Happy 2024 and Greetings from Eritrea!
Anne and I are visiting five countries in eastern Africa - Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somaliland, Djibouti, and Egypt.1/1/2024 We were surprised again when my sister Claudia and niece Emily met us at the
airport to see us off from DTW. On 1/2 our flight arrived in Istanbul, and we advanced our watches eight hours ahead. We saw the reports on CNN of the terrible runway collision at Nareda Airport; we were in that airport in 2022. We spent a couple hours in the very nice Turkish Airlines lounge before boarding our flight to Asmara, Eritrea. It's a four hour flight, and about two hours were spent flying with some turbulence over the troubled Red Sea.
1/3 Arriving just after midnight, obtaining our visas at the airport takes 90 minutes. We get to our hotel around 0400. We're feeling the higher elevation here (7,628'); we'll adjust. Internet at the hotel (and the entire country) is intermittent. It's trying my limited patience. We met our guide Semhar, a pleasant young woman who has served in the military and is a high school chemistry teacher. In the early afternoon, we took a small tour of the city, seeing buildings built during the Italian colonization times. We've been told the Italians built here to make themselves a comfortable second home. Most of the Italians left in 1941. Eritrea won its independence from Ethiopia in 1991, and unfortunately today there is no foreign investment in the country. They had no covid vaccines, but they didn't have massive infections either. Semhar takes us to an Italian restaurant for late lunch, and we enjoyed some grilled Derak fish. At our hotel we talked with three women who had been on our flight. Grandmother and mom were born in Eritrea. Mom and Dad moved to Bologna, Italy, in the mid 1940's, where the younger woman was born. They're going to the home village to celebrate Orthodox Christmas this Sunday. Mom and daughter speak Italian to each other; daughter understands but doesn't speak the native tongue. We told them how much we enjoyed seeing Bologna on our last trip to Italy.
1/4 Our group of five travelers are now together (a US diplomat, a retired anesthesiologist, a retired electrical engineer who lives mostly in a Mexican town and us). Today is a long day of city touring. We venture into old movie houses, hotels, the post office built in the Italian style. We go into the Catholic cathedral and the Jewish synagogue (there's a miniscule membership now). We stop outside the Orthodox church; we'll be back Christmas morning. The men in our group were refused entrance into the mosque. We drove by a huge Italian cemetery on our way to a large recycling center. There are men working with all kinds of metal and wood building things from reclaimed material. Our last stop is at a graveyard of abandoned Ethiopian Soviet- and Cuban-supplied military vehicles. There aren't many cars in Asmara, there are a lot of bikes and walkers, some horse and donkey carts. Semhar tells us that comedian Tiffany Haddish and the late rapper Nipsey Hussle are of Eritrean descent. The Eritreans we meet on the streets are friendly, welcoming and handsome people. Tomorrow we leave Asmara for one night; we'll drive to Massawa, along the escarpment of the Rift Valley, for a visit to an island in the Dahlak Archipelago.
Vacant gas station - built by the Italians - great business opportunity!
Ethiopian Freedom Fighters - both men & women - reminiscent of Iwo Jima photo
Neat movie theater
Traditional Eritrea metal - Injeera flatbread with variety of meat, vegetables, rice & beans
Jewish synagogue
Synagogue maintained by Italians
Recycling Center where men work with all kinds of metal and wood building things from reclaimed material.
1/5 Before we head towards Massawa, we visit a small cemetery for the Commonwealth's WWII dead and saw graves of British, French and Polish troops along with the 11-year old daughter of British colonel. We travel through some winding mountain roads and pass camels, lots of cacti, palm and savanna trees,
school kids. After 3 hours, we arrive in Massawa (elevation 20') on the Red Sea. It is pretty warm here. This country sure could use some international investment. We have another meaty fish for lunch called Cher or Char. We walk through the old town; most of the buildings have been closed by the city because they are damaged and dangerous. But they had been beautiful. We visited a museum to learn about the ancient past up to the heroic Freedom Fighters who gained independence for Eritrea from Ethiopia in 1991.
Eritrean bike team
1/6 This morning we walked out of our hotel to our small tour boat to see a portion of the archipelago. We snorkeled around a wrecked freighter; Semhar learned to float. Then we stopped at a quiet little island with a nice beach. Before we left the hotel, a German professor, his Eritrean-descent/German girlfriend and her mother (who now lives in CA) asked for a ride back to Asmara. Apparently their expected bus was not arriving. All the luggage went into the other vehicle with our guide and two tourists. The 3 got into our Land Rover. So, the mom and her husband were fleeing the strife. Dad said it was too dangerous to take the 2 young daughters and left them with his sister. The parents split as they were fleeing. After many countries, dad ended up in Germany, and he sent for the 2 daughters to join him. Mom, who was pregnant while fleeing, arrived in the USA to join family but was unable to have the daughters join her. Everyone has a story! Along the way we saw several groups of Hamadryas/Sacred baboons. Tomorrow, another day trip about 2 hours away. It will be interesting. And it will be Christmas.
Anne helping Sammi, our guide, to float
Barbara, Tim, VJ, Maddy, Anne and Sammi
Many old Italian buildings - in need of investment and TLC
Greetings from Somaliland!
1/7 This is Christmas day, and our guide and drivers are here with us, not their families. I forgot to mention that besides the internet outages, we lose power every once in a while; not for long. This morning we walked around another part of town seeing embassies (yes, there's an American one) and the old Italian villas. The bakery we stop in at is doing a booming business. Most customers are walking out with their cakes, some with panetone. Kids are dressed up and mostly out with their dads. We head out on the road again, now to Kerene, along a different winding mountain road. We stop in a village of our guide Semhar's tribe. The houses are made of stone and mud. We were welcomed by a grandmother who was busy finely chopping a large bowl of onions and were treated to injera bread with salt and some popcorn. Further down the road, we pass an area of round-shaped, thatch-roofed homes built like the trulli houses in Puglia, southern Italy. We suppose the African homes were built first, then copied by people who duplicated them in Italy. These are inhabited by the Bilem tribe. We stopped in at a house where we found a grandmother who had escaped from Sudan, her Eritrean husband, her daughter and son-in-law having coffee around their little stove. They offered cookies, peanuts, popcorn. We declined the coffee because we needed to get a move on but had a nice visit. Can any of you imagine a group of foreign strangers coming to your door and welcoming them in, no questions asked? Semhar is charming; I'm sure she must've done some convincing. Along this winding road we see camels, goats, cattle. We arrive in Kerene, 1,000' lower elevation than Asmara. We feel the heat. We stopped at the EROI cemetery filled with 1,228 Italians and Eritreans who fought for Italy, dying in 1941. Most on the Eritrean side are marked Ascaro Ignoto (unknown soldier). It took 3 months for the British to defeat the Italians, and the Brits stayed for 10 years. We stopped at a small monastery to see an old, hollow baobab tree with a large ficus growing into it. It holds a statue of the Virgin Mary which is supposed to have healing powers. Kerene is a very Islamic town, but there are churches too. There is no internet at all here. I've forgotten to mention the many trucks from China, mining and hauling minerals back home. $1 USD = 15 Nafka
Post office
Opera House
Coffee shop with great desserts!
Samhar and Maddy passing out pencils
1/8 Today is the weekly animal market, selling camels, sheep, goats, cows. Seeing some animals being mistreated, I go back and wait in the car. Anne tells me that camels go for $1,000-$1,500. Before leaving for Asmara, we stopped at another Commonwealth war cemetery. It is a stark setting, but surrounded by mountains. All the cemeteries are well cared for.
When we have internet, Anne learns the terrible news of the passing of her niece, Amy, George Sawicki's daughter. Rest in peace, Amy.
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1/9 This morning we say thanks and farewell to our two great drivers, Frey and MK, and our delightful guide Semhar. We heard that Somalia's president met with the president of Eritrea at our hotel last night to discuss Ethiopia's plan to lease some land in Somaliland for a port (which Somalia and Eritrea oppose), since Ethiopia is landlocked. We were wondering why there was a red carpet in the lobby this morning. We're flying (not on a 737 max) to Addis Ababa (New Flower), Ethiopia, (elevation 7726') for one night, a short 1-1/2 hour flight; it's a transit stop because you can't fly from Eritrea into officially unrecognized Somaliland. My bag is one of the last to come off of the plane, making me a bit nervous. We already have an Ethiopian visa, so the process goes well. We're met at the airport by Asrat, the local tour company owner, and Girma, our guide for the rest of our Horn of Africa trip. We also meet Matthew Curtis, a US archeologist/professor who will be our subject matter expert for 3 weeks. We see a modern, busy capital city with nice roads. We quickly had a visit to see 'Lucy' at the National Museum: her fossilized bones are in a laboratory but we see replicas of her (3.2 million years old) bones and also of Ardis (4.4 million years old), the oldest hominid ever found. We'll be back in the museum in a couple weeks. Then we had late lunch at a new restaurant (grilled Nile perch and chicken satay) and spend the night in Asrat's hotel, where we have a hot water bottle to keep us warm under the blankets.
Wed 1/10 We have an early flight to Hageisa, Somaliland, (elevation 4377') this time on a 737-800. All these planes are packed! There's another long visa process at the airport; but the free wi-fi is excellent and and we don't mind the wait. Somaliland is a self-declared republic considered internationally to be part of Somalia. So there's unease here where anti-independence advocates could cause trouble. There is a strong security presence at our hotel entrance. After lunch, a local guide takes us to a war memorial and to a market area where we see a surprising currency exchange stall and a number of gold stores. We are accompanied by a 4-person security force dressed in military fatigues, face masks and 747s. People everywhere stared at us, thinking we were some hotshots. Quite an experience. At the hotel, Anne and I hear Gherma's life story of huge struggles, persistence, resilience. We all are so fortunate to live where we do. Back in our room, we read about the UN helicopter and crew now held by violent rebels in Somalia. Tomorrow we're on the move, traveling by car for several days. I got a request to talk about the food. Breakfasts are western-style buffets with a couple ethnic sides. Lunches in Eritrea were at Italian restaurants, so, you know, pasta and pizza. We did have goat meat and a couple tasty lentil mash, potato, veggies all on a large injera bread. You can add as much spice as you want. And we always order a local fish. We'll see more flat breads while we're here. And drink some good Ethiopian coffee.
Greetings from Djibouti!
Thurs 1/11 Did I mention that Somaliland is predominantly Muslim? This morning our local Somaliland guide Radwan joins us on our trip to Berbera on the coast of the Gulf of Aden. Our first stop is the animal market in Hargeisa; we both sit in the car. But then our driver, Abdulraham, has us move to an upgraded vehicle with the driver's side on the right. It has a display screen around 11" x 17"; huge! But it doesn't have 'maps'. Berbera was formerly the capital, and the road from Hargeisa through the Rift Valley is smooth. Our security is with us; I'm assuming they'll be our constant companions throughout our stay in Somaliland. They are normally behind our two cars until we reach checkpoints, when they proceed us and smooth our passage. Gherma tells us that the unusual rock formations we've been seeing are termite hills. Anne and I both 'lost' our luggage belts at the airport; they were rainbow-colored. They made our bags easy to identify. We could understand losing one or the other, but both of them? I suspect the airport workers interpreted them as a gay pride thing and removed them.
1/12 This morning is an early boat ride in the Gulf. Some snorkel. On our trip back to Hargesia, we visit Neolithic Laas Geel to see cave paintings. It's thought they were done about 7,000 years ago; cattle, people, dogs are depicted. The park guide gave me a fresh raw okra; he and the guard with me started chomping on theirs, so I had no choice but to eat mine. It was surprisingly good. Would've been better smothered in ranch dressing; oh well. Sure hope I didn't cause myself gastric distress. At dinner we share a tiny mushroom pizza and delicious rice (with golden raisins, onions and pieces of cinnamon stick) with a vegetable kebab.
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Impala
1/13 No problem from the raw okra, thankfully. We are only drinking bottled water; no drinks have ice. We're heading back to Ethiopia; it's a long (165 miles) drive. At another hectic border crossing (Tog Wechale), we thank and say goodbye to our security team, the local guide and our drivers. One of our group leaves us. We are now all in one vehicle with a new driver. Along the way we see the usual camels, cows, goats and another large group of Sacred Babboons with many babies. Later we pass interesting rock formations at Babile. There are many security checks as we pass from region to region. Our way is quickened by a letter from the local tour company and the fact that we are American ferengi (foreigners). There's no internet at the Harar hotel when we check in. Hopefully it'll be available later tonight. I haven't mentioned there are so many tuk-tuks, everywhere. We have good coffee in Ethiopia.
1/14 Last night the guys and our guide went to the Old Town to witness and participate in the feeding by hand of hyenas. A family has been doing it for decades in order to keep hyena attacks on livestock and people down. Just didn't want to see that. This morning we toured the old walled city, known by UNESCO as the "City of Peace". We see the warren of alleys, markets, mosques, Catholic and Orthodox churches, museums. After lunch, we drive 35 miles to Dire Dawa. Along the way we see women washing clothes in the lakes, many flocks of flamingos, animals grazing along the water's edge. We see the old train station still in use in Dire Dawa.
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| 132 mosques in the walled city of Harrar |
1/15 Early, long drive to Djibouti with another hectic border crossing; definitely not like crossing from the USA into Canada. We drove north from Harar on a Chinese-built good road through scrubland and hilly mountains. We see camels being watered, bags of acacia tree charcoal, babboons, goats, scattered communities of huts/homes, small military checkpoints. Did I mention our SME has been in /out of Ethiopia for over 30 years? The area becomes more mountainous the further north we go. Our exit from Ethiopia takes an hour. We say goodbye to our driver and hello to our new guide Girad and driver Royta in Djibouti. This is the first time we had to show our yellow fever vaccination card. It's another hour for processing our entrance to Djibouti. We drive north for about two more hours and arrive in Djibouti City. Our hotel, built by the Chinese, is 1-1/2 years old. We have a view of a bay off the Gulf of Aden. Oh, the lovely shower, the beds, the a/c. We're gladly here for three nights to the end of our Horn of Africa tour. Djibouti hosts the only US military base in Africa. Djibouti also hosts German, French, Italian, Chinese, UK, Spanish and Saudi Arabian bases.
Train built by Chinese
Neat bird nests
Yellow bird and nest
Our Chinese hotel in Djibouti
Greetings from Djibouti & Addis Abbas, Ethiopia!
Tues 1/16 The Chinese hotel owner has provided our room with two fire escape masks. Good to know. Djibouti became an important colony of France in 1862 (until it gained independence in 1977) and served as a coaling station for steamships to/from the Suez Canal. So today there's much signage in French. We are greeted often in French. At breakfast this morning we find some Chinese dishes (fish, rice, tofu that tastes like fish, an open folded dumpling filled with a savory rice) and some excellent bread and croissants. I was glad to see Granny Smith apples, so I took one. All apples are imported, so they're expensive. We drive this morning to see a portion of the Great African Rift; it is amazing. When we're out of the car, someone asks 'Where you from?' USA, Michigan, I respond. When I say Detroit, he immediately responds 'Eminem, 8 Mile'. Yes, Eminem, 8 Mile. He was surprised to learn there was actually a road named 8 Mile. We see lines of camels as we head to Lake Assal. They'll be carrying bags of salt from here into Ethiopia and elsewhere. So will the Chinese semi-trucks we see along the road. Lake Assal (Sea of Honey, ironically) is 153 meters (502') below sea level, the lowest point of the African continent; and it's the saltiest in the world, 348 grams/liter higher than the Dead Sea. At the edge of the salt bed is a turquoise-colored lake fed by hot springs. It's hotter than heck on that salt bed. We have a surprisingly good lunch at an unmarked location along the water; we're served a pasta/onion/tuna salad, spaghetti with a tomato/potato sauce, and roasted chicken. The meal is finished with watermelon, bananas and sweet chai. Back at the hotel, it's in the 80s with a breeze off the Gulf. And it's frigid in Michigan and Texas.
Monkeys using our vehicle to cross the road
Baboon
Girma at the rift crack
1/17 This morning we tasted a sweet Chinese bun, sauced peas and some crunchy julienned veggie of unknown origin. The group went on a whale shark excursion early today in the Gulf of Ghoubbet from a little port next to a French Foreign Legion port. I didn't join them because it has been so difficult to get on/off small rickety boats on this trip. And I missed a great experience. The gulf had a dozen whale sharks swimming in it, and the group joined the curious fish in the water. Matt told me one swam under Anne while she was looking at the one next to her. They are huge, 15' to 30' long, slow moving, non meat eaters, filter feeding carpet sharks. They're the third largest creature in the ocean. Everyone had some 🐟 stories to tell.
French army base next to where we take a boat to see the whale sharks
Anne swimming to see the whale sharks
A whale shark swam right under Anne - curious creatures
Whale shark photo taken off the internet
1/18 At the buffet this morning, we were surprised to see pork Chinese dumplings. We walked around downtown Djibouti City this morning, seeing stores, old French buildings and then an area of embassies along the water. It's hot. We'll all go to the airport this afternoon; one returning to the USA, another continuing his world travels for another five months, and four of us returning to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In Addis, we say thanks to our guide Girma Derbie; we wish him the best. He's a nice guy, a family man. Addis Ababa is celebrating the first day (Eve) of Timket (Epiphany) tomorrow. We'll see celebrations for several days. This is a very Orthodox city in a very Orthodox country. I like being in this big city; glad to be back for a day or two. The hotel's internet isn't great; aggravating. Our guide for the next two weeks is Nahome. Our threesome is joined by Ron Merlo, another world traveler.
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1/19 Anne has had a cold for a week already; hoping it goes away without me catching it. We're back in a higher altitude; the temps are quite pleasant. We talked at breakfast with a woman, a physician in San Francisco, who was born here but left 30 years ago. It'll be her first time seeing the Epiphany festivities. Today is the eve of Ketera, a day commemorating Jesus' baptism by John at the River Jordan, as well as the visit of the Magi to the infant Jesus. (A couple years ago, Anne and I stood in two spots in the River Jordan, both claimed to be 'the' site of the baptism.) Nahome purchased white scarves for the four of us to wear around our shoulders, and we received many smiles from fellow celebrants. All over Ethiopia, churches are celebrating the holy day with pageants with hundreds of participants, priests, song, horn, incense. It so reminded us of Semana Santa in Spain, which is wonderful, too. The women loudly call their ululation to honor the celebrants, greet the neighboring church celebrants, show appreciation for the singing. It was a wonderful cacophony, gave us goose bumps. In this corner of Addis, three churches had their parades from their churches and then all met together and sang and marched; one group of women played harps and sang while they walked. When the celebrants come out of the church, young men lay carpets and lay cut grasses along the path. As the hundreds of celebrants move on, those young men are rolling up those walked-on carpets and running to place them ahead of the group. And we walked miles! We spoke with many kids, and some parents brought their reluctant kids over to shake hands and talk with us. What a great experience. Thank you Ihab and Kerina from Spiekermann Travel for suggesting this trip. We have an early flight to Axum/Aksum tomorrow.
Nahome, our Ethiopian guide
Injeera served with various toppings - beans, beets, spinach, and some spicy veggies
Ron, Anne, Maddy, Nahome
Start of the Timkent festival
Saturday 1/20 It seems like I see familiar faces since I've been in Africa. Anne and I both think we've seen Rodney a couple times. Today I thought about chef Marcus Samuelsson; he was born in Addis Ababa but raised by a Swedish couple. And, yes, it seems I've seen him a couple times, too. Today we flew from Addis to Shire (elevation 6407') in a Bombardier Q400 prop plane. We flew over the Simien mountain range with the highest peak in Africa. We landed on a plateau and had to walk across a field from the plane to the trailer-sized terminal. On our drive to Aksum or Axum (elevation 6991') we see the fertile plateau and some dramatic mountains and valleys. The farm lands are neat; they grow sorghum, millet, chick peas, barley. The cattle all look plump and healthy. We see a lot of candelabra trees, a succulent tree here in Africa. Aksum is the biggest town in this northern Tigray region and was the first capital of Ethiopia. We see people dressed for the holiday. Now we're really benefiting from Matt's archeology expertise. We stop at the Bronze-aged Gudit Stelae field and see both human and animals bones as we walk through the site. Across from this field are the ruins of Dungur, locally known as The Queen of Sheba's palace.
Arrival at the Shire AirPort
Shire AirPort
Supposed Palace of Queen of Sheba
Kitchen area
Hearth in kitchen
Candleabra cactus
1/21 In Aksum we see several displaced persons camps, International Red Cross workers, USAID and UNICEF signage, and some UN troop presence. From 2020-2022, there was a civil war between government forces with Eritrean support and the Tigray People's Liberation Front. Following the fighting which killed 1.4 million people, the PLF came into power. This morning, our driver Alex takes us to Adwa on a scenic mountainous road. As we climb into the Adwa mountains, we see terraced mountainsides and well-kept farm lands, even some cactus. Matt says they've carbon dated some of the terraces and know many are from 1600 BC. The rainy season will come in June through September, and all the fields will be green. Here all the animals look very healthy. In this region in 1895-96, the First Italo-Abyssinian War took place when Italy tried to take Ethiopia as a protectorate. The Ethiopians defeated the larger, better equipped Italian army. Later in 1935, Italy again invaded Ethiopia; they weren't here long. At the Yeha site, we visit the remains of the moon and sun temple which was later converted into a church. There's a final day of Timket celebrations; we arrive during a communion feeding. This is a beautiful location surrounded by mountains with the blue skies. We see a museum of manuscripts, stamps. We see the remains of a 5-storey palace. We visit a little handicraft store and support the local economy. We travel to see Stelae Park where one of the huge stele was returned over 60 years after being stolen and placed in Rome. There are mausoleums and multiple tombs under all these stelae. The individual stele are carved from single granite blocks. Amazing. We see the Archeology museum, the 4th Century Ezana Stone, the Baths of the Queen of Sheba and more. The last visit is to the family tomb of the King Balthazar (the giver of myrrh to the infant Jesus). While driving through the mountains, we saw a man with two oxen plowing his field; and we see camels laden with goods. A lot of carts are pulled by donkeys. It's a long day. Anne has multiple mosquito bites from our hotel room.
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church in Yeha
Ibex frieze at the Orthodox Church
Ruins of the Temple of Yeha in the Tigray region - Oldest standing structure in Ethiopia
Tower is built in the Sabaean style similar to structures in South Arabia to around 700 BC
The Main Stelae Field, established as the cemetery of Aksumite ruler between the 3rd and 4th century AD, is where several decorated and non-decorated stelea are located. The area is also where the three giant stelea depicted with multi-storey structures with windows and doors are found. Among the three decorated giant stelea, the biggest one measures 33 meters and weighs 520 tons and has 13 storeys. The second giant stele has 26m tall, 11storeys and weighs 170 tones. This stele was taken away during the Italian occupation of Ethiopia from the site and carried away to Rome as a war trophy until it was returned to Aksum in 2005 and re-erected it in 2008, The third decorated stele, which has 10 storeys, 24 meters high and weighs 160 tons, is the one that remains standing insitu until today.
Tomb of the Mausoleum dates to mid 4th century AD with 2 entrances and one central passage. The royal cemetery is under the giant fallen stelae of Aksum
Vervet monkey
Reputed home of the Ark of Covenant
Steps leading to Balthazar’s tomb (one of the Magi)
Common sites along the roads
1/22 This morning there's a parade/march through the streets of Aksum. We can't determine what it's about. We flew back from Shire to Addis, and we were tired when we got to the hotel. We went to our room and then went back down to get our stored luggage. And that's when the power went out. So we sat for about ten minutes watching maintenance guys going back and forth, we heard the generator, but still no power. Then we decided to walk up to our room on the 7th floor (including a mezzanine). The lights came on after we were in our room, and our bags were brought up on the elevator. We joined the guys for dinner later at the only rotating 15th floor restaurant in Ethiopia in the hotel next door. Anne's feeling better today after a good night's sleep.
View of Addis Ababa from the restaurant
Matt, Ron, Maddy and Nahome in the revolving restaurant
1/23 Another flight this morning. We'll visit Lalibela's many rock-hewn churches over two days. Our flight is delayed more than an hour while mechanics check some indication of a problem with a propeller. Oh, cripes. Another breath-taking view as we arrive in Lalibela. Great mountains. We're at an elevation of 8200' now. We aren't on schedule. We stop at the Mezena Resort Hotel to check in and have lunch. Lots of steps and some uneven surfaces, but I'm not complaining because our cottage is so darn special. Huge shower room, huge toilet room, double sinks along a 15' long countertop. Our nice twin beds have mosquito nets which we are definitely using! We only had time to visit Bete Giorgis this afternoon. It was the one church that Anne really wanted to see. There are many stories told about its creation, mostly mentioning angels helping to carve the church from the rock. A replica of the Ark of the Covenant is hidden here behind a curtain. This place is not for the weak and lame. What am I doing here? Our hero uses her walking stick and goes everywhere. There's CNN and Al Jazeera on TV, but there's no internet in our room.
Arrival in Lalibela
Wednesday 1/24 This morning we continued our tour of the 12th century rock-hewn churches, seeing Bete Medhanealem, Bete Maryam, Bete Meskel, Bete Denagel and Bete Mikael. Anne and I weren't allowed entry to Bete Golgotha where King Lalibela is said to be buried. We climbed rocks and rock steps I never dreamed of walking. Still can't imagine how these rocks were carved without modern-day machines. Along with our local guide, we had a shoe guide, Abebe, who kept watch over our shoes/socks when we went into the churches. He also put our shoes/socks back on our feet. And he served as my 'walking stick' on these rocks. We decided to spend a lovely afternoon at our cottage instead of seeing the last five churches. We still have plenty of old rock to see.
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Women are immersed in this pool of water (?) to enable fertility
Women not allowed in this chapel
Pictures inside courtesy of Nahome, our Guide
Leaving the churches
1/25 We left Lalibela and flew back to Addis. We have the same room each time we come back, #701. The hotel workers all say 'welcome back'. We'll again have a short stay at the end of our Ethiopia tour in a couple days. We stopped for late lunch on our way from the airport at the Totot Cultural Hall/Restaurant. A large group was celebrating the 4th or 5th day post-wedding. There was a lot of dancing to the music of several different regions. A big part of the dance is moving the upper body, not much foot movement. Nahome tells us that different regions have identifying shoulder rolls. Before our meal, we all had a taste or more of honey wine. Matt suggested fish goulash (which he often orders) or a crispy 'beef'. The two of us have never such hard 'beef'; maybe it was again goat. The goulash is pieces of fried fish in a tomato/peppers/onion sauce served with rice. Tasty. A bowl of roasted coffee beans was brought to the table just for the aroma. Anne tried Nahome's ground tripe; she's not a fan. We're heading south tomorrow for four nights.
1/26 We flew from Addis to Jinka, and we'll be in the south lands for four nights. We walked through a little village of the Ari tribe and participated in making corn injera (not the teff injera we've eaten), had a coffee and alcohol ceremony, watched the blacksmith making a plow, watched a woman making household items from clay. The ride is brutal, and our lodge is rustic, no internet. And now I have a cold. It'll be a long four days. No internet.
Woman preparing to cook Injeera
Anne attempting to cook Injeera
Woman making clay dishes by hand
Blacksmith
Native girl, 21 years old, who shared the liquor, coffee and popcorn she made.
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| Kingfisher |
1/27 On our drive into the Mago National Park, we pick up an armed park ranger escort enroute to see the Mursi tribe. Standard procedure. The people of this tribe are tall and thin; you notice their very long calves and thighs. Most heads are shaved, and the women wear lip plates which indicate sexual maturity. Some ears are plated. The common dress is a blanket wrap flipped over a shoulder, perhaps with a wrap around the hips. The Mursi are considered to be the richest tribe because of the large number of cattle they own; we have been seeing a lot of cattle. Later we visit a Hamer tribe rite of passage for a 13-year old boy, 'jumping the bull'. Preliminary activities include a (upsetting) taunting dance by the young women with small bugles toward a group of young men. Apparently a woman questions the man's manliness by approaching him blowing a bugle or vocally accosting him, waiting for him to prove he's a man by striking her with a switch. He must break the switch on her, which will scar her. More scars, somehow the woman is more attractive. All this time, the women are singing and jumping up into the air. While this is going on, a group of the boy's friends/family are plying him with a brew and giving him encouragement and tips on a successful bull jump. Toward sunset, the boy is lead to where the bulls are being held and, sure enough, he jumps up on a bull and walks across many of them, many times, proving his manhood. A couple tribesmen are not happy with our presence/picture taking; but the chief has agreed to our visit. All tribes we visit receive some financial award. This has been a long 14-hour day. We welcome spending two nights at the Buska lodge.
Woman with disk in her mouth - 4 bottom teeth are pulled to insert disk
Our van stuck in a rut - we had to turn back to get to another area where we could watch a boy walk over bulls to prove his manhood
Girls hasseling the boys before attempt to walk (jump) the bulls
Two bulls sparring
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Moon rising behind the mountains - we had to take a motorcycle across the road to get to our lodging - our van could not make it across
1/28 Anne and I need a break so we've taken today off from touring. We'll miss a 130-mile round trip drive on rough, jarring, bumpy roads in a non-air conditioned vehicle to see the Kara tribe, known masters of body painting; we'll also miss a Nyangatom Village. The guys will show us pictures. It's 89° today.
1/29 Nahome tells me we'll be driving 280 km today north through the Omo Valley, mostly on paved roads. He points out the man-made bee hives shaped like a barrel high up in the trees, laying horizontally. We see insett growing along the way; it's a non-fruit bearing 'false' banana tree which has a nutritious starch value in its stalk. It's a sturdy plant, so there's no famine where it grows. I mention to the group that my nails haven't grown since I've been in Africa; same with them. Continuing on the road, we're halted by a spooky sight of five boys of various ages blocking the road. Their bodies are painted with many designs, and they are on stilts. Quite the entrepreneurs; when a tour bus is coming, up they go and the tourists stop and offer them a little cash. It's a part-time job for them, but they are able to help their families and perhaps save some for bride money. We still see large numbers of goats and cows. The valley is narrowing; the mountains are nearer. We leave the South Omo Valley and enter another Omo Valley where papyrus and cotton are growing. I see something similar to mistletoe growing in some of the trees. We learn that for six months of 2019-2020 there was a huge locust infestation, wiping out all food sources, then Covid hit, then there was war. The fields look good now. Some hillsides are terraced here, some since the 1400's. We stop to visit the 500-year old Gamole Village, home to the Konso tribe. They've built their homes on mountainsides, and the village is surrounded by a stone wall. Great to see but a bit difficult to climb up to. We support the local weavers. Our local guide who sports a Michigan cap tells us the farmers plant all the crops together in the fields, all requiring different amounts of water. So if there's a drought, something they've planted will still grow, avoiding famine. Our first (toilet) stop (after 6 hours) is a nice restaurant/hotel, and we all finish our meal with a big mango juice. We have a soup at every lunch. Matthew points out the Great African Rift continues through this area. We see several thriving weekly markets. For miles we pass a huge banana plantation. I don't think I've mentioned we often see people and beasts hauling water. Some places have good working pumps. As we arrive in Arbaminch (Forty Springs), we stop at Lake Chamo and hop on a covered little boat for a ride out to see about twelve crocodiles sunbathing and slipping into the murky water. On our way back we briefly spot a hippopotamus before it also slips into the water. We spend the last night of our Ethiopian tour at the very nice and quite busy Paradise Lodge inside a National Park.
1/30 This morning we drive up Mt. Guge for an hour, driving through a juniper forest. There are horses up here in the highlands. We begin to see some bamboo huts and fences and soon really enjoy a visit to Dorze Village. Their huts are skillfully made with bamboo, and many have a faint resemblance to an elephant. We learn elephants once roamed here but were decimated by hunters. So they honor their memories. We meet a young man who shows us inside his family's hut; the fire is made in the middle, animals are on a partitioned side, beds are along the walls. We met his mother outside who was spinning cotton for the men's weaving cooperative. A young woman showed us how they use the entire insett. We taste a brew called areki and eat bread made from the insett with honey and chili paste. We purchase some scarves. After a pleasant stop for lunch under shade trees, we take a flight from Arbaminch to Addis Ababa. Then we quickly repack at the hotel, say goodbye to all and head to the airport. Cairo is our next stop. We thank Nahome of Pleasure Ethiopia Travel for a great two weeks of showing us his beautiful Ethiopia. The people we've met and seen this month have been very kind, and we've seen very hard workers. Come see for yourself!
Abraminch
Houses built to resemble elephant face
Animales live in the house with the family
Insett Tree (false banana) nothing is wasted!
Pulp used for bread
Twine
Bread dough from the insett plant
Flattening the bread
Baking the bread
Liquor made from the plant
Cooked bread with honey and chili sauce
How coffee is served in airports in Ethiopia
Start of our Egypt trip
Wednesday 1/31 We arrived in Cairo at 0230, turning our clocks back one hour. Our flight from Addis was delayed for two hours for an unknown reason after we had already boarded. Ihab Zaki, Spiekermann Travel, arranged for Walid (and his driver/brother Hany) to meet us at the airport, obtain our visas and get us to our Fairmont Nile City Hotel. It's quite fancy shmancy. Hummus, falafel, halva and more at the buffet breakfast. In the afternoon, knock at the door: would you like coffee or tea? Later, another knock: may I turn down the beds for you? We wandered the hotel's shops and restaurants, then we sat on the 21st floor poolside patio overlooking the Nile. Sunny but chilly.
2/1 We met our guide Azza this morning and visited the old Egyptian Museum. We made an abbreviated tour through the crowded exhibits, seeing Tutankhamun's things before we left. Hany drove us to Old Cairo, interesting but touristy, to see Coptic and Orthodox churches along with a synagogue. Some kids talked with us, some others seemed surprised to see us there. We split a chicken Sharma sandwich along with a tasty bowl of garlic, rice and a green similar to sorrel. It's a relief to be walking outside without heat and humidity. Most residents are wearing scarves and winter coats.
View of the Nile River from the Fairmont Hotel restaurant
Egyptian Museum where King Tut’s exhibit is still housed - to be moved to the Grand Egyptian Museum sometime in the future
Copy of the Rosetta Stone
Sarcophagus
Alabaster jars where organs were placed
King Tut’s Chair
Photo of the layout of King Tut’s tómbola when found
Partial view of King Tut’s coffin - photos were not allowed (sneaked a couple)
Walkway into the churches
Our lunch time visitor - beautiful blue eyes
Entrance to the Museum - largest in the World, designer by an Irish firm!
Statue of Ramses moved to the Museum from Ramses Square
Top of walkway in museum with a view of the pyramids
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2/4 We were met at the airport by Hany, our guide in Luxor, and immediately started touring, seeing ancient and beautiful tombs, hieroglyphics, statues. Some colors remain after 3500 years. Hany filled our day with visits to the Valley of the Kings, King Tut's tomb (Tut's mummified body has never left Egypt, only his artifacts), the Temple of Queen Hatsheput, Medinat Habu Temple, Luxor Temple and Karnak Temple. Thanks and goidbye, Hany. Tomorrow we begin a four-night Nile cruise on the Dahabeya Zekrayaat.
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| Temple Of Queen Hatsheput |
Tomb of King Ramses IX
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Monday 2/5 This morning we met our guide for the next five days, Mohammed. We've seen some awesome places these last five weeks, but today we saw relatively small Esna Temple, which was 'discovered' in 1885 by Thomas Cooke while on a Nile cruise. Very little of the temple was exposed, the majority covered with about 50' of silt and sand. It's being worked on today by archeologists and restoration teams. But the colors are original, and the columns are the most beautiful I've seen yet. I'm sure Anne got some great pictures; Google has some great ones, too. A short distance from there was the boarding dock for our dahabeya, The Zekrayaat. This boat is so quaint, we love it. A couple from New York (he was born/raised on the east side of Detroit, St. Anthony's parish on Gratiot) and the two of us are the only guests on this boat which can accommodate twelve. We're spoiled by our waiter Ali. The sailing ship has a captain and crew of five; the motor/tug boat that gets us on our way and helps us dock has a captain and mate. The chef Rommy makes a big selection available to us. It's beautiful when the huge sail is unfurled. For a short while we were entangled in the reeds, like baby Moses. We're anchored for the night alongside an island with maybe three other dahabeyas. The power will be out between 2200-0700; the crew may turn the generator off for hours during the day, also, while we're out sight-seeing or when the four of us are on the upper deck. We are in a suite, which means our cabin has an outside porch on the backside of the boat. The rooms are all on the first floor, the upper deck is awning-covered with tables and chairs. This is a real pleasure. Just wish it was a little warmer. But we're heading upriver (south), so the temperatures should warm more each day. Esna temple - beautiful!!!!                          2/6 Because of a lack of wind, we were pulled by the motor boat for a couple hours. We did stop to see the Temple of Horus, the falcon god, in Edfu. We rode from the dock to the site in a horse buggy. Poor horse. This site was a bit difficult to walk through, and it wasn't lovely. We sail through a pretty area. Overnight we docked and had dinner at another island, which meant we walked the gang plank in the dimly-lit darkness. The crew is very helpful. Train tracks and a highway hug the river on the east side. Internet isn't great.          Ali, our supera waiter!   2/7 The motor boat gets us underway before breakfast. The wind is good for just a couple hours today, so we're towed. An early stop was at the old sandstone quarries, no longer in use. This afternoon we were in Kom Ombo at the double temple of Sobek (crocodile god) and Haroeris (sky god); we had a short tuk-tuk ride. Ancient floods partially destroyed this temple; it's at a bend in the river. There's quite a bit of river traffic with cruise boats of varying size. The four of us agree that our little boat is the ideal size; we're all glad there are only us four on board. We thought we'd be served fish on the boat, but we've had none so far. Beef and chicken, lots of vegetables, tasty fruit juices. Today at lunch we had orange slices for dessert. The meals have been great. Sandstone quarry          2/8 We rode in the back of a small delivery truck into Daraw this morning to see the markets, mostly fruit and vegetables. With no wind, the tug boat tows us. After our last lunch on the boat, we come upon a small stranded (windless) dahabeya. Our tug nestles up to it, pushing it along while towing us. The small boat gets towed a couple miles up to a bend in the river, catches the wind and leaves us. We arrive in Aswan, our last night on board.          2/9 This morning we said thanks and goodbye to our guide and the crew of our dahabeya, and we meet our local guide, Achmed. We toured the interesting Nubian Museum. We saw and learned about the original and new dams; amazing. We took a little boat to the island where the Philae Temple complex was moved to; its original location was flooded by the dam. Many little islands in this area are made up of huge boulders. We take another little boat, with our luggage, to our Heissa Artie Nubian House hotel, where we have many outside steps to climb. The young men carry our luggage effortlessly. Here, also, the internet is poor. We have just a few days before our return.                         Gregory Andrecke, Linda Abrams, Maddy, Anne        Saturday 2/10 Early this morning, we're back on the little boat, heading to Aswan Airport for a quick 90-minute visit to the renowned site of Abu Simbel. Our local guide Waleed is Nubian and explains that Nubia as a country no longer exists, but he remains a Nubian. We are 35 km from North Sudan. The two temples here, dedicated to the self-loving Ramses II and his wife Nefertari, were constructed c. 1264 BC. Covered in sand, they were 'discovered' in 1813; they remained at this original site until the creation of the Aswan Dam reservoir and Lake Nasser forced their relocation to a higher neighboring island from 1964-1968. This dismantling/reconstruction was a tremendous effort. I am really irritated by tourists here and seem to have run out of patience. They come to famous historic sites and seem interested only in selfies and portraits of themselves in front of the columns and art. I photo-bombed plenty of their pictures, and I don't give a crap. Grrrr. My photographer patiently waits for people to move out of the way and will quickly get a great picture. We're back in Aswan; we don't exit the plane because the next leg takes us to Cairo. On our cruise up the Nile, we knew there was desert beyond the sides of the river. Now we flew north over that desert. In Cairo we say goodbye to Linda and Greg, our Nile River travel mates. I will always think of Egypt when I see beautiful date palms. Anne and I spend the night in the airport hotel. Abu Simbel - small temple for Ramses’ wife               2/11 Our last driver, Maged, promptly picks us up from our hotel for our 3 hour drive to Alexandria. We travel west and north from Cairo through a fertile agricultural area. On the edges of fields, we notice interesting inverted cone-shaped structures with rows of holes and perches circling them; I think of dovecotes. We learn these are homes for pigeons which are an enjoyed food source here. About an hour outside of Cairo, the fog is so heavy that we have to pull over for about 30 minutes. We understand it's common here. We meet our very knowledgeable guide Zara in Alexandria. She tells us that Alexandria is multi-cultural filled with museums, art, cinemas, theaters, opera, music; they love the arts here. Because of Egyptian, Greek, Italian, French influence, they have their own dialect here. Instead of 'shukran' (thank you), it's 'merci', etc. We visit the Roman Catacombs and the Roman Amphitheater; the sites are still being excavated. We have a tour of the new Alexandrian Library; it's wonderful. The traffic in Cairo was heavy; here it's like playing dodg'em cars. Anne told me to not look forward; look out the side window. Then I notice she stopped looking out her side window because that traffic was nerve wracking. They can't build a subway here because of all the remains of ancient civilizations below. We have a sea bass lunch at a restaurant built over the site of an ancient lighthouse. Our hotel is on the Mediterranean Sea; it's lovely. A father sends his young daughter over to talk to us. We enjoy talking to locals, even bashful little kids.                     2/12 This morning we travel an hour west along the Med to the El Alemain Battle Ground, museum and cemeteries. We see so much development aling the way; they are establishing a new city east of El Alemain. The Germans and Italians were fighting east across Libya and Egypt attempting to reach and control the Suez Canal when they met the Allies (England, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, India, South Africa) at El Alemain in multiple battles in 1942. Today about 5,000 Germans and 5,000 Italians are buried in mausoleums at each of their cemeteries. Approximately 96,000 others were never located. Approximately 7,300 Allied soldiers are buried in the Commonwealth cemetery. During those air raids, 5,813 Egyptian civilians and 2,591 military were killed; 563 houses were destroyed. Zara's own 10-year old grandmother was evacuated to the countryside before the fighting began. We appreciate Zara's knowledge here. It seems that Zara has had to identify our nationality and our hotel at many spots. When we leave the cemeteries, we are followed by police until we reach the toll booth station. Neither she, Anne nor Maged seemed concerned; it freaked me out a bit. Last night we got a call from the hotel's front desk asking if everything was fine. That's a first. We enjoyed sea bass, mashed Fava beans with garlic, tahini with tomato paste and mint and a dish of the best garlic paste Anne has ever had at another good restaurant on the Med. We thank Zara and say goodbye.  Alexandria Library        Planetarium at the library                                2/13 After an early lunch, we travel back to Cairo with Maged; we thank him for his careful driving and wish him well. We'll catch some zzz's and walk over to the airport early to meet Walid. He'll see us to the gate for our 3:50 a.m. flight to Istanbul. After an 8-hour layover, we'll head back to DTW. We've had a marvelous time; thank you to Ihab, Kerina and Jill at Spiekermann Travel for our trip arrangements. We met wonderful, knowledgeable people who shared their countries with us. We thank them all and hopefully will remember them always. Thanks Andy and Al for holding down the fort. Thanks to Kim for taking great care of my pups. Anne and I are still talking after 6+ weeks together; guess we'll plan another trip together for next year. Sincerely, thank you Anne (Muskels) for your friendship and support.    |
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