Amoeba: a dreaded word for a rookie Africa visitor like me. Following tonsillitis and then ongoing inexplicable back spasm at night, I was hit with diarrhea (again!) on Monday and Tuesday. As we were contemplating going trekking in Simien Mountains over Easter weekend I went to the doctor to have a stool sample tested. “Stool sample”: there’s another phrase that gave me the creeps before I came here. However a stool test is just another part of living here to the point where everyone talks about them. “Have you had a stool test?” a total stranger will ask if you mention being even slightly ill. After a few minutes of peering through a microscope the doctor said the dreaded phrase: “you have an amoeba infection”. Drinking coffee or juice from a wet glass, or eating contaminated food, or from one of dozens of handshakes which form part of everyday life is most likely the culprit. The treatment is four tablets together in the evening for three days. One of the side effects is an unpleasant strongly metallic taste in my mouth, but after two days I feel completely different. My digestive system has settled down, but more importantly I feel more positive and upbeat, and last night for the first time in over a fortnight I had no back trouble during the night. My back feels completely normal after feeling like being threaded with planks of wood. My digestive system has been misbehaving for weeks and weeks, and I now realise I’ve probably had an amoebic infection for a while.

So, Friday morning we set off to the town of Debark with Gemma & Steve, Gemma’s sister and her sister’s friend and return to Gondar on Monday. The plan is to travel in luxury (a private hire vehicle!! no sardine-can wreck of a bus for us!) to Debark, where you are allocated a guide and donkeys to carry your kit and food. We will even have our own cook! Simien Mountains National Park is one of the wonders of Ethiopia, and is the most popular place for international tourists to go to. As we have been living at over 2200m for several months the 3500m+ altitudes shouldn’t bother us too much. I feel unfit and a bit weak but three days in the mountains, good company and exercise should be a treat.