here and so many police and military were protecting where they were staying and meeting. A couple of conferences were going on in the Best Western while I was there, one business, and one professional . Definitely the happening place.

I was then late at the terminal because I had to go through two long and thorough security checks. Taking off and putting on my shoes takes time. I had to run to the shuttle which took us out to the plane. Then we sat in the heat in the plane for nearly an hour.

The plane finally took off and flew for about an hour. The pretty stewardess only had time to serve juice. Then we were landing here in Bahar Dar. It was a hot day and I saw in a mirror that my face was quite red. I remember the DEET but forgot the sunscreen. I’ll have to use both tomorrow.

Addis Amba Hotel had a fellow in the lobby. I remembered it in the guide as an okay place. The ride in was interesting with all these three wheelers which functioned as taxi and everything else. I enjoyed seeing two guys riding on a motorcycle with the passenger carrying a 3000 Honda generator on his lap. Another guy had added a little house to the back of his motorcycle so it was part truck.

The fellow I met in the Airport told me he was also a guide when I told him that I was wanting to go to monasteries tomorrow. I said that was why I was here. But I’d also heard were hippopotamus in Lake Tana. If there was time I’d love to see a hippopotamus. Lake Tana is also famous for it’s variety of unique birds. I’d love to do some bird photography but only if the monasteries remain the priority. We’ve arranged for me to go with him and a boat tomorrow 8 am to 3 pm.

There’s a great mosquito netting. No holes. I used up two little Ben’s Deet Bottles spraying the netting and the room.. I’ve seen one mosquito.

Right now I have a mosquito coil burning in the room. My favourite incense here.

I have moments of sheer sheer hypochondriacal terror considering one mosquito sting. I seeing the larva coursing through my blood, invading blood cells. I see my kidneys crashing. I see myself wet myself with the shame of ‘black water’ fever. I die before in the morning. I have an overactive imagination. I live in denial but I’m exhausted from work. I tend to castrophising and like to suck the tit of self pity. Normally I can keep my mind in check. But Falciparum Malaria. I’ve got full body mosquito netting, the mosquito netting hat, enough Ben’s DEET 30% to do a total body covering for weeks. I’m taking antimalarial pills and odorous garlic, wearing long sleeves, closed toes shoes, high socks. One mosquito siting and I nearly shit myself. I’m a really tough guy. Regular Clint Eastwood, Steven Segall, Liam Nielsen, except if there’s a mosquito about. Not Canadian mosquitoes which merely still children but have never been known to take down a grown man. These mosquitoes are poisonous. Vectors. Carriers. Evil Evil EVil Mosquitos.

In the restaurant I had a fabulous meal of fish gumbo. The restaurant is great here, local and populated. I’ve taken ibuprofen. My right knee is swollen. I hurt it hiking about yesterday. I”m whining. I’ve been infected by the consciousness of that one mosquito. All of the hatred and fear that one mosquito had seeing me. I killed a fly today. I’m sure the mosquito sensed my feelings for it. Not positive. I’ve turned the room into a toxic waste plant. I’ll die from DEET inhalation. The only question will the mosquito survive long enough to do me in first. Will he call his friends. I’ve covered myself in DEET. I don’t think anyone else is concerned. The hotel manager laughed and said no one is concerned about mosquitos in the hotel. He’s not met me. I’ve taken a half dozen garlic pills .I’ve got the anti malarial daily pill on board. I’m ready. They say caution is warranted by and on the lake but not here

All I need is an Oozy machine gun to shoot up my room in the night if I hear one. I might not hear them going deaf. I can’t recall how many hundreds of times I’ve been in a tent with the sound of mosquitos inside trying to kill them before falling asleep.

If I had faith. A spiritual giant. But an insect gets me. I don’t at all judge the caricature of the woman freaking out about a spider or a mouse. I’m not fond of rats in and of themselves. They’re just carriers of plague. It’s not the mosquito that bothers me. It’s what it carries. I have Vector phobia. I should have brought Valium or better still haldol. All the women are in skirts and everyone is wearing sandles. I think I’m the only one who reeks of DEET . I can’t smell anything but DEET. Au d’ Deet.

All my life people sometimes dozens a day have shared their insanity with me. I loved the movie in which there were all these dour analysts sitting about for dinner. Someone asks why they look so disturbed. “It comes from listening to peoples nightmares for years.” Steven King, Criminal Minds, don’t come close. I can’t even write down the terror. Heart of Darkness and Lord of the Flies came as close as possible.

I’d I didn’t believe in Jesus and didn’t know that I had to surrender, let go, turn my will and my life over to God, believe , then I couldn’t come through this mental pain. These crisis that terminate only with prayer and belief or haldol and Valium or shock therapy, I didn’t bring an ECT machine with me. Not a minor oversight after encountering one mosquito. It might not even be a ‘bad’ mosquito. Probably like every group, these ‘bad’ ones in the midst of a whole lot of other mosquitoes who never take an interest in man, prefer cow blood or dog blood, wouldn’t think of taking human blood. All these good mosquitos and this one family gives the lot a bad name.

Not a single person in this room knows I’m mad. I’m carrying on quite normally. I’m stilling the inner terror, my personal theatre of the absurd. I call on Jesus. Please Lord Save Me from mosquitoes but most of all Lord, save me from myself..