Church of St. George, Lalibela
The trip
Below is a very rough sketch of my recollection of our trip
to Ethiopia. Some of the exact events may be recorded in
the wrong days or missed and places may be confused. But it
does provide a broad indication of the visit organised by
Nouvelles Frontieres and run by Kibran Tours.
Saturday 18/12: Drive from
Brussels to Paris CdG airport. Snow means a 3 hour drive
becomes 7 hours. Just manage to scrape on to the Ethiopian
Airlines flight to Addis Ababa. Departure delayed.
Sunday 19/12: Arrive early
morning in Addis. Met by our guide Fitoum. Most of the
group's cases do not arrive, but ours do (probably due to
our last minute flight status). Leave cases in the Panorama Hotel. Visit
Addis, first taking in the National Museum and looking at
the origins of man (and woman - i.e. Lucy).
The Lucy there is a copy, the original, previously
kept in a safe in Addis, is on a controversial 6 year
loan to US museums. Lunch at the Lucy Gazebo &
Restaurant inside the National Museum compound with scenic
garden, good local food and crafts plus a layered fruit
juice (including avocado) which we never managed to find
subsequently. Then visit the city together with views from
surrounding hills. Dinner skipped and an early night.
Monday 20/12: After breakfast
back to the airport and a flight to Bahir Dar on the edge
of Lake Tana where we meet our driver for the next ten days
Casaho in the 28 seater Toyota 4 wheel-drive van. Check in
to the Abay Minch
Lodge and have lunch there. Visit the Blue Nile
waterfall. It is less impressive than it probably was in
the wet season and before some of the flow was dammed in
the recent past. Visit a local market as well as seeing in
Woyito how a papyrus boat is built. Dinner at hotel.
Tuesday 21/12: After breakfast we
take a boat on Lake Tana and see some of the island
monasteries Ura Kidane Mihiret and Azoa Mariam. After lunch
at the Tana
Guion Hotel, drive north by the lake visiting Debre
Sina church and arriving at Gondar. Stay at the Quara Hotel in the centre
of town.
Wednesday 22/12:Visit Gondar
exploring the royal enclosure which contains several
stone-built castles of different emperors from 1632 for two
centuries. The most impressive building is Fasilidas
castle. He was the emperor who established Gondar as a
powerful cultural and religious center. After that we see
the bath of Fasil, filled with water once a year for the
Timket (Ephiphany) celebration. We visit the local market
and the Church Of Debre Berhan Selassie (Light of the
Trinity), decorated with frescos and paintings as well as
the village where the last 'Felasha' (African Jews) lived.
Another night in the Quara hotel.
Thursday 23/12: Drive from Gonder
to the Simien Mountains. The Simien National Park is a
UNESCO World Heritage Site. In the park, the highest
mountain is Ras Dashen, at 4,543 m the fourth-highest
mountain in Africa. We stay in Debark at the Imet Gogo
Hotel. Pretty basic, although everybody tries very hard.
Pleasant coffee ceremony.
Friday 24/12: Up to the Simien
mountains again. See gelada baboons feeding on roots and
several 'Walya' ibex balanced on the mountains, both
species endemic to Ethiopia. Take a long hike. Another
night at the Imet Gogo.
Saturday 25/12:Drive from the
Simien Mountains to Axum. The crazy road (presently being
improved by Chinese contractors, from the original Italian
basis, but as ones goes) passes through mountainous regions
of wild beauty, running alongside the Simien massif. Then
it traverses the scenic Tekeze valley before reaching Axum.
We stay at the Remhai Hotel.
Sunday 26/12: Sightseeing in
Axum. It was once the capital of the long Axumite reign,
one of the oldest African empires, and represented a
connecting-point between Africa and Asia for almost a
thousand years. Some of the archeological sites can give
you an idea of the former high standard of civilization.
There are certainly lots of hidden treasures beneath Axum,
yet to be uncovered. Visit the famous steles: granite
monoliths dating from pre-Christian times, decorated with
symbolic engravings. See the churches of Saint Mary of
Zion, which contain the crowns of Ethiopian kings and other
treasures, the tomb of King Kaleb and the Axum Museum,
revealing many of the archeological findings and providing
information about the glorious past of the city.
Monday 27/12:A very long drive
from Axum to Mekelle. Begin to see more camels (to a
non-specialist - to be correct actually dromedaries since
just one hump). Stay at Hotel Milano.
Tuesday 28/12: Drive from Mekelle
to Lalibela. Again long. We stay in the extremely
comfortable Mountain View
Hotel.
Wednesday 29/12: Do the
North-Western group of churches in the morning and
South-Eastern cluster in afternoon. All really impressive.
churches of the 'Ethiopian Jerusalem'. Each church ('Bet')
has a unique architectural style. All are carved and most
are decorated with well-preserved paintings. Bet Medhane
Alem is the largest monolithic rock-hewn building in the
world, supported by 72 pillars. Through a short tunnel one
passes on to Bet Mariam. Bet Golgotha and Bet Mikael
contain many important religious items. After purchasing
local art and attending a coffee ceremony an evening walk
back to hotel from town past people selling things and
sometimes paying a bit too much for things that should be
cheaper.
Thursday 30/12: Second day in
Lalibela. Go to a cave Church in morning and all travellers
(some having walked for 5 days) very involved in the
service. In afternoon go to the more well known St.
George's rock hewn church - the cruciform one. Afterwards a
coffee ceremony, various purchases, etc.
Friday 31/12: After breakfast off
to Lalibela airport for flight to Addis and many purchases
(for us a carpet with a lion, a drum with genuine goat
hair, and probably much else I don't know of). In Addis we
visit the Cathedral we missed the first day. Sort of
missable (in contrast to all the really old churches)
except for the tombs and thrones of the last Emperor and
his wife, plus elaborate murals and magnificent stain glass
tributes to the Emperor. Additionally we try to divest
ourselves of local currency, which nobody could guarantee
could be changed back, by buying Arabica coffee and nice
coffee cups in the hotel - unfortunately afterwards seen at
nearly half the price in the airport. Even worse the banks
were open there late evening for conversion back to euros -
our successful splurge resulted in us only reciving a net
10 euros something! But the coffee cups are nice and
something we would pay the price quoted for and would have
had no regrets if we had not seen them cheaper. And
additionally, as a plus, there is now a story attached to
their acquisition.
Saturday 1/1/2011: Departure just
before midnight from Addis on Ethiopian Airlines. New Year
in air to Paris. Land. Drive 'home' to Brussels.
Go to
Ethiopian 2010-11 pictures from
others page
Return to main Ethiopian page
Advance to Sicily page
Or go
to data for the index to Lenn*n
entries.
Alternatively, go to my
railwayana.com pages
for Irish railway data
Or even, go to my railwayana auction price pages
