Ethiopian Adventure Day 9 (Addis Ababa)

Woke up early to the sound of prayers being broadcast from the local churches, around 5 a.m. I would guess. Had breakfast with my brother and his kids and then walked with them over to the international school where I met and had coffee with several of the other parents and the school administrator. Came back and threw in a load of laundry and then did some work ahead of venturing out into Addis Ababa. 

Had lunch at the Lucy Gazebo & Restaurant with my brother Christopher and then visited the National Museum of Ethiopia in downtown Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, today! Enjoyed viewing art and artifacts associated with the history of the country and, especially, seeing the remains of the famous "Lucy" pre-human hominid that were found in the Great Rift Valley.

Ethiopian Adventure Day 6 (Lalibela/Gonder)

Woke up c. 4 a.m. but did not get up until 6, and coffee was still not available when I walked to the hotel dining room so I worked an hour or so. When I went back three groups were there, all western Europeans with demeanor somewhere between cool and rude; no one would acknowledge my greetings and avoiding eye contact and so I enjoyed my firfir and coffee alone. 

Finished packing out and my guide Daniel Shewalem picked me up at 9 and, as it was Saturday, took me to see the local agricultural market ahead of taking me to the airport for my flight to Gonder. 

Might as well have spent some more time at the market, as flight was delayed at least two hours! Met some other travelers, however — including two who had not managed to fly out the day before — and we enjoyed a coffee ceremony together and swapped stories while waiting for our plane to get in. 

Making the best of the situation with Daniel, Adriana, and Suman at the airport in Lalibela!

Ethiopian Adventure Day 5 (Lalibela)

Today my guide Daniel Shewalem and I made a 15-mile roundtrip pilgrimage to a monastery hidden within a mountaintop above the Ethiopian holy city of Lalibela. We started with a strenuous ascent to the ridge east of the city and then proceeded through highland forests of eucalyptus, agricultural fields, and little farming hamlets. We presented ourselves to the guardian monk and were honored to have him show us the relics kept within the place. Then, before descending, we repaired to a nearby workshed and enjoyed cups of freshly brewed sorghum beer! On the way down we further fortified ourselves at a mountainside coffee hut.

Back in Lalibela we had lunch at 7 OIives.

Ethiopian Adventure Day 1 (Addis Ababa)

Low key first day here in Ethiopia! Landed in the capital city of Addis Ababa about 12:55 a.m. and very quickly cleared immigration and then customs (the procedure for the latter consisting of running my suitcase through a machine on a belt and not being sure if any of the other people in the vicinity were officials or all just other passengers). My brother Chris was waiting for me in the terminal and we had a quick, 15-minute drive to his house through streets that he said were only so empty because it was late on a Sunday night and that during the day it would have taken an hour. 

After giving me a brief orientation my brother went to bed. As I was not at all tired at that point, however, I washed and then stayed up reading Cutting for Stone, a 2008 novel about a surgeon in Ethiopia, and finally turned in about 5 a.m. 

Got up late and spent early afternoon unpacking, reading source material related to my trip, and chatting with my brother. Then, later in the afternoon, visited and had a tour of the international school my niece Madeleine and nephew Conrad attend. All four of us then took a short walk and stopped for coffee (buna), something I had been looking forward to doing, it seeming especially appropriate to enjoy this favorite beverage in the country where it was first discovered. In the course of all this my seven-year-old niece regaled me with useful tips for my stay in Ethiopia (e.g., "Always carry your own toilet paper," "Always cut the first 2 inches/5 centimeters off the end of a banana" to avoid some horrible parasite that lives in them, "Always carry bug spray" when visiting historic sites because of fleas in the carpeting). 

In the evening we had dinner with my sister-in-law Laura and she and my brother briefed me on things I needed to expect on my upcoming excursions to sites in the northern half of the country (all useful but none more so than the things Madeleine had already told me). Then, after everyone else went to bed, I did some more background reading, worked on the outline for a story about my trip I am doing for the New Braunfels Herald Zeitung, and started doing research into Ethiopian folklore for an article for Gygax magazine. 

 

  
Above left, people of means in Addis Ababa tend to live in walled and gated compounds — and the decorative variety among gates is interesting to note. Because people do not want pictures of their houses posted for security concerns, however, I photographed an unfinished one as an example. Above right, Aba Guben, a cafe on South Africa Street favored by my brother and his family. Left, many of the signs in Addis Ababa are dual-language, with script in both English and the local Amharic. Below, a view from the "Old Airport" neighborhood of Addis Ababa of the Entoto Mountains, which run along the northern edge of the capitol.