Carols Round a Camp Fire

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I travelled Addis Ababa with Patricia, my Programme Manager, Dereje and Patricia’s friend Emer, in a VSO vehicle, which was much better than having to travel by local bus - a journey that I have not yet done. We went via the Asela Road rather than going to Shashemene then up to Addis, as none of us have ever been that way. It was interesting, but the road was bad pretty much all the way and it took 13 hours door-to-door.

I stayed at David and Nadia’s house in Addis, which was very kind of them. They had arranged with the landlord to give me a key as they were in the UK. On the Saturday, I went to an NGO Fair with Beverly and Nigel. I had intended to buy Christmas presents to send to the UK, but actually bought more things for myself!

On Sunday night a group of us went out for Clare’s birthday.

On Monday, we travelled by bus to Sodore for the Annual VSO Conference. Sodore is described in my guidebook as not being worth an excursion unless you want a dip in the Olympic sized swimming pool. It is faded elegance. The rooms were dingy and disappointing - my toilet ran constantly, which was pleasantly soothing at night, a bit like a water feature, but distressing in the morning when I woke up needing the loo! However, the grounds, teeming with monkeys and birds were amazing.

The conference sessions were excellent, on the whole, and there were plenty of opportunities for socialising. Most mornings, Clare, Mary and I got up at 6.30am to go swimming in the pool. I love swimming in the open air, and this pool had the benefit of being fed by natural hot springs. In fact, on the first morning, it was almost too hot. On the first night we celebrated Clare’s birthday (again); on Tuesday night there was a pub quiz, followed by a screening of Love Actually; Wednesday night was a combination of a talent show, fuelled by very alcoholic fruit punch (I was persuaded into leading a belly dancing group), carols around a campfire (very surreal, singing “Let it Snow” in Ethiopia) and a disco.

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Photos

First night at Sodore
Celebrating Clare's birthday.

Thermal pool
More chatting, less swimming!

River walk
Walk along the river at Sodore

Sodore view
Termite mounds

River view
I was disappointed not to see crocodiles!

Monkeys
Monkey guards keep them away from food, but one still managed to steal some fruit off Clare's plate.

Let it Snow
Carols round a camp fire - surreal!