Pemba and Ibo

We left Ilha de Mozambique on Thursday at 4:30am. A taxi was taking us to an intersection on the road, just over an hour away, from where we could catch the passing bus to Pemba. We didn't want to be late because that was the only bus of the day. We ended up waiting 45 minutes for the bus to show up as the sun rose and the street vendors clogged the intersection offering their goods to every passing vehicle.

We reached Pemba 7 hours later, found a hotel and went for a walk down the beach. Pemba is in a bay, and most hotels and tourists are along a beach a few km east of town called Wimbi. The beach is pretty, but unfortunately it has only a very small patch without trash. Instead of swimming, we settled down at a bar on the beach and watched the sunset over a couple of drinks. Every bar offers caipirinhas around here. I thought they were a Brazilian exclusivity, but it seems that Mozambicans claim their share, too. Either way, I'm a happy caipira consumer anywhere in the world.

Friday we took our first dive. Peter is a South african living in Pemba for 15 years who owns a diving shop. Business is slow right now, we were the only clients, so he was very flexible with his schedule. We started with the basics at a nearby beach where it was shallow enough for us to stand. Then we ventured into the deeper waters. We spent approx 45 minutes under the water. He said we went as deep as 12 meters. After we got used to the ear popping, the floating up and the trying to stay down, we started to enjoy the colorful little fish and corals. The instructor was good. Neat experience. Even more memorable when the boat's engine broke down on our way back. Trying to repair it, Peter lost his glasses falling into the water. Everybody went in (except lazy yours truly) trying to find the glasses. Due to the strong current we gave up the search after a while, still without a working engine. There where 2 guys helping: one with a paddle, the other one with a bamboo cane, and finally Peter swimming with his fins pushing from behind. It took a little long, but we weren't far from the shore. We all arrived safe and sound.

Near Pemba there is a national park: Quirimbas Archipelago. There our hotels in some of the islands, and a small plane that makes a daily round picking up and dropping off passengers. We went to Ibo, an island that used to have a Portuguese settlement, i.e. forts, church, colonial houses, similar to Ilha, but smaller. It is much less developed than Ilha: only 2 hotels, 1 local restaurant, no banks, less people, more colonial houses in complete ruins. The hotel was one of them, they recently opened after rebuilding a house that had only the walls left. Looks like a lot of work, and construction on the upper floor is still ongoing.

We walked around Ibo and later in the day sailed on a local dhow (no engine). We had a little swim and sailed back. Very nice and tranquil. People are very friendly.

We were supposed to fly back and then onwards to Maputo on Sunday night. However, bad weather conditions caused cancellation of our flight out of Ibo. We'll have to stay one more day. Not a bad place to spend extra time. I'm particularly looking forward to tonight's "lulas grelhadas".

Mercedes

Ilha de Mozambique

Ilha de Mozambique is a small island, 20 x 5 blocks, off the Mozambican coast. It is linked to the mainland through a 3km one way bridge. It used to be the main Portuguese settlement when those guys were in Mozambique trading slaves. The Portuguese built a fort, churches, and several buildings that remain until today, some in better shape than others. In fact, some have crumbled and remain fallen. Similar to what we found in Zanzibar the city is divided in a stone town, where the Europeans lived, and a makuti town (the name is given by the reeds used to make the roofs), where the locals lived. In a way it is like Zanzibar, but with more of a Portuguese influence, instead of Arab, and 1/10 of the tourism development. There's only one ATM, one computer linked to the internet, one road to get there, one cinema (with a roof but not enclosed, so by the sounds we could make that it must have been an action movie playing) a handful of restaurants, very few touts, oh, but several barbers. Simon got a wonderful haircut for just US$ 1.50 in a little hut that had a goat tied to the side eating the grass around it. You should have seen Simon pointing at the pictures of black models on the wall to explain what type of cut he wanted. :)

It took only a few hours to walk around the island. It was hot. Very hot. Unfortunately, there is a very small patch of beach that is clean and looks mildly appealing for a swim. The good news was that our beautiful hotel O Escondidinho had a pool. Refreshing.

After being there for half a day we realized that everybody knows and trusts most everybody. In a matter of a few hours we were engaged in several credit transactions. The hotel owed us some change, we owed some money to a guide and to a pharmacy, and we had a repo arrangement with a shop at the market: he sold us a used roll of tape, we were going to take what we needed and sell it back to him for an already agreed price. The following day we settled all transactions, except for the one with the hotel that was cancelled by paying less to the taxi driver that was getting us out of Ilha. We hope the taxi driver was paid by the hotel eventually. I'm sure he was.

In summary, the negatives are the dirt on the beaches and the difficulty to get there. The positives are the few touts, the tranquility, and the friendliness of its people. And last but not least, the grilled fish, prawns, and calamari. Awesome.

On Thursday we took a taxi at 4:30am, which took us to an intersection 1 hour away where we caught a bus going to Pemba. We have been in Pemba since yesterday, staying at the Reggio Emilia hotel.

Sorry for the picture of Ilha, is not a good one, but it is the only one available for upload now.

Mercedes

Malawi to Mozambique

M 2 M was not an easy border crossing because Mozambique is large and Malawi is not near anywhere we want to go. It takes so long to travel by land...

On Thursday we started our journey from the beautiful lake shore in Cape Maclear. An hour on a pick-up truck, ~2 hours on a minivan (could the driver blast the music any louder!!?? I thought I'd lose my hearing ability forever), and ~6 hours on a bus to get to Blantyre, Malawi's largest city. The total distance was less than 400km, and the road was almost entirely paved. The reason for a 9-hour trip was that the minibuses and buses constantly stopped to pick up and drop off passengers. Patience is the mother of all virtues. To ease the pain, the first hour on the pick-up truck was a private hire. It came with a story. The truck looked brand new and Simon noted (to me) that the driver didn't drive very well. We learned that the driver didn't drive until this year. Last year-end there was a promotion from the cell phone company: buy a top-up card and you automatically participate in a draw with several prizes, a pick-up truck being the main one. And our guy from Cape Maclear village got the winning call, and received a brand new Toyota by January 2nd. He works like a taxi now, and given the state of the road to the cape, it is most convenient that he got a truck.

It was still daylight when we reached Blantyre, from where we thought it would be easiest (relatively) to find transportation to Mozambique. We started a late walking city tour, but it was cut short by heavy rain. And it kept raining. After dinner: still raining. It stopped only the following morning after breakfast, when we were about to leave.

From Blantyre the nearest Mozambican city with an airport is Tete. We thought it would be best to get there by road, and take a domestic flight from there to Mozambique's northern coast. We had 2 options to get from Blantyre to Tete. The cheap option was taking a minibus to the Malawi border post, changing to another minibus to the Mozambique border post, and then a final minibus from there to Tete. It was too complicated. We decided to choose a more expensive option. There are express buses from Blantyre to Joburg that speed through Tete; they are not allowed to drop any passengers before its final destination. However, we found a bus driver that was willing to stop and drop us in Tete, if we paid the full price to Joburg. And so we did. Don't worry, passports were stamped; we are legal visitors of Mozambique. The bus was modern, the ride + immigration took only 5 hours, and we were served lunch on board (chicken with fries, no utensils, no napkins). If the bus had had a working AC, the ride would have been divine.

We reached Tete around 2:30pm on Saturday, only to find that most hotels were full because that weekend the municipality was celebrating its golden anniversary. We finally found accommodation at Motel Tete, a little away from 'downtown', but right by the river. Very nice, it ended up being a perfect place to stay.

Tete was very lively on Saturday night. There was a free concert in the main gymnasium that was absolutely packed. Cars and bikes were constantly driving up and down the main drag. We even saw a 10-wheeler making rounds. Everybody looking their best, and enjoying the music pouring out from the concert. Lots of young people, lots of beer, party atmosphere. No touts. I was loving this unpretentious town.

We needed a flight to the coast on the local airline. But it was not that easy to buy one. First, we arrived on Saturday afternoon and the sales agency was closed until Monday. Second, there was no internet available in town to check if tickets could be bought online. Third, we called the airline's reservation number, but it was useless. The last resort was to go to the airport on Sunday and try to get on the first and only flight out.

On Sunday morning we packed, carried our bags back to downtown, and got on a minivan that dropped us at the airport. Side comment: it is impressive how many people a minivan can carry. Before arriving to Africa, I would have said the maximum was 10, on Sunday we proved that you can fit 25 and a couple of big bags. Eventually, we arrived at the airport before the airline people. There was only one flight out of Tete that afternoon, and it was full. We put our names down on the wait list (rethorically; there wasn't a list since we were the only ones without a ticket) and sat down with our fingers crossed.

It was a beautiful day: sunshine, blue sky, super hot (they say this is the hottest place in Mozambique). It was not so bad to be sitting inside the cooler airport building. Everybody that came into town for the 50th anniversary was taking this flight out. Everybody looking hip&cool and not like Tete locals at all. We saw the journalist that was on TV that night reporting from Tete. We saw the flashy big guy with the two skinny girls with matching handbags. Big guy was wearing white shoes, white pants, white frame sunglasses, white and orange t-shirt, but, oh no, black socks and black underwear. I think the latter must have been a mistake, maybe he didn't pack well for his day trip. Without doubt, he was a performer on Saturday night. Finally, all the jet set people checked in, and we were left with no seats available. Superb people-watching, though.

After the plane left, the airline lady issued tickets for the following morning. We were not looking forward to taking the minivan back into town again. We must have looked in bad shape, because when I asked the airline lady for a ride back to town in the airline's minivan, they took us all the way to Motel Tete's door, even though it was not on their way. They also gave us a ride back to the airport the following morning. Nice people, merciful to the distressed travelers. Well, spending the rest of Sunday reading and playing sudoku by the river was not particularly distressing.

On Monday we managed to fly out of Tete into Nampula making only 3 connections. Yeah, we wanted to survey every airport in the country. To my surprise, all of our 4 flights were on time. Wonderful. We arrived in Nampula at night: dinner, shower, sleep.

Tuesday found us in a taxi to Ilha de Mozambique, right on the coast. We had contracted the taxi driver that gave us the ride from the airport to the hotel, but his car was in such bad shape that he subcontracted to another driver with a newer vehicle. We arrived to Ilha by midday, 4.5 days after we set off from Cape Maclear. Feels good to have arrived.

Mercedes

Ilha de Mozambique - first report in a long time

I'm writing from the only internet-linked computer in Ilha de Mozambique. NE Mozambique, an island linked to the mainland by a 3-km bridge. It is small, approx 20 blocks by 5. We still need to update our 4 and a half day trip from Malawi to here, but we are having very low connectivity. Please be patient.
We are enjoying Mozambique a lot. Very friendly so far.
Mercedes

Lake Malawi and Mumbo Island

The big attraction in Malawi is its lake, a huge body of fresh water in the middle of Africa which accounts for a significant proportion of Malawi’s territory. Since transport links to the northern section are not easy, we opted to visit Cape McLear at the southern end of the lake. There was much conflicting advice about how to get there, how long it would take and what condition the roads would be in. Eventually, we hired a driver to take us there from Lilongwe. It proved to be an easy four hour drive over roads which were generally excellent - probably the best we have encountered so far in Africa, except for a final 20 km stretch into Cape McLear.
Cape McLear is a settlement comprising a Malawi village of about 15,000 people and a sprinkling of guest houses and hotels. The lake is central to the lives of the local Malawi people - they make their living from fishing in it - and use it for washing, cleaning and bathing. They also try to sell handicrafts to passing tourists and, with tourist traffic at a low ebb, we found ourselves a very frequent target as we explored the village and lakeshore. The lakeshore itself is very nice - the coarse gold sand and green water was a contrast to the white and turquoise of the Indian Ocean we had just experienced in Zanzibar.
We stayed overnight in Cape McLear and next day headed to the small island resort of Mumbo. It is located in the lake about 10 km north of the Cape. We paddled there by kayak in about 2 hours. It is a spectacular place, essentially a private island with accommodation for only 14 people in tented chalets, a small beach and central dining area. All meals provided. No electricity, running hot water or flush toilets on the island but all sorts of ingenious ways to compensate for them. Each chalet was an architectural and engineering work of art, built into the cliffs with panoramic sea views. A separate adjoining bathroom, also with a great view and eco-friendly plumbing, running potable water and a bucket shower which relied on solar heated water. We were very impressed.
Aside from the accommodation, the island boasts several hiking trails (which we covered on our first day there), and many rocky coves ideal for snorkeling. No sounds except the gentle waves of the lake and the calls of the birds. It was a small paradise and we rounded out our first day there by going in a boat for the short trip to the other side of the island to watch the sunset.
Rain struck during the night. In fact, it seems that storm activity is a feature of the lake, at least at this time of year. It was still raining when we woke up and the rain persisted for most of the day. We were “forced” to relax and do nothing until late afternoon when the weather cleared enough for us to kayak around the island’s rocky coves and try some snorkeling. The water was warm and clear and we thought it was a beautiful place. Our opinions did not change despite more rain during the next night. For this night, we were in a different chalet which was a little more removed from the water. Very isolated - it seemed like we were in the middle of the jungle.
After a rainy start, we were able to enjoy our last day at Mumbo in the sun on the beach before the two hour paddle back to Cape McLear. Mumbo had been a memorable experience for us.

Pictures show view of and from our hut in Mumbo.

Simon

Lilongwe

It was a smooth flight with Air Malawi to Lilongwe. We stopped first in Blantyre, the commercial hub, before a final short hop (along with the national junior football team) to the capital. The environment was green, the temperature cool, the roads good, and, as we drove in from the airport to Old Town Lilongwe, we felt that we could have been in any first world country. No sign of the poverty which we know exists out there in the villages of Malawi.

We have spent Saturday looking around the city. It is mostly a collection of modern shopping centres, embassies and government buildings. It feels like a showcase and everything is very expensive - U.S. prices. We wonder how representative it is of the rest of the country. Tomorrow we may find out. We will be travelling out of town to Lake Malawi, the country's scenic highlight. We expect to stay a few days there.

Simon

Zanzibar paradise

So nice. Zanzibar is a paradise island. The main island is comprised of a main city with a historic district called Stone Town, and then lots of beaches around the island with resorts and bungalows right on the sand.
We couldn't decide which resort to go to, so we stayed 4 nights in a small hotel in Stone Town. We divided our days between walking and getting lost in the maze of narrow streets in Stone Town, and hiring a car to take us to the beach. The island is not too large and the main roads are sealed, so we didn't have to drive more than 1.5 hours to reach some spots that felt isolated. In the end, nothing is too isolated: yesterday we were relaxing in a beach to the north and under a neighboring umbrella we bumped onto a Canadian couple that climbed Kilimanjaro with us.
There is a large number of tourists in Zanzibar; the place has developed around foreign tourism. But it still feels a little untouched in places, and it is very beautiful. In comparison, Lamu in Kenya is some years behind, and so it makes for a less developed destination where you find less tourists around.
So we worked on our suntan for a couple of days under a blue sky, on white sand, with occasional dips in turquoise water. On Friday we took the first ferry back to Dar es Salaam, picked up our passports from Mozambique's embassy, and headed to the airport. Here we are, waiting for our Air Malawi flight that will take us to Lilongwe. We spent exactly a month between Kenya and Tanzania, but we did so many things that it feels like much longer. We'll miss both of them.
Mercedes

Dar Es Salam

After climbing Kilimanjaro, we needed to put our feet up for a while. What better way than sitting on a bus ... so on Sunday we took the 10 hour journey from Arusha to Dar es Salam. We were pleasantly surprised. Unlike our other bus experiences in Africa so far, this one was entirely on sealed roads in a late model air-conditioned coach. Very comfortable and we both slept a lot. But the scenery we passed by was worth staying awake for. The landscape was very diverse. Hot, dusty plains merged suddenly into fertile rice paddies and then into plantations of various crops that we couldn't always identify. And there seemed to be bush-clad mountain ranges in abundance. We soon realised that our expectation that the whole of Tanzania looked like the Serengeti was very much misconceived. It is a far richer landscape than we had assumed.

We reached the outskirts of Dar after about 9 hours. Dar is Tanzania's largest city (though not the capital) and it spreads for miles. We finally reached the city centre in darkness and found somewhere to stay for the night.

Next day we were able to appreciate Dar a little more with the benefit of daylight. As we moved around the city in pursuit of various tasks such as onward visa applications and flight bookings, we began to be attracted by its cultural diversity. The people in the streets were of all colors and religious beliefs and dressed in a wide range of clothing - from the most conservative robes to the most fashionable jeans and T-shirts. Unlike Nairobi, there were virtually no suits. The downtown area was a collection of colonial period low-rise and modern high rise buildings and bordered a large district of embassies and NGOs. There was even a building for the state Parliament although it was unclear what it was doing in Dar when the capital is in Dodoma.

Once we were done with our tasks in Dar, we boarded a fast ferry for the 2 hour trip to Zanzibar where we arrived late on Monday evening.

Simon

Kilimanjaro - The Longer Version

We had Kilimanjaro on the list of things to do in Africa, not only because it is the continent's highest peak but also because it is one of the few high peaks around the world which can be done without technical climbing skills. But it was still no walk in the park and required the services of a guide and support crew - including a cook and numerous porters to carry the extensive wardrobes which each of us were taking to the top.

This was all relatively easy to organise and we set off from Arusha last Monday in a Landrover loaded with gear and people. There are numerous routes to the top of Kili. We had chosen the Marangu route, the best developed of all, and we reached the starting point at Marangu gate (1,900 metres) after a couple of hours drive. Then there were lots of formalities to complete, hefty park fees to pay and a repack of all the gear so that each porter had a sensible amount, whether on his back, in his hand and/or on his head. Finally we were on our way, the two of us, one guide, one cook and four porters. It was a gentle 3 hour climb through rain forest to our first overnight stop, Mandara hut at 2,700 metres. Our guide used the opportunity to teach us how to walk in the most energy efficient way - polepole (slowly, slowly) - which was to prove important on the final climb to the summit several days later.

The Mandara hut exceeded expectations. We had opted to use huts rather than camping in tents but we weren't expecting too much. In fact, the huts were a series of A-frame buildings which accommodated 4 persons each (we shared with two Morrocans) and there was a large communal dining hall where all the climbers ate the meals that their cooks prepared. Even solar powered lights in the rooms. It was pretty flash - I have hiked in many places but never before seen a hut complex that has a reception building and keys to each room. True, there were no showers or hot water (except for the small plastic basins delivered twice daily to our door), but we had conditioned ourselves to the prospect of a week without showering ... Our evening meal, like all our meals on the trip, was very sustaining - we found ourselves always with big appetites. It rained heavily at night, but wasn't too cold.

The next day dawned bright and clear and we hiked to Horombo hut at 3,700 metres. This took around 5 hours and, as we climbed higher, the environment changed from forest to open moorland. At times (as the cloud allowed) we could see the peaks of both Kili and its neigbour, Mawenzi. Kili still seemed so high and so far away. Hard to believe that we might soon be on top of it. The Horombo hut complex was much bigger than Mandara, to accommodate people coming down from the summit as well as people going up, than but still the same basic design. That night we shared our room with an Englishman - very friendly but also a very loud snorer.

After a night on which Kili's summit was dusted with fresh snow, we spent a further day at Horombo hut. This was recommended in order to get properly acclimatised to the altitude. However, the extra day was not a full rest day. We hiked nearly 5 hours to a colourful rock formation called the Zebra rocks and beyond to the foot of Mawenzi at almost 4,500 metres. No obvious ill-effects. So we figured that we were ready.

On Thursday, things started getting serious. We rose early and hiked 5 hours in the sunshine across the alpine desert to Kibo hut at 4,700 metres. This is the final camp from which attempts are made on the summit. Suddenly the summit seemed much closer. But also much higher. How were we going to get up there and back in a single journey? We arrived at the hut in the early afternoon and immediately rested. No time to take in the surrounding scenery. Then our last meal before the climb and a few more hours of sleep.

We were roused at midnight and pulled on our rented cold-weather gear. Boots, heavy jackets and pants, gloves, woollen hats. With a cup of tea to fortify us, we went out into the night to begin the ascent to the summit. It was very cold, but not as cold as we feared. And it was a beautiful clear night with the night sky full of stars. The trail became very steep almost right away - much steeper than anything we had encountered in the previous days. With only the light from our headlamps, the two of us, along with our guide and one of the porters, inched slowly up the side of the mountain. It was hard work, the trail switched sharply from side to side and the altitude made every movement a little more demanding. We could not really see where we were going - and maybe that was actually a good thing! We just focused on putting one foot in front of the other, slowly, slowly. It was not long before we met other climbers being escorted down. These were the people who found they could not go on. We did not want to be one of them. But the altitude was starting to taking its toll. First, I began to lose my sense of balance, which was quite unnerving. Then our guide became sick and had to descend, leaving us with just the porter. But the three of us carried on, one step at a time. We still thought we could do it.

After about 5 hours we reached Gilman's Point at 5,680 metres. This is the point at which the trail joins the rim of Kili's crater. But it is not the summit. It was still dark and now freezing cold. The drinking water had frozen. Others were turning back, deciding not to go on to the summit. We drank a cup of tea to try to warm up. Mercedes began to vomit. I was still struggling with balance. But we knew that the summit was only about 200 metres higher. And we had to make it. We started the trek around the crater rim towards the summit. We could see the sun just starting to come up on the horizon. The colours looked spectacular. And we had the perfect position to admire Kili's beautiful glacier, sparkling white against the brightening sky. The scenery gave us the inspiration to go on. Every metre higher seemed more effort. But now we were getting encouragement from other climbers on their way back from the summit. 15 minutes to go, they said. Then 10 minutes. We crept on. And finally, at around 7:45 am, we reached the summit. It was a tremendous feeling.

It was so cold that we only lingered a few minutes to take photos. We could not savour the occasion for very long. We were exhausted and it was still a very long way to get back down. We went back around the crater rim and began the sharp descent from Gilman's Point. With the benefit of daylight, we could see just how steep the trail was. So steep, in fact, that we didn't even try to follow all its turns. We used our trekking poles like ski poles and just slid down the mountainside on the soles of our boots, wondering all the time how we ever managed to climb up there earlier in the day. Just as well we hadn't been able to see it on the ascent - it would have been totally demoralising. The descent went on and on and on. Eventually, we could see Kibo hut, but it never seemed to be getting any closer. We stopped more and more often. We had no energy left.

And then finally we were there - back at Kibo hut where we could finally stop and think about the achievement. It was a special moment.

Simon

Kilimanjaro - hiked to the top

We made it!
After 4 days of walking uphill towards the highest peak in Africa, on the 5th we woke up at 1am and reached the summit around 7am. That last day (Friday) we started at 4700 m above sea level to reach the top at 5895 m. And then we had to walk down. Hard work, at times we weren't feeling well. Tonight we are exhausted, but enjoying that feeling of accomplishment that comes after big efforts like this one.
Mercedes

PS: to my surprise, no injuries or accidents to report so far

Tanzanian Safari Day 5 - Ngorongoro Crater

This was to be the big day of our safari since Ngorongoro is renowned as a place to see abundant wildlife at close quarters.  We set off early and descended from our hotel at the top of the crater rim to the crater floor.  The view on the descent was dramatic - the crater is much greener than the plains of Serengeti and several lakes added to the spectacle.
 
We began our drive around the crater floor, which is around 20 km in diameter.  There was wildlife everywhere, and much closer to our vehicle than had been possible in Serengeti.  In fact, the animals in the crater have become so used to tourists that they don't even bother to get out of the way of vehicles.  The lions even come and lie down beside the vehicles to enjoy the shade - I wasn't so comfortable with that, but I was assured that it is perfectly normal.
 
It was a very peaceful scene.  All types of animals grazing or sleeping as if they didn't have a care in the world.  It seemed like paradise for them.  Most of them never leave the crater - they are born there, live there and eventually die there.  So the crater is a microcosm of all the animal life in this part of Africa - the separation created by the crater walls seemed strangely artificial, almost as if we were in some massive zoo.  Except that we weren't.  This was all natural.
 
We saw most of the species that we'd encountered during the previous four days but, in most cases, much closer up than before.  And we were able to see the last of the Big 5 that had been eluding us - several examples of the rhino, albeit at some distance.  Although we are not animal fanatics, we felt compelled to snap photo after photo.
 
After four hours of driving, during which we crossed the crater floor several times, we stopped for lunch by a hippo pool.  By now, the whole crater was swarming with 4WDs of tourists (just like us) and there were traffic jams around the more interesting animals.  We wondered what the animals thought of all the tourists.  They seemed to be bored with it all.  Or did they take up good viewing positions just to watch the daily migration of tourists?  Who is watching whom?
 
One more drive across the crater after lunch, including a long period observing a rhino meandering through the plain, and then we took a precarious road up the crater wall and started back to Arusha.  It had been a memorable day.
 
Simon

PS: tomorrow we are going to a multiple day hike to Kilimanjaro (don't tell my mom), so we may be out of touch for a while. Don't miss us too much. Mercedes