Updates, updates!

Well, it has been ages since I've been able to get back to my blog. Hopefully I can do some justice udpating it since I've arrived in Ethiopia.

I have spent most of my time so far in Addis Ababa, where I have been working through my USAID internship with Jhpiego, an affiliate of Johns Hopkins University that focuses mainly on maternal and child health at a health systems level. Its been incredibly interesting work, and I hope to fill you in on it soon.

But before I arrived in Addis, I traveled with some of my intern colleagues to Gondar, the Simien Mountains, and Bahirdar. Gondar is a city in the northern part of the Amhara region. It was built up by kings of Ethiopia in around the 1200-1300s, and their presence is still felt around the city. We visited the Royal Enclosure, which is one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites, as well as what used to be the royal bath, but is now used for the Epiphany celebration. Once a year, they fill this massive pool back up and everyone from the city who is celebrating jumps in for a swim. I hear it is a huge party! Here are some photos:

The Royal Enclosure

The old Royal Bath House. The house is half-way submerged when the pool is filled

Tree roots along the side of the pool.

We visited an old Ethiopian Orthodox church up on a hill. There were many people praying and wearing the traditional white cloth.

The priest of the church showed us their small museum.

In the museum, we got to see the skeletons of Queen Mentewab, her son and grandson. They date back to around the 12th-13th century I believe.

This is an old painting of St. George, who slayed the snake and was reported to have given strength to the Ethiopian army in wartime, especially when kicking the Italians out (twice)!

I got my broken shoes fixed and shined by this skilled young man.

As I mentioned, you can feel the presence of kings from most points in Gondar. Here is just your typically view from the street!

One of the best Macchiatos I've ever had! Be jealous! :)

Then we made it to the Simien Mountain range for some hiking. The range was the first UNESCO World Heritage Site to be named in Ethiopia. It is home to the Gelada Baboon, Walia Ibex, some cool birds, flowers, etc. The highest point in the mountains is over 3,500 meters (over 11,000 feet), and although we didn't make it to the highest point, it was still the highest altitude I've ever been. The views were spectacular, despite some fog and rain.

First day was really really foggy!

But amazing!

The second day we got luckier with the weather.

  

And saw some baboons!

 

And horses

And hiked to see this incredible waterfall!

Finally, we were supposed to make it back to Addis after the Simiens, then fly to Harar in the east. Harar is the 4th holiest Muslim cities in the world, and is supposed to be one of the most unique cities in Ethiopia. However, there was a volcanic eruption in Eritrea that disturbed air travel. So we went to the lakeside city of Bahirdar instead! A little bit of a bummer, but we definitely made the best of it. Bahirdar is known for its island monestaries that have been settled by Ethiopian Orthodox monks and the like for hundreds of years. It is situated on Lake Tana, which is the outlet of the Nile River. We got to see some hippos that live in the lake, and that was fantastic! Bahirdar is also known for its traditional dancers, and we were lucky enough to find a small traditional club featuring said dancers. It is hard to describe what I mean by 'traditional club' and 'traditional dancers' if you don't know what the tradition is. Unfortunately, I didn't take photos either. So if you're curious, you should check out one of the links below to see the dancing. The internet is not fast enough to support me watching these videos, so I'm just guessing, but I'm sure at least one of them will give you a good idea!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOq_DQYDPbU&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GA4_nvFlbhA&playnext=1&list=PL6715795ECDD8C854

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0c4MnsBg7o&feature=related

Fisherman on Lake Tana

Hippos at the Nile outlet!

Back online in Ethiopia!

Well well, this might be a glitch in the system, or maybe some internet policies have changed, but for some reason I can get back on my blog! I'm not going to ask too many questions about why that is, so I'll just write some updates instead...

The rest of my trip in Kenya was fantastic. I saw some more wildlife, visited Hassan's rural home near Mombasa, walked through the narrow streets of the island of Lamu, where the some of the first Swahili people lived, and swam in the Indian ocean. Check out photos below:

Arrival at Tsavo West National Park. Tsavo is the largest national park in Kenya and between east and west, covers over 10,000 square km!

This hippo was hanging out with his/her buddies a ways down the river and swam within 20-30 feet of us to check us out!

Me drinking from Mzima Springs, a natural underground spring that emerges at Tsavo. Very refreshing. I've never been able to drink directly from a natural spring before. Take that, Poland Springs!

   

This eagle was just hanging out with a big piece of meat near the dirt road we were driving on. It was at least 3 feet tall.

Saw this elephant as we were leaving the park. It was the cherry on top of a great day!

 

Arrival in Mombasa. Hassan said that I can't say I've been to Mombasa until I saw the Elephant Tusks. Here they are! I was officially in Mombasa!

 

Hallar Park is an area of reclaimed land from an old quarry. They keep animals here in natural settings, but besides the giant tortoises, and some monkeys, the animals were being raised in captivity. Was a departure from  the seemingly wild and free national parks, but was still a cool place to visit.

Me with one of the giant tortoises. We were having a moment...

Crocodilians!

After Hallar Park, we went to the beach, where we took a little boat trip to some nearby coral reefs.

One of the guys running the boat service dove into the water and caught a sea urchin!! Apparently they only hurt when you get pricked by one of those big spikes.

On the way to Hassan's rural home for lunch.

Tasty meal of (freshly slaughtered!) roasted chicken, tomato salad, and ugali (maize meal) prepared by Hassan's mother. It is the culture in that village to slaughter a chicken for a visitor. I felt like I got the royal treatment! So many thanks go to her and her family for having me!

 

 

 

 

Hassan's mother (left), sister (right, seated) and brother's wife (standing). The women were so beautiful and strong.

Their children were beautiful, too.

Spent a night in the island town of Lamu. There was distinctive Swahili, Arab and Portuguese influences from different periods. There were these beautiful doors everywhere...the Arab influence.

Major mosque on the island.

 

 

 

I saw very few Muslim women in Kenya who wore the full-coverage burqua before I got to Lamu. Reflective of the strong Muslim influence there.

There were no cars in Lamu (except for 1 or 2 government vehicles). Otherwise, there were only goats, donkeys and people in these narrow streets.

Men praying in a mosque.

You had to take a boat to get onto and off of the island. There were some great views of  the dhows, which are traditional Arab sailing vessels, and mangrove forests (in the background).