4/22/19
We drove to Bahir Dar, through some nice mountain scenery and past many traditional villages. On the drive we saw some Grivet monkeys.
Elisha and I walked to the lake edge and had a sunset dinner of fresh Tilapia on the shores of lake Tana. Towards the end of the dinner, as darkness descended, millions and millions of flying termites were flying all around, especially next to the lights.
4/23/19
Took a morning boat ride on Lake Tana amongst the local fishermen in their traditional boats made out of papyrus. On the water, we saw a couple hippos. On our excursion, we walked across part of Zeghe island, visiting a couple traditional churches with brightly colored frescos painted on goat hide. On the hike in the forest, we went past a troupe of vervet monkeys. For lunch, the group ate at a nice place on the lake.
In the afternoon, we did a hike to the Blue Nile Falls, which included a bat ride across the Blue Nile. We had tasty guava-mango juice for an afternoon snack.
4/24/19
I got a $7 full body hour-long massage and a juice in the morning before driving to Debre Markos. Our room at this junky hotel was flooded because of the bathroom when we got there. They stopped the leak and mopped it up. That night, however, we saw a pretty big rat running around in the room. In the evening, Elisha and I walked around the town, walked out to their main square and monument and then had a traditional Ethiopian dinner.
4/25/19
We drove to Addis Ababa today. We crossed the Blue Nile gorge by taking a steep and winding road down and then back up. Saw some baboons along this road. That night in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, we had a fancy Ethiopian dinner that was very delicious. It was our last meal together for this segment of the trip as many would be departing the trip the next day, and we'd be adding some different people.
On this portion of the trip, Nick (England) and Lou (Wales) were the driver and trip leader. The rest of the passengers were Kris (Australia), Wes (Georgia), Anne (Australia), Anne (England), Louise (Wales), Ian (England), Jodi, Jacks, and Kelly (Australia), Theres and Jon (Ireland), Florian and Gabriela (England), Norbert (Germany), Ferdinand and Leonna (Holland), Terry (Oregon), Fay (UK), Felipe (Canada), and Michael (UK).
4/26/19
Elisha, Wes, Norbert, and I walked to the huge Mercado (one of the largest markets in Africa). It was super crazy. People and things everywhere! Sometimes walking on the street was the only way to move. There were all kinds of wares: spices, fruits, meats, home goods, metalwork, horse stuff, clothing, baskets, etc. A local guy showed us around some of the small passages. It was overwhelming in number of people and items. We had lunch at Addis Ababa's faux In 'N Out burger, which was good but nothing like the real In 'N Out burger.
As the fast is ending in 2 days, there are tons of chickens, goats, and sheep being bartered for and sold on the streets. As someone told us "The streets will run red with blood after the fast". Our room in Addis is pretty nice, so in the afternoon, we cooled off after our long walk under the sun in the city by hanging out in the room where we watched a movie and also did our laundry.
Tonight we met the new members of the group as well as the new driver and trip leader. Nick and Lou were supposed to go with us to Nairobi and do the Uganda loop with us, but because of the tragedy, they were pulled, and we got 2 new leaders. José (Spain/Holland) is the new trip leader and Will (South Africa) is the new driver. The passengers on the next group are Kris (Australia), Norbert (Germany), Alex (UK), Eric (Spain/UK), Katya (Germany), and Maggie (UK). We also have a local Ethiopian guide with us for this part: Bayoo. Jodi and Jacks were supposed to still be with the tour at this point, but they decided to fly back home to Australia due to being close friends with Kelly.
4/27/19
We had a guided tour of Addis Ababa. We visited the National Museum where we saw nice artwork and fossils of some of our early human ancestors found in the area including the famous Lucy. We visited the big cathedral and some other churches. For lunch we ate at Lucy's Cafe.
In the afternoon, Elisha and I walked back to the hotel and relaxed and said goodbye to friends. That evening was a crazy scene on the streets: Goats and chickens for sale all along the street, all night
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