We're Here...Day 2 and 3 of our journey.

Day 2

Walking through the process at Bole Airport in Addis Ababa was uneventful. We easily got through getting our visa, exchanging money, getting all of our luggage, and customs. We met a bit of a hitch when the person who was supposed to meet us at the airport didn’t make it because of some crossed signals. We called him and hung out in the airport for awhile. While there Jerry met his first opportunity to be shortchanged. He bought a coke for 18Birr (almost $2 –airport prices are always higher) however when he counted his change (he gave him 100 Birr) he found out that he had been shortchanged 60 Birr. That Coke would have cost $8 – a bit steep even at the airport. The waiter quickly gave him the correct change when asked.

When our ride arrived we were off to the guest house. Addis Kidan is a great guest house. Alayu, the guest house manager, is a wonderful Ethiopian who is a student at a local Bible College and used to work for Compassion International. It’s a comfortable spot in a neighborhood that is only a 5 minute walk from the guesthouse we will be staying in with our agency.

It was about 10:30 pm (Ethiopian time) when we hit the beds at the guest house and we crashed for the night.

Day 3

We started our third day off bright and early by hiring a guide and driver to take us 3 hours north of Addis Ababa through some of the most beautiful countryside I have ever seen. Because it is the rainy season, everything is bright green with life. We took the main highway north of the city which consists of a paved road that has 1 lane in each direction. It twisted and turned as we headed up and down through the mountains and valleys. While traveling up the mountain to head out of the city we saw a bunch of runners. This is where the Ethiopian national team trains daily. Our guide told us that its not uncommon to see the Olympic runners out there training, including Selasie.

Our first stop along the way was Debre Libanos Monastery. This is an Ethiopian Orthodox Monastery which was originally organized in the 12th Century. It is in a beautiful setting with a waterfall in the background. The legend behind the monastery was that the founding monk stood on one leg while praying for 7 years and as a result he lost one of his legs. In the paintings which depict him he is shown as only having one leg. This is a fascinating place. There are 500 monks and 300 priestesses associated with this monastery, however they do not have housing on the grounds. Instead they live within the community or in caves which are not far from the monastery. They live a life of poverty and are either retired or have someone who provides their basic living expenses for them.

The current cathedral there was built in the late 1940s by Emperor Haille Selasie since the original building was destroyed by the Italians years prior. During the Italian occupation in Ethiopia, a couple of men made an attempt on the life of General Graizone from the Italian forces. This was during facism and Mussolini. After the attempt the men went to Debre Libanos and hid. Grazione showed up with his forces during a festival in which the monks were in a cave praying. The Italians massacred hundreds of priests as they gathered in the cave to pray. The Italians then returned a few days later and killed hundreds of lay people associated with the monastery.

The current cathedral has incredible stained glass as well as old paintings and murals. The building is divided into 3 sections based on the Jewish Temple. There is the outer room where people gather for singing and chanting. There is the Holy Place where people gather for Mass. The innermost part is the Most Holy Place where only the priest can enter. In the Most Holy Place there is an altar containing a replica of the Ark of the Covenant. The most striking feature of the whole monastery was the devotion with which the monks, priestesses and the people of the community demonstrate. The monks and priestesses fast almost every day and will eat only one meal on those days. They also gather in the courtyard throughout the day to offer prayers. One of the most striking features were prayer sticks. These are like walking sticks which they use to lean on while praying. This enables them to stand and pray for sometimes 10 or 12 hours. These acts of devotion struck me. While we did not visit it, the marketplace there seemed incredible. It looked as if one could buy anything they wanted to in this small market for locals.

On leaving Debre Libanos we saw a family of baboons playing in the field which captured our attention for some time before we continued another 1 hour up the road to The Blue Nile River Gorge. This gorge is deeper and wider than the Grand Canyon and was a spectacular sight. It sits in this huge valley which was lush green and with the start of the yellow flower addis ababa which blooms every year at the end of the rainy season. We drove a 40km road from the top of the mountain to the bottom of the gorge. Filled with twists, turns and fresh mudslides and rockslides it was quite an adventure. Along the way there were numbers of shepherds herding their livestock and shacks which people had built on the side of the road. We ended this leg of the tour after crossing the Blue Nile and having a picnic lunch in front of a small waterfall. It was beautiful. This river eventually flows into The Nile. Our guide was certain to point out that the muddy water was taking all of the rich Ethiopian soil to Egypt where it would continue to provide fertile land there, but while depriving Ethiopia of its natural resources.

Our final stop was a place called the Portuguese Bridge. This took us to a beautiful overlook where we could see for miles over a different gorge area. As we kept hiking we came to a stone bridge which our guide informed us was built by the Portuguese in the 18th century. This is not entirely true it would seem…rather it was built by an Ethiopian ruler in the 20th century…however it was beautiful. After crossing the bridge we were able to look from the top of a huge waterfall which only flows for a couple of months out of the year. It was breathtaking. We also saw 3 families of baboons at play in this area. I think we all then fell asleep on our travel back to Addis.

At night we found ourselves in the middle of experiencing our first blackout. Ethiopians have gotten used to these daily blackouts. Since we couldn’t “eat in” we headed out to the local hotspot – Metro Pizza. They make great pizza and since they cook over a wood fire, we knew they’d be able to cook our food, even if they did not have power. Here we are all the way in Ethiopia eating pizza…go figure.