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When we checked in last night we were warned there might be music from a local venue and church chanting that might interrupt our sleeping. The staff offered us ear plugs to use if necessary.  As it turned out the music quit by 9 PM and the church chanting did not begin until 3 AM. Neither proved to be a problem for my sleeping. Because of the mosquito netting around the bed I was concerned they might be a problem.  I have been taking malaria pills but did not want to take chances so I was very careful about sealing the edges of the netting. Again, it turned out to be a non-issue. Most think that because it is the dry season mosquitoes are really not a problem. We survived our night in tents; some people really enjoyed it.

Breakfast was not served until 7 AM so several of us early risers sat on the steps by the locked dining room checking our e-mails. Surprisingly for such a remote camp the internet was fairly decent, but not decent enough to work on my blog.

Our group met with Chris at 8 AM for a brief talk about what we will be seeing today. The highlight is expected to be a visit with the famous Mursi tribe, the tribe noted for women who wear the large lip disks. The lower lips of women are slit when they are about 15-16 years old and disks made of wood or clay are inserted. As the skin expands larger sized disks  are introduced. No one knows the real reason why this tradition began. Some claim it was a beautification measure.

The Mursi tribe peoples are nomads and cattle is their currency. They are considered to be the wealthiest of the tribes, with ~11,500 people living  in 7 different villages. They do practice agriculture, relying on “reverse flood agriculture”. The flooding rivers, when they recede, leave rich soil, which the tribe uses to plant and harvest crops before the next flood season. Dams being built on the rivers (for electricity) are now affecting this flood cycle. Their food source is mainly sorghum oatmeal; they drink blood mixed with milk. They do eat meat, especially during famine times.  The tribes move three times a year to find grazing area and water for their cattle.

Most other tribes want sons; this tribe wants girls as the dowry for marriage is typically 40 cows given by the male in the marriage.  As a right of passage to manhood men participate in fairly vicious form of stick fighting. The winners get first choice of women to marry. Supposedly you can see examples on YouTube.

It was a long two hour drive on a bumpy unpaved road to get to one of the villages where the Mursi  people lived. Surprisingly there were no people walking the roadway and no animals sharing the road with us. This village is in the middle of nowhere.

A local guide at the village gave us more information about the tribe and its culture, including the fact that the marriage dowry is now up to 60 cows and an AK47 rifle (I kid you not).  Men tend to marry when they are 25-26; women are younger. We had been told earlier that the people expected to be paid if you took their picture; the going rate was 5 birr per person. Our local guide said they have recently changed the system. If you take pictures you are expected to pay him 200 birr ($6) and you can take as many pictures as you want. That sounded like an easier system to us. He walked us through the village, pointing out things about their way of life. There were mostly women and children present who, unfortunately were more interested in selling us something than posing for pictures. The most popular item being sold was the lip disk the women wore. These were new decorated disks made of clay with painted designs on them. Most of the designs were similar. We were told a fair price for the smaller disk was 50 birr and 100 birr for the larger one. We were constantly pestered to buy one and even after I bought one they wanted me to buy another. We finally had to ask the village chief to rein in his tribe members, which he did – for awhile.

I was disappointed to find that only a few women were actually wearing their disk. Most walked around with the lower, stretched lip hanging down. Older women, who wore larger disks had to pull some of their lower teeth because the teeth eventually got in the way of the disk. It was not an attractive sight. The government is now trying to dissuade younger people from carrying on the practice, which I would totally agree with.

There were also some evidence of body scarring on some of the women, again for beautification reasons.  There were only a few men in the village and when I asked why, I was told the men know people are there to see the women, not them, so they were probably out somewhere getting drunk on their homemade beer.

We were pretty exhausted after one hour and left the village, enduring the long two hour ride back to Jinka where we had a pleasant late (1:30) lunch at a resort hotel. Chris wanted us to see the local museum that had exhibits on all the major tribes that occupy the Omo Valley. On display were tools, clothing, jewelry, weapons, etc.  that the tribes used in daily life. We also watched a short BBC movie that showed us an actual cattle jumping ceremony, which is practiced by one of the tribes we will visit later.

Our trip to our hotel for the night required another three hour car ride, but at least it was on a paved (most of the time) road to Konso where we had lunch yesterday. As we drove we encountered a heavy rain for a short period of time, the first we have seen since we arrived in Ethiopia. It settled the dust where it rained but it was only in a limited area. We arrived at our hotel by 6 PM; dinner was to be served at 7. Tonight it was a plated dinner rather than another buffet. We had a choice of 6-7 entrees; everyone was pleased.

It was a very long day but unfortunately it was necessary to see the isolated tribes in the Omo Valley. Tomorrow we will visit a few more; each is expected to be diverse in clothing, culture and life style. By the way, the tribes living here in Southern Ethiopia did not know Ethiopia existed until after WWII; they were/are that isolated from the rest of the country.

We left our fabulous Haile Resort hotel at 8 AM to head further south to visit more tribes in the area to explore their cultures and way of life.

Chris tried to teach me some local language. Hello is phonetically said: “Nay Guy Da” and thank you very much is “Ah Mess ah  Ga Nah Lo”. I struggled with them the entire time I was there but the locals seemed to appreciate me trying to speak their language.

The morning temperatures are higher and so are the daytime temperatures, as we are at lower elevation and closer to the equator. The good news is the humidity is low so we remain comfortable.

The roads are getting worse. We seem to have about 1-2 blocks of pavement followed by a stretch of rocky, unpaved road. However, there was evidence of some road construction underway. The roads became better after awhile, I.e. all paved.  We still had to deal with all the pot holes, by weaving back and forth across the roadway. You could get seasick from all that motion! And there was always the presence of animals on the road.

At 9:15 AM we stopped at the side of the road to see some bee hives that are located in the trees, the typical way the Ethiopians collect honey. The hives are hollowed out logs in which a queen bee is placed; she does the rest. It is traditionally considered to be man’s work because of necessity of climbing trees.  Funny story: They have experimented with ground-based hives (like we use) which the women controlled as they could easily service them. People said it would not work.They were wrong and they are learning the women are better at managing the system!  The men may lose out in the end.

Our major destination was a visit to a Konso village. The Konso people are agriculture based people who ironically live in fortified, walled villages located high on the mountain side (1700 meters). We were warned that any photo we took would involve a payment of 5 birr to the person we photograph. That is why Chris gave each of us a big bundle (100) of brand new five birr notes to use as we visited the tribes in the area. If there are two people in the photo you are expected to pay each person. That is the one way the people in the Omo Valley make money!  Once we arrived we learned they have changed their policy. We are free to take photos of children at no cost  as the adults did not want the children to learn bad habits. For adults we are expected to pay the 5 birr/person fee. Our local guide said he would keep track of what we took (and of whom) and we can pay him afterwards; he would distribute the funds to the people involved after we leave.

A local person told us about the Konso people and their culture. There are 300,000 Konso people in the area. They live in 42 villages involving 9 clans. The village we are visiting  is listed as a UNESCO site.  We were walked through the village and shown how they live. An important aspect of their culture is the use of carved wooden statues marking the graves of village chiefs and heroes. They were originally a pagan society and the use of phallic symbols was/is part of their art. They have an interesting way of telling time over generations. Every 18 years a generation change is assumed to occur and they add a tree trunk to a growing number of trunks at their central meeting point in the village. A new generation is then assumed to take over.  Right now there are 49 tree trunks there, inferring the village dates back 882+ years!

There are a series of circular rock walls surrounding the village. As the village grows they add another ring; currently there is three separate stone walls surrounding the village; each wall ranges from 2-4 meters in height. These walls were used as part of their fortification system. There are a heck of a lot of rocks here! We did not enter any homes on this visit; we simply walked through the village , taking “free” photos of the many kids who came to see us, and occasional pictures of adults who were especially photogenic in our eyes. The exit of the tour took us past the mandatory shopping area where local art and craft was for sale. Their major offerings were made of wood although they also do weaving. Prices were cheap and people made some sales, myself included.

By 1 PM we were sitting down to our pre-ordered lunch at a restaurant in Konso in a lovely setting with blooming flowers, overlooking the valley. They offered the usual menu choices; the same as we see at every other restaurant we had eaten at. There has not been much variation in the offerings. I settled for the spaghetti with meat sauce, a safe option which has been tasty in the past. The good Italian food is a legacy of the Italian occupation in the 1930s.

We left at 2 PM to continue our journey. The landscape is lovely; green and lush with very few homes or people. It is now warmer and a bit more humid. We descended into the Omo Valley and the Omo River where we will be visiting some more tribes who live here.

Chris provided a fun stop on our way to Jinka when we pulled off to the side of the road where 9 young boys were standing on wood stilts of varying length. They are members of the Bena tribe which means their face and bodies were decorated with white chalk. Tommy, our driver, negotiated with them to allow us to take as many photos as we liked for 30 birr ($1)each. Normally they would want 5 birr (~15 cents) for each picture. We snapped away as they posed and deftly managed to not fall; they were darn good!

A little after 5 PM we arrived at the Eco-Omo Lodge in Jinka. It is basically a tented camp in the middle of the forest. The “rooms” are tents located atop wooden platforms. They are VERY basic, but at least they are “in suite”! No AC but there is a big floor fan and there is mosquito netting around the bed. Time will tell if I will need it. There is hot water from 6-9 PM and 6-8 in the AM. After our marvelous experience at the Haile Resort this is obvious a bit of a letdown. The good news is we will only be here for one night.

Internet was only available in the dining room but it seemed adequate given where we were. The buffet dinner was decent.

 

There was a gorgeous sunrise over the nearby mountains and even a few clouds in the air, the first we have seen since we arrived in Ethiopia. Our first stop for the day was taking a boat ride on Lake Chamo, one of the three largest lakes in the Great Rift Valley. The purpose of the excursion was to look for hippos and crocodiles that live in this lake.

We broke into two smaller groups and boarded small skiffs powered by ancient outboard motors. What was humorous were the life vests they provided. They were old, with broken zippers and ties. I doubt the floatation in them even works. We had to be optimistic that they would somehow save us if we really needed them.  There had been some unseasonable rains a few weeks ago and the lake was higher than normal so there was some concern whether the animals would be found. Not to worry we saw 3-5 hippos in the water and three crocodiles, including one that was over 20 feet long. I had seen large crocodiles in Kenya but never this close. We also got pictures of fish eagles and some large storks. All in all it was a successful two hour ride.

After lunch back at the hotel Chris gave us a short talk on the Great Rift Valley where we are. The  valley ranges from 30-300 miles in width and can be seen from space. It was caused by the shifting tectonic plates under the area, causing the area to be pulled apart. It is still moving, about 1 inch per year. Someday Somalia will be an island. He also told us that Ethiopia is divided into nine regions and that we are now in the Southern Region which has 45 different cultural groups living here.

Later that afternoon we left to visit one of the tribes that inhabit the area, the Dorze tribe. They are known for the terracing of the land for agriculture. The village ( with a population of about 7800) was fairly close by but it was an hour ride up a dirt road to an elevation of about 7000 feet. There are 12 villages of Dorze peoples with a total population of 47,000. The 25 year old son of the family compound we visited briefed us on their way of life. Besides the terracing of land what distinguishes the Dorze is the structure of their homes, which resemble bee hives. Only these structures, made of bamboo and banana leaves, are several stories high, at least early in their lives. The problem is termites which gradually eat away the lower portion of the home over time. After about 5 years the inhabitants simply cut off the lower portion and physically move the home to a new spot. It is shorter but still inhabitable. Eventually it becomes too short to use for living so it becomes a storage facility. The homes can last 70-150 years. We were able to enter their home and see how it is built and occupied. Rather amazing is that they do have a spot inside the home for their animals who provide a source of heat because nights are cold at these altitudes. Surprisingly I could not detect any strong animal odor in the home.

The other interesting aspect of their lives/culture is their growing and use of the “false” banana tree. It is called a false banana tree because although it looks like a real banana tree it does not produce any fruit. The Dorze use all parts of the plant. The leaves are used in building their homes and as a fan, the trunk is used to make a bread called “kocho” (which was on the buffet menu last night),  and the roots are used for making porridge or a potato-like dish. We were given demonstrations of each of the steps in making the bread, including sampling some that was freshly baked for us. Accompanying that was a sample of their local, homemade liquor along with their traditional drink salutation, which is hard to describe. You had to have been there!

The Dorze are also known for their weaving skills. Interestingly the men do the weaving; women only spin the cotton thread used in the weaving. The tribe even grows its own cotton. Trivia:  A woman working 10 hours/day can make 12 skeins of yarn and it takes 3 skeins to weave a scarf.

We were entertained a bit by the local villagers who sang and performed some tribal dances. One entrepreneurial activity the family has introduced is building some bee hive homes that are used as weekend rentals for tourists who want to experience tribal life.

We walked through the village to see where the men did the weaving. Unfortunately it is no different than what we all have seen in other countries around the world. We suggested to Chris that this portion of the tour could be easily skipped. There was also a bit of time to shop for woven products made by the village cooperative before we had to leave to make sure we were not driving in the dark, which is not recommended because of the terrain. (I later decided that this visit turned out to be the best tribal visit on this portion of the trip).

Another decent buffet at the hotel completed our day’s activities.

The first part of our Ethiopian adventure is coming to an end as we fly back to Addis Ababa today.

We had all night chanting again, supposedly because today (January 21) is the feast day of St. Michael, so the celebration goes for one more day!  People were walking toward the ceremonial grounds for yet another service. I asked if chanting goes on every night and was told it occurs only on feast days (of which there are many), plus 1-2 days a week. Apparently it is a way of life here.

We left the hotel for a ~ 25 minute drive to the airport at 7:45AM. The airport is tiny, as expected. There were only two other vehicles in the area also unloading small tour groups. We were told there would be two security checks even here and sure enough there was; one when you entered the terminal and one when you enter the gate area. Once again having a tour director made life easier. He simply collected our passports and told us to sit down and relax. He orchestrated the check in, tagging the baggage and collecting the boarding passes for us. Nice! We were safely seating in the boarding area by 9 AM, waiting for our 10:05 departure. There were no planes at the airport until 9:10 when a plane landed. No sooner it was unloaded then we were being boarded. We actually took off 15 minutes ahead of schedule.

Once back in Addis we will have the afternoon free before our group dinner. Only one of our group is not going on the southern leg of this adventure, where the emphasis is on the tribes who live there. It will be more like what we think of Africa- nomadic tribes living nomadic lives. I spent the afternoon relaxing and trying to get caught up on my blog entries, at which I had limited success. I did wander next door when I heard there was a good gelato store (we had not seen or had ice cream in two weeks). It was heavenly!

Because this is theoretically the end of the first tour there was a final group dinner at a local restaurant, where the major theme was Italian which everyone appreciated. Better yet, the food was very good.

Tomorrow we meet our new driving team; we retain our lead Ethiopian driver, Tommy, but get a new team of supplemental drivers for the trip south.

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.

Trivia for the day: Lalibela means “honey eater”.  As famous as it is, Lalibela is not a large city; it’s population is only about 25,000. It lies at an elevation of 2630 meters. It was the capital of the Zagwe dynasty in the 12-13th centuries.

Today is the feast day of the Epiphany, celebrating the baptism of Jesus. It is THE major religious holiday in Ethiopia and Lalibela is one of the major cities for the celebration.

As we arrived around 7:30AM the stands were 90% full, and the priests and deacons were milling around, with hundreds of locals. We maneuvered/pushed our way through the crowd and found we had awesome seats right by the cross-shaped pool and about 8 rows up, so our view of the proceedings was superb. We agreed we would have to give the local guide an additional tip for what he arranged (we later learned he was there at 3 AM to secure the prime seating). There was a lot of chanting by the priests and deacons who were dressed in their Sunday best. This went on for awhile and then the higher level priests marched in with colorful parasols and marvelous vestments and joined the priests at the pool.  There was more chanting, now led by the newly arrived contingent. About 8:15 the chanting turned into drumming and dancing. We began looking at our clocks as we had to be back at the hotel by 8:45 to join those who did not come to this “option” and proceed with the itinerary of the day, a visit with a local guide (“call me Lulu”, as his real name was long and complex) to the famous rock churches of Lalibela. We did have to leave right after the high priest blessed the water in the pool and we did not get to see them “sprinkle” the crowd (and probably us) with the blessed water. All in all it was a dramatic viewing of the pageantry and I am glad I got to experience it.

We were to view the world famous churches in two batches, visiting the NW group of four (of the seven there) churches in the morning, breaking for lunch, then the remaining SE group in the afternoon. We were warned that the afternoon group would be more “challenging” so people can opt out if they do not feel up to it. As it turned out about half our group opted out the afternoon visits. We were told to bring a flashlight, a shawl for women and our  “church socks”.

The rock churches of Lalibela are an OMG experience. Eleven churches were ordered built by King Lalibela in the 12th century. It is said he wanted to recreate Jerusalem here so people did not need to make the long, dangerous trip to the real one. The churches and surrounding areas all have biblical references to places in Jerusalem. What is rather amazing is all of the churches were built in 23 years! Local tradition says that this was accomplished with the help of angels working at night. The rest of the people feel it was due to the work of some 40,000 workers!

The most famous of the churches, i.e. the one most photographed, is the church of St. George which happened to be the last church built so it is the most ornate.

My pictures do not do justice to the sights of the Lalibela rock churches. You have to experience them to fully appreciate what they represent.

To visit the churches requires walking on uneven rocky surfaces, up/down rock stairs and occasionally narrow passages. At each church Lulu briefed us on the characteristics of the church, who it was dedicated to, is it monolithic (completely separate from surrounding rock)  or semi-monolithic ( one wall still attached to the base rock) in construction, the religious relationship to the construction details ( everything has a religious meaning, like 12 pillars to represent the 12 apostles), etc. We would then remove our shoes and hand them to a “shoe watcher” that Chris hired to watch over our shoes while we were in the church and assist us if needed to get them back on. Occasionally he had to transfer them to another location as we would not come back to where we entered. It worked like a charm and everyone was grateful for the assistance when needed.

The churches are an engineering marvel. Some were carved from the top, starting on the outside going down, then from the bottom up on the inside. Others were done differently. Each is dedicated to a particular saint. The walls inside the churches are mostly bare, but there are always some free-standing large religious pictures in the church.

It was quite a morning; one I will always remember and treasure.

We went back to the hotel for lunch. Those interested could go see the second set of churches in the afternoon. We were warned they might be more challenging to see so some people chose to stay behind. We were told to bring flashlights because one of the passageways between churches included a pitch dark tunnel 30 meters long. This tunnel was meant to simulate the path through hell. This group of 4 churches are not as elaborate or famous as the church of St. George, but they are examples of fine carving skill. The second largest and best carved church (monolithic) of the whole area is the church of Emmanuel, which was thought to be the private chapel of the royal family. When we came to the area where the dark tunnel was located we found that there were kids playing in tunnel and it was decided it would be too dangerous to go that way. Normally there is someone to chase them away but that was not the case today. There was an alternative, easier way to see the connected churches so we got to see all of them anyway.

Once we got back to the hotel We received some good news; most of us got reassigned better rooms in the hotel for this second night, although my toilet still leaked onto the floor because of a bad seal. Oh well, we were warned this was to be and adventure tour!

Dinner this evening was off site and turned out to be a real treat, as it was a restaurant  (Ben Abeba) that was perched on the edge of a cliff overlooking a spectacular valley. It was outdoor eating and we got to see a wonderful sunset while enjoying a great meal. It was a perfect ending to our visit to Lalibela and the Timkat Festival.

Tomorrow we fly back to Addis Ababa.

Today is basically a travel day. We had to leave Mekele at 6AM in the dark as it will be a 7 hour drive to Lalibela which we wish to reach by 2 PM.  The reason for this is the Timkat Festival begins today with a parade before the feast of the Epiphany tomorrow.

Surprisingly we are only 105 miles from Lalibela but it is slow driving. There are no straight roads. The houses have become constructed of sticks and mud again. The landscape starts out barren  but then turns green and lush with terraced pastures everywhere. Our first comfort stop comfort stop was by a field of cactus at 8 AM. Men on one side of the road; ladies on the other side

By 9 am the towns were hopping again. It was just another day even though it is Sunday. The cattle on the way to grazing have much bigger horns than seen earlier in the trip. They must like a different breed here. There are quite a few dry, wide riverbeds along the way. They must really be something to see during the rainy season of June to August. It makes me think of those in Arizona.

By 10 AM we were in the small town of Woldia for a 30 minute comfort stop at a local hotel. I walked with Chris to a nearby small mini-mart and bought a little bag of “Sun Chips”, which turned out to be potato chips. I was in the mood for something salty.

Around noon we pulled over on a hill overlooking a farming valley where we ate another of our hilarious lunches (sandwich, boiled egg, boiled potato) while sitting on the ground and/or a nearby rock. The seating was not very comfortable but the surrounding scenery made up for it..

 

We did arrive at at Lalibela around 2 PM as we had hoped. Supposedly the hotel (Lal Resort) we were in was the best hotel in Lalibela and it was in an ideal location to see the afternoon procession as it is directly on the procession route. Awesome!

Now the bad news. When we checked into the hotel most of us got rooms that bordered on being uninhabitable! My toilet tank would not hold water; it leaked out onto the floor. The shower was simply a small shower head that spilled water onto the floor; there was no curtain. The sink, when turned on, leaked water onto the floor as it was Improperly plumbed into the wall. There was no hot water. I alerted the hotel and they sent two men to fix the toilet; they simply made it worse!  Some people complained of sewer smells in their room and one room did not even have a toilet seat (and they did not have a spare). Welcome to Ethiopia. It was obviously we had been placed in rooms that were rarely used. We were scheduled to be there two nights;Chris was immediately alerted but the hotel was full today; they promised to change as many rooms as possible tomorrow. It was not a good start!

The celebration of Timkat was scheduled to begin around 4PM with a procession through the town when the various churches bring their replica Arks to a central location for the baptism celebration slated for the next day, January 20. A local guide led those of us who wanted to be up close and personal with the procession, i.e., milling around with the hundreds of locals who will line the streets as the procession passes by. Others were told they could simply go to the roof top deck at the hotel and watch from there. Most of us chose to walk the short distance to the town center and await the arrival of the procession.

Actually it is a series of processions as each church who participates arrives with singers and dancers to accompany their priests with their replica of their Ark to the nearby celebration area. The first to arrive are young men, carrying long sticks who chant and dance in tight circles. At first it looks intimidating but it was simply a joyful gathering. Following them are deacons and chanters dressed in church finery. Lastly are the priests who carry colorful parasols that are used to shield the Ark, wrapped in colorful cloth, from view. There were men who were laying down long strips of red carpeting for the priests to walk on. They continually moved the carpet strips to stay ahead of the procession.  It is a joyous, chaotic, colorful spectacle. Surrounding this are hundreds of local people, mostly dressed in white, some with elaborate decorative  designs, and we tourists. It was crowded with a joyous noise. We joined the procession for a short while then some of us fought our way back to the hotel so we could watch the procession march past the hotel from a bird’s eye view.

Then suddenly it was over and the street was empty once again.

At dinner we were given the opportunity to get up at 5 AM and go to reserved ($10) seating near the pool where people will be blessed in an elaborate religious ceremony that occurs around 7:30 when the pool water is blessed and the crowd is sprinkled with the holy water. It attracts hundreds (thousands?) of local people and tourists.  Plan B would to go to the area where the blessing occurs (only about a 5-10 minute walk from our hotel) around 7 AM and try to mingle with the crowd to get a view of the proceedings. It will be very crowded according to Chris. No one wanted to get up at 5AM and sit on concrete bleachers for that length of time. However at that point the local guide offered to get someone to reserve some seats for us and we would not have to be there until about 7:00. Well, with that option, about 1/2 of us bought in.

After dinner at the hotel Chris offered to take us over to the area where the baptism ceremony would take place tomorrow and a few of us went. By this time it was dark and we took our flashlights to light the way. The park we went to had a cross shaped pool filled with water. The area was filled with maybe one hundred people sitting/laying on the ground, who were listening to a priest in a nearby tent chant, pray and preach. This would go on all night and most of these people would stay there the entire time. We stayed awhile and walked back to the hotel to see if we could survive the accommodations. Oh, and by the way, the chanting heard in the distance would continue non stop throughout the night. Would it bother our sleep? (In my case it did not, I slept right through it).

Tomorrow is the formal celebration of Epiphany when the lengthy religious ceremony is held. We have a full day of activity planned as part of the celebration, including seeing the famous rock churches of Lalibela. This is the reason we all came to Ethiopia.

I found this good description on the internet:

https://www.thespruceeats.com/the-origin-of-coffee-765180

They get credit for this.

Ethiopia’s Coffee Origin Myth

The most popular legend of coffee in Ethiopia usually goes like this.

One day (supposedly around 850) in a highland area near an Abyssinian monastery, a goat herder from “Kaffa” ( is this where the term coffee came from?) named Kaldi was herding his goats. The goats began to jump around—almost dancing—and bleat loudly, which was strange behavior for his herd. Kaldi found that a small shrub (or a cluster of shrubs, according to some legends) was the source of the excitement. Deciding to try the bright red berries for himself, Kaldi also felt the coffee cherries’ energizing effects.

Amazed at this discovery, the goat herder filled his pockets and rushed home to tell his wife. Calling the find “heaven sent,” she advised Kaldi to share the berries with the monks. Kaldi did not receive the warmest of welcomes at the monastery. One monk referred to his coffee beans as “the Devil’s work” and tossed them into the fire. According to the legend, the aroma that wafted up from the roasting beans caught the monks’ attention. After removing the beans from the fire and crushing them to extinguish the embers, they attempted to preserve them in an ewer filled with hot water.

This newly brewed coffee had an aroma that attracted even more monks. After trying it, they experienced the uplifting effects for themselves. They vowed to drink it daily as an aid to their religious devotions and to keep them awake during prayers.

Now, Yemen also claims to be the source of the first coffee and have

a coffee origin myth (or two) as well as a well-founded stake in the beverage’s actual history.

The first legend from Yemen is rather basic by comparison to the Kaldi myth. However, in an interesting twist, it does attribute the origin of coffee to Ethiopia:

The Yemenite Sufi mystic Ghothul Akbar Nooruddin Abu al-Hasan al-Shadhili was traveling through Ethiopia, presumably on spiritual matters. He encountered some very energetic birds that had been eating the fruit of the bunn plant (known elsewhere as the coffee plant). Weary from his journey, he decided to try these berries for himself and he found that they produced an energetic state in him as well.

Yemen’s Coffee Origin Myth

The second coffee origin myth from Yemen claims that coffee originated in Yemen. The story is centered around Sheikh Omar, a doctor-priest and a follower of Sheik Abou’l Hasan Schadheli from Mocha, Yemen, who was exiled to a desert cave close to the mountain of Ousab.

According to one version, this exile was for some sort of moral transgression. According to another version, Omar was exiled because he practiced medicine on the princess in the stead of his master (who was on his deathbed). After curing her, he decided to “keep” her (interpret that as you wish) and he was exiled by the king as punishment.

After some time of exile and on the verge of starvation, Omar found the red berries of the coffee plant and tried to eat them. One version of the story says that a bird brought him a branch bearing coffee cherries after he cried out in despair for guidance from his master, Schadheli.

However, he found them to be too bitter to eat raw. Hoping to remove their bitterness, he threw the berries into the fire. This roasting technique hardened the berries, making them unsuitable for chewing. Omar then attempted to soften them. As the roasted berries boiled, he noticed the pleasant aroma of the increasingly brown liquid and decided to drink this concoction rather than eat the beans. He found the drink to be revitalizing and shared his tale with others.

In another version of the story, Omar found the raw beans to be delicious and decided to make them into a soup. When the roasted coffee cherries were removed, the “soup” became something closely resembling the drink we know of as coffee.

The story of Omar’s invigorating drink quickly reached his hometown of Mocha. His exile was lifted and he was ordered to return home with the berries he had discovered. Returning to Mocha, he shared coffee beans and the drink of coffee with others, who found that it “cured” many ailments. It was not long before they hailed coffee as a miracle drug and Omar as a saint. A monastery was built in Mocha in Omar’s honor.

Although there are many accounts of coffee history dating back to the ninth century and earlier, the earliest credible evidence of humans interacting with the coffee plant comes from the middle of the 15th century. This is when it was consumed in the Sufi monasteries of Yemen. Monks drank it to stay alert during their nighttime devotions and long hours of prayer.

However, it is generally believed that coffee beans were originally exported from Ethiopia to Yemen. Later, Yemeni traders brought coffee plants back to their homes and began to cultivate them there.

Yemen can claim to be the origin of the term “mocha.” While today it is most often associated with chocolate-flavored coffee drinks, such as the mocha latte, it originally referred to the city of Mocha on Yemen’s Red Sea coast. It was a major trade center for the Mocha style of coffee bean—a type of coffee prized for its distinctive flavor—and some believe that Marco Polo purchased coffee beans there during his voyages. It wasn’t until the 17th century that knowledge of coffee (and the misnomer of “mocha”) spread to Europe.

We left the hotel at 8AM. I won the lottery as we are now on a second round of drawing for rides in vehicle one and my name was drawn. Today I am traveling with Kevin Tracy, a retired pediatrician from Sacramento, one of the four men traveling alone. It offers another chance to talk to Chris about his life as a tour director. It is a demanding job but he seems to thrive on it; not being home for months at a time does not bother him.

Mekele is 210 km from Axum with an expected drive time of almost 4 hours. We first stopped at Adwa to see the site of a famous battle where the .Ethiopians beat the Italians in the Battle of Agwa. The Italians had more men but did the classic mistake of not knowing the landscape. The Treaty of Arwa is an important part of Ethiopian history.  Arwa was also important as it was the pathway for the two week trip needed to reach the Red Sea in ancient times.

From Adwa we made the short (25km) detour to Yeha to see the oldest standing structure in Ethiopia-the temple of Yeha. The Great Temple of Yeha is also known as the Almaqah Temple because it was dedicated to Almaqah, the moon god of the Saba’ kingdom. Based on construction similarities to others in the Saba’ region, the Great Temple was likely built in the 7th century  BCE. The 46×60 foot (14×18 meter) structure stands 46 ft (14 m) high and was constructed of well-made cut stone blocks measuring up to 10 ft (3 m) long. The stone blocks fit together tightly without mortar, which, say scholars, contributed to the structure’s preservation over 2,600 years after it was built. The Ethiopian Ibex was used as sacrificial offerings to the moon god. There is some indication that the temple was converted to a church when Ethiopia became Christian.

Next to the temple ruins is an active Ethiopian Orthodox Monastery built by Abba Aftse, one of the nine Ethiopian missionaries/saints who helped spread Christianity in Ethiopia  during the 5th century. Nearby is the ruins of a 40 room palace that dated back to the 10th century BC. 46 kings ruled from here during the damage dynasty.

After touring the Ethiopian Orthodox Monastery and a small, simple museum that housed ancient manuscripts and stone carvings. It looked more like a storeroom than a museum. We were shown a colorful manuscript that was produced in the 10th century. I was surprised that these precious documents were not in a protected environmentally controlled room.

We continued our journey to Mekele, stopping in a small restaurant in Adigrat that served food and drink and had a butcher shop as part of the restaurant. The meat dishes should be pretty fresh! My lunch of lamb shish-ke-bob was excellent, one of the better meals I have had so far.

We arrived in Mekele in the late afternoon and planned to see the war memorial, dedicated to those who died fighting for a more democratic Ethiopia but found ourselves in the middle of a traffic jam caused by people walking the streets leaving the local soccer stadium after a game. They seemed happy so we assumed the home team won. It made our effort to see the memorial impossible so we simply went to the hotel (Axum Hotel) and checked in.

It was definitely a nicer hotel than the one we had in Axum and Debark. Alas, the dinner buffet was pretty much the same as others so I tried the spaghetti and meat sauce tonight which was quite good, and they had small pieces of cake for dessert in addition to the usual fruit. Life is good!

 

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Axum (or the phonetically equivalent Aksum) was the capital of the ancient Aksumite Kingdom which was a naval and trading power that ruled the area from about 400BC until the 10th century AD.

Axum is probably most known as the home of the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion, where the Ark of the Covenant (which holds the stone tablets on which the 10 commandments are written) was/is stored. Axum is still regarded as the resting place for the original Ark but it is now housed in a special chapel (the Chapel of the Tablet) next to the church. There are other important archeological items in Axum including stelaes (obelisks) marking ancient tombs, the tomb of King Bazen, one of the three kings who visited Christ at his birth, the Ezana Stone  written in three ancient languages: Sabaean, Ge’ez and Ancient Greek in similar manner to the Rosetta Stone,  and the baths of Queen of Sheba. We are here to see and understand more about this important period of Ethiopian history.   People rightly question did the Queen of Sheba really call the town’s dusty streets home? Does the Ark of the Covenant that holds Moses’ 10 Commandments reside in a small Aksum chapel? Is one of the Three Wise Men really buried here? And what exactly do those famous stelae signify?”

Axum has a population of about 56,000 and lies at an altitude of 2131 meters (6991 ft) so the evenings are still quite cool although the daytime temperatures are expected to be in the low 80s. My experience so far is the humidity is very low and there usually is a breeze so it is pleasant, but dusty. As a result morning sunrises and evening sunsets are pretty specular, even without the presence of any clouds.

We first went to the main Stelae Park to see the obelisks that date back to the 4th century AD. They are thought to be grave markers as beneath them were chambers thought to be burial sites of royalty. Grave robbers over the centuries have removed any trace of the meaning of the chambers. The largest obelisk is 33 meters long and estimated to weigh 160 tons. It no longer is standing and has broken in several pieces. There are still several stelae still standing, including one dedicated to the 4th century King Ezana who introduced Christianity to Ethiopia .

Across the square is the important Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion, probably the most important church in Ethiopia as it claims to be where the Ark of the Covenant was brought in the 10th century BC by King Melenik I. The original church dated back to the 4th century AD but several churches have since occupied the site; the current one built in 1950s by Haile Selassie. The Ark is now housed in a special chapel near the church. No one is allowed in the chapel except the priest in charge, who has a lifetime appointment. We also toured a small museum with ancient manuscripts, crowns, vestments and church articles but were not allowed to take any photos.

After lunch our tour of Axum continued with a visit to King Bazen’s tomb which was surprisingly located  in the back street of the city. We all know him as Balthazar, one of the three wise men who brought frankincense from Ethiopia as his gift to baby Jesus.

The other famous structures in the Axum area that we visited was the supposed Palace of the Queen of Sheba. It is in ruins now but historians feel she had lived in the region at the time. She is mentioned in the the Bible of having met with King Solomon over 3000 years ago and had  a son, Melenik, as a result of the encounter. Melinek later became King of Ethiopia. Historians are in disagreement as to who she really was and where she lived. Most agree she is linked to the kingdom of Saba, which was located in present day Yemen, but which was part of Ethiopia once.

Nearby the palace is what is claimed to have been the Queen of Sheba’s bath. It is very large and is still in use today. Also nearby is the Ezana stone which is engraved on three sides in three different languages the story of the conversion of King Ezana to Christianity and his victories over his enemies during his rule from 330-356AD.

Our last visit was to the tombs of King Kaleb and his son, King Gebre Meskel,  that date back to the 6th century. What makes them unique is the precise cutting and locking of the stone blocks, technology that was not known elsewhere in the world at the time.

In the late afternoon before dinner we walked down the street from the hotel to a sidewalk stand to participate in a traditional Ethiopian event-the coffee ceremony. We sat on small stools as the beautiful young lady performed the ceremony. It entails roasting the coffee beans over a charcoal fire. Once the beans start smoking she walked around to allow everyone to smell the aroma of the roasted beans. Next comes the hand grinding of the beans, again with an offering of the fresh smell to the participants. The coffee is finally brewed as incense is burned nearby. Small cups of the potent brew were served to us, with sugar as an option, although the Ethiopians usually add two spoons of sugar to the brew. The sidewalks are lined with  small venues like this for passing people. Restaurants commonly have a space where the coffee ceremony is performed. Ethiopians even do this several times of the day in their homes. Coffee drinking is a serious part of the Ethiopian life.

The dinner at a local restaurant was a big disappointment for virtually everyone. I had vegetable soup as a starter, which turned out to be the highlight of the meal as my main of a mixed grill proved to be a disaster. The food (pieces of beef, lamb and chicken) was dry and tough. So much for free range animals!  I had to laugh at the accompaniment of six ( I counted them) small barely warm French fries on the plate. Others had similar experiences with their meals. Oh well, there is always tomorrow.

Tomorrow we move on to our next stop, Mekelle.