Thursday, March 7, 2013
Good bye Ethiopia
Todays my last day in Ethiopia. Everything had been so amazing I really am sad to leave. I just can't wait to go home and see my family. I really am gonna miss this place, this was the trip of a life-time. If there was one thing that made this trip even better that it was already going to be it would be my Google Translate App, because without it I would have not been able to communicate with the locals or anything.
I am leaving on Lufthansa flight number LH591 heading towards Frankfurt at 11:50 pm on June 9th, and arriving the next day at 6:05 am. Then having a six hour and fifteen minute layover before getting on to my next flight to Washington D.C. That flight number is United UA988 departing Frankfurt at 12:20pm and arriving in Washington at 3:05pm. The my final flight will be from Washington DC on United flight UA249 departing at 5:20 pm and landing at 7:52 pm in Houston, Texas.
Simien Lodge
I left Bahir Dar in-style, I rode in a helicopter from a small heliport in Bahir Dar. I flew to my hotel The Simien Lodge(Africas highest hotel at 3260 m ) in the Simien National Park. On the first day I got up at three-forty five so that I could climb Ras Daschen the climb was not a walk in the park especially the last 100 m where I was lucky to have rock climbing experience or I would not have made it up to the top.
The wild life I saw on this trip was amazing! I saw Gelanda, Hyenas, Leopards, Walia Ibex, Tawney Eagles, Simien Wolf/Red Fox, Lammergayer, and Ankober Serin. You might not know what these animals are but trust me they are amazing and beautiful. It is wonderful to see them in their home, the wild, where they belong. Not some cage or "habitat" where all they do is follow the same boring routine every day.
Blue Nile Falls
I just visited the blue nile falls which is the largest I've ever seen or heard and one of the most spectacular sights in Ethiopia. The Blue Nile comes from Lake Tana. In the beginning it is like a creek that meanders past huts and along papayrus plants and grasses along the outskirts of Bahir Dar. Then it hits the falls of basaltic rock. The water drops 150 feet down and spreads across a high mile. That is what makes it so huge and loud to me is how wide the falls are.
What is amazing is that right before the falls, the country has built a hydroelectric plant called Tis Abay II. It takes the water from the Blue Nile and generates 450 megahertz of power with it then put its back into the river right before the falls. Unfortunately, I think the falls would have been much more beautiful the construction of the plant. They actually take 75 percent of the water and send it into a canal and use the water for irrigation. So now we only see 25 percent of the water in the Falls. It is kind of surprising that environmental activists didn't stop or fight this.
The locals call the Blue Nile Falls "the water that smokes" or the "smoke of the Nile" because the mist rises 45 meters above the water. I hiked to the falls and it was not the easiest place to get to or hike to do. That is true of most beautiful places. We took an early ferry ride across the river to reach the falls trail. It was rough terrain and some of the hikers used local guides, but I didn't. Good pair of vibrums and a lot of band aids make any hike possible!
There was a loop trail that allowed us to get close to the falls. From this trail you could see some of the rock cliffs that don't have water pouring down them any more from the hydro electric plant and canal. This was a shame to me, but I guess the people who now have electricity due to the power plant and the farmers who can grow crops from the river water might not be so sad about it. There is always a mist or spray from the water crashing and this is enough to create a little rain forest ecology that we walked through. That was pretty neat.
What is amazing is that right before the falls, the country has built a hydroelectric plant called Tis Abay II. It takes the water from the Blue Nile and generates 450 megahertz of power with it then put its back into the river right before the falls. Unfortunately, I think the falls would have been much more beautiful the construction of the plant. They actually take 75 percent of the water and send it into a canal and use the water for irrigation. So now we only see 25 percent of the water in the Falls. It is kind of surprising that environmental activists didn't stop or fight this.
Bahir Dar Marketplace
I am shopper so I was intrigued by the Bahir Dar Marketplace. I had plenty of birr (their currency). Right now, it takes about 18 birr to equal one US dollar, so it is about the value of our nickel. The marketplace had stalls, nothing like the Galleria. I went on a Saturday because I heard it was the best day to go with the vendors and stuff to buy. I could have bought live or dead chickens, shoes, vegetables, flour or chilis. I bought a head scarf like the women all wear.
It was little chaotic. Some vendors had stalls attached to buildings. Some laid their good right out on the dirt plazas and roads. It was crowded with people carrying goods on their backs or on small carts pulled by donkeys. No 18 wheelers pulling up to loading docks here!
Lake Tana Cruise
I just went on a cruise on Lake Tana. This is a great bird watching area so I got out my binoculars and tried to count as many types of different birds as I could. I saw the African Openbill and a Wagtail which were new to me. The Blue headed Coucal was really pretty, both red and blue. The Giant Kingfisher was really cool, but kind of tiny for bird called Giant. The little Firefinch were really adorable. I recognized other birds from the US like the Pink Pelican and Osprey.
On our cruise we stopped at one of the many Christian monasteries and nunneries on the islands in Lake Tana. They are part of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Some of the monasteries are only to men so I was lucky that the one we stopped had no such silly rule. It was called Ura Kidane Mihret. On the island grew coffee and we walked up a path through dense coffee trees. Did you know that coffee can only grow in volcanic soil?
The outside of the church was pretty plain and simple, a large round building with only a large cross.When I went inside, I was shocked. Beautiful colorful paintings covered the walls. They told bible stories, some of which I had heard of like the crucifixion and St. George and the Dragon. I didn't recognize others because apparently they are from stories lost in the western version of the bible like the Miracle of Mary.
After rough and tumble travels, I was happy we stayed at a fancy resort, which I didn't expect to find in Ethiopia. It was a lodge on the shore of Lake Tana with pretty views of the water, and individual stone cottages. BEst of all, you get a massage, manicure and pedicure. After hiking and touring through the country, this gal enjoyed pampering, too!
On our cruise we stopped at one of the many Christian monasteries and nunneries on the islands in Lake Tana. They are part of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Some of the monasteries are only to men so I was lucky that the one we stopped had no such silly rule. It was called Ura Kidane Mihret. On the island grew coffee and we walked up a path through dense coffee trees. Did you know that coffee can only grow in volcanic soil?
After rough and tumble travels, I was happy we stayed at a fancy resort, which I didn't expect to find in Ethiopia. It was a lodge on the shore of Lake Tana with pretty views of the water, and individual stone cottages. BEst of all, you get a massage, manicure and pedicure. After hiking and touring through the country, this gal enjoyed pampering, too!
Bahir Dar
After going to the Great Rift Valley. I drove back up to Addis Ababa and caught a flight to Bahir Dar. I flew on Ethiopian flight 2124 that departed at 7:20am on May 28 and landed on that same day at 8:25. I then rented a Range Rover to drive around the city. After that I checked into my hotel the Kuriftu Resort and Spa.
The resort is amazing! It is situated on Lake Tana with an amazing view of it and its island. There is also an amazing infinity pool where you can see the lake. The hotel is in walking distance of the city where you can shop in the marketplace or charter a boat to look at the birds or see the monasteries, or other ancient buildings.
Ethiopian Great Rift Valley
After the tribal tour, I drove to the Ethiopian Great Rift Valley. It was so cool! The Rift itself was very interesting. Then when you add all the lakes it is utopia of nature! Let me explain to you what a rift is. It is the pulling apart of two tectonic plates. After a couple of million years, the entire East African continent will pull away from West Africa along the rift and create its own island like Madagascar. If it were me, I would name the new island "Hubba Bubba Land."
If you've never been to Africa, you might think the rift looks like the Grand Canyon. I know I did. But it doesn't look anything like that. It is very lush with vegetation. There is a series of seven major lakes in the Rift such Lake Abayta, Chomo and Swae. On the plains between the lakes there is a national park called Nech Sar. There we glimpsed animals I'd only seen in zoos like zebras, Grant's gazelles and hartebeest! I love that name.
The Rift is home to dormant volcanoes. I got to visit on the west wall of the Rift called Mt Yerer which is 30,100m high and extinct, so I was safe from ash or lava flows. This is the second volcano I have climbed. The other one is in Guatemala, and it erupted recently but not while I was on it. Mt. Yerer had one tourist attraction, its' hermit cave. In this cave is the mummified body of a hermit in a glass coffin.
My favorite lake was Lake Chomo because of the wildlife. There were hundreds of hippos along the banks and thousands of Nile crocodiles. I also got to fish, which is a lot different from the creek fishing I've done in Houston. We fished for Nile Perch, fighting tigerfish, catfish and more. Some of these I'd seen and heard about on River Monsters. We didn't catch much, but it was fun.
There is a group of people called the Dorze who live near Lake Chomo. They say they were once warriors but now are farmers and weavers. I bought a souvenir there of their weavings. One of the unique things is their houses. They are really tall beehive shaped buildings with dirt floor but beautiful woven domed ceilings.
The lowland of the valley are lush, but as you climb up the sides of the rift and increase in elevation the landscape changes a lot. Midway up are bamboo forests and at the top where it get colder are trees like juniper.
If you've never been to Africa, you might think the rift looks like the Grand Canyon. I know I did. But it doesn't look anything like that. It is very lush with vegetation. There is a series of seven major lakes in the Rift such Lake Abayta, Chomo and Swae. On the plains between the lakes there is a national park called Nech Sar. There we glimpsed animals I'd only seen in zoos like zebras, Grant's gazelles and hartebeest! I love that name.
The Rift is home to dormant volcanoes. I got to visit on the west wall of the Rift called Mt Yerer which is 30,100m high and extinct, so I was safe from ash or lava flows. This is the second volcano I have climbed. The other one is in Guatemala, and it erupted recently but not while I was on it. Mt. Yerer had one tourist attraction, its' hermit cave. In this cave is the mummified body of a hermit in a glass coffin.
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| Great Rift Valley |
My favorite lake was Lake Chomo because of the wildlife. There were hundreds of hippos along the banks and thousands of Nile crocodiles. I also got to fish, which is a lot different from the creek fishing I've done in Houston. We fished for Nile Perch, fighting tigerfish, catfish and more. Some of these I'd seen and heard about on River Monsters. We didn't catch much, but it was fun.
There is a group of people called the Dorze who live near Lake Chomo. They say they were once warriors but now are farmers and weavers. I bought a souvenir there of their weavings. One of the unique things is their houses. They are really tall beehive shaped buildings with dirt floor but beautiful woven domed ceilings.
The lowland of the valley are lush, but as you climb up the sides of the rift and increase in elevation the landscape changes a lot. Midway up are bamboo forests and at the top where it get colder are trees like juniper.
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