We have a long day ahead of us today so Chris wanted to leave at 7 AM to avoid the morning traffic. It turns out Addis is like any other major city as it has bad traffic problems.

Everyone is going in this southern swing except for Kevin who headed home today, so our group size is 16. We are using the same 5 vehicle caravan but with new drivers except for the lead driver, Tommy.

We managed to exit the city without any major delays and made our first stop by 9:15 at the Tiya historical archeological World Heritage site to view some 12-14th century (before Christianity arrived) stelae (stone grave markers) found there. We were met by a local guide who toured us around the facility and explained what we were seeing. These markers are indeed grave sites. Exploration in 1974 found 54 skeletons (29 men , 15 women) buried behind the stelae in a fetal position. On the male stelae markers are carved swords thought to identify how many the person killed, to circular rings to indicate it was a man, symbols to indicate ribs and also a symbol of the traditional head rest used by men,  of all things. The stelae range in height from 1-5 meters. The female stelae are carved with obvious female characteristics like breasts and a necklace.  We spent about 45 minutes there before moving on.

Around 11AM we stopped at a hotel in Butajira for a comfort stop and coffee/soda. By 11:30 we were on the road again, rotating seats so everyone did not get stuck in the middle.

The landscape gradually changed as we were in a big valley. Our progress was hindered by potholes in the pavement that the driver had to avoid and the many animals that decided they liked walking on the roadway as they moved from one location to another. One of the big changes we saw was that we were entering an area where the majority of the inhabitants were Muslims. The clothing of the women changed to burkas. The driver said this was the major settlement for those of Muslim belief. 90% of the people living in this area are Muslims.

Near the town of Warabi the vehicles stopped along the roadside and we proceeded to visit the home of a Muslim family who lived there. The homes here are round with thatched roofs. As was the case last week we were invited into their modest home where the couple lived with their 6 children. Five were in school at the time so only one small, very shy boy clung to his mother while we were there. They sleep on dirt floors and cook meals inside. There is no “chimney” in the roof so the entire house ends up having a smoky odor. It wasn’t intolerable but it was noticeable. There was even an area for their livestock to live inside; they provide heat for the family. Next to the round house was a more traditional rectangular adobe home we have seen in most other areas. This will be their new home soon. Because of the lack of thatch for roof material people are migrating away from the old ways of living.

 

We also started seeing a lot of Boxer motor bikes (made in China), more than we had ever seen before. It seemed to be a prime mode of transportation for young males. The other obvious observation is that virtually every young child who saw us waved, and as good tourists we tried to wave back. I asked our driver why this was. He said the kids recognize this type of vehicle and know it contains tourists, so they wave.  OK by me.

Our lunch stop was in the town of Halaba where we ate pre- ordered dishes. Several of us ordered minestrone soup. What we got was not traditional minestrone soup; our soup was white, not red, and contained rice and carrots. No one had a good answer why it was called minestrone. However, it was tasty and filling.

By 5 PM we were near our destination for the night, Arba Minch ( which means 40 springs- which there are nearby),  having passed through a rich area where they grow bananas, mangoes, avocados and tomatoes. We saw large trucks being loaded with bananas to be driven to Addis Ababa.

Our hotel for the next two nights is in the town of Arba Minch. It is one of the chain owned by the famous Ethiopian long distance runner, Haile Gebrselassie.  It is gorgeous and makes up for the poor hotels we stayed in earlier in the trip. Located  on the side of a hill it overlooks the distant lake and mountains. The good news is we will be here two nights! By 6:00PM we were in our rooms. Dinner is a buffet (what else) and the bar area looked promising. Cal, a former Eastman Kodak employee, is on the trip and happens to be a Manhattan drinker so I volunteered to see if they could make us one. They only had Jack Daniels but that will do in a pinch. There was sweet vermouth also ; however there was no bitters and the bar tender had no clue what it was. I decided to pass and instead ordered a glass of white wine from South Africa. I got a generous, i.e. to the top of the glass, for $4.50.

As I said the hotel is beautiful but, alas, the internet is not. I had hopes of adding more entries to my blog but I had trouble connecting to the outside world, so my blog gets a further delay.