My Italian Renaissance

Returning to Addis Ababa from Italy last weekend after 3 glorious, rejuvenating weeks of vacation, I found myself weeping with laughter as Angela translated the Italian instructions for the cockroach traps and mouse “glue” I had brought back with me. Not your usual tourist souvenirs to be sure!

“Put the traps in places they like. The cockroach will enter the trap through one hole and exit from another, having breathed in the poison. Do not worry if you do not see the dead cockroaches – they have 24 hours to die and may go somewhere else OR you may see them upside down with their legs in the air.” The glue is said to be strong enough to hold a rat captive – just squiggle it on a piece of paper for easy disposal. Also works for ants. I don’t think I’ll have the heart to use it as the picture shows a trapped mouse with eyes wide open! Ants in the bathroom, maybe…

Yes, if anyone had inspected my suitcase they would have found an odd assortment of items including cockroach traps, mouse/rat/ant glue, duct tape, a small bathmat, Italian dog “biscotti” and dental chews, Sicilian lemon juice in a plastic bottle, a kilo of fresh walnuts, dried cranberries and cherries and several small jars of truffle sauces and some truffle oil. Oh and I did get two new pairs of shoes…after all this was Italy!

Arriving early Saturday morning after an overnight flight from Rome, I was greeted with the usual abandon by the dogs, Titi and Pico. I have to admit I had missed them! They like their dental chews but the Italian dog “biscotti” are not such a hit – maybe because they have vitamins in them…

Angela (who is English but has lived in Italy for 30+ years) and Judy invited me round for dinner and, in addition to the hysterical translations by Angela, I gave them the highlights of my “quattro staggione” trip. Here, in a “nuts shell” (as I read in a recent missive from VSO-E – I love the way language plays out in translation) is what I told them…

First stage – A week at Lake Como

Cool fresh air, snow on the Alps framing the lake, boat rides daily to visit idyllic villages, some refreshing rain with hikes and villa visits in between, incredible gardens brilliant with azaleas and rhododendrons, fragrant mauve wisteria everywhere, an Italian a cooking class with Chef Moreno on a stormy day, good wine and pasta and pork products galore!

View from the  boat as we crossed over to Bellagio

What a relaxing way to travel, hopping on a boat for 10 minutes to get to another small town, enjoying views of fresh snow on the Alps

The gardens of Villa Carlotta

Making pasta for ravioli and fettucini with Chef Moreno at Il Caminetto high up on the mountainside in his tiny village populated, if I remember correctly, by 82 people

Interior detail of the Como Cathedral

Lakeside cappuccino after a vigorous hike along the Lake Como Greenway. A surprising benefit of living 7 months at 2300 meters above sea level is that I was almost never out of breath even on steep inclines, and believe me, there were many steep inclines and stairs on this vacation!

Like this climb up to Varenna’s castle tower, looking back to where we stayed for the week on a hotel right on the water

The view was worth the effort!

An olive grove

Wisteria perfumed our walks through the gardens of many villas around the lake

After another steep climb Canadian friends Judy and Sharon wave from the source of the shortest river, charmingly named “Fume latte” (foaming milk)

After sampling so many local delicacies we named our selves the “Wild Boar Tour Group” . Well  fortified, we packed for a short train ride, via Milan to Comogli for stage two of our journey

Onward to the crashing surf of the Mediterranean on the Ligurian Coast

Crashing ocean waves, refreshing salt air, pastel trompe l’oeil houses cozied against each other on the hillsides, lots and lots of steps, seafood and pesto and more good wine, an enchanting baroque cathedral, wonderful hiking, a day trip to Genoa for some art and a palace visit and a visit to nearby Chiavari by train.

Yes this was our longest and steepest hike and worth every step to eat seafood and pasta overlooking pounding surf while sipping white wine. Oh yes, we did have to walk back after lunch but it always seems shorter on the way home…

Since 1952 Camogli has hosted an annual  Sagre del Pesce (Fish Feast) that attracts thousands of people to enjoy local fish deep fried in mesh baskets set in the giant frying pan

Fresh from the seas of  Italy’s Ligurian coast!

Sunset over the ocean +  fresh sea air + seafood with pasta and crisp white wine  = Paradise!

On a day when rain was  forecast we trained into Genoa for some indoor gallery and palace viewing,including a climb up for a rooftop view of the old port city,  followed, naturally, by an excellent lunch

The massive baroque cathedral in Camogli enchanted us, especially when all the chandeliers were lit

We were lulled to sleep each night by the music of the sea

Pasta with a view. Pesto is a specialty of Liguria and here I sampled the traditional pesto on hand made trenette pasta

After four delightful days at Comogli, it was time for some city life!

Stage three: Florence – Epicenter of the Italian renaissance 

Uffizi Gallery with Rick Steves commentary on my iPhone to guide me to the highlights, Pitti Palace and Boboli Gardens, Santo Spirito church, supermarket forays for provisions to take back to Addis, the Duomo in late afternoon sunlight, Duomo museum sculptures, super Tuscan red wine and fabulous food, including pasta with wild boar and beef filet with blue cheese and radicchio, street markets for bargains and a new pair of shoes!

The Duomo of Florence in late afternoon light

Sculpted reliefs in the Duomo Museum

Crossing the Arno River with the sun going down

Lusting after lettuces and radishes at a street market

Florence seen from the Boboli Gardens overlooking the Pitti Palace

Poseidon is still fishing

Trip finale – Roma!

Decadent lunch of truffles with pasta prepared 3 ways, walking around being reminded of how amazing Rome is with the piazzas, fountains, art and sculptures everywhere, off on my own for a walk around Trastevere, a working class neighbourhood that felt more like home (Commercial Drive in Vancouver, Canada) than anywhere else I had been. A pit stop at the Pantheon and on to Campo di Fiore market to acquire nuts and dried fruits to take back to supplement my Addis diet, finale at the Roman forum for a taste of history followed by a long lunch and a visit to Piazza Navona to photograph a Bernini sculpture – “Moor Wrestling with a Dolphin” that one guide book claimed is of an Ethiopian.

I had no idea truffles could be so delicious – we ordered one of each to share and came back another day for more!

Trevi Fountain from the perspective of the souvenir statues…

In Trastevere there is an old cafe with this sign, said to be Ethiopian women greeting Italian sailors disembarking at the port of Massawa in Abysinnia in 1880.  Little did they realize the Italians would be soundly defeated by the Ethiopians at the Battle of Adwa in 1896… The cafe was closed so I could not check if they served injera but certainly the Italians left a pasta legacy in Ethiopia!

Approaching the Roman forum through the lens of a poppy

We spent the morning back in Roman times, wandering the site while listening to an enlightening commentary by Rick Steves. Flowers, including poppies, are still being placed on the spot where Julius Caesar’s body was burned

Piazza Navona has “Fountain of the Moor” with a Bernini sculpture of an Ethiopian wrestling with a dolphin

These days the pigeons are the winners here, comfortably nesting all over the art!

After three weeks away, I am happy to be back “home” in Addis Ababa feeling rejuvenated. My first day back at work, I found myself sitting in a meeting at the conference center in the UN Compound with Ministry of Education colleagues and representatives from Italy and two of Ethiopia’s four emerging regions to discuss a $500,000 project funded by the Italian government to support education for girls.The project has the overall goal of retaining girls in lower secondary schools and increasing their learning outcomes in the Afar and Benishangul-Gumuz regions. It will be overseen by UNESCO/IICBA and we will have some involvement as it unfolds. Pasta and injera were on the lunch buffet!

Media advances “the girl effect” in small town Ethiopia

Veering off the asphalt road down a bumpy, dusty track I had no idea what to expect this Saturday morning. I had been invited to travel with Yeshi, my VSO Program Manager, Jacqueline, a sister VSO volunteer working in the health sector and our visiting British parliamentarian Baroness Tessa Blackstone, to learn about Girl Hub: Catalyzing the Girl Effect Ethiopia,  a project run  by BBC Media Action.

After working at the head office of the Ministry of Education for weeks in front of a computer, this field trip was the refreshing and re-energizing boost I needed to remind me of why I agreed to come here for two years to work as Gender Adviser in the first place.

Once we were off the main road we enjoyed the open landscape and wondered where on earth the camels were leading us…

About 60 km south of Addis Ababa, past Debre Zeit/Bishoftu  we arrived at  our destination – Godino Primary school is in a village of about 4000 people. We were warmly greeted by a crew of vibrant young people working with a local partner NGO to stage the event

A media truck with the logo of the organization waited outside the classroom to ensure that the technology worked for the screenings – it always helps to have your own “techies” along. I expect a side benefit of this project is that many young people are developing skills that will serve them well in a country that is desperately short of people able to use/repair computers, sound systems and projectors

The logo in Afan Oromo, the language of the Oromo region. This project is designed to tell the stories of Ethiopian girls and women who have shown immense strength and resilience despite the challenges they face and to encourage community attitudes that value education for girls

We were ushered into a classroom for a pre-screening discussion with about four dozen community leaders

While we could not understand the language, the female leader was clearly doing a very effective job of eliciting responses to questions, drawing people out and listening respectfully as community leaders shared their thoughts on the status of girls and women in their village

Next, the video She is a Hero! was shown, introducing viewers to four inspiring women’s stories of individual empowerment; two were from the Oromia region where we were today and two from the Amhara region. Overcoming great odds, each of the four tell, in their own voices, of their determination to succeed and what they have done for themselves, without outside support, to accomplish their goals. Each is an inspiring story of inner strength used to overcome great challenges. It was especialy meaningful for this village because one of the hero’s stories was of 17 year old Natsenet. She was about to be wedded at an early age but refused and insisted on continuing her education

Later, I found out online that the Vision for the Girl Hub is:  “To create an environment that enables girls to build their capacity and aspiration so they can break the cycle of inter-generational poverty. It’s a big idea with big impacts and we call it the ‘Girl Effect’. Our job is to unleash this by transforming policies to better cater for girls and using powerful communications to amplify their voices, inspire them to demand change and educate society to their value. We are already active in Rwanda, Northern Nigeria and Ethiopia, through dedicated country hubs.”

I also found an excellent blog  titled Girl Empowerment through Stories by an Addis woman  who has been involved in the project.  Here is an excerpt:

” Girl Hub is an innovative public-private partnership between the UK Government’s Department for International Development (DFID) and the Nike Foundation. Girl Hub inspires adolescent girls, developing world decision makers and donors to transform poverty by unleashing the girl effect at scale”

To watch a powerful animation illustrating the impact of an education on a girl’s life, click on The Girl Effect now!

As the video ended a poised and confident young woman stepped forward. Tirunesh is originally from Gondor and hers was one of the stories featured in the video. She is now doing an internship to complete her vocational training and supports herself to be economicaly independent by recycling rubbish and washing clothes. She had refused to become a child bride.

I have been reading much abut the issue of child brides/ and early marriage and the multi-pronged approaches that are being taken to decrease this harmful traditional practice in Ethiopia. And here was someone who had the determination to choose her own path and share her story to inspire others, grounding the theory I had been reading about in real life practice.

At the end, Baroness Tessa Blackstone was introduced and offered encouragement and appreciation for the project

And a special hug for Tirunesh

While my VSO Program Manager Yeshihareg Damte looked on…

BBC Media Action project manager Salem Ayalew, our guide for this field trip, ushered us on to anther room at the school for part two of the process, showing us the workbooks that are given to the girls at the “Girls Only” screening and discussion. These illustrated “She is a Hero” workbooks enable girls to reflect on what they have seen and to articulate their own hopes and dreams for the future

“She is a hero” says the slogan

Inside we found a large crowd of expectant and happy girls waiting for the program to begin…

A few words of encouragement for the girls!

The message is clear and the process well thought out – I was impressed by this use of media to share empowering stories and the way the girls were supported to take inspiration from their own home grown “heros” and create connections to their own hopes and dreams

Energetic, enthusiastic and articulate  Selam Ayalew is the Program Manager for BBC Media Action

Hope for the future!

As we strolled back though the village, people were sorting sugar cane and animals roamed about…

And rural life carried on as is has for generations. Sometimes I wonder, when I hear the stories of what these young women face, how they can smile so readily. There are many more stories of resilience that could be told, I expect…and possibly what happened here today will make a difference in the lives of many other girls

On the mini-bus back to Addis, Salem filled in some gaps for me, explaining that the finale of the day will be an outdoor community screening on a huge screen. This process has been replicated in about 50+ towns in Amhara and Oromia and at times over a thousand enthusiastic community members have shown up to watch, often demanding to see the video twice. I am told that the conversations that result from this use of media to tell real stories of girls and women from their communities are rich and challenging. One small step toward creating a better world for girls. Bravo!

Despite the long bumper-to-bumper ride through dense polluting traffic back to the big city, I ended the afternoon with deep appreciation for the opportunity to witness this event. And above all, hopeful.

Men make coffee for women’s celebration at Debre Birhan CTE!

The overflow crowd was in full, raucous swing when I arrived in Debre Birhan by minibus from Addis Ababa late morning on March 8th to participate in the Debre Birhan College of Teacher Education International Women’s Day festivities. VSO volunteers Maeve and Fatima had facilitated the event with the help of a gender project grant from the VSO Ethiopia office and Aynie, the teacher’s college Gender Officer had worked with the student Gender Club to organize quite an extravaganza!

Entering the hall, I was startled to see a male student performing the coffee ceremony; I had only seen this done by females. In a country  where traditional gender roles remain firmly entrenched, this was quite a radical symbolic message for the college students and staff!

I sat back and enjoyed the lively ending of the morning session and then joined the organizers for a lovely lunch of fish goulash before the second session began that afternoon. An open invitation had been issued to staff and students to attend the event and clearly this was the place to be on campus on March 8th, 2012!

Slogans are very popular here and there were several colourful messages on display – roughly translated this one says “Women must be organized to increase their participation for the enhancement of the country’s Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP)”. The GTP the five year plan of the Ethiopian government for the development of the country from 2010-2015.

College Gender Officer,W/ro Aynie Belete welcomed the overflow crowd to the afternoon session with a brief history of International Women’s Day and then turned the microphone over to Vice Dean Ato Fekadu for a few official words of welcome.

Vice Dean Ato Fekadu with Aynie. Behind are VSO volunteers Fatima and Maeve

Dean Ato Mamoye had opened the morning session; both senior managers are very supportive of the work of the gender club and the VSO volunteers. Maeve is an Irish volunteer who has been working on special needs education initiatives for the past two years and Fatima recently arrived from England for a two year placement  with the English Language Improvement Center (ELIC)

The first guest speaker was W/ro Bayush, a young female prosecutor who explained the importance of women’s legal rights and emphasized the fact that equality and affirmative action are in the country’s constitution. She also mentioned that Ethiopia had signed the Convention for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) guaranteeing equality for females and presented the arguments for justice for all.

“Research, education and work cannot be separated”

Next up was a quiz prepared by the Gender Club. While I couldn’t understand most of the Amharic, I was told it focused on cultural words about women and aimed to break down gender stereotypes. The students had designed an elaborate questioning and tallying system involving a panel plus some audience participation. They seemed very pleased with the responses. A good time was had by all!

The quiz masters do their thing…while Maeve takes their photo

Males and females participate in the gender club…

I was next on the agenda. With Millennium Development Goal #3: Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment as my theme, I introduced my flower metaphor to a the somewhat perplexed but cooperative crowd – teaching is still predominantly lecture method in Ethiopia and some student’s found the idea of drawing a picture of a flower and putting their names in the center quite a challenging concept. My plan was to have each one think of challenges they face around gender issues, assess their own strengths, write down some of their hopes and dreams for the future and consider the support network they have to achieve their dreams. Well, that was the plan…

Out into the crowd with the mic, channeling my inner talk show host, I took responses to the “challenges” petal on the flower.

Students brought up the following challenges:

• Sexual harassment
• Early marriage and abduction
• Unequal participation
• Unequal opportunities
• FGM and other harmful traditional practices
• Rape
• Female inferiority complexes/lack of confidence

We could have spent a lot more time exploring these issues…but time was pressing so I moved on to have them share their hopes and dreams for the future with the people beside them.

My closing key messages focused on how women’s empowerment benefits development and that as future teachers they are in a very important position to support and encourage their female students to stay in school and reach their full potential. You are the future of the country.Summarizing the flower metaphor for women’s empowerment with a mention of the meaning of Bread and Roses. Aynie translates for me…and no doubt helps it all make much more sense!

In retrospect, this was a ridiculously ambitious thing to do in half an hour in two languages… but we had fun and the applause was loud when I said Betam Amaseganalou (thank you very much) to close!

And then, as if on cue, a huge loaf of bread (dabbo) appeared in front of the red flower centerpiece on the head table!

Bread and roses, Ethiopian style!

Future teachers enjoying themselves!

As the music teacher played, students were served bread, soft drinks and kollo

It is an honour to be asked to cut the bread…

Fatima helps dish up the kollo. Grains such as barley, wheat or sorghum are toasted and served as a nutritious and very popular snack – sometime a few peanuts are also added to the mix

The scent of the traditional frankincense wafted through the room – a sure sign the coffee was soon to be served

I had a chat with the young man performing the afternoon coffee ceremony

“Why are you doing the coffee ceremony?” I asked

“They are amazed that a boy is doing it because it is expected to be only done by females. I am doing this to set an example for them.” he responded

What is your name?

“Fitamlak” he said …and it means justice!”

Right on!

Preparing coffee over a charcoal burner for a crowd is a lot of hard work!

One of the tutors, Meseret, read her poem. It explored the rights of women at the college and emphasized the value of education for females

Poetry written for special occasions is an important tradition here and I am always impressed by the passion and confidence of the readers. Judging by the laughter and applause the audience loved it!

Technical support from the music teacher assured there was a smooth transition…

The next speaker was college psychology instructor Ato Yared who briefly highlighted the differences between sex and gender, gender bias and gender roles and made an optimistic point that while there has been a wide gender gap in Ethiopia that there have been incremental improvements in recent years. Using a “Gapped Lecture” method, he posed questions to the audience and there was a lively exchange in response to “Is there any gender bias at the college?

Another poem was read and then it was time for some assertiveness training

W/ro Birhane presented a short PowerPoint on key steps to assertiveness

“Educational problems must be solved within the culture/society”

Students enjoying the celebration – wish I could have asked them for some quotes…it is so important for the females of Ethiopia to have their voices heard and I expect events such as this will help them increase their confidence to speak up! Certainly this successful event provided a lot of stimulating food for future discussions on gender issues…and sowed some seeds of empowerment!

Happy International Women’s Day from Debre Birhan College of Teacher Education!

Let’s create a system of gender equality within the society!!

Lalibela’s Ben Abeba restaurant tops the world!

If awards were given out for the best restaurant with a view in Ethiopia, Ben Abeba would surely win the gold medal. On the outskirts of Lalibela, 2500 breathtaking meters above sea level atop Chul Amba mountain, this new restaurant opened in October 2011 and has been a hit from day one with both tourists and locals. Almost every man, woman or child in Lalibela seems to be on a first name basis with Susan and will cheerfully and proudly point the way to Ben Abeba located just a short (15-20 minute) walk from the famous rock-hewn churches in the town center.

Scottish volunteer doctors and nurses enjoy their sunset dinner after doing cataract surgery on almost 214 patients in a 6-day period! Ben Abeba has quickly become a meeting place for tourists, volunteers, ex-pats and Ethiopian locals thanks to Susan’s gregarious nature and gracious hosting. The choice is yours to select a quiet spot or join strangers around the campfire as the evening unfolds…

A dream come true for retired Scottish Home Economics teacher and her Ethiopian business partner Habtam, Ben Abeba (Ben means hill in Scottish and Abeba is flower in Amharic hence “Hill of Flowers”), it took two years for their vision to be realized. I was fortunate to see it at the half built point last May when Shelagh and I took a mini-vacation from Woldia.

Susan surveys her domain!

We had been introduced via mobile phone to Susan by one of the teachers in my class at Woldia College of Teacher Education, Ato Gubena, who said “You must meet the ferenji woman in Lalibela”. Susan not only arranged some reasonably priced accommodation for us, she invited us to dinner and introduced us to an Irish woman who supports a street youth NGO and visits every vacation and a Scottish tourist who had just spent an enjoyable week horseback riding down south! We had a delicious, delightful wine infused evening swapping stories, with topics including how Susan had come a few years back to open an alternative basic education school for a friend and had decided Lalibela was where she wanted to settle. Turning the school over to local management after a couple of years, she needed a new challenge and Ben Abeba was conceived. The Irish guest regaled us with a description of how hard it really is to herd a goat – she had negotiated a good price that afternoon for her goat to be served at a feast for her NGO and had thought it would be simple enough just to walk it into town a couple of kilometers. Apparently much easier said than done!

Ben Abeba under construction in May 2011

Next evening just before sunset Habtam and Susan took us to the Ben Abeba building site and I absolutely knew I would have to return to see the finished restaurant. Their dream was to open a quality, sustainable restaurant where local youth could learn how to cook, serve, clean and manage the business. This January, accompanied by a visiting friend, I made my much anticipated return…

Designed by the same creative Addis Ababa architects involved in the Kiriftu resorts, the structure is made of local rock and wood and spirals up several levels with water features built in and around the center points. The crowning glory is three “flowers” at the top, named the “Zaff Tree Terrace” where diners can enjoy 360 degree views of the surrounding mountains and the crop fields and villages below.

The rippling path of eucalyptus logs sets the stage for a unique experience…

Zaff Tree Terrace

Sunsets are on special every night from 5:30-6:30!

To dine at Ben Abeba is to experience being inside a lovely sculpture. Serving staff are proud to practice their customer service skills and English on their foreign guests and they get a great workout running up and down to the various dining levels at the same time. Tips are pooled and everyone on staff has been enjoying monthly bonuses thanks to the generosity of happy customers!

Even the toilets are works of art (all 6 of them) and a full time staffer ensures they are impeccable – a rare treat in Ethiopia!

Lalibela, a world heritage site and major Ethiopian tourist attraction has some higher end tourist hotels but from my experience I have found they tend to offer predictable and mediocre fare for high prices. The Ben Ababa menu has a limited but high quality selection of both Ethiopian and international items based on what is in season locally, with specials featured each day, at reasonable prices. “Procure locally, prepare globally” could be their motto!

The first night my friend and I visited we enjoyed tasty beef stew with yummy mashed potatoes and perfectly al dente carrots and beets. Next night we savoured fat, succulent meatballs in a rich herb infused tomato sauce. Pasta with the same tomato sauce would be a hearty vegetarian alternative. The lentil soup is said to be fabulous and filling. Shepherd’s pie is on the menu rotation, very appropriate given the setting where countless shepherds are tending their flocks below! Comforting food for those craving a taste of good home cooking.

Attractive local black pottery serving dishes for the beef casserole and accompaniments

For lunch we enjoyed nicely spiced fish cakes with a colourful array of crisp, flavourful salads. Salads, often off limits to tourists fearing stomach upsets, are safe here. At Ben Abeba, Susan makes sure all raw vegetables/salad greens are washed properly in purified water.

Desserts are few and far between in most of Ethiopia’s restaurants outside of Addis Ababa but here one can always find a tasty fruit salad drizzled with warm local honey or yogurt (or both!). On our first night, the special banana crepes with lomi sauce were a tart-sweet dessert treat. Lomi are small bright green local limes that for some inexplicable reason people here call lemons.

Susan whips up a batch of scones to satisfy the cravings of two Belgian women who had been hiking in the local mountains. The accompanying jam was made from a melange of local fruits. This is the only place I have met a scone in the year and half I have lived in Ethiopia!

Ethiopian food is available too and coffee ceremonies can be booked for tour groups. A selection of beers and wines are on offer along with local favourites Tella ( beer) and Tej (honey wine).

Five thousand fruit trees, including mango, papaya, avocado, apple and guava have been planted on the property and the coffee plants are flourishing; eventually these will provide all the restaurant’s coffee and fresh fruit juices. An herb garden has been established to supply fresh flavour bursts. Early on, 30,000 trees were planted on the mountainside below the site to prevent erosion and attract bird/wildlife back to the area. The meat couldn’t be fresher – goats and sheep graze calmly nearby enjoying their last meal before they become yours!

Arrangements have been made with local villagers down below to provide vegetables

Medage Terrace -  lovely spot to contemplate the majestic Lasta mountain range

Cooks are cheerful and keen to please their guests, learning under Susan’s able tutelage the necessary skills of menu planning, food preparation and presentation, budgeting,  portion and quality control,  food safety and sanitation and time management

KItchen with a view – no wonder everyone from the cooks to dishwashers are so happy to work here. Not only is the view awesome but the kitchen is efficiently designed and stocked with state of the art equipment to make cooking a pleasure!

A local couple celebrated their wedding while we were there – a delightful surprise bonus for my friend visiting from Canada and for other tourists who happened to be there that afternoon

Wedding photographer arranges the shot beside the pond while tourists capture their own memories!

During our time at Ben Abeba we met independent tourists and tour groups from Australia, Holland, Belgium, USA, France, Poland, Spain, Austria and Italy. Everyone from rugged back-packers to those on luxury tours can find common ground at Ben Abeba!

Imagine the tales that Susan could tell if she fancied writing her memoir!

Once the sun sets, fires are lit and people gather round to chat with other guests or dine/sip by firelight

Lalibela lacks public transport but if guests have not got a way home, Habtam, who also owns Treasure Transport and is affiliated with Tesfa Tours will cheerfully drive folks back to their hotels for a minimal charge.

I so admire people who dream big and follow through with grounded planning and implementation to achieve results. Habtam and Susan have succeeded and are justifiably proud of Ben Abeba. What a legacy this will be for the youth of Lalibela and for tourism development in Ethiopia. And while it is still a work in progress (more railings and windows coming soon!), Susan already talks of building her own traditional round Tukul house nearby and possibly several others to rent as guest houses.  Who says retirement is boring? I can’t wait to return!

Tourism in Ethiopia: Awra Amba, Bahir Dar and Debre Zeit- Bishoftu

“I think the woman sitting beside me didn’t like the smell of me”,  Carol confided when we got off the crowded local bus coming back from Debre Zeit to Addis.

“Why, what makes you think that?” I asked.

“Well she took a lime, massaged it and sucked all the juice out of it. Then she carefully peeled all the rind off and rolled it into balls and stuck them up her nostrils”.

“Oh no, it is not you – I can explain that…”  I said, pleased that I had some new cross cultural insight to share with my friend. Read to the end of the blog to find out what I told her…

This final installment of my vacation with Carol includes three stops – the utopian community of Awra Amba, the resort town of Bahir Dar on Ethiopia’s largest lake, Lake Tana and finally an overnight trip south of Addis to the crater lake town of Debre Zeit (Mount of Olives) also called Bishoftu at the edge of the Rift Valley.

To begin this last leg of our adventure, we traveled by rented van from Gondor (flying there in the morning from Lalibela) to Bahir Dar. We made a stop on the way to visit the  Awra Amba community located in the south Gondor zone. Last year my friend Nejashi, the Woldia College of Teacher Education history teacher, had shown me a video about this unique community founded 40 years ago (1972) by Ato Zumra. Since it is a place where gender equality is practiced, and I am after all working here as a Gender Adviser at the Ethiopian Ministry of Education, I was keen for us to see it.

What is unusual about this photo? Well men are spinning cotton, a job traditionally only done by women in Ethiopia

Dr Zumra has been given an honorary doctorate from Bahir Dar University in recognition of his life work.

“I wanted to live in a place where men and women are equal and where religion does not dictate the way we live. I wanted to live in a society free of conflict, and full of peace and love”.

We had the chance to have a short audience with Dr Zumra and I asked him what had motivated him. He told me as a child he observed how women and children were mistreated and old people abandoned and he asked himself many questions including “why should women be treated like slaves?”. In Awra Amba they do not follow any religious denomination but do believe in a creator. Guiding principles include no marriage before age 18, no gender discrimination, no harmful traditional practices (including female genital mutilation), everyone contributes their labour equally to the community, based on their ability, old people and disabled persons are entitled to an equal share of the community production. Alcohol, drugs, theft, gossip, adultery and polygamy are forbidden. Lavish weddings and funerals are not practiced, mothers get maternity leave and members are assisted in times of need.

The community of 462 people survives by selling their weaving and by working a small parcel of land. All male and female members take part in the work based on their abilities and interests, rather then whether they are male or female

Elders are housed in a simple but meticulously clean house with their own small bed nooks. They are cared for by all members of the community, who take turns cleaning their quarters and feeding them

An environmentally friendly injera stove has been designed for each individual household. Venting prevents indoor charcoal smoke pollution and it remains soot free. The design allows wots (stews) to cook while the injera is being made, thereby doubling energy efficiency

Education is a top priority for the community and they are very proud of their library

Adult literacy and schooling from Kindergarten to Secondary are all fully supported. The Primary school on their property includes members of the surrounding community and a secondary school is under construction. Many of their young people who have gone on to university return to offer their skills in the small medical clinic and with agricultural advice, teaching, etc.

Weaving shop at Awra Amba sells lovely blankets and scarves

A tour of the community costs a reasonable 6 Birr (36 cents CDN) per person and woven blankets and scarves are for sale in their small shop at fair prices. There is also a building with 14 rooms to accommodate overnight visitors at 25 Birr each. We were told about 6000 people visit the community annually.

As our mini-van rattled its way out back to the main asphalt road along the very rough and rocky dirt track, we enjoyed a bucolic scene of oxen threshing the grain in a traditional crop circle

Next stop was Bahir Dar on Lake Tana. At a much lower altitude, it is quite a bit warmer and has a tropical feel with plenty of shady palm trees planted along the main road.

The Ghion Hotel, long past its best before date with torn mosquito nets, mildewed bathrooms and less than acceptable plumbing, nevertheless has the most beautiful gardens with magnificent giant ficus trees aflutter with birds and colourful, sumptuous flower beds. A great place for a cool drink or a coffee and to arrange a boat tour to the monasteries…

Tourist boats waiting for their customers in the early morning sun

A major tourist attraction of Bahir Dar is boat tours to the many (20+) island and peninsula monasteries on Lake Tana, many of them dating from the 14th century. We chose to visit three of them.

Our first stop was at a monastery inhabited by 30+ nuns on a tiny peaceful island.

Entos Eyusus Monastery

Inside the church

Museum that houses their treasured silver cross

I was pleased with this photo, taken of the small papaya tree, but turning out to be so much more layered and to have a bird I had not noticed when I took the picture! It reminds me of the Chinese proverb - “Keep a green tree in your heart, maybe a singing bird will come.”

Papyrus boats are a familiar sight on Lake Tana, often heavily loaded like this one. We were told this man would paddle for many hours to town to sell his load of wood and then back home loaded with goods, a major workout!

The next monastery is one of the most famous on the lake due to it’s elaborate and extensive paintings.

Ura Kidane Mihret on the Zege peninsula

The entire circular interior of the church is covered floor to rafters in colourful paintings

Painting continues to this day…

Each monastery has a small museum full of treasures such as old texts, ornate umbrellas, crosses, garments, etc.

After running the gauntlet of sellers of tourist goods (miniature papyrus boats are a specialty) along the pathway back to the boat, we headed for the source of the Blue Nile and our last church.

Walking to the church we passed a garden of inter-planted khat and cabbages and some interesting graves

And coffee berries reddening on the bushes…

It is said the rocks for the inner rectangular part of this church were carried by donkey all the way from Jerusalem. The outer circular church was later built around the original church

These decorative chimes create lovely music when the breezes blow

The museum of Tana Hike Debre Maryam monastery has a menorah, reminding us of the Jewish history in Ethiopia

We passed many papyrus plants as we headed back, the guide a bit sorry he didn’t find us any hippos. But don’t worry, we’ll get to them later!

Next morning we toured around Bahir Dar, a bustling city that is the capital of the Amhara region. Friendly folks at the Tourist Information Office provided us with a helpful map of the town and we enjoyed a wander around the huge and colourful market.

Attractive back pottery is common throughout Ethiopia

This is what was in season in Bahir Dar in January

We decided after one uncomfortable (but very inexpensive!) night at the Ghion to treat ourselves to the luxury of the Kiriftu Resort for a change.

Situated right on the lake, it is a lovely setting to enjoy some pampering with massages, manicure/pedicure, breakfast buffet and dinner all included in the room rate…

Not to mention the fabulous pool!

Local bread baked in false banana leaves (enset) served with various hot sauces make for some pretty fine dining

That afternoon we took a tourist bus tour to see the Nile Falls. This was our only serious mistake on the whole trip.

Nile falls trickle! They say mornings have a bit more water…

Last May when Shelagh and I visited the Nile Falls there was much more water and we enjoyed an 8 km hike around, viewing the falls from various angles and imagining what a sight it must have been before the 1/2 km wide falls had been diverted for hydro-electric projects. We also enjoyed our adventure on the local buses to and fro, distracted from the bad road by chatting with locals.

This time the trip was on a hot and crowded minivan of fellow tourists over a very bumpy and dusty road for over an hour each way. Leaving late in the afternoon, we had little time to hike around so simply walked to the falls and back. Our interesting guide and friendly fellow tourists saved the day, and, though the sunset was amazing from the bus window, it was a bit hairy going the rest of the way in the dark, something tourists are advised never to do…

I was happy with my photo of what I call the “Dancing Tree”

And I was pleased to chat with this delightful young woman who is training to be a tour guide, one of the only females in a class of about 50. Nowhere so far, except Awra Amba did we have a female guide. It would be a welcome “New Style” as her t-shirts suggests to see some gender parity in the Ethiopian tourism industry!

Acting on a tip from a VSO colleague, I called up Hailu and arranged for us to take a sunset boat trip to watch birds the next evening. This turned out to be a major highlight of our vacation! We spent about 2 1/2 hours on the water and it just got more and more fabulous as the sun began to set.

We headed across Lake Tana to the marshy area where the Blue Nile river begins and immediately spotted swirls of large birds circling overhead. Hailu is a dedicated bird watcher who has been mentored by a British man who gave him a laminated bird brochure that was very helpful. I would highly recommend him – anyone interested can email me (See the “Contact Marian”page  on this blog) and I will provide his mobile number!

We were treated to a bizarre sight – cattle wading up to their necks in the marsh, accompanied by piggybacking egrets and numerous smaller birds

Birds small and large! This yellow lily pad walker is possibly a yellow wagtail according to my VSO colleagues/expert birder  consultants Peter and Brenda

These are great cormorants and long tailed cormorants

Heron

Possibly a squacco heron

Black crowned (crested)  cranes are huge!

Just when we thought it couldn’t get any better we were treated to hippos! Keeping a safe distance in the boat, we watched their antics. I didn’t manage to get a snap of any with their mouths open but trust me, they are humungous!

As the sun got lower more and more birds came in to roost on the trees – here comes a sacred ibis!

And settle on the sandbars

I only wish we had had time to go on the early morning trip to watch the birds at dawn – maybe next time!

We flew back to Addis next day and then after a pause for a day of rest we took the local buses (3) to Debre Zeit about 50 km south of Addis for a final night of luxury in the Debre Zeit Kiriftu Resort. It cost us 14 Birr (84 cents) to get there. When I asked at the resort if they had a shuttle to Addis they said yes, it was $40.00 US! Yes, you can spend a lot in Ethiopia if you want to be cushioned from the hot dusty local bus rides but think of what you would be missing. The lime incident for example…but I digress.

The Kiriftu Resort and Spa at Debre Zeit (the town is also called by its Oromo name, Bishoftu) was lovely, right on a small lake with a fabulous large dining room (though with an identical menu to the one in Bahir Dar…we knew it well!)  right above the lake and alive with birds.

This pied kingfisher entertained us by fishing right above where we were enjoying our lunch

One issue that surfaces in Ethiopia is the use of credit cards – there are very few places that take them and those that do often cannot get through on the machine. I am not sure if it is due to slow internet connections, the bank that they go though or what but is is very nerve wracking to spend a lot of time going back and forth to the front desk to try and try again to pay the bill. Carrying a lot of Birr is advisable, just in case. I amused the desk clerk in Lalibela by ululating with joy when the machine finally accepted my VISA card!

Pelicans below the Kiriftu dining room

The Kiriftu ceilings and furniture are unique Ethiopian works of art

Each bungalow has its own outdoor patio with fireplace

Patio with a view!

Egyptian geese vacation here too!

Sunset reflected on the lake at Kiriftu Resort Debre Zeit

Next morning, before we headed back to Addis and my humble volunteer quarters, we hired a bajaj to take us on a tour of three of the six crater lakes that the town is built around. This area is the epicenter of the largest field of crater lakes in all of Africa and there are many lovely hotels set on these lakes, perfect for a getaway weekend from Addis!

We got the bajaj to drop us at the bus station and squeezed onto a 24 passenger bus for the trip back to Addis. It was on this bus that Carol observed the lime peel up the nostrils behaviour and I was later able to tell her – “No, you did not smell bad. Ethiopians are known for getting motion sickness and this lime trick is something that is done to prevent nausea on bus rides!”. Carol replied with relief, “Oh, I thought there must be a reason for this unusual procedure and she did give me a big smile as she got off the bus so I think she liked me!”

Back for a final couple of days in Addis, Carol and I poked around some other neighbourhoods and took it fairly easy. Each night we set up the small cot in my tiny living room for her to sleep on, just like a visiting volunteer! The dogs even stopped barking at her in our compound, knowing she would treat them to a daily dog biscuits from Canada! And she learned to sleep through the dawn mosque call and Orthodox church chanting.

On our last Addis trek, as we squished onto the line taxi to go home, I knew Carol had really adapted when she said- “You know it is pretty hot and I am a bit thirsty – do you think we could stop at the Pride for a jambo?” The Pride Bar (think lions!) is the local bar the volunteers frequent near the VSO Ethiopia office.

Cheers to a long friendship and a great Ethiopian adventure!

Tourism in Ethiopia: Axum and Lalibela

Hopping on another Ethiopian Airlines plane (Q400 bought from Canadian Bombardier!) Carol and I flew off to the furthest point north on our vacation – Axum, the town believed to house the true Ark of the Covenant and considered the holiest place for the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian Church. Axum was the most  technologically sophisticated civilization during the “Axumite Period” from the 1st-7th centuries AD.

I was very impressed by the efficient and friendly service on all 5 Ethiopian Airlines  flights we took on our tour.

We were met by a couple of VSO volunteers living in Axum who had kindly negotiated a good deal on a room in the newest and best hotel in town for us and we agreed to meet up for dinner later that evening. So, after settling into our room (in awe of the luxurious bathroom with a TUB even!!) we headed for the main sight of Axum, the mysterious field where over 75 stelae of varying shapes and sizes are found within 1000 square meters. The stelae are not thought to have any religious significance, rather they were meant to demonstrate the power and importance of the rulers who built them.

There is a very good museum next to the field but no photos were allowed. This is a shame as there was an excellent temporary exhibition of about 60 Ethiopian women’s dresses showing the myriad designs of weaving and embroidery that have been popular over the past 50 years or so. Would you believe there was even an “Obama” dress – richly embroidered in yellows and greens? Even a simple handout would have been appreciated and I would happily have paid for one…

Detail from a stelae

Intriguing carved patterns of doors and windows

Impressively tall

This fallen stelae is estimated to weigh 500 tons and would be 33 meters high if erect

Outside the museum there were masses of colourful woven baskets for sale and I knew we were in tourist land when the sales pressure began!

Being on the “historic/religious” route” or “pilgrims path” in northern Ethiopia, the tourism infrastructure is a bit more developed and with that comes some less than charming side effects. We were not only aggressively urged to buy souvenirs, we were also pursued and pestered relentlessly by children begging. Well no, not really begging, they were demanding -  “Give me Birr, give me Caramela, give me Pen”, etc.  I am with Philip Briggs, writer of the invaluable Bradt Guide for Ethiopia when he says: “I must discourage the practice of indiscriminately handing out sweets, pens and trinkets to children. The motive for doing so is selfish – to make yourself feel better. It has also a rather paternalistic air, which I personally feel uncomfortable with… in some Ethiopian towns I had children ask me for money or sweets or a pen perhaps 100 times in an hour. There are plenty of Ethiopian towns where the children are genuinely friendly and never ask you for things. I am convinced it would need only one naive tourist and a bag of sweets to change that.” Indeed, being a responsible tourist means being aware of the impact you have on the local culture.

Crosses for sale in an impressive number of designs…

Little girl asleep on the shelf of a souvenir shop

Cathedral of Tsion Maryam

Across from the stelae field sits a huge modern church sharing the same grounds with the church housing the ark of the covenant and a museum full of crowns, crosses, religious books and heavily embroidered, gold encrusted ecclesiastic robes in varying states of decay, all behind dusty glass windows.

After paying a very steep foreigner’s entrance fee (200 Birr = $12.00) to get into the grounds and while a guide was showing us this ancient book of Bible stories, I was more than a little put off when a priest sidled up to us and asked for a donation to the church. “I think we have given enough”, I said politely…

I believe this is the church where the ark resides, heavily fenced and protected from intruders

Axum does have other sights to see but by the time we were done at the church compound we were hot, fed up with being pestered by kids and decided it was time for a beer so we headed back to the hotel. That evening we spent a jolly time with 5 local volunteers swapping stories and getting pointers on what to see on our next holiday stops, including the mobile number of a guide for bird watching on Lake Tana. Carol commented on the wonderful networking that goes on amongst volunteers here.

The Axum airport has a shop selling their famous honey (very tasty) and the young women working there will happily wrap your purchases to prevent any leaking in your luggage!

Flying at 20,000 feet over the Ethiopian highlands

Next touchdown, the most famous place of all in Ethiopia – Lalibela!

This was my second trip to Lalibela and I knew Carol was in for a treat. Our first stop, after checking into the aptly named Cliff Edge Hotel, kindly arranged for us by Lalibela friend Susan, was to drop our bags and head over to her restaurant, Ben Ababa. Shelagh and I had seen it last May while it was under construction and were astonished at the location and design. I was very excited to see how it looked now that is was open. It did not disappoint. Susan from Scotland and her Ethiopian business partner Habtam have created an  amazing place where tourists and locals mingle over good food while enjoying the most stunning views from the top of the mountain.

Ben Abeba restaurant opened in October 2011 and now hosts local wedding parties as well as tourists from all over the world

I so admire Susan; there are few people who make such a huge dream come true. In fact, once I am done my series of three blogs on my travels with Carol (This is #2, next week in #3 look for Lake Tana in Bahir Dar and Debre Zeit), I plan to do an entire blog on Ben Abeba, channeling my  inner restaurant reviewer. These photos will whet your appetite to read more in a couple of week, I expect!

Why Ben Abeba? Well here is a clue – Abeba means flower in Amharic…and what does a Scot mean by Ben?

Susan and I enjoy a drink while a waiter models the Ben Abeba logo t-shirts

Top of the world sunsets from 5:30-6:30 every night!

View up from the fire pit where you can enjoy chatting with fellow travelers over a nightcap while the logs crackle

Next morning we were up early to visit the 11 churches of Lalibela, guided by a well informed former teacher named Tafera who, it turns out, is a good friend of Ato Gubena who was in my class last year in Woldia. Small world it is, even in Ethiopia! At this point we were touristing in chronological order, as the Zagwe dynasty followed the Dark Ages that ended the Axumite empire. History is a bit sketchy regarding the actual dates, but the Zagwe Dynasty ruled and Lalibela become the center sometime between the 7th and 11 centuries and ended around 1270. It was during the rule of King Lalibela that the astonishing rock hewn churches were built.

There are countless photos taken of Lalibela but here is a small sampling of what I chose to capture through my lens this time…

Ceiling of Bet Maryam

Painting of the Zagwe kings with their crosses in the back

Pigeon hole

Martyr’s cells

The church where women are not allowed but the guide will take photos for you…

The most famous St George church

Carol bought her woven cotton scarf here and wore it the rest of the holiday, getting into the habit of using it for protection from the hot sun, evening warmth and as a nose cover when the Addis pollution became too much. I never leave home without one!

At the gardens of the Seven Olives Hotel we enjoyed watching the gorgeous turquoise starlings

It was on our hot dusty walk back that I suddenly heard..

“Oh my, I think I have swallowed a fly.”

“Quick spit it out!” I cried

“Too late”, said Carol, “Let’s just find some water”.

Now that what I call a great travel companion – calm and unflappable!

Our second and final Lailibela night was spent at Ben Abeba, chatting with two young women from Brussels (one of whom had been working in Haiti during the 2010 earthquake) who had been hiking in the surrounding mountains, and staying with a local family. One of the joys of travel is meeting such interesting people. Tourism is growing in Ethiopia and the infrastructure to support it is being improved. In 2010 an estimated 350,000 tourists came to Ethiopia and about a third of them visited the historic northern route, including Lalibela. We saw many small tour groups in Lalibela, most from Europe (Holland, Germany, France, England, Italy) as a couple of groups from Japan and China. Tourism generates about 4% of GDP and has created new jobs in the construction and service sectors. Certification programs in tour guiding and tour operations, hotel and food services and so on are expanding. At Ben Abeba Susan and Habtam are training another generation of young workers in quality service that will, I expect contribute further to sustainable development.

Join us on our final leg of the journey next week when we visit the utopian community of AwraAmba, hang out with hippos and birds on Lake Tana and visit the crater lakes of Debre Zeit. Oh, and Carol learns about a very unique use for  little Ethiopian limes!

Tourism in Ethiopia: Arriving in Addis and Celebrating Timkat in Gondor

“Would you mind if I came to visit you in Ethiopia?” asked my friend Carol.

Back home in Vancouver on holiday last summer, I was delighted Carol asked if she could visit. When should she come? Well for Timkat of course, the biggest celebration in the country! She arrived January 14th with a few days to adjust to the altitude change (2400 meters above sea level)  as I put her through a rigorous Addis Ababa sight seeing itinerary. It was fun for me to step out of my role as a volunteer and become a tourist and tour guide for my friend. It made me see Ethiopia though the eyes of a tourist and got me thinking too about the tourism industry in the country. While Ethiopia is not on the list of “100 places to see before you die” for most people, it does have a lot to offer the fit, adventurous and culturally curious visitor.

It is wedding season here so what better way to spend Carol’s first Sunday afternoon than sitting on a patio cafe sipping a cool St George beer and watching joyful wedding parties pose for photos in the gorgeous gardens of the Ghion hotel? Jet lag be gone!

Often there will be a couple of dozen weddings going on and an amazing array of finery, some traditional and some modern. Addis streets are full of honking limos with cameramen filming the whole affair from the front car!

Traditional drumming and dancing are part of the scene too!

To keep things in historical perspective and understand how things were just 20 years ago here, we next visited the Red Terror Martyrs’ Memorial Museum off Meskel Square, balanced things off with a layered spriss juice and walked home!

En route home I showed Carol the sheep market along Djibouti Street. Most wedding banquets involve some tasty sheep!

We hit the museums the next day after a pit stop at the Ministry of Education office for Carol to see where I work and meet my colleagues in the Gender Directorate. The National Museum of Ethiopia has only a replica of Lucy as she seems to be on perennial tour but still,it is an archeologist’s must see! Addis Ababa University grounds house the excellent Library and Institute of Ethiopian Studies and we especially enjoyed the musical instruments display and the large collection of crosses and religious paintings. And it was fun to see the bedrooms and bathrooms of Emperor Haile Selassie and Empress Menem – pink bathroom fixtures for her , blue for him. Hmm I wonder how that happened?

St Yared created the music of the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian church in the 7th century, several centuries before Gregorian chants were heard in Europe. For those interested in religious history, Ethiopia is a gold mine.

Addis Ababa University Sidist Kilo Campus houses the Institute of Ethiopian Studies (AKA Ethnographic Museum) in the former palace of Emperor Haile Selassie.

Visiting the museums provided a good grounding for exploration of the northern religious sites that we intended to visit over the next two weeks. After a lunch break we serendipitously happened upon the Patriarchate Museum and were treated to a guided tour by a friendly priest who led us through the entire history of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in paintings – an unexpected and very delightful experience. We appreciated the time he took to answer our probing questions.

At the end of the day, Carol was very happy to take off her shoes and relax in my tiny house over a nice cup of tea. Good sport that she is, she managed to cope with sleeping on a small cot we set up each evening in the living room. And by the end of her time here she even managed to sleep through the early mosque calls and Christian chanting as well as the dogs that seem to spend their nights in relentless arguments.

This taste of the life of a volunteer was also part of what I shared with her. Many of my fellow volunteers have had friends and family visit and I was pleased that now someone from home has been able to get a taste of my volunteer life here too. While my Addis life is much more luxurious that it was last year and Woldia, there remain “challenges” and Carol got to experience some of them as the trip unfolded. One such challenge is fighting your way onto a crowded line taxi and finding your way around town for about 15 cents a ride, the way most people here get around unless they are staff at embassies, NGOs or government officials with their own drivers. or are tourists on guided trips being shuttled about in better quality coaches/vans.

But why drive when you can fly? I decided a 12 hour bus trip was not an experience she really needed. It was time to become a bone fide tourist and take a cute little Q400 Ethiopian Airlines flight to Gondor.

Here I am, a happy tourist waiting for the flight to Gondor

A lovely welcome at the Gondor airport with a woman in traditional dress offering a flower, some bread (Dabo) and a coffee ceremony just inside as we waited for the baggage. Timkat celebrations are in the sweet, coffee scented air!

After settling on an apartment at the University Guest House, where my friend Judy lives, we set of to see the sights! By settling on, I mean we went through about 3 units until finally we found one with the magic combination of water and power and a “not smelly” bathroom. This is the part where Carol gets to experience the real volunteer life!

We took a bajaj (Carol’s first bajaj ride) up the hill to the “most beautiful church in Ethiopia” Debre Birhan Selassie (Mountain of the Enlightened Trinity) in Gondor

The church entrance, said to look like a lion “couchant” was decorated festively for Timkat

Founded in the 1690′s this is the only one of Gondor’s churches that survived the Muslim invasions of  1888, thanks, it is said, to the intervention of a swarm of bees

The famous ceiling adorned with 80 cherubs hovering above Saint George, patron saint of Ethiopia

The 7 ostrich eggs on this medallion represent the 7 days of creation

Back down the hill we headed to the six  famous castles of Gondor housed in Fasil Ghebbi, the royal enclosure, a walled compound built in the 17th century. The Gondor period lasted from 1635-1855.

Before I came here, I had no idea such sophisticated castles existed in Africa

Next stop was the 2,800 sq. meter pool of King Fasilidas, about 2 km from the castles. It gets filled with water once a year for Timkat (Epiphany)  which occurs at Tir 11 EC (January 18-20 GC) when priests bless and sprinkle people with the holy water and many jump in!

I am glad we saw it before the big day when it was near impossible to get close with the thousands of celebrants pressing in

After a busy day, it was time to toast Gondor with Dashen, the local beer !

And Carol got to experience her first coffee ceremony!

After a pleasant evening at Judy’s we settled in for a good nights sleep – or at least I did. When I got up Carol was sleeping on the uncomfortable sofa- the ceiling in her room had started to pour in the middle of the night and she was flooded out. Oh Ethiopia! It did get repaired but for the remaining time we had only cold water that smelled of sulfur, a test to see how long one can go without showering! I promised Carol we would revert to tourist accommodation mode for our next stop in Axum but reminded her that the cost would be 10X as much!

Next day we went into town and were caught up in the excitement of something big. It seems the blue plastic covering on the statue in the piazza was going to be removed! We waited in anticipation as the crowd began to build and practiced a necessary skill for survival in Ethiopia – patience!

Watching a cobblestone street being constructed

Finally, amidst the fanfare of a marching band, speeches and a roaring crowd, the plastic was removed

And there stood Emperor Tewodros surveying his domain!

Denied leadership early on , he became a “Robin Hood” type bandit of his time, redistributing wealth to the poor. Eventually he triumphed and, as Emporer Tewodros II, he ruled from 1855-69 and is said to have unified the country which at the time was a loose alliance of fiefdoms.

Next morning we got up early to take a half day trip to the edge of the Simien Mountains, as close as we would come to this famous hiker’s paradise. The Simiens were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979 and have over a dozen peaks over 4000 meters, including the famous Ras Dashen. After an hour journey on a rough, dirt road we stopped at an escarpment and, with our guide, hiked for about an hour through this stunning landscape, enjoying the scent of eucalyptus and the screeching of baboons as rare lammergeyer bearded vultures soared above.

A highlight was to hear and see, close up, hundreds of Gelada baboons. The heart shaped red front is unique to the males. The Gelada is an endemic Ethiopian large mammal; it is estimated there are half a million of them.

On our way back we made a very brief stop at the Falasha village, said to be the only remaining Jewish settlement in Ethiopia. It was a sad sight of tacky souvenirs and pressuring sellers. Made me realize how refreshing it is that Ethiopia has so little of that type of tourism. It is said that almost all the remaining Falasha’s were airlifted to Israel in 1991.

Back to town we settled in to await the start of Timkat at the piazza which begins officially when the priests from each church form a procession carrying the tabots, each a replica of the ark of the covenant,  ceremoniously on their heads.

To great cheering a parade of young men in the red, yellow and green of the Ethiopian flag marched into the piazza

As the procession began, a very efficient system of rotating red carpets ensured the tabot carrying procession was always stepping down in style

Caught up in the crowd we enjoyed the slow and festive walk the 2 km to the pool. The huge crowd seemed to flow like a river with very few problems along the way,despite the rough road, potholes and ditches with surprise trenches

Crosses and staffs are always ornate and spectacular to see on parade

Two little boys trumpeted their way on this revolving  float for about 3 hours!

Colourful umbrellas are a familiar sight at all church events

An attractive float arrives at the pool grounds

As the crowd arrived at the pool and began to swell we made our way home. The devout sleep overnight waiting for the early morning baptism service.

We got up at five and walked with Judy back to the pool.

We stayed toward the back as more and more white shrouded people crowded close to the pool, respectfully appreciating the whole scene

Many people had well thumbed religious books that they were using to follow the service

Judy and Carol on Timkat morning

The hair styles were amazing to see!

Colour coordinated mother and child!

Positively angelic!

A textiles afficianado, Judy pointed out this Queen of Sheba border weaving. I love the creativity of the weaving and embroidery in Ethiopian women’s clothing!

Children everywhere being taught their traditions

Of course playing with candles is always good fun!

Lovely inter-generational scenes

After a couple of hours the excitement mounted as the baptism began and water was tossed on the crowd

More and more people crowded in to get a look at the pool

Because we were far back it was impossible to tell where the sounds came from or to hear very clearly but at one pint someone welcomed all the visitors in English. There were several hundred foreigners I’d estimate, many on small tour groups from various European countries, often carrying cameras with giant lenses that seemed a bit intrusive at times.

The (mostly young) boys jumping in the pool ( someone said they saw one girl in a bathing suit) would fill people’s water bottles and toss them back so people could, in turn, toss water on the crowd behind the. Yes, I did get wet!

Then the procession to return the tabots to their churches began

The ritual of Timkat is something I will never forget and the pride I see in this tabot carrier’s face speaks to me of the depth of the traditions of Ethiopia. It was a privilege to be able to participate in such an event.

Timkat in Gondor was a highlight indeed, but there is much more to come. Watch this space soon for the next legs of our amazing Ethiopian journey as we travel to Axum, the place where the original ark of the covenant (tabot) is said to rest, where mysterious stellae stand tall, then on to the rock hewn churches of Lalibela and the shores of Lake Tana in Bahir Dar. Find out what Carol swallowed and how she learned a new and unique use for limes!