The Camelot of Africa

The history of Gondar is fascinating. Ethiopia has had many changes of capital over the centuries according to the whims of whatever emperor was in power at the time (Addis Ababa only became the capital in the 19th century when Emperor Menelik's consort decided she liked the beauty of the place and wanted her house to be built there), and so in 1636 Emperor Fasiladas moved the capital to Gondar as it was geographically convenient for fertile land and caravan routes transporting slaves and gold.

From 1636 until the fall of Gondar around 1784, huge castles were built that resemble anything you would find in Europe at the time. Gondar's palaces held huge banquets for various passing dignitaries, and it's pageantry and ceremonies became legendary in the region and among Arab traders. The amount of wealth and power concentrated here was immense. It was like having King Henry VIII's court smack dab in the middle of Africa. And what got me the most was that I'd never heard of the place until I started researching this trip!


This is what I like most about Ethiopia. A fascinating kingdom and history that remains undiscovered by so many westerners. So much for the "famine-ridden tribal country" view that is still lodged in so many people's minds! 

Many of the castles lay in ruins as a result of the British bombing of the dug-in Italians who were using it as a hideout toward the end of the second World War.

Fasiladas' "vacation" home

It's a pool! Would be filled with water for Fasiladas to swim. Now they only fill it once a year for a festival after the Orthodox Christmas. 

Loved the trees

Fasiladas' castle

Posing...in the grass...trying to watch out for possible snakes!

3 of the castles

Horse stables on the compound

There are two hangers in the closet. What should we hang up?

When Whitney said the above statement, she actually just saw 1 hanger, and it seemed a lot funnier with one hanger for two people, but alas, we could each hang something in the closet.

The Lalibela portion of our trip was a whirlwind...but definitely worth it! We were picked up from the airport and whisked away to the churches. There are 11 rock-hewn churches, and our tour guide was adamant that we would visit all 11 (even though we arrived at 3PM and they closed at 5PM and our flight the next day would leave at 11AM). I was hesitant, but you know the saying "Where there is a will, there is a way"....our guide had the will, so we got to see all 11 churches.

On our drive to Lalibela from the airport....the scenery was spectacular!

One of the churches....just amazing.

Baptism pool

Traditional Home in Lalibela

The famous St. George church

Tourist shot with St. George

Another amazing church

Last church before we headed back to the airport. This church is still attached to the rock!

Take me to Djibouti!

After waiting in line for what seemed like forever, we were finally checked in with 30 minutes to spare before the flight was supposed to depart. Thinking that we were late, we rushed through security (FYI – nothing like the US) and found seats at the gate to wait.

You know…there’s a song by Tom Petty and Eddie Vedder…The Waiting…he says “The waiting is the hardest part”. 

We waited for our cab to arrive. We waited in line to check-in. And now we were waiting for our plane. For. A. Long. Time.

At 8:30AM (1 hour after our flight was supposed to depart), a representative came through and said they had breakfast for us while we waited. Breakfast consisted of some stale/not very sweet/not very good bread and orange soda. We were told the flight would leave at 10AM, so Whitney and I opted out of the “complimentary breakfast”, and headed for the food court in the airport. There I had an omelet sandwich (I really should have taken a picture) which had three huge pieces of bread (kinda like a Big-Mac) and probably 4-5 eggs. It was massive!

After finishing breakfast, we went back to the gate to wait. No sign of our plane. They were calling passengers for other flights, but the flight to Lalibela was not mentioned! At one point, the Ethiopian Airline representative walked through the crowds and announced that the plane to Djibouti was ready to board. Whitney and I decided that we would be happy with going to Djibouti for the weekend instead of hanging around the airport for much longer!

Around noon they came around and announced that a complimentary lunch was available. It wasn’t bread and soda, but since Whitney and I were still full we passed on lunch and opted for cold beverages instead.

Finally, around 1:30 PM we were allowed to board the plant to Lalibela (which was also going to Gondar and Axum). We were finally on our way!

Were you in the rain?

This past weekend Whitney and I did some domestic travel in Ethiopia. While I could write a single blog post about our entire trip, I've decided to write smaller posts about our adventures, highlighting the fun/interesting things that happened to us over the weekend.

The trip began early....5AM. I woke up and finished packing my backup and waited for our cab driver, Alfred (from previous posts), to arrive at 5:30. Alfred was a little late (15 minutes), but given my need to always be on time/early, I was starting to feel a little anxious. Our flight was supposed to leave at 7:30, and the travel agent recommended we arrive 2 hours before our departure. We only live a few kilometer from the airport, so we arrived around 5:50AM.

When we arrived, the main guard only checked my passport and ticket, and let Whitney enter the airport without even checking her documents. I guess they figured that if 1 American had her stuff together, that the other one would as well. Once we got in the actual airport, the line was ridiculously long! We got in line and waited, and waited, and waited for what seemed like forever.

We struck up conversation with a man and his two daughters who were in front of us. The man was returning to Ethiopia after being away for 10 years, and this was the girls' first trip to Ethiopia. They had arrived from Washington DC the previous night (he owns an Ethiopian restaurant  around the Convention Center) and were flying to Axum to visit family.

One of the girls asked me mid conversation if I had been in the rain. I was confused for a second, and then realized that my hair was still wet from my shower an hour before we arrived at the airport. I started laughing and told her that I had washed my hair before coming to airport. She gave me a confused look and we continued with our conversation.

Most folks in Ethiopia don't leave their house with wet hair. Heck, most folks in the US don't leave their home with wet hair. I guess it was strange for the girl to see, but it made my smile and made the long wait to the ticket counter a little more bearable. 

Pictures from Recent Travels

Group photo before proceeding to Portuguese Bridge

Overlooking the Blue Nile Gorge

Another look at the Blue Nile Gorge

Group photo from the top of the mountain..I'm in the blue jacket :)

At Lake Langano! The only Schistosomiasis free lake in Ethiopia!

The group in front of Lake Langano

Outside of my office in the middle of a rain/hail storm

My new motto :)

I played the piano and sang at church last week

Upcoming Weekend Plans!

Last night I had the (joy?) of listening to the dogs bark and the hyenas howl. I thought I was getting used to their midnight noise, but alas, the past few nights they have woken me up with their back and forth communication. I woke up around 3AM and didn’t fall asleep until 6AM….and woke up about 30 minutes later from a dream where I was in a car and the driver was driving recklessly. Not a good start to my day. Oyyy...

But, I did have an exciting evening. Whitney and I went to the Hilton last night and booked plane tickets for our weekend travels. We will leave on Friday AM heading to Lalibela (known for the rock hewn churches), then fly to Gondar on Saturday afternoon ( known as “The Camelot of Africa" due to the presence of a group of royal castles ), and then drive to Bahir Dar on Saturday evening( the source of the Blue Nile).  We will spend the Sunday in Bahir Dar, and return to Addis on Sunday night. The three flights costs $156 USD! You can’t fly to one city in the US for that amount, much less 3 one way flights!

Keeping Busy

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "To fill the hour -- that is happiness". 


If that's true, my happiness cup should be overflowing! Work is busy, life is busy. We only have 3 more full weekends left! I knew that time would fly by, but I feel like I'm just now finding my groove. I'm getting used to Addis and Ethiopian culture. I'm actually able to contribute to things at work. Why is the time flying by?


I'll try to post some pictures from my recent travels and adventures tonight.