The idea of taking a vacation from our life here seemed odd at first, but by the time the details finally worked out for us to travel on January 7th, I can say we definitely needed some “rest and refresh” time. We headed by air to Addis and spent 2 nights at The Hilton, using some points we had saved up for years. It was like being back in America for a couple of days. We spent our days sunning the pool, swimming, eating amazing food like ham and cheese sandwiches or raviolis or calzone (yes, these seemed amazing after 5+ months in Mekelle!). We found an SUV/Driver for hire and on January 9th we headed south towards Wondo Genet. We realized immediately that driving with 4 kids piled into the back seat of an SUV on swervy bumpy Ethiopian roads really wasn’t going to be much fun. About an hour into it, we had to shift one child to the front seat, then later another one due to stomach issues. The driver insisted on going as fast as he could and swerved around and honked at anything that was in his way. After 3 hours, we noticed signs for Lake Abiata, which is supposed to have wonderful flamingos and pelicans so we stopped and hired a “guide” for 30 birr who turned out to be nothing more than a guy who wanted a ride into the park. Oh he rode with us to the lake and walked alongside us, but he never said a word the entire trip. When we got to this desert-like place with the water in the distance, we had to park and start walking across this vast dry crunchy land. Another guy introduced himself as a guide who also provided “protection for your car” while you explore, so we of course hired him too. Later, he turned out to be the best employee, as we encountered patches of water/creeks that blocked our way to the Flamingos and we were faced with getting very wet/muddy up to our knees until the guy did the most hilarious thing. He rolled up his pants, tossed his shoes to the other side of the water, and picked up my 155 pound husband without notice, tossing him on his back piggy back style. Steve of course objected, while the kids laughed and mom scrambled for as many photos as she could get! We all got a ride across this and other streams until we saw the flamingos up close in huge flocks and got some great photos. By the time we arrived in Wondo Genet were were exhausted, but delighted to find Colobus Monkeys swinging from trees overhead and even coming down to starte at us. Later we learned they like bread, and we enjoyed feeding them and the Vervet Monkeys with the kids. The highlight was a wonderful bird-watching hike for 5 hours above the hotel, where it honestly seemed like we had been transported to the rain forest. We learned another thing, though, about Ethiopian travel. The hotels are very mediocre at best, with beds and a lukewarm shower and very old rooms. There is no lobby, no shopping, no TV, just rooms with beds. We were ready to continue on our adventure two days later further south to Arba Minch. This drive was even more miserable than the first, as the driver who picked us up apparently was misinformed about the size of our group and already had one passenger in a 5 passenger SUV. But mind you, there was no other transportation to be had in this remote area, so we stacked 2 high across the back seat and off we went. This driver actually turned out to be wonderful and safe and since he was from Arba Minch area, he knew the sights and tourist info that makes the trip fun. The scenery was incredible as we got closer to Arba Minch, and we noticed it was much hotter here than in Mekelle or Addis. The first day we headed to Nechisar National Park for some wildlife sightings. We saw baboons, a DikDik, both Thompson and Grant’s Gazelles, zebra, and Swayne’s Hartebeest which is endemic to the area. In the evening we headed to the tiny airline office to confirm our flights and were told, “oh…your airplane is broken…we think you should go tomorrow, there is jet coming from Addis.” We were supposed to stay until Tuesday but we learned that plane had been broken and the last 4 flights had been cancelled, so there was a jet coming from Addis the next afternoon, Saturday, and there were plenty of seats. We quickly decided that we could make a mad dash of the rest of Arba Minch the next morning because more than anything, we did NOT want to have to drive back the 9 hours to Addis. So we took a boat ride the next morning on Lake Chamo and they pointed out swimming hippos and sunbathing 16 foot long crocodiles on the shore. Kids loved this, I was not really happy to be that close, especially when we approached shore and they (crocodiles) slinked into the water. Yuck! We also visited a small village called Dorzee and learned how they dance, make false banana leaf foods, live in beehived shaped huts, and spin cotton. We even joined in on some cultural dancing (ask Steve for the video when he gets home!). So we headed to Addis 3 days early and ended up staying at a great 3 bedroom guest house rented by SIM. We took in some tourist sights in Addis, shopped for supplies we couldn’t buy in Mekelle, went souvenir shopping, ate out at restaraunts that had foreigner-style foods, and fell in love with Bruno’s Ice Cream…wow, it was like being home all over again! Overall, it was a good trip, and the greatest part was that after it all, the kids were saying, “Boy am I ready to get HOME to Mekelle!” It was nice to see them view this place so far away as “home”.
