Days 75 & 76: Ethiopia

Day 75

Our 14th night in Addis would be our last. Our visas would expire before we reached the border at Moyale, but we thought we would risk not getting an extension for $20 each knowing that if anyone at the border would say anything, that a bribe would be cheaper.

One thing we needed to arrange for was vehicle insurance for the next countries we would be travelling through, and we were able to obtain Yellow Card insurance for Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia all in one policy in Addis for less than £40/€44 for a month.

The evening was spent at Lules bar where we said goodbye to him for the third and final time, once again enjoying his brilliant food and saying farewell to the other people we had met in our stay in Addis.

Day 76

After saying goodbye to Rolf and Rut we were back on the road, and we needed to fill up with diesel at the local garage. Half way through filling the tank, we noticed that diesel was pissing out of the side near one of the electrical connections at a ridiculous rate, and emptying all over the petrol station forecourt. We were devastated.

We drove back to Rolfs house and immediately back to the aluminium company ordering them to remove the tank, fix the problem and refit it at once whilst we headed to a restaurant around the corner for some lunch and a much needed drink.

The tank was leaking through the gasket of one of the connections that had melted when they had welded the tank for the second time, and the solution was to remove the gasket completely and weld the connection on. After this was done we checked the tank to find that there was a small leak through the sides still, and that an epoxy was needed to seal it, but as the sun was coming down and the epoxy needed time to harden, we would have to return the next day. Night 15 in Addis and still counting.