Clive Best

Today is my last day at work and I am actually rather sad to be leaving tomorrow evening. Yesterday evening I met the the two Jill’s in the Hilton bar as I was watching the semi-final match between Cameroon and Ghana. Every Thursday evening they and two friendly taxis organise a meal and water run for the homeless poor sleeping rough in Addis. With money raised by contributions the taxi driver’s family cook 300 meals of injeera and sauce in plastic bags. I went with them. There are some harrowing sights of mainly middle-aged and young men with absolutely nothing. There are also some women sleeping with children in their arms on the pavement. Many sleep outside churches and some seem very weak from continuous street life and bad living. Without fail they are all humble, kind and friendly. There was never any real aggression, just in the case of one young man desperate about his life. Another checkup is to look out for serious medical conditions. One man had malaria, and Jill determined to revisit tomorrow with Malarone treatment. Last week they found a TB sufferer , but unfortunately he died this week as it was too late too treat him.On a much brighter topic - Friday evening Taye and Merete took me out to dinner and we ended up at the Harlem Jazz club near the airport. There was a really good band playing a mixture of blues and jazz, which reminded me of how bands used to perform in the past before the big money. A very nice evening before bed at 1am. Today Kaleb took me to Piazza to buy some last minute presents and then I crashed out at the pool. Finally a last drink in the bar of the Hilton. My pet EU funding project is to build a Lion park and rescue those poor 15 lions in the central zoo in Addis. I am sure it would be a huge success. Acquire some land on the outskirts of Addis and make some nice enclosures where the lions have room to live. Probably not that expensive to give these animals their rightful pride.I am writing this at the airport waiting to fly out. I am sad to leave. Ethiopia is a beautiful country with a magic history and lovely people.

If Lalibela was anywhere else apart from Ethiopia it would be swarming in tourists. It is quite simply a unique architectural site of human religious endeavour and should be on everyone’s must see itinerary. King Lalibela (means honey eater) lived in the 14th century and was inspired to build the world’s largest rock-hewn churches. They are on a European scale cathedral style. What makes them even more wonderful is the red sedimentary rock they are embedded in. Lalibela was also very smart because he built an extensive set of deep water drainage channels because he knew that water was a danger to all such buildings. This extensive set of channels kept the below surface churches dry in the rainy season. Some of these channels are 20 feet deep with inlooks, caves and pathways. But it is the churches that overwhelm in their achievement. There are 12 churches and each one is different. Some have elaborate paintings and sculpture, while others are symmetric and angular. I believe all 12 churches were carved during the King’s lifetime which must have involved tens of thousands or people for 40 years or more. It is still immersed in legend as all the guides will tell you. The most famous church is the last one he built: St. George’s. It is uncanny that George is so important to Ethiopians and is also the patron saint of England. George’s father was supposed to be English and his mother Ethiopian. All churches here revere St. George.

Lalibella itself is covered in traditional houses made of wood and stone. The local population lead a rural life mostly unchanged for 100s of years. A huge market is held on Saturdays and the roads are full of local people carrying their wares, chickens, goats etc. to the market area. I found this fascinating and the area is divided into different areas selling different produce. One was selling honey straight from pots, which meant the area was also full of bees! In the evening I decided to try the local traditional bar and sample home- made honey wine. This has been fermented and had a rather pleasant not sweet taste. It must have been powerful stuff as I woke up with a headache the next morning. I suspect they gave me the strongest brew they had, and this convinced me to help two students buy the books they said they needed to pass the next exams.

The churches of Lalibela are quite amazing. It is still not sure how they were built and how many workmen were involved. There are plenty of myths about supernatural help for King Lalibela to build all 12 churches during his lifetime. The last church, St. George’s, is the one normally publicised, but all of them are unique and different one from the other.

On Friday afternoon I went to the Nile Falls. I had heard this was a shadow of its past glory following the construction of a new Hydroelectric plant, however I disagree - it is still spectacular even in the dry season and well worth a visit. First you drive about 1 hour down a tough road and then cross the Nile upstream by boat- already a large river as it leaves Lake Tana. On the other side you then walk 10-15 minutes across seemingly flat countryside before hearing and seeing the roar of the falls as the river collapses over a 100 feet cliff. This must have been one of the most spectacular falls in the world as depicted in the 1 birr bank note, as you see that now half the cliff is dry where the extra water fell before the diversion of much of the flow to the power plant. Despite this it is still amazing and probably the best water fall I have ever seen. If you walk down to near where the falls hit the surface below then a spray covers the ledge and a colony of small flies and insects thrive from the wet conditions. You get completely soaked rather quickly which can be pleasant as it gets hot and almost tropical at Lake Tana.

I visited Lake Tana and Lalibela this weekend as it was my last chance before leaving Ethiopia - and it was fantastic. I flew from Addis first to Bahir Dar which Haile Sellasse at one time hoped to make Ethiopia’s new capital. The town is well laid out and nestles at the bottom of Lake Tana. Tana is the third largest lake in Africa, is almost square and nearly 100 km large. It is also the source of the Blue Nile which eventually feeds Egypt and Sudan with life-bringing water. Although it is the dry season and it hasn’t rained for 4-5 months the lake is still quite full and the Nile flow is reasonably large. The Nile is a huge strategic resource and I have been told that Ethiopia is not allowed to expand its irrigation as old treaties state that 90% of the water must go to Egypt and Sudan. It seems a bit hard when most of the water originates in Ethiopia.

I arrived around 9 am and after booking into Hotel Tana left with the guide for a boat trip to the Island Monastery. Lake Tana is famous for its bird life and we saw hundreds of white pelicans, cormorants, herons, kingfishers as well as some unique Ethiopian birds. The guide was an expert and my memory for names is bad so I can’t recall them all. Early in the morning there were scores of small papyrus boats loaded with firewood being paddled from an area of forest back to the villages on the south shore. The round trip must have taken hours. Then we headed to the Island Monastery of Kibras St. Gabrael Unity, where no women are allowed to embark. The monks live a simple meditative and pious life.

The monastery was founded in the 13th Century and parts of the Church date back to that time. Some of the monks are in their eighties and nineties and one recently died at 105. There are currently around 60 monks on the island. They bathe in the lake and they drink lake water which looks very organic, bearing in mind we are warned it is unsafe to swim in Tana. There are some very ancient books, ancient crosses and crowns kept there. The books are in Ghija language, written on goatskin and beautifully illustrated, and some are 600 years old. Then I was shown the original chainmail of a famous monk from the 14th century who wore it as penitence and lived only on lake algae to an old age. This (and Lalibela) are surely places where you get a glimpse of the ancient spiritual heart of Ethiopia.

In the afternoon I went to the Nile Falls - see next post, and then watched the sunset from the hotel. The lake is very attractive and I am told there are snakes, alligators and in the Nile entrance also crocodiles, and hippos. The Nile crocodiles can be 4 metres long ! All I had to deal with was a tiny mosquito which kept me awake trying to find it in my room! Delilah had left insect repellent wipes and eventually I caked myself in these and pulled the sheets up to my neck and crashed out. I am told that malaria is only present in the rainy season - September - so fingers crossed !

Update: It is now 3 weeks later and I seem to feel OK still.

Today we went to the Meta Brewery in the morning, where there is an attractive park around a natural water source and its waterfall. The park is about 5o minutes away from Addis on the road to Jimma and passes through a series of villages and markets. On the way I spotted another Arsenal supporters taxi. Here everyone is mad on the British Premier League, and support the top clubs. All the big matches are broadcast on national television and the bars are full during each match. Last week in Ambo I also spotted this battered taxi proudly boasting Arsenal support.

Another attraction to the Metts Brewery is that after a short walk around the park and some photos next to the waterfall, you sit down in the warm shade to sample the draught beer. I really like this beer - it is cloudy and tastes slightly like Weiss Beer. Each glass costs a staggering 2 birr which works out at 70 cents a litre! Anna rationed me to just 3 glasses before returning to Addis and spending the afternoon in the sun dozing by the pool.

Delilah arrived on Wednesday evening for a 2 day visit to the African Union. She also visited the EU delegation for talks and met the new AU delegation head. All went very well and the future of this direct work with AU looks bright, but it can be very  tiring after a long flight to start immediately into meetings and the like. Luckily she had Saturday free to rest and see Addis properly before flying back overnight. We went up to Entoto first which is the hill overlooking Addis at about 3000 m. There are two old octagonal churches on the summit and a panoramic view north over the highland farming area. Entoto has a eucalyptus forest whose wood is used for firewood and building.  On the way up we passed 10 or more firewood women who carry huge loads of wood on their backs for about 2 miles down the hill. They get paid about 30 birr ( just over 2 euro )  for a large load, which must take them several hours of back breaking work. When asked where the men were Kaleab joked  they were most likely inside drinking coffee. These women lead a very tough life, but there is now an association selling crafts to look after them when they are too old to carry anymore.

Last Sunday we went to one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen - Lake Wonchi . This lies in the crater of a volcano about 30 kilometers above the town of Ambo. We were told that the volcano erupted about 1000 years ago leaving a symetric caldera of rock now covered in lush green vegetation.

The drive to Ambo is easy along a new road, however the drive up from Ambo to Wonchi is hard and you need a 4×4 or in our case a high wheelbase minibus. The drive up takes over an hour as you climb up the Western highlands to over 3500 meters. It really feels cold in the morning, as you descend a little to Wonchi. Your first view of the lake is stunning, but to get down to it means going by foot or by horse. The guide provided 3 horses and we set off. Now I am not at ease with horses anyway but going down a steep incline was difficult. I managed most of the way but eventually decided it was safer to walk. However, on the way back I managed all the way on the horse - perhaps it is easier going up.

As you descend more of the lake comes into view and you pass small houses growng fake banana and raising a few goats and cows. The area is obviously fertile and life must not be too bad in such beautiful surroundings. The end of the trip was a small landing place where we got a rowing boat over to the island at the centre of the caldera. Here is a small monastry and a few huts. The whole setting is very tranquil and stunning.  All we had to eat all day were two bananas but we weren’t that hungry anyway.

The air was crystal clear and quite a strong wind was whipping up the dust on the path back. Conseqeuntly we got completely dusty throughout, and descended back down to Ambo to stay the night at the Ethiopia Hotel. The Africa ucp was just starting on the TV and later Ghana won the first match. This caused wild celebration outside in the street till about 2 am and then at 5 am the chanting of the priests from the local church began, probably a continuation of Timkat.  Despite this we slept quite well as in my case my backside and legs were horse-worn. Wonchi lake has to be a must-see place if you visit Addis - it can just be done there and back in a day.

This weekend was “Timkat” which occurs 15 days after the Ethiopian Christmas. It is Epiphany and is a very important Christian Festival here. The Ethiopian church is very old  and many of the beliefs and rituals are completely unique with a long history dating back thousands of years. The ceremony begins with a procession from each church carrying the replica Ark of the Covenent and proceeds to an open space - for Addis this is a large green park, for other towns an open space. There the priests  spend the night till Sunday, and then baptise the faithful. On Sunday the festival continues and most churches return in the afternoon. However churches aligned with Saint Michael continue the ceremony for another day finishing on Monday.

Lake Langano is the third lake as you drive down the Rift Valley from Mojo. It is about 4 hours from Addis so we spent Saturday night at the Bekele Molo resort. The road passes Lake Ziway where we again got to see the pelicans and then passed through the Oromo region where brightly painted tombs front the road. This is a custom of the Oromo people. Arriving at the Lake Langano you immediately notice the colour of the water being deep brown - just like tea. However, the water is fine for swimming and the lake is free of parasites. The Bale mountains spread off in the distance on the other bank and the beach is a volcanic type of rough sand.

Spent a relaxing afternoon on the beach and went for a swim in the tea-coloured lake. Langano is very popular with locals probably from Addis and the bar and restaurant were lively, the highlight watching the Spurs match live on TV. The resort is swarming in exotic colourful birds. After each table was vacated at breakfast the birds arrived to finish off the left overs !

On the way back we stopped at Lake Hora just north of Debra Zewit. The lake is full of birdlife and a very pleasant stop. I must be getting used to the driving as I slept most of the way home !

I returned to Addis this Monday after a two week Christmas break in Italy. We actually arrived  on the Ethiopian Christmas Day, January 7th. During the break we went skiing in Gressoney which was great and a big change from Africa. Of course, before returning, we picked up some rotten European colds, so on arrival in Addis have been suffering for a couple of days. The weather here is exactly the same as when I left - continuous sun every day and it’s slowly getting hotter I think. Certainly in the evenings the temperature is not as cold as in December.

The last trip I made before Christmas was to the META brewery which is about 20 kilometres away down the Jimma road from Addis. The brewery is actually based on a natural water source in a beautiful park so it is a local attraction. The small stream falls down a 100 metre waterfall and the countryside is very attractive. The beer itself was like Weiss Beer and easy to drink on a hot day.