| Ethiopia Travel & Tour Information
Ann
& Joan Mason from USA
My
sister finally retired and we were able to take a long anticipated
trip to
Africa
. We had been hoarding frequent flyer miles and found that we
could get as far as
Addis Ababa
in
Ethiopia
so we decided to begin our adventures there. We got on the
Internet and found Fest
Ethiopia
a local our company run by a charming and helpful father and son
team. When we wrote that we wanted to see Lalibela,
Gondar
, and Harar they designed an itinerary for us and made the
appropriate reservations. We wired them some money as a deposit
and paid the rest in cash when we arrived. After many hours in the
air and waiting at airports we arrived exhausted and half
expecting that no one would remember to meet us. We were
pleasantly surprised when we spotted a sign saying welcome Mason
sisters held by the senior Robel who then took us the Hotel Ghion,
a well known landmark to travelers in Addis. It is a large and
somewhat worn place surrounded by gardens in the middle of the
city and favored by the UN for conferences etc. The lobby was
filled with many people from many places but we were the only
Americans. We left early the next morning by plane for Lalibela
with its magnificent rock hewn churches carved 30 feet into the
earth. Most travelers only spend a day here but Robel recommended
that we spend two, as there was so much to see. We were befriended
by a couple of students who guided us around the small town and
market while eagerly practicing their English. Then we boarded
another plane for
Gondar
, an area famous for its old palaces, as it was the ancient
capital of the region. The scenery around Gondar is nothing short
of breathtaking for green deprived desert dwellers, The shopping
was another highlight; we found great bargains on antique nomad
headrests decorated with silver and silver and amber necklaces.
The hand-woven fabric was irresistible though I am still trying to
find a use for all I purchased.
We
traveled to an area where the Ethiopian Jews had traditionally
resided but found that the majority of them had migrated to
Israel
. Those remaining made wonderful pottery with motifs incorporating
the Jewish star with Ethiopian lions. My sister purchased an
antique "lunch box" made of straw and leather.
The
next day we flew to Dire Dawa on Ethiopian airlines, which was
founded in 1945 and is the oldest airline in
Africa
. (They are especially dear to my heart as they bumped us up to
business class on our flight to
Dar es Salaam
when we finally left
Ethiopia
.)
Dire
Dawa had just experienced torrential rains causing terrible flash
floods that killed hundreds of people and destroyed whole villages
in the surrounding area. We headed off to Harar in the Eastern
region of
Ethiopia
along a two-lane highway which had flooded the night before. Many
areas of the road had been washed out and we had to proceed
overland across rutty paths in any places. As there is little road
building machinery available in the country most of the debris
removal was being done by hand. The devastation was shocking in
its immensity. When we arrived in Harar the sun was again shining
and it was easy to forget the difficult trip we had just endured.
Harar is in the quat growing region of
Ethiopia
. Quat is chewed by many to stave off hunger and for its soporific
qualities. There is a large ethnic Somali population in Harar and
you could hear Somali as well as Aramaic being spoken in the
market. Our guide for this region was fluent in French and proudly
showed us the ornate gingerbread mansion where Rimbaud had lived.
The old walled town contained many narrow alleys lined with shops
of every description. I purchased a pair of rubber tire tread
sandals for about twenty cents from a couple of very amused
cobblers.
The highlight of this area for me was the hyena feeding at night.
We went to the edge of town after dark and found the Hyena Man who
has tamed a pack of about twenty hyenas to come when called and
take food from his hand. I volunteered to feed them and sat beside
the Hyena Man who gave me some raw meat on a foot long stick to
hold out for the hyenas. He called out
"hello.Big Tooth" and Big Tooth came and gently removed
the meat from the stick while his buddies snapped and growled
behind him.
We
returned to Addis where we visited the excellent
National
Museum
and enjoyed some fabulous Ethiopian meals before departing for
Tanzania
. Our memories of
Ethiopia
include not only spectacular architecture and scenery but also the
kind and very physically beautiful people we encountered.
Ethiopia
is well worth another trip where we want to see the extreme North
of the country around
Axum
and the South with its game preserves.
Ann
& Joan Mason |
