Mt Wenchi – the Crater Lake

What a fantastic weekend! I just returned from my first excursion out of Addis. It certainly took long enough! This weekend Anja, my fellow intern at the UN, and I made the trek to Mt Wenchi, a large crater lake a few hours west of Addis in Oromoia. I stumbled upon thus destination last weekend when we could see Mt Wenchi from our hike to the rock church in Addis.

I was lucky enough to meet up with a fellow from trip advisor who gave me the number of Merisa, an amazing man who founded the community based eco-tourism association in Wenchi. Wenchi is a relatively remote town located around 3,000 meters about 3 hrs outside of Addis. The ‘modern’ town is right next to the ring of the crater, about 8,000 people, while inside the crater the ‘old’ town consists of about 4,000 folks.

On Friday we met with Merisa and his friend Kifle at the Mercato bus station which is one CRAZY place. That night, we took a 3 hr minibus out to Woliso, a small but lovely town to the south of Wenchi. There’s the famed Negash lodge there, which is supposed to be one of the nicest in Ethiopia, but we didn’t stay there since we’d be there less than 12 hrs.

The following morning we jumped on the once a week bus to Wenchi! It takes off on Saturday morning in anticipation of the Sunday market, returning Sunday afternoon after everyone has done their shopping. The drive up was magnificent, with enset (false banana), barley, cattle, and tuktuks everywhere.

Arriving around noon in Woliso we were treated to a nice lunch and coffee made by Merisa’s wife in the back of his small shop in town. Once this was wolfed down, we quickly went to the community tourist office to head out for our 4-5 hr hike around the lake!

Starting at the top of the crater we took the shortcut, consisting of very very steep switchbacks down the mountain. While the views of the lake were beautiful, the houses and farms are what made it for me. After completing the steep climb down we found ourselves in a lovely small village. Realizing most the farmers subsisted off enset here (they also grow potatoes and barley) I asked the guide if it is possible to try some! He promptly took us to his aunt’s house where she prepared the enset bread for us.

In this region enset takes 10 years to mature, at which point the cut down the plant, strip its outside leaves/bark, and put it in the ground to ferment. Once this process is complete the enset can be stored in the ground for up to five years. Talk about food security!

Once we crossed the lake there was majestic scenery right out of Lord of the Rings.

After wandering past the hot springs we started the trek back up the crater, however it was starting to get dark and next thing we knew we were in the midst of a major thunderstorm. Now, it’s currently the dry season here and it hasn’t rained in the entire 2 months since I’ve been here, but it sure rained cats and dogs for the last hour of our trip. When we got back to the house it was almost pitch black, we were drenched, and it was frigid! Nights here are freezing, and the temp probably dropped from 60 down to 40 in the last stretch of our hike, making for one frozen Mark.

Luckily when we returned to Merisa’s house they had already started a charcoal fire for us to warm over. I had brought bread, peanut butter, and jelly, and proceeded to make everyone PB&Js which they found peculiar yet delicious! In this region none of these exist, though they had eaten peanut butter before. Dinner was Injera (the flat Ethiopian bread made from teff) and two types of Shiro (powdered lentils turned into a delicious deep red peppery stew and another made of Chickpea flower mixed with whole chickpeas, providing a rich yellow color). The dinner was fantastic, and we had a great time laughing with everyone. 

The following morning we tried to sleep in, but seeing as it was Sunday the prayers started around 6:30 and went through most of the morning. The load speaker, a recent installation since the town only received electricity 2 years ago, makes it sound like the priest is right in your room up close and personal!

In response, we hit the local Tej (honey wine) joint and enjoyed a morning drink with fried bread as we awaited the market to get going. While most markets start early in the morning in the city, the one in Wenchi didn’t get cranking till around noon since many people trek in with their horses and donkeys from up 30 or more kilometers away.

After the market we hung out and enjoyed the scenary for a while prior to catching a ride to Addis in the back of a SUV. Miresa had arranged this for us which was fantastic, because it only took 2.5 hrs to get from Wenchi back to addis, a HUGE time saver. I really loved spending time in Wenchi and would love to go back soon.

This community is one of the few success stories in Ethiopia, reflecting the power of community organization. Now the community based tourism office provides hundreds of jobs to the locals and keeps tourism dollars right here in Wenchi. Since it’s a weekend destination from Addis this frees them up to work the farms during the week. Given that the community is located inside a crater land is extremely scarce, with families farming only about an acre each. 

While the town had only recently received electricity and had no running water one thing that really struck me was the lack of extreme poverty here. Virtually everyone in town looked healthy, with no beggars and everyone appearing to be cared for, representing a stark difference from Addis. When discussing this with community members, everyone explained that starvation has never been a problem here; after all they rely on enset, which is very drought resistant and can be stored for years. Additionally the community charges everyone a 15% tax on income to provide for the ‘community fund’, which takes care of those in need and ensures the local school is well supported. Wenchi was a wonderful place, and one that I hope to return to soon.