Blogs from Tigray Region, Ethiopia, Africa - page 2

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Africa » Ethiopia » Tigray Region » Mek'ele September 22nd 2010

The minibus is jostling through rural Tigray in northern Ethiopia. Rock outcrops of striated sandstone tower above the flat of the land. Fields of undulating green spread out from the base of the cliff walls, broken periodically by squat houses of stacked stones fenced in by prickly pear cacti. We pass a few tiny towns, but largely, it looks like Zion, only greener. Stepping out into the blinky brightness of the day, there is initially a profound silence. Then faintly, a whispering in the wind. It comes from the tops of the dusty-rose colored cliffs, from the stair steps of distant terraced fields, and it rustles through the green shoots of barley and tef and the spindly stalks of corn growing on the plain: “Ferenji! Ferenji! Ferenji! You! You! You!” Then, out of the emptiness of ... read more
climbing abuna yamata
the ledge to abuna yemata
abuna yamata escort - valley below

Africa » Ethiopia » Tigray Region May 20th 2010

Our trip from Gedaref in Sudan to the border town of Gallabat was interesting. Our minibus was falling apart, it had to be pushed started twice and the door came off the rails! Rather than following the sealed road the whole way, we took a detour through some villages. It was fascinating to see Sudanese village life, the markets, tea stalls, clothing stalls and children at an outdoor school. As we had come to expect of Sudan everyone was extremely friendly. Once we got to Gallabat we were approached by a self-appointed guide who took us through the border procedure. There were four separate customs procedures on the Sudanese side, all of them in small mud shacks scattered throughout the main street. The first was purely to write down our names as was the second place, ... read more
Gonder
Refilling bottles of soft drink, Gonder
Debre Berhan Selassie Church, Gonder

Africa » Ethiopia » Tigray Region » Mek'ele August 10th 2009

It is summer and still I wear long pants and a jumper. This is on account of it being the wet season which dramatically changes the temperature. Every afternoon the sky darkens and the thunder warns of the imminent downpour. It pours for up to an hour and then the skies turn blue again and life continues as though without interruption. Mekele is a large town/small city with a lot of people (not really sure about the number as each person that I talk to suggests a different number) somewhere in the vicinity of between 120,000 to 400,000. Compared to its capital Addis Ababa, Mekele is clean, quiet and orderly. Although herds of donkeys (piled high with charcoal or hay), sheep and goats, cattle, horse drawn carts, tuk tuks and general traffic compete for the road ... read more

Africa » Ethiopia » Tigray Region » Mek'ele November 15th 2008

I want to describe to you how it feels to travel through Ethiopia. I want to take you with me, so that you feel like you are sitting right here next to Jos and me on this torn, itchy, plastic seat in this totally dilapidated minibus decorated with gaudy, colorful, beaded pieces of cloth that sway against each other with every jerk, creating a sound not unlike one you would get if you shook a Rastaman with beaded dreads really hard by the shoulders in rage. Sometimes Jos and I, one ear-bud for each, sing obnoxious African songs outloud out of boredom - think Toto, Lion King and Jungle Book soundtracks, and the whole bus of locals both laughs and stares at us in wonder. Shortly after our musical debuts, the driver inevitably turns on his ... read more
electrified?
bus stopped
Jos playing

Africa » Ethiopia » Tigray Region » Mek'ele October 10th 2008

The town of Mekele was never really on our "to see" list but it seemed to be a convenient place to do some more R&R. The last few weeks have been a bit hectic for a variety of reasons so we deserved a couple of days off. When I say couple of days off I mean just staying in one place not doing nothing ;) We visited the rock hewn churches of Tigray just to get another dose of spirituality an fitness. For reasons known only to the builders and believers most of the churches were built on top of mountains and there is never an easy way up. It was never as bad (or good) as in Debre Damo and no goat skin ropes had to be used but it involved a lot of walking ... read more
View from one of the Tigre churches
Caravan
Martyrs memorial in Meckele (aka golf ball and tee)

Africa » Ethiopia » Tigray Region » Mek'ele September 10th 2008

Three days to departure and we are still packing. After a summer of intensive activity, training and spending time with friends and family, we are really looking forward to getting over to Ethiopia. We will enjoy a 'last supper' with immediate family on Friday night in London and then meet the other 22 VSO Ethiopia volunteers at Heathrow on Saturday. We will get some photos organised to brighten up the blog...and we cannot wait to try out the 56k dial-up connection from Mekelle. Peter and Ivy... read more




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