Blogs from Amhara Region, Ethiopia, Africa - page 13

The Rural Areas Traveling to the rural area was literally a step back in time. It is a simple, difficult and fulfilling life people lead. Women, men and children spends their days pretty much the same everyday. They get up and go early to gathering water for the day to tend to their farm, animals and families. The earlier you get to the watering hole the less muddy it is from everyone else who goes there. Sometimes this walk might be 2 hours each way, returning with heavy containers of water. So it was 5:30am and the roads are full of people herding their animals, gathering water and wood and walking sometimes a half of day to the nearest village to get a few items. They walk and walk, most times carrying things on their backs ... read more

I love the Bahir Dar area. I love it. But it is so sad because it's citizens deserve more. The city by the lake is a mixed blend of new and old, with condos and huts within the same area of town. Just walking the streets you get a sense of all these time periods colliding into one. There is so much I could write and I have volumes of photo's of the rural areas, the hospitals and Bahir Dar. But for now here are some photo's until I can condense the information into a non-novel form. I am a bit overwhelmed with the work that has to be done there and the best way to move forward. Stay Tuned!... read more

Charlie and Dee… The best way I can describe my first face to face meeting with Charlie was a white man in a sea of Ethiopian faces who spots me with my bags in tow at the hospital and runs up and hugs me like a long lost favorite uncle would. His smile was warm and his hug was deep. I know in that instant, he was a man I was proud to know. He couldn’t have helped more in my visit to Bahir Dar and it’s health facilities. He even invited me via email to stay in his home with his wife Dee during my stay here. And I did and what a great decision that was. Dee greeted me with a giant hug and bright smile and just welcomed me into her house like ... read more

Aksum's airport is even smaller than Teesside's but the security is tight. My hand baggage is searched both when I enter the terminal and just before I board the plane - it's the same woman on each occasion, but second time around she starts asking me questions about items that previously she'd ignored. The plane is small and the passenger list smaller still, so only ten minutes elapse between the start of boarding and actual take-off. The journey to Lalibela is short, and the windows are sufficiently scratched and dirty that it's hard to make out much detail in the crumpled landscape. With this being the second of only two flights into Lalibela per day, the minibus from the airport into town is full of not just passengers but also the hotel touts who'd been manning ... read more

I have heard nothing good about Ethiopian bus journeys, and aim to be at the bus well before the departure time to ensure I get a decent seat. With the expectation of a long day's travel ahead, and covered in a layer of dried sweat from the previous night, I decide the least I can do for my sanity is to wash my hair. Thus at 4AM I am crouched in my undies next to the communal tap, lathering and rinsing by moonlight. I notice that several of the other guests have pulled their beds out into the courtyard, and hope that if any of them is woken by my ablutions then the scene meeting their eyes won't be too traumatic. The front gate to the hotel is bolted, and it takes an agonising 20 seconds ... read more