Clive Best

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.