Blogs from Addis Ababa, Addis Ababa Region, Ethiopia, Africa - page 16

(Ruta writing) Driving outside of Addis Ababa, we save seen some beautiful, old trees that could relate fascinating history if they could talk. It makes one wonder how completely amazing this African continent must have looked before people took over more and more of the land. Unfortunately, through the course of history and development Ethiopia, like many other countries on this continent and others, has deforested most of its land. It’s stated that only 3% of its original forest remains. On the bright side, there have been significant recent efforts to replant trees. The Entoto region just outside of Addis has dense greenery due to replanted juniper trees. Nevertheless, whether in North America, Europe, or Africa, old, gnarled, massive trees are truly one of nature’s wonders. Here are some pictures of trees that we've admired and ... read more

My final week in Ethiopia was a busy one. It started with a party, held at my house, which was mainly in order to celebrate Hannah's (VSO from Robe) birthday. I had hired a band - which turned out to be a man with a mixer desk. But the music was good, which was the main thing. At least until the power went off! The 2 hours were filled by Jeremy playing the guitar and volunteers singing. The main concern of the whole evening was whether Hannah, the guest of honour, would actually arrive in time as she travelled from Robe that day - but she did in fact arrive before most guests. On Sunday, I went for a final 'jetwash' at the Filwuha hotel, with Hannah, Allie (VSO in Hossaina) Jane (VSO in Nekemte) and ... read more

(Lukas writing… ) When we were in the Simien Mountains, we came across a hill full of hundreds of Gelada baboons. Gelada baboons are unique baboons who have red chests, which look like their hearts are bleeding. Their bright red chests are used for mating. They were cool because they were so hairy and they let us get close to take pictures. They reminded me of the hairy wompas in Star Wars because they were very hairy. On the hill we were all amazed that they were all digging roots from the ground at the same time. They were ignoring us and working really hard. It reminded me of all the drummers in the opening ceremony at Beijing Olympics. I have never seen that many baboons in one spot except at the school gym.(just joking) ... read more

(Vasara dictating) I liked the city of Axum. I thought that it was interesting because there were these large stelea. They are like big gravestones, but they’re a 1000 feet tall. They mark the tombs where important people were buried. The tombs used to have treasures, but many of these things have been stolen by now or put into other museums. The museum in Axum showed some of the treasures, jewels, and pots found in the tombs. The largest stele was built lying on the ground. The artists carved all kinds of designs and foreign words on them. They then used hundreds of elephants, thousands of men and rollers to move the huge stele into place over the tomb. Someone miscalculated the size of the base, so when they stood the huge stele up, it fell ... read more

(Ruta writing) In sharing our experiences here, I would not be honest if I only related the positive experiences. Our trip on Ethiopia’s historical circuit was very rewarding and cool, but it was also one of the most frustrating that Tadas and I have experienced. We had read about the egregious overcharging of foreigners, but because our family is large and on a volunteers’ income our budget is so tight, the effect was magnified. Despite having over 4 forms of identification stating that we are Ethiopian residents, earning an Ethiopian income, and are entitled to Ethiopian or foreign resident rates, this information was often ignored or dismissed. The attitude we encountered was “Oh, you are white. You must be rich. To enter, you must pay 2-10 times the Ethiopian rate.” Often, we had to regretfully decide ... read more