Blogs from Harar, Harari Region, Ethiopia, Africa

It is with a heavy heart that I begin this blog. I am sitting in Gondar airport waiting for my flight to Addis. After 3 months here, my time here in Gondar is up and now I am off travelling for 10 days before starting my next job in Nairobi. I know that I have moaned a fair amount in this blog but I will really miss this place. My colleagues have been a pleasure to work with. They have looked after me so well and I had a lot of fun at work. The daily problems that they face here make me rethink the things I complain about at home. I am grateful to have been born in such a stable and affluent country with all the opportunities that I have had, never left wanting ... read more

After a brief week back in the UK including a weekend in Glasgow we are off on the road again and this time it’s ETHIOPIA! 26th-27th Oct ’12 Addis Ababa A very early 4am wake up and by 5am we were checked in at Teesside Airport, thanks to the above and beyond call of friendship lift from Abi and John! It felt really strange to be setting off from our local airport and knowing we were going to end up in Ethiopia! It was a short flight to Amsterdam and the plane was mainly full of business people and I had to suppress the urge to say we’re not going to Europe, we are off on an adventure to deepest darkest Africa. We had about 3 hours before our onward flight and I was kind of ... read more

After leaving Berbera, we got back into Hargeisa early enough. I had a multi entry visa for Ethiopia, but Jack and Joris had to get new visas. Unfortunately the Ethiopian consulate was closed, so we had to spend another night in Hargeisa, which was fairly uneventful. The next morning the two lads got their visas easy enough and we found a car to take us to the border. We had hoped to reach Harar that evening but we got into Jijiga too late and had to spend the night there. It had only been 5 days, but it was good to be back in Ethiopia and the beers that night went down very well! The next morning we got a minibus to Harar. Harar is considered the 4th holiest Islamic city in the world. The old ... read more

Ethiopia is all about 4am starts for buses that leave ridiculously early, disgusting toilets, fleas in the bedding, great coffee, stunning scenery and a multitude of interesting cultures all rolled into one. We spent a few days in the contradiction that is Addis Ababa. Addis is a sprawling complex area of windy streets with large modern buildings next to shanty towns, new four wheel drive vehicles next to beggars, and modern restaurants next to farmers herding their goats along the side of the road in the middle of the city. There is not much to do in the capital but the Ethnological Museum, set in the Addis Ababa University (formerly Haile Selassie's palace) made an interesting visit. Before the entrance is an interesting monument of a set of spiralling stairs. Each step was placed by the ... read more

Geo: 9.30463, 42.1326OK, let's get 'the land of chat' clarified. If you've seen the movie 'Blackhawk Down', you will be familiar with chat. Chat is a mildly narcotic leaf that is chewed and gives some kind of high? It is legal, and apparently this is the best cultivation area. It is used throughout Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia and who knows where else. I will not be able to give you a first hand report on it's affect, but I've had numerous chances to purchase, for pennies, and try. I have not seen anyone here have the same kind of results as depicted in the movie. I think it has more of a low key affect, kind of relaxing. It's mostly an afternoon and evening social thing, both men and women participate.Most of the chat being shipped to ... read more