It was very early, when we walked from our lodge in the Bale Mountains to the starting place for a trek. Although we knew it, we were impressed by our ‘expedition’: 18 horses for materials (tents, mattresses, blankets, cooking materials, etc.) and attendants, and three horses for our guide, my wife Geertje and myself. It made us think of 19th and 20th century travellers through this country. During five days we went through a magnificent, empty and stilled area between 2000 and 4000 meter high. During the nights we camped in a circle, with the horses inside it. We had to watch hyenas.