At Gorgora, I checked into the Government hotel for a non-negotiable 105Birr/night (quite a contrast to the night before). I had been here previously in 1995 and remember, after a long and dusty ride, enjoying a refreshing swim in the lake. All week I had been promising myself a return visit and certainly after two days on the boat and visiting dusty villages I was ready for it, despite the water being brown with silt. I went down to the terrace of what had been President Megistu’s lakeside "palace" and realised that the shore had a lot more reeds in the water than I remembered. I’m afraid the temptation got the better of me; I momentarily ignored the risk of catching bilharzias, made a mental note to get a blood test in seven weeks time, and went in. It was wonderful but the silt made it impossible to see anything below the surface.

Afterwards I took a beer on the terrace enjoying the birds and the sunset and then set about scrubbing my feet with hot water. Most of my trip I had been wearing sandals and since Rwanda my heels had been developing cracks, particularly with the dirt and grime of dusty lakeside villages. These had become quite painful. I decided the problem might be fungal, a kind of athlete’s foot, so I committed to a daily regime of antiseptic soap and Daktarin, and a week of shoes and socks.