From Kenya, I set out for Ethiopia to meet up with my
cousin, Tyler, who was working as a one-year Project Director overseeing a
grant at a hospital. It had been a few
years since we’d seen each other, and even that had been a short interaction,
so I was looking forward to catching up.
I tend to remember people as the age they are in my mind’s stand-still picture of them,
so it was strange to see him as a young man, talking about college and his
future professional plans. I’ll admit
that it made me feel proud…and, to be honest, a little old.
As it turns out, he was the perfect travel companion
since he had researched all the touristy things to do but hadn’t actually had
the opportunity to see them himself yet.
We quickly put together an action-packed itinerary for the week before
enjoying a bit of what the capital had to offer. Addis Ababa is an interesting city that seems
on the cusp of getting its act together.
There is construction at every turn, but it lacks a sense of
flow and coherence – almost like it is being developed by a dozen different teams of
urban planners. In the spirit of
Life-is-Short–Eat-Dessert-First, we had black forest ice cream before heading
to an Ethiopian restaurant for food and traditional dancing.
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| Nearly all food in Ethiopia is served on injera, a moist and unusually foamy bread with a slightly bitter taste. You eat by tearing pieces of the injera off and dipping them into the various sauces smothering the "pancake-like plate." The variety served here ranged from acidic to spicy. |
The next morning, we were up early to catch our flight up
to Lalibela, home to what many consider the 8th wonder of the world - 11 rock-hewn churches. There, we had an amazing tour
guide who explained the impressive history and intricate symbolism of the structures carved directly from the rocks after King Lalibela had a vision. We took advantage of
playing tourist by taking a lot of pictures and eating at a cozy restaurant
that served huge portions of Western food.
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| Stele Field |
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| Hallway in an underground mausoleum |
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| St. Mary of Zion Church |
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| Allegedly, where the Ark of the Covenant is housed |
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| Aeriel view of Aksum |
Flying back to Lalibela, we found a van heading in the
direction we needed to go. We got out in
a truck-stop town a little unsure about the next step. At first, it seemed a man there was trying to
scam us, but he helped arrange for us to hitch a ride with a generous truck driver willing to carry us towards our destination. The step of the monstrous vehicle was at waist level but
we pulled ourselves up into the cab and set off with the man who didn’t speak English. With the combination of a couple tons of cargo
and dangerously steep and narrow roads through the mountains, it was a slow moving trek,
but the views were breathtakingly beautiful.
Night had fallen when we pulled into the nameless town that our driver
indicated would be our stopping place. He
refused payment but I insisted that he at least take some snacks. Lodging options were limited and we were
shown a sparse room comprised of only a bed, four walls, and a metal door. At less than $2.50 a night, it was sketchy
even by African standards, but we ate our cheap meal downstairs and called it a
night.
The next morning, we flagged down yet another mini-bus for
Bahir Dar, a comparatively upscale lakefront community. The hotel should have been a step up from our
previous night’s sleeping quarters, but the fact that they were pumping sewage
out of the center of the courtyard put a damper on it. However, I did enjoy breakfast vaguely resembling French toast (they took a dinner roll and soaked it in egg batter) at the in-house
restaurant. We explored the outdoor
market and then strolled around the lake.
Having worked up a thirst, we had fruit smoothies that were as delicious
as they were beautiful. Our walking
continued after we had hydrated, and we covered much of the city. With tired legs, we finally settled
on a boardwalk restaurant that served great Ethiopian food and offered perfect
people-watching opportunities.
Our venture to the Blue Nile Falls began with the run-around
common to foreigners (
faranjis)
traveling in Africa. It was incredibly
frustrating, but we eventually found a bus and paid the normal price. Although they weren’t at the peak of the
season, the falls were beautiful and the fact that they were a little tamer meant
we could get up close.
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| You can see a faint rainbow in the mist from the falls |
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| Suspension bridge you have to cross to go down to the base of the falls |
Our travel woes
continued back in Bahir Dar as we attempted to find something going in the
direction of Addis Ababa. We traversed
the car park multiple times following various leads from unhelpful men
attempting to fill vehicles, but a helpful police officer led us to a van going
half-way there – the closest we could get given the time of day. Tyler and I each took an ear bud from my iPod
and we covered a couple hundred more kilometers of travel throughout the countryside. It was raining as we pulled into Debre Markos. Following our previous sure-fire travel instincts,
we settled on the first non-sketchy/reasonably priced hotel we found. We were in for a treat as the room had two
queen-sized beds. Strangely, the downstairs bar/restaurant also served the best
shirro (lentil and chickpea mush) I’d
eaten in Ethiopia – though perhaps it was just a combination of hunger and
being cold and wet.
We chose the wrong day to sleep in until 7am since we
arrived at the car park the next morning and learned that there is only one main bus that goes
to Addis Ababa every day and it left at 6. We walked in
circles around the town trying to find another option but thought everything we were
being quoted was overpriced. As it
turned out, the ridiculous price we were initially given was the best deal. (I decided to put aside my headstrong Cameroonian bargaining/indignation for the rest of the trip.) We arrived in the capital and indulged our
American cravings for pizza and fries.
Bags packed, I left early the next morning for the
airport. However, I learned during check-in
that the flight had been overbooked. I
waited to see if a spot would become available on standby or if they could
re-route me through a different connection.
Instead, the wonderful people at Ethiopian Airlines asked if I would
mind being put up a hotel for 24 hours. And
not just any hotel: the Hilton! It wasn’t
a hard decision - especially since they agreed to shuttle me back and forth,
pay for my meals, and give me cash in-hand.
Um…yes please! The hotel shuttle
was running late, which didn’t bother me at all but made the other passenger who was waiting furious. He was belligerently drunk
and I was appalled at his behavior to the staff so tried to make up for his
attitude by letting them know how much I appreciated everything they were doing. I settled into my hotel room, watched some
American television, and then visited the incredible lunch buffet. The sheer quantity and variety of food was
mind-blowing, and I couldn’t contain my glee when I saw there was an entire
table devoted to impressive-looking desserts.
Cream puffs and peach tarts and strawberries, oh my! The Addis Ababa Hilton Hotel isn’t where you go to experience
authentic Ethiopia…but it’s not too shabby, either.
I wandered around the city, eventually making my way back
to where my cousin was staying and surprised him with the news that I was still
in town. Because he had work to do, I
continued playing tourist by myself, walking around buying souvenirs and
writing postcards. For dinner, Tyler, a
colleague, and I, went to a Greek restaurant and gorged ourselves on a cheese plate
and amazing pizza and had a wonderful evening of interesting conversation
before they walked me back to the hotel.
I wrapped up my last night of vacation watching television, taking a
long warm shower, and pocketing the travel-sized toiletries!
The breakfast buffet the next morning was another perfect
sendoff, especially knowing that I faced a long day of flying and arrival into
Douala, a city so sweltering that, as another Peace Corps Volunteer says “it makes
your sweat sweat.” Having left under
unusual circumstances, coming back to Cameroon was bittersweet. Climbing aboard the rickety bus packed full (nearly
every woman had a child – or two – on her lap), I settled in for the long ride
ahead and sighed with contentment that, although I had been away…it was good to
be home.
All in all, it was an amazing vacation and I’m so glad I
went. While there are certainly similarities,
I was most struck by the differences between East and West Africa – and, even
more so, from country to country. While
my time in Kenya was limited to the capital, from it I was able to see the potential
of development in Africa – and, that that standard of living can be available
to a larger portion of host country nationals.
In Ethiopia, I was fortunate enough to get a taste of it all – urban and
rural, touristy and remote. Unfortunately,
I was saddened by a lot of what I saw.
Ethiopia’s economy looks, at least on a superficial front (people’s
attire, lack of footwear, possessions), comparatively much weaker than Cameroon’s
– despite better infrastructure in other areas (more paved roads, transportation
slightly more comfortable). For all the
talk of corruption in Cameroon, I prefer the entrepreneurial spirit that I find
many people have here. I got the
impression that Ethiopia has a severe culture of dependency (as in, dependency
on foreign assistance), as we were constantly barraged with open hands and endless pleas of “Give
me money! Give me money! Give me money!" In Cameroon, you’ll always have someone’s
hands in your face, but normally they’re asking you to buy something. I was so heartened
by this that I actually smiled on the bus back to my region, gladly doling out
20 cents here and there for mandarins, koki beignets, and pineapple wedges.
As it turns out, he was the perfect travel companion
since he had researched all the touristy things to do but hadn’t actually had
the opportunity to see them himself yet.
We quickly put together an action-packed itinerary for the week before
enjoying a bit of what the capital had to offer. Addis Ababa is an interesting city that seems
on the cusp of getting its act together.
There is construction at every turn, but it lacks a sense of
flow and coherence – almost like it is being developed by a dozen different teams of
urban planners. In the spirit of
Life-is-Short–Eat-Dessert-First, we had black forest ice cream before heading
to an Ethiopian restaurant for food and traditional dancing.
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