Comparing Kenya

Arriving in Nairobi I had very few expectations for Kenya, but soon found myself caught up in a comparative state-of-mind which is ever so popular in Ethiopia.  I would see a street of vegetable stands and think to myself, that’s just like Ethiopia. And then I would see the smooth unbroken sidewalk and think, wow that’s something Ethiopia doesn’t have! But at the end of the day I realized how the two countries cannot be compared, mainly because ones reasons for visiting either Ethiopia or Kenya are vastly different.  In Ethiopia you would find castles, monasteries and rock-hewn churches, while in Kenya you’d find lions and beaches.  Each country offers unique opportunities that you’d be blessed to experience.

Day two in Kenya and we headed out on a safari ready to have one of those experiences Ethiopia doesn’t offer.  Since I had already been on a safari with my family last December in Tanzania I also had a bit of expectations in my mind for the safari, but tried my best to not compare the adventures.  One main reason comparing would be unfair here is because while my family treated me to a luxury safari, Chris and I were doing it as budget as they come.  So budget that we found ourselves in a car with five other tourists, one of which had lost a bet; That’s right, our safari was someone else’s torture.

After dropping our bags off at the campsite we got back in the car for our first game drive.  I cannot deny that I was a little under impressed when the first picture stop was made for wildebeests and zebras while everyone else snapped away, giddy as first-timers should be.  I found myself having thoughts of a safari snob, wondering how soon we’d get to see some real safari animals.  As we bounced our way along the dirt roads of the Masai Mara NR  I began to remember my first day on safari last December, which was probably less than a hundred miles south across the Tanzania border.  That first day, especially when you have a lucky game drive, is irreplaceable.  Seeing that sparkle in everyone’s eyes as National Geographic scenes unfolded in real life made me smile; I remembered that feeling too.

I opened my eyes anew as we pulled up to see eight lion cubs playing around in Mother Nature’s version of a playground.  I’d never seen anything like that before, it was like watching a bunch of toddlers, or puppies all piling on top of each other and teasing one another.  At that moment I was reassured that whether you pay for luxury or have to zip up your own tent at night, the animals are the same, and they are amazing (ask our bet-losing new friend and she will agree).  The first two hours, as we rushed to see all we could before sunset, were about as great as any two hours could be.  Four grown lions, eight cubs, eight elephants, two giraffes, buffaloes, zebras, wildebeests galore; a lucky day indeed!

 

The safari continued for a couple more days, as did our minibus’s fun, but by the end of it we were satisfied with the animal sightings and very ready for smooth pavement.  When the tires hit that first patch of asphalt our bodies didn’t even know how to react it was so serene.  Second safari down, and I have a feeling there will be more in my future. The majestic atmosphere of watching nature’s beasts in the wild is too addicting to call that my last safari.

Ethiopia Through New Eyes

This week I’ve had the privilege of introducing one of my good friends from home, Chris, to Ethiopia.  It’s been filled with adventures and bus rides, but one of my favorite things is hearing his impressions of life here, giving me a new perspective of seeing things.  Being here for over a year and a half I have certainly become adjusted to life and I often don’t see the peculiar things anymore.  I love the comfort this brings to my everyday life; seeing all these things as normal makes me feel more at home.  But it is refreshing to hear about all the surprising parts of Ethiopia which once also stunned me.  I’ve decided to make a list to share so that you can all start to understand the basic differences which I somehow find normal.

•    Constant reminders from locals to “eat!”
•    Affection between guy friends: holding hands, hugging, etc
•    People feed you by hand as a sign of respect
•    Coffee cups between the three rounds of coffee are often mixed up but we never question which we receive
•    Showers are optional
•    Time here is six hours off (noon = 6:00)
•    It is 2002
•    Ethiopians are deathly afraid of dogs/puppies
•    Animal dodging while in minibuses
•    People in the middle of nowhere – people are everywhere
•    Injera for every meal is common

More updates to come about my travels!

My Disappearing Act

Arriving back from site after over 3 weeks away I wasn’t really sure what to expect.  I know I was ready to come back home to Dangila, and it was way before the 3-week mark that I felt that urge to return.  But just because I wanted to go back didn’t mean that nothing would have changed while I was away, and as I rode the 10-hour bus back to Dangila from Addis I contemplated all the possible scenarios.  I recently discovered another transport option to get back to site: The Postal Bus.  I have known there is a postal bus that makes a trip from Addis to Bahir Dar every morning that also carries passengers, not just mail, so I decided to check it out.  With the help of an Ethiopian friend I secured a ticket and began a new journey back to Dangila!  While the trip wasn’t as exciting as alone in the truck full of mail covered to my shoulders with letters to sort through (ok, maybe that’s just a fantasy only Peace Corps volunteers have) it was still a new experience, and one I will definitely repeat for future Addis trips.  

Crossing the gorge on the way back to Dangila.

One of my favorite parts of taking the postal bus was when we stopped in Dangila my good friend, and postal worker Fanta was there awaiting me! Ok, she was awaiting the mail, but I still had someone to walk back towards my house with as I nervously entered town for the first time in such a long time.  I was nervous-- guilty I suppose for being gone so long, like a child creeping back into her house after running away.  One of the most commonly said phrase here is “Tafash,” literally meaning, “You disappeared!” as a way of telling you they haven’t seen you in a while.  Sometimes the phrase is alluding to the fact that they haven’t seen you since breakfast that same day, but others it is justified, and this time I knew it would be the latter case.

To my surprise I didn’t get bombarded with “Tafash” as much as I suspected, but rather a big warm greeting by the society as a whole.  Normally the neighborhood kids near where I live greet me as I walk by, but this time even the mothers stepped out of the house to smile and give me a cheerful greeting.  And I must say, after a few days in site, it seems as if the community had an intervention—as if someone went around with a loud speaker yelling, “The foreigner, her name is not ferengi nor you, you, you.  She is Jennifer!”  Everyone knows my name.  I was on a street I’ve never been on before just yesterday and they knew my name! I suppose the effects of living here for a year are finally starting to kick in, and I love it.

Arba Minch and the Bale Mountains

February brought a big mile-marker for my training group: Mid-Service Conference! This means that we are half-way through our two years of service, and had a three day conference to catch up on all we are doing at site.  Since we were already in Addis for the meeting, a few friends and I decided to take the next week to do one of my absolute favorite things, travel!

I do realize that I live abroad, and in some ways I have been “traveling” for 15 months now, but having the opportunity to get out of site and visit to a new part of the world always makes my heart beat with excitement! My wonderful friend Danielle and I decided we wanted to visit the Bale Mountains in southern Ethiopia, but of course plans kept changing until the day before we left, when it was finally decided that four of us would first spend a long weekend in Arba Minch.  This city in southern Ethiopia literally means “Forty Springs” and is most well-known for its national park, Nech Sar, "White Grass."

After a day full of buses from Addis, our bus arrived in our destination city, which I can only begin to describe as something from a fairy tale.  A smaller city surrounded by mountains on three sides, and two lakes on the other that just screamed adventure to us-- Exactly what we were looking for.

A quick bus transfer and we finally made it to a village in the surrounding mountains, Dorze, which boasted a cultural lodge, where you sleep in the local huts, for under $10 a night!  A buffet of Ethiopian food, a personal gabi (local blanket/jacket) draped on each of our shoulders, a couple glasses of tej (local honey wine), and a night filled with traditional music and dancing; we couldn’t have asked for anything more!

The next few days we spent exploring the national park, stalking what appeared to be the last four zebras in Ethiopia, spotting a Peter Pan-sized crocodile and camping under a canopy of trees.  I must add that there are more than four zebras (which, in Amharic, are called striped donkeys) but while we were in the park only four ever came into sight.  We had so much fun, despite the fact that it seemed like every bus or tour guide we dealt with wanted to try to rip us off more than the last guy.  I could write an entire book about the art of bargaining in Ethiopia, but at the end of the day we are still ferengi in their eyes, and therefore, rich.  An emotional beating every time you get judged for the color of your skin, but I’m hoping it is making me a stronger person in the long run.

Moving past that unplanned tangent, we then cut across to Hawassa meeting up with another volunteer and friend from home, who were joining us for the Bale Mountains portion of our trip! Traveling from Hawassa to the entrance of the Bale Mountains National Park proved to be another full day on buses. Hawassa to Shashemene to Dodola to Adaba and finally to Dinsho! Four legs later we were dropped off right outside the entrance gate where we happily accepted the “resident rate” and hiked in a couple km to our first campsite.  We were only in the park a few minutes before seeing our first nyala and several dik diks.

We camped in the park for three nights, each at a different campsite, hiking during the day to new areas.  Since two horses and a guide were compulsory, it worked out well that Danielle and I could hike without our packs, while all the boys carried theirs, leveling out the playing field!  It was such a relaxed environment; each new area was filled with places to explore: waterfalls, forests, cliffs.  We would arrive in the afternoon, setup camp, and spend the rest of the day playing games and discovering the surroundings.

I learned that the local guides are a lot better at building fires, and keeping them alive than we are.  They are also able to endure long nights of cold rain without tents to keep them dry, only shallow caves to barely shelter them.  We had so much fun hiking through the Bale Mountains and enjoying the beautiful region.  Wart hogs and their babies scampered around the fields, mountain hyrax jumped from cliff to cliff, and six ferengi balancing on rocks to cross a river while carrying packs.  We succeeded in finding an adventure; we always do.

The Adventure Continues: Egypt

We arrived in Cairo at 5:00 on the morning of New Year’s Eve following a three-hour delay on our flight.  After resting until noon, we made our way with a guide to the pyramids.  That’s right; the pyramids that I’ve seen in pictures and movies my whole life were awaiting me on the other side of the city.  As the highway approached them, our guide pointed out the grand structures, peering through the local buildings.  I’ve been told that you shouldn’t get your hopes up, because they aren’t as big as you think they would be, so I’m not sure if I just had low expectations, but either way, I was impressed.  We drove to a side street nearby and swapped out our tour guide’s car for an even better mode of transportation: camels!

Since the elephants in Tanzania were wild, this was the first chance we had to ride on an animal, so my brother and I were very excited.  As we headed toward the pyramids, although awkwardly bouncing around on the back of a camel, I had a sense of complete serenity.  Riding up to the pyramids on camel, with hardly any other people around, was like going back in time.  If only you couldn’t see the distant tour buses near the base of the biggest pyramid you would think you were in a different era altogether.

We spent the next day exploring Cairo, eating delicious food (well, ok, it was Chili’s, but I haven’t had American food in a year! And it was on a boat on the Nile!), and outdoing ourselves at the Khan-el-Khalili market.  I must thank my family for putting up with my cravings for every American chain restaurant I saw: Pizza Hut, Cinnabon, McDonalds!  

The following day we visited the National Museum in Cairo, and that night headed on an overnight train to Luxor.  The Valley of the Kings, Thebes, and several other tourist stops were on our agenda and they didn’t disappoint.  That night we drove to the Red Sea town of Hurghada, the part of the vacation I’d been awaiting for over three weeks.

Since I came to Africa I knew one thing I couldn’t miss out on was diving in the Red Sea.  After arriving in Hurghada, I spent a day looking around town deciding on a dive company, and spent the next two days in-and-out of the water on five dives.  While I was sad to not be spending the last couple of days of vacation with my family (they aren’t divers), I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see one of the seven underwater wonders of the world.  Each afternoon I would return to the hotel filled with stories of my scuba diving adventures.

The marine life is amazing, along with the different types of corals.  When all you can hear is the sound of your exhaled bubbles and you look upward 30 meters to the surface of the water, it is like you are in another world.  The ecosystem on a reef is mindboggling; the way the animals work together and live together.  It feels like you are witnessing something that you weren’t meant to see.

I compared Tanzania to The Lion King, and I couldn’t help but thinking I was in the middle of Finding Nemo on the Red Sea.  The things you get to see in nature around the world as just amazing, and I think Disney realized this a long time ago.  The Ethiopia Disney movie has yet to be made, although I think they’re missing a goldmine of opportunities there!  The three consecutive countries we visited each offered unique highlights, and I was so blessed to spend the month with my family.  Thank you for that unrivaled opportunity!

Welcome To Dangila

This past month I had the privilege of hosting my mom, dad and brother in Dangila for three days.  When I was planning our Ethiopia-section of their time in Africa, I thought about all the historical places I wanted them to see- Lalibela, Gondar, Bahir Dar.  But when it really came down to booking how many days I wanted to spend in each place, I immediately knew I wanted them to spend the most time in Dangila.  Not only did I want them to experience my home, and way-of-life, but I wanted them to meet all my friends and drink more coffee than they could handle, just as I did when I first arrived!

Our time spent in Lalibela, Gondar, and Bahir Dar was fabulous.  The sites in Ethiopia are spectacular and one-of-a-kind, but my favorite part of having them here was the hospitality received in Dangila.  I knew I had some wonderful friends here, but the warm welcome they gave my family was so special and unrivaled.  The first night in Dangila, we were invited over to Ali and Billie’s house.

They used to live in my compound, but moved out a few months ago into a bigger house nearby.  We all sat in their living room and spoke in broken English, while I translated the rest of the details back and forth.  They served us a plateful of injera and wat; some of the best I’ve had in Ethiopia!  I was a little nervous about having my family taste Ethiopian food in a restaurant the first time, but at least there, you can openly say something doesn’t taste great.  At a friend’s home, it is a bit harder to reject the food!  Luckily, the food was well received by my family.  Thanks for being troopers family.   Then, as we were putting our plates down, satisfied by the delicious food, another round of plates came out!  That’s right, another plateful, but this time it was western food! Spaghetti, tomato sauce (with burbere spices of course) and bread; we all looked at each other with wide eyes.  We graciously accepted the second dinner and followed it by a coffee ceremony, although there was quite a bit of food left over.

The next night we had yet another two-course meal, featuring almost all the same foods! It was amazingly thoughtful how all my Ethiopian friends catered to our needs and welcomed us into their homes.  My favorite part of coming to my town was the night we first arrived, after the first marathon meal, my friends Tigist and Tewelde awaited us back near my house.  They were so excited about meeting my family, and they came bearing gifts.

They had an “Ethiopian” beaded bracelet for each of them, freshly made local bread, local-made potato chips, and Christmas cards for us!  It was the nicest thing.  Then they escorted my family back to their hotel on the main road.

It truly brought tears to my eyes.  The hospitality here and love I receive from all my Ethiopian friends is truly the reason I am still here.  They teach me something new every day about selflessness and generosity.

Family Safari

While I waited in the terminal for my 10AM flight to Tanzania to board, I had butterflies in my stomach. It wasn’t the flight I was anxious for, but three of its passengers that awaited me! Of course, nothing in Ethiopia goes as planned, and as I looked up from the book I was reading to scan the terminal for possible boarding information, I caught my brother’s eye. There was my family, going through security to join me in the terminal!

It was an epic reunion, filled with hugs and tears, and before I knew it time was flying by. Hours, which felt like days as time lead up to seeing them, turned into minutes. Before I knew it we were stepping into the humidity of Tanzania and our safari had begun. Lions, leopards, cheetahs, not to mention countless giraffes, elephants, zebras and wildebeests; It was like being thrown into The Lion King. While my brother will cringe as he reads about these Disney references (he also wasn’t my biggest fan when I sang “Hakuna Matata” while on safari), I can’t help but compare the safari to something unreal. Each day kept exceeding my wildest expectations.

We traveled from Kilimanjaro International airport to the Ngorongoro Crater, to Serengeti National Park, then retraced a bit to Tarangerie National Park, and finally wound up in West Kilimanjaro for a couple nights. On our first afternoon in the Serengeti, we drove right up beside two cheetahs.

 After a moment of watching them, the one other Range Rover in sight flashed their lights at our driver and just 100 yards away we saw a lion, and following his line-of-sight, there lay two more!

The next day in the Serengeti NP, we were driving along a side road when we spotted a group of at least 10 elephants on the horizon. We were the only car in sight, and decided to stop, turn off the engine and observe them for a bit. We watched in awe as they walked right towards us. Maybe twenty minutes later they crossed the road around our vehicle.

 Half were in front of us and half were behind us, and we were speechless. Later that day we pulled around this large rock formation and saw another car stopped, always a good sign that there is something to see. A leopard was perfectly perched on a branch overhanging the rock.

That was a set straight from The Lion King. Moments after arriving, the beautiful animal stood up and wandered back off the branch to rest in privacy I suppose. Lunchtime was approaching, so we decided to park there and eat our boxed lunches while waiting to see another glimpse of the leopard. With binoculars you could see the unmistakable leopard print through the brush. Just before we gave up waiting, he decided to grace us with his presence again, going back to prone position on the branch.

One of the last days, when we were staying in private game reserve in West Kilimanjaro, in the nicest tent I’ve ever stepped foot in, we had a little scare. We piled into an open-air range rover and headed out for a morning game drive. The lack of walls between me and animals that could attack me didn’t faze me at first, I was anxious to see them up close! We spotted our first group of elephants outside a National Park and we approached with excitement. Our guide, used to NP animals instructed the more inexperienced driver to pull up close… the elephant swung his trunk, flopped his ears, and made a noise that made us wish were movingin the opposite direction (as I snapped pictures, obviously)…and the driver stalled the vehicle.

 

 We all survived the weeklong safari in Tanzania, and had an adventure of a lifetime! It would have been a wonderful vacation all on its own, but as it was, it was just the beginning of ours!

Tanzania Day 1

This video shows the highlights from Day 1 in Tanzania... only to be followed by 6 more incredible days. More pictures will be posted soon. For now, enjoy the video!

One Year Later

I can’t believe it is already December 11th. I kind of thought this day would never come! Tomorrow morning I meet my mom, dad, and brother aboard a plane to Tanzania. This also marks the only blog post so far that I have posted myself. A little behind-the-scenes information I don’t think I’ve mentioned- blogger doesn’t work in Ethiopia, so my mom posts all my blogs for me. Since my family is already en route (I actually just received an email from them from Cairo) I am posting this one first hand from the comforts of fast-ish satellite from the Peace Corps office.

Since I last updated, so much has happened. The countryside itself exemplifies the changes around me. It seems like overnight the fields and hillsides of bright green have faded once again to bold yellow, ready for harvesting. Water, which I forgot to mention has been consistently available in Dangila, is now again starting to disappear for a few days at a time. Electricity too, which was reliable for a few months after rainy season, is beginning to have outages across the country. And Peace Corps has finished its seasonal change as well; all PCVs from Group 1 have closed service and in a week Group 3 will swear in.

Just after Thanksgiving I was fortunate enough to be invited by a Muslim neighbor to celebrate the Arafa holiday. As I sat around eating injera, listening to prayers and drinking coffee I wondered if any non-Muslim in Dangila had ever been invited to celebrate with them, and I felt so honored. Then I celebrated World AIDS Day in my town, where HAPCO had organized a field-day of sorts, including a 100m girls’ race. Of course, I had to run in it. My town would have it no other way. I was prepared to get smoked, until the women lined up beside me wearing skirts and some wearing no shoes. I wound up getting second place, and was called a lion in Amharic for the remainder of the day.

Lining up to run the race on World AIDS Day.

The crowd on World AIDS Day in Dangila.

I had been invited to spend this past week in Assela with Group 3 trainees, so I came in a few days early to Addis to prepare for the cooking session my friend Danielle and I were in charge of. I had the privilege during those few days last weekend to say goodbye to my dear friend Jordan, who decided to go home early. It was very bittersweet to see him go, but I completely understand his decision. His presence in Ethiopia will be dearly missed.

I also had to say goodbye to the group of 10 boys in Dangila (mentioned in previous posts). When I return back to town they will have returned to live with their families. I went over the night before leaving town to say goodbye and could barely hold back my tears as they each said goodbye to me. They will still be living in town, but I won’t be able to dependable see all of them every day, and I am going to miss those boys so much. As much as I’ve told them how much I love all of them I think they will never realize how much of an impact the 10 of them have made on me.

This past week I stayed in Assela, and spend the days visiting the trainees in their satellite villages with the technical trainer and two other volunteers. I had a lot of fun with the other PCVs and getting to know the new group. Although I saw them for a brief visit when they were still jetlagged, I really enjoyed getting to know them this week. Just yesterday Danielle and I were able to do a cooking demonstration for them, showing them how to create a stove-top dutch oven, and make some delicious home cooking!

Now I am back in Addis Ababa, and ready as ever to see my family tomorrow! Since I last updated I also passed my one year mark since leaving America. It has been a wonderful year filled with opportunities I could have never imagined a year ago, and I have grown exponentially from them. Thank you to everyone here and in America who has supported me on this adventure. I feel so loved and blessed. I will try to update about my month-long family adventure along the way, as I am sure our reunion abroad the plane tomorrow will be quite a scene!

Meskel Square

Last weekend I was all packed up and ready to leave for about a week to visit the northern part of Ethiopia, Tigray Region.  We left on an 11-hour bus trip to the capital city, Addis Ababa, to begin our journey and we were planning on flying out Sunday morning to Mekele, the capital of the Tigray Region.  I knew Sunday was the Meskel holiday, but I didn’t know that it was celebrated in Addis with a mass gathering in Meskel Square!  Since we were coincidentally there on Saturday afternoon, we decided to brave the crowd and experience Meskel the right way.

Three of us met up with our Ethiopian friend and started walking towards Meskel Square.  The main streets were blocked off and masses of Ethiopians were starting to gather.  It looked like downtown right before a baseball game.  We joined the flow of people and along the walk there was a glimpse of the normally bare Meskel Square that was now overflowing with people.  The Square is about the length of a football field; enclosed on one side by a half-oval of steps where people were crammed into, and open on the other side to the main road which was closed to traffic.  The square (which is actually not square, but a half-oval) and out into the street formed a stage filled with hundreds of performers and priest all dressed in white traditional clothes.

As with most mass-gatherings, it was a bit chaotic, and the only way in was now packed with people.  The crowd around us became more dense as we were being pushed towards the small opening in front of us.  Once through a security check and around a corner we realized that the only way to get into the raised section above us was to scale a 6-foot wall.  It seemed like this was the only option, so while clutching our bags and forming a chain we made our way to the wall and followed the Ethiopians in helping each other over.  At last there was no pushing.

We then followed a natural aisle through the masses of people and found a spot where we could peak over people to see the festivities down below.  Luckily in a crowd of Ethiopians I can actually see over most people!  There was a presentation from the Orthodox Pope, and performers dressed in red, yellow and green formed the shape of the Ethiopian flag.  After about an hour, around dusk, waxed rope used as candles was passed out among the crowd of people and the highlight of the Meskel holiday was about to take place: the bonfire!  In the middle of the square a huge pile of wood was being prepared for burning as the people started to pass their flame from candle-to-candle throughout the mass crowd.  The sky turned dark blue just as the candle light filled the square while groups of Ethiopians continued chanting and dancing.  Just as the whole crowd had received the passing flame, the bonfire was lit and fireworks were shot into the air.  The sky filled with smoke and the thousands of twinkling candles formed a sea of lights.  It was a truly majestic scene.  Not long after the fireworks stopped the crowd disseminated in what seemed like a much easier fashion than the initial wall-climbing fiasco.  It was such a great evening; one of my favorite days in Ethiopia.  I retract my former comment about all Ethiopian holidays seeming the same, because Meskel was different in many ways.  I loved celebrating in Addis, feeling like I was a part of something big and truly experiencing the Ethiopian culture in a new way.

Getting There Is Half the Battle

This week I have found myself on a four day “business trip” in the capital, Addis Ababa.  Well, I use that term very roughly.  I was invited by the Awi Development Association (Awi is my zone, which is the equivalent of an American county), with whom I’ve been meeting with over the past couple months, to join them on a trip to Addis to meet with potential partner NGOs.  I was starting to think about all the things I could write about this trip I’m on, and decided to first make sure I paint a picture of transportation in Ethiopia before I begin talking about the details of this current adventure.

To travel the 500km from Bahir Dar to Addis Ababa you have about five choices of transportation.  The first is flying.  It takes maybe 45 minutes and Ethiopian Airlines serves the most delicious muffins I’ve tasted in this country, but unless Peace Corps is flying me for a meeting, it is way out of my price range.  The second option is a private car, which is just as impractical as flying considering I don’t know a single person who owns a car.  This leaves us with the only three real options for traveling: a coach bus, a mini-bus, and the big local bus.

A recent arrival in Ethiopia, Selam Bus offers comfortable and roomy seats and even serves you a drink and piece of bread.  In America, these coach buses would still be considered less than ideal, but here they are my number one choice for traveling.  Next is the mini-bus, which is a 12-seater van that often seats up to 24 grown adults.  Typically on the long trips, such as the journey from Bahir Dar to Addis Ababa, they limit it to 14 though.  These mini-buses travel a lot faster than the big buses, which means you could make the trip in just about eight or nine hours.  The mini-bus is just slightly cheaper in price than the Selam Bus, and considering you are putting your life in the hands of driver, swerving around every bend, it is worth the upgrade to Selam.  Then there is the big ‘ol local bus.  Each asymmetrical row seats three on one side of the aisle and two on the other.  The benches are less than comfortable and even sitting with the skinniest Ethiopians you find yourself fighting for ample wiggle-room.  These buses cost about half the price of the Selam Bus though, and therefore still the most popular option for the average Ethiopian.  Although it can take over 12 hours, the slow speed makes it a bit safer, plus you get the added bonus of a priceless adventure, guaranteed.

Considering I was traveling with colleagues, and the association was fronting the costs, of course we took the big slow bus.  It was my first experience traveling local style for the entire 500 kilometers, but there is a first time for everything!  We woke up at 5:00AM making sure we would arrive at the bus station by 5:30AM, and the bus was already filling up quickly.  The three of us grabbed a bench towards the back and settled in for a long trip.  We started puttering down the road by 6:00AM, and the sun started to light up the sky outside my window on the left side.  I managed to get about 30-minutes of sleep but spent a majority of the ride staring at the green landscape and listening to music on my iPod.

We were making great timing, arriving at the Blue Nile Gorge just after 11AM, over halfway to Addis!  There was rumor of a landslide at the gorge, so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I kept my eyes out for something unusual along the way.  We twisted our way down into the valley, crossed the Blue Nile River and climbed most of the way back up the opposite side.  I started thinking to myself that they must have cleaned up the landslide, and wondered what it had looked like.  Just as that thought was swirling around in my mind we turned the corner to a long line of trucks.  Time ticked past as we waited to move inch by inch further.  It seemed like every time I would get out of the bus to stretch, the line would move a hundred meters forward.  Every now and then four or five trucks or buses would pass us going in the opposite direction on the narrow two-lane road.  All we could see was the face of a cliff on one side of the road and a foggy abyss on the other. After a while of waiting, a couple buses from behind us passed us on the left lane, and not wanting to lose our ground, our bus followed.

An hour after we arrived at the backup we were still stopped, but now both lanes were filled with traffic heading south and I could only imagine what kind of gridlock we were creating.  Finally we found ourselves at the scene of the accident, the landslide itself.  A section of the road, about 100 meters long, on the side of a mountain, had slid about a meter and a half down and over from its original location.  Ramps made out of piles of dirt and gravel were constructed at both ends where the pavement split.  One direction at a time, cars would slowly cross this unstable stretch of road.  It didn’t seem like the section would slide any further, but it was kind of scary to think that could happen in the first place.

One of the craziest parts was there was no official directing traffic.  This landslide happened about a week before, and every day there is utter chaos to cross this section.  Could you imagine in America what would happen if part of a cliff-side road that connected two major cities had a collapse like this?  And what if one side of the traffic decided to fill both lanes of the narrow road?  And no on was at the site instructing the traffic to take turns at even intervals…? It was just one more reminder that I am still in a developing country.

Overall we arrived in Addis Ababa about 12 hours exactly after leaving, not bad considering we were stopped at the landslide for almost two hours.  It was a great experience on the public bus I feel; not nearly as horrible as it could have been.  I will update soon with the happenings of this trip here in Addis.