January 29, 2020: The Journey to Hawassa.

February 13, 2020 cjbishop@yahoo.com

It is quite cloudy this morning. People at breakfast said we had lightning, wind and rain last night after midnight. I never heard a thing!

We sadly left the Haile Resort Hotel at 8 AM, continuing our journey northward to the town of Hawassa (also referred to as Awassa), our stop for the night, with a stay at another Haile hotel there.

It rained a bit (sometimes fairly hard) soon after we left and we got to see the effects on the local landscape. The earth does not absorb the water efficiently and the normally dry river beds suddenly began to show some water flow. It reminded me of Arizona. The rain did not last long.

We stopped at a hotel around 10 AM for a comfort stop and coffee, along with what seemed liked every other tour company in this part of Ethiopia. It was so busy and their restaurant was so crowded that the staff set up some tables and chairs on the hotel lawn for several of the groups, including ours. Chris used the opportunity to tell us a bit about the Sidama people who live in this part of Ethiopia, which is called the Sidamo region. The Sidama people are part of the Southern Region of Ethiopia and Hawassa is its capital. Three million people live here. They are mostly Protestants and some 15% claim to still be pagans. This region is where 40% of the Ethiopian coffee is grown; agriculture is important. What makes it intriguing is that the area recently had a referendum and voted that they wanted to become a separate new region (#10) of Ethiopia. As such it would cause a major upheaval in the region. It is now being debated by the government.

An Asian tourist who really bought a lot of souvenirs!

One of the few soccer games I saw while in Ethiopia.

We broke up the remaining drive by again stopping at a roadside home of a local tribe of some 600 people who grew sugar cane, false bananas and coffee. It was a home of someone our local driver, Tommy, knew from previous trips. Again we were cordially welcomed and soon a crowd of adults and kids gathered around as the local people explained their lives to us.

A stop to visit a farming community home.

The owner telling us about his home and farm. As expected a crowd soon gathered.

Showing people what their picture looks like.

A village “baba” (grandfather) started talking to me. I smiled a lot and shook his hand.

People followed us back to our vehicles.

I forgot to convey a story of how local people advertise food/drink for sale. If there is a stick outside a home with a cup on it, it means the owner has locally made beer for sale. If there is a dish it means food is available for sale. We did not stop at any of the establishments to try them, however.

The dish on the stool by the roadside means this is a home that is serving food.

We were at the Haile hotel in Awassa by early afternoon. Awassa is a fairly large city, located 170 miles south of Addis Ababa, with a population of 315,000 people. It is also a high elevation city: 5604 feet.

Someone worked hard creating this floral arrangement in the lobby.

Book on the famous Ethiopian runner, Haile Gerbrselassie.

Later that afternoon we were given the opportunity to go on a short “nature” walk in a nearby Amora Gedel National Park on the shores of Lake Awassa where we would likely see monkeys and other waterbirds who live there. It turned out to be a pretty fascinating walk as we saw dozens of storks who inhabited the area and several species of monkeys, including the beautiful, colorful colobus monkey. The colobus monkey is so tame it will eat peanuts out of your hand and several of us took advantage of the picture opportunity!

There were many great looking old trees in the park.

A colony of small vervet monkeys inhabit the park. Here is a mother and child.

Marabou storks in their nest. There were dozens of them here.

Gimme those peanuts you are holding in your hand!

This monkey was trying to tear apart the car’s visor.

We also walked along the lake shore where there were a series of bars and restaurants (and souvenir stands) where locals gathered for food, drink and conversation.