Its fair to say that the iPhone has moved the benchmark on what a mobile phone can be forever. Unprecedented usability for a touch screen device and backed up with it own endless supply of applications that will do everything from fart to monitor your insulin, all tied together with a little bit of iPod culture. Its downfall has always been the mobile network infrastructure that makes it tick and in the UK that is all about to change.
O2 have been the sole supplier of the device in the UK since its launch however that is going to change with both Orange and Vodafone signing deals with Apple to supply the iPhone and the possibility that this will open to all networks later
The above iPhone advert that still shows the “Only on O2” was band in the UK due to Apple not making it clear that the internet speeds on the handset are “subject to availability”. Its that “availability” that has let down a lot of Apple customers when it come to the handset giving them everything they wanted from the £200 they handed over.
So if you thinking about jumping on the iPhone band wagon or you’ve renewing to the latest version; who should to be going with? The networks are going to be dragging in customer with shinny new iPhone talk plans. This however is nothing new and the reality of it is that each network is going to be about the same with some pro and cons regardless which network you may go with. As always Apple will be dictating the price on the handset something you just going to have to live with. Customer service is the next thing to consider but you hear about horror stories from customers on any and all of the UK mobile operators… Just face it none of they will ever get it right every time; you just need to hope and pray that it doesn’t go tits up on your watch. The reality of it is that as long as your provider is giving you true unlimited data the new decider is going to be who is going to have the best “subject to availability”?
According to Ofcom Orange currently have to best 3G coverage in the UK so on face value seem like the best option although not all of that coverage fully supports HSDPA. If however you consider the joint partnership between Orange and T-Mobile that was announced recently it could make for a network in the uk that will give us an mobile infrastructure worthy of the iPhone.
Wednesday was the earliest start yet. We were woken up in tents at 5 o’clock, greeted by the roar of a lion which some people had heard through the night. Thankfully it was only the caged lion we had seen on the way in. While some took down tents, others cooked a breakfast of porridge. Meanwhile, the monkeys were back, dropping stuff out of trees on to us, which usually missed, but hurt when it didn’t!
After stopping to watch a beautiful African sunrise, we finished packing and washing up and we set off for a day of safari! Driving the bus around the park we saw gazelles, oryx, ostriches, a huge tortoise, some guinea fowl and a warthog running across the road in front of us with its baby. No wild lions, but a great experience all the same.
Much of the rest of the day was taken up by travelling back to Addis, stopping for the odd drink. We stopped at the crocodile stop from yesterday again and all saw more crocodiles and marabou birds (sort of like storks.)
Back in Addis, a long awaited game a football was organised with the locals. We mixed the teams to keep things fair and drew 6-6 after what was surely the most frantic game of football ever played. About a third of the pitch was an ankle deep muddy swamp and at one point there was a huge water fight in a puddle in the far corner. The English “ferenjee” (foreigners) kept out of that one though.
After some shirt swapping and showers all round, we went out for some food and ate local injura (rolls of. . .something. a bit like pancake but more, umm, rubbery) Matthew accidentally ate a whole jalapeno and that certainly did make his eyes water!
Another early start tomorrow – up at four o’clock for a flight to Lalibela!
Matthew & Vicki Y
Day 6
To Lalibela
Today was a very early start, we all had to be packed and ready by 4:40! Everyone was a bit grouchy because they were so tired from the late night before. On the bus everyone was squashed as the cases had to come on with us inside the bus because of the rain… nobody could move!
Our busy schedule had caught up with some of the group members who were suffering a little and we were all quite tired. Despite a few dodgy tummies we all enjoyed our journey to Lalibela which was very interesting to say the least! We boarded a tiny little aircraft with propellers that were unbelievably noisy! Despite the noise the take off and landing was smoother than expected. Most people missed the airline drink and sarnie on the plane because they were sleeping!
When we arrived at Lalibela everybody was amazed at how small the airport was, we watched our cases being brought into the airport; we were in and out of the airport in a matter of minutes as there weren’t any queues because our aeroplane was the only one in the airport!
Driving in the minibus to the hotel was breathtaking…the views were incredible and very different to those in Addis. There was a lot of little mud huts named tukuls and everyone seemed to be farming with their cattle. As we got closer to Lalibela town the houses seemed to get bigger and ‘posher’.
Feelings about the hotel were mixed. The Seven Olives has an amazing view and nice food…but there was no electricity and therefore no running water and no flushing toilets! We have decided that the muddy unwashed look and fragrance is quite attractive.
A group of us went into the town to explore after lunch and met a group of children. They were very different to the children in Addis because they didn’t ask for anything at all, they just wanted to talk to us and have their photos taken. A few people got emotional when one boy named Gabree told us about the family history of many of the children. Despite being so poor they were so happy and cheerful. When one old lady pestered Ashleigh for money, all the children told her off and chased her away. We were quite concerned for the children because the soldier was watching and they kept getting told off for ‘bothering us’, so we spoke to the soldier and explained we didn’t mind and were enjoying it.
Whilst some were wandering the town, a few stayed back at the hotel. Alex R found a sick baby bird and Mark had brought it with him to the seating area of the hotel, he tried his best to nurture it back to health. He managed to get it to drink some water and it seemed to be recovering. We left to visit the churches of Lalibela so Mark had to leave it behind but had put it in a bird food house and we hoped it would be alright.
The churches were amazing. It is so hard to believe that they were carved down into the rock. We had to take our shoes off before entering the churches and in each one there was a priest dressed in cloaks carrying crosses. They also sported sunglasses for the camera flashes, which looked bizarre to say the least. There are thirteen churches but we only had time to see nine today, the rest we will visit tomorrow.
Richard decided it would be best to eat at the hotel and give our stomachs a rest from Ethiopian food. Everybody enjoyed their meal and spirits were lifted as we ate our dinner in candlelight and talked about first days at school etc. Despite a few stomachs still grumbling, the night went really well and we are all looking forward to the football match tomorrow!
Mark and Ashleigh.
(Taken from Ryton2Ethiopia 2009 diary pages)
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Today we went to the indoor market – said to be the biggest market in Africa! It was so so busy and we were all a bit wary but we soon got used to it, and put our haggling skills to the test – particularly Alex T and Ashleigh who were at one particular stall for about 20 minutes!! We all felt famous because everywhere we turned everyone was staring at us, and we couldn’t believe how friendly the people were. There were so many sights, sounds and smells that we were overwhelmed but all thoroughly enjoyed it.
We went to the museum which was really interesting as we got to see all different bones in a timeline from the very oldest to more recent times. We were all particularly fascinated by Lucy who was the 2nd oldest homoerectus skeleton in the world at 3.2 million years old. She was tiny!! And we were all surprised to hear she got her name from ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’ by The Beatles!
When visiting Prince Abi, a very eccentric Rastafarian who claimed to be a prince, he told us that his restaurant/museum had cost 5,000 birr to build and was of an Indian design; it was beautiful! He was very welcoming, friendly and the food was delicious – he was vegetarian, which suited Lauren and Anna just fine! He also told us how he got his dreadlocks and by the end of the night none of us wanted to leave. The taxi ride on the way there was an interesting experience, half of us managed to squash in somehow and it was a very bumpy ride! On the way back we were pleased to have English music which, despite being Myley Cyrus, we were excited to hear!
Back at the hotel, we all joined in with the biggest, longest card game of ‘Cheat’ ever which brought us together even more as a group as we all had lots of fun.
Lauren and Georgia
Day 4
To Awash National Park
Today was an early start, considering we had very little sleep after the most spectacular thunderstorm you could ever imagine! We had to be all packed and have had breakfast by 8.30! Pancakes with marmalade seemed to be especially popular today. We all jumped back on the bus to start a new adventure! First we headed to the market to buy lunch, as well as onions, as we only had 3 to go between 20 people. Then we were ready to head for Awash, all excited at the possibility of seeing lions, and tigers and bears, oh my!! (had to be done!) The journey was unbearable with the heat hitting temperatures we never thought existed! After getting a bit lost, and lots of turns around, we stopped at the The Family Hotel in DebreZeit. It overlooked a volcanic crater filled with water, making beautiful scenery which we could enjoy whilst having a nice, cool drink. At one of our stop offs, we saw another lake, complete with crocodiles on the waters edge!! After getting back on the road, we drove past about 20 dead camels, not sure how they came to their death, but it silenced us all. After that we needed a boost, so a sing song was in order. Songs led by the back of the bus included Disney classics, Grease medleys and R&B favourites.
Finally we arrived at the park, before the heat completely took it out if us. On arrival we spotted an oryx which got us all suitably excited! Some were also lucky enough to see some klipspringers, jumping across the road. As we were trying to find the campsite, we stumbled across a rather angry caged lion! (which we later found out was caged for a murder in Somalia!) We eventually found the camp site with a visitor waiting to greet us, a baboon! We couldn’t believe our eyes, and we nick named him Rafiki, for obvious reasons! We quickly got to work putting up the tents and cooking tea, on the menu was pasta and tomato sauce, mmmm! The inviting smell attracted some more of our neighbours, vervet monkeys, a few with their very cute little babies clinging on tightly! After tucking into our tea, we went to the Awash River and water falls, which were amazing to see. The spray from the falls was a refreshing moment for all! We headed back to camp to try and settle for the night, as we knew we had yet another early start – 5am! We sat for a while watching the lightning which seemed to be all around, and heading our way, yet it seemed to pass over us which we were all grateful for, sleeping only in tents! After the fire died down and the night closed in we headed into our saunas (oops we mean tents!) We all braced ourselves for a very uncomfortable, moist and sticky night. Lush! As another day’s adventure ended we looked forward to the next day including a safari style experience!
Anna and Viki S
(Taken from Ryton2Ethiopia 2009 diary pages)
For more information about Ryton2Ethiopia CLICK HERE