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Published: April 11th 2020
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Gelada male
They have ferocious looking teeth, but primarily they only use them to chew chew chew grass all day long. And sometimes, as likely in this case, to display their prowess. Epic beauty beyond the dusty roads. True riches beyond the hard-hitting poverty. Genuine warmth and welcome beyond the touristic trappings of souvenir shops and birr begging children. Spiritual authenticity beyond the physical structures of chiseled ancient churches. Peace and security beyond the undercurrent of political uneasiness. Ethiopia is a world beyond our western imagination and preconceived notions. 14 days of travel and just a scratch on the surface of the myriad of wonders Ethiopia has to offer.
A short flight out of Addis Ababa lands my travel pals and I within an hours’ drive of the imposing Gheralta mountains of the Tigray region. Our first multi-day stop in our exploration of the northern region of the country. Hidden within the mountains are numerous 4
th-6
th century Orthodox Christian churches hewn out of rocks and caves. Many believed to be yet undiscovered. Some requiring breath sucking climbs at 8,000-10,000’ altitudes, up slippery gravely paths and sometimes even requiring hand gripping bouldering techniques along smooth rock surfaces. “How do we get down?” I wonder as we climb ever higher and steeper. “Very simple.” says our guide. Skeptically, I continue. Without exception, every climb to every church is worth the
No jokes mama
Whether climbing up or sliding down, navigating the mountain trail to the churches in the Gheralta mountains is no joke. But the views and sense of accomplishment are exhilarating.
effort. The journey and the consequent churches are each unique and profound. Always an overwhelming sense of peace, sitting in the quiet, cavernous feeling churches. Always filtered light illuminates an otherwise dark setting. Always a quiet, gentle priest is present. Always there are remnants of paintings on the rock walls and ceilings. Always there are piles of prayer sticks. Always a tall curtain separating the room we can occupy from the one we cannot – the holy of holies where the replica of Moses’ tablets is housed. Always we want to sit in the quiet and linger, soaking in the tranquility. Always scenery that makes us stop and pinch ourselves at how lucky we are to be able to experience this. Returning back to our lodge, I learn that hiking down indeed can be simple, if you’re willing to slide on your bum for a bit that is!
Countryside driving in Ethiopia is also full of surprises. First, the road quality. The main roads are similar to and actually sometimes surpass the quality of our blacktop roads in Michigan. But that’s where the close likeness to my western life ends. We find ourselves sharing the road with
Salt Caravan
For hundreds of years camels have been used to haul salt out of the Danakil depression area on the east side of Ethiopia. These camels will walk 4-5 days on their way to pick up their load of salt. They will return traveling only by night to avoid the heat of the day. loads of hard working donkeys, herds of goats and sheep with their shepherds, wandering cows, little blue tuk tuks, overstuffed public buses and open bed trucks, pedestrians carrying anything from bundles of wood to large containers of water, smiling/waving kids, and even at one point a salt caravan of more than 100 camels! Surprisingly, we see very few other tourists in 4x4’s like ours. Beyond the roads, it is common to view farm homes constructed of wood/mud/thatch/stones, hay storage high up in trees, walls covered with drying “bio-fuel” also known as cow dung, clean water stations, beautiful rolling agrarian and mountainous landscapes, schools, open-air markets and even a large Eritrean refugee camp. Though we spent 2 days of our trip driving 4-6 hours, it was always fascinating just to see the beautiful countryside and ever-changing cast of characters along the way.
Our second multi-day stop landed us in the Simien Mountains National Park. This gorgeous tract of land sits between approximately 11,000-14,000’ altitude and we all felt it. Despite the shortness of breath, we hiked, picnic’d, and did whatever it took to get close to the endemic wildlife of Gelada monkeys and Walia Ibex. Our new favorite
Protected in the Simiens
Omar was our friendly park scout. He was always ready with his beloved gun (which was NOT needed and didn't even have bullets) for a photo and had a persona that left us laughing. pastime quickly became sitting within large troops of geladas and laughing at their antics. Though they look fierce, as long as you obey rule # 1: Never look them in the eye, it is perfectly safe to sit among them. The big males would do anything to gain attention and favor of the females. That includes gyrating and screaming in the tops of spindly bouncing trees, unapologetically displaying their “manly wares”, and exhausting themselves to keep their females satisfied. The females nonchalantly gather together to groom one another, make raucous conversation, and carry their young from place to place. And the young are as much fun as a barrel of monkeys! Leaping high in the air, chasing one another up and around trees, and like mom and dad, dig, dig, digging with their strong little hands to gather up loads of grass sustenance. Thankfully, it wasn’t hard to find troops of geladas throughout the park. A bit more difficult to find is the Walia Ibex. This big endangered mountain goat is a bit elusive (only about 400 left in the world) and lives at the highest elevations. They are regal, grand looking creatures, but just as fun as finding them,
St. George
Morning lighting and people coming to pray. Hard to imagine this was hand carved, top down, out of solid rock between the 11th and 14th century. Why? So pilgrims could worship here rather than going to Jerusalem during the dangerous times of crusades. is experiencing their world. Rocky terrain covered only with clusters of white Everlasting flowers and Giant Lobelias looking like something out of Jurassic Park make up their habitat. The Simiens: Ahhh, the smells of wild thyme, eucalyptus, and jasmine, the feel of fresh breezes across my face, the whooshing sounds of Lammergeier and Thick Billed Raven’s wings flapping overhead, and the never ending rugged, dramatic views endear this beautiful place in my memories.
Lalibela, the last of our multi-day stops. Huge monolithic rock churches, great Ethiopian restaurants, temperate soothing climate, and our favorite daily hangout – Meskal’s coffee café, the “Cheers” of Lalibela. While sitting in the shady café, drinking coffee or the surprisingly great Habesha gold beer, we enjoyed conversations with other travelers and learning how to roast, pound, and brew fresh coffee over charcoal in the traditional way. A visit to the large Saturday market gave us a chance to mingle closely with the locals, sift the Ethiopian super grain, Teff, through our fingers and purchase locally woven scarves. A mule ride high up a rocky mountain trail to a 13
th century monastery, Asheten Maryam, allowed us the opportunity to take our eyes off the
Meskal's coffee cafe
Here is Meskal herself grinding coffee, roasted beans behind her and the town of Lalibela in the background. This was a short walk from our lodge, Tukul Village. trail and look to the distant views of rolling hillsides and peaceful farmland. Our mule guide, Zordu, was also a priest at the monastery. As it was Sunday and many worshippers were walking to and from church, along our journey he often stopped to offer them a kind smile, gentle words, and his wooden cross for a kiss. “Salem” was our shared greeting. And finally, Lalibela would not be complete without visits to the famous churches of St. George and Yemrehane Kristos. Both special and hauntingly impressive. Timing is everything. Visiting these churches sans other tourists, only occupied by priests, white robed worshippers, and male choir members singing resonating orthodox hymns, touched me deeply. I looked at the early morning worshippers quietly reading Scripture and praying and realized that these are my brothers and sisters, starting their mornings much similar to the way I start mine.
Just like that early fear of returning down the steep mountain trails from churches perched high up in mountains, returning to the virus infected USA from this country perched, at the time, in isolation from the outbreak, held fears of its own. In both cases, I safely navigated the way back,
Zordu and the cross of blessing
The peaceful priest who lives up in the mountains and rents out his sweet mules for visitors to climb up the mountain to visit the church he serves. using means I did not plan ahead or envision when I started. But these are uncertain times. Alone but together. Together in a new world that is beyond what we could have imagined just a few short weeks ago. I am beyond grateful for all who made this last journey one to remember and beyond hopeful that we will all soon be out sharing this world together and open heartedly learning what lies beyond.
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Ake Och Emma
Ake Dahllof and Emma Holmbro
Trip down memory lane
We went to Ethiopia in 2005. I enjoyed reading your blog because a lot of nice memories came back reading it. We absolutely loved Lalibela and Gondar. But the most spectacular place we visited was Omo Valley. If you wish to read about our trip we last year digitized the old photos we took then and we wrote a blog entry. /Ake