Last Sunday, we were not able to visit Addie at the transition home, so instead we planned a trip to the Blue Nile Gorge. It is about 2 hours north of Addis on a road that is smooth, but full of curves. I had forgotten that while driving on a highway in Ethiopia, it is really best to never look out the front window. I remembered very quickly as we were passing a vehicle on a curve and a big truck was right in front of us in the left lane. Good times. The scenery along the way is absolutely breathtaking. As we were driving out of Addis, we were treated to amazing views overlooking the city. We passed a couple of banana trucks and many donkeys hauling eucalyptus. Before long the views of the countryside came into view and we just stared at the beauty of it all. Trying to take pictures while driving at a high rate of speed doesn't yield the greatest quality, but you get the idea...
Sunrise in Addis Ababa - the view from our balcony
That is a lot of bananas!
View overlooking Addis
The scenery changed very quickly once we were outside the city
It was nice to see wide open spaces
Beautiful!
We stopped at a spot that overlooks the gorge. It became obvious that many tourists must stop at this spot as we were quickly surrounded by children selling baskets. We bought four of them, but it was an overwhelming experience as there were probably 12 children literally shoving their baskets in our faces hoping we would buy from them. Fortunately, a bus full of tourists arrived soon after we did, so their attention was diverted.
We saw a lot of baboons. In the middle of this picture is a mama and her baby sitting on the Portuguese Bridge.
The daddy baboon
The tiny specks in the middle of this picture are John and his guide. Somehow we each got our own guide when we arrived at the Portuguese Bridge. Read: double the tip and pressure to buy marble crosses.
Looking down into the gorge
John was busy capturing things on video, so he trailed behind me on our hike to this "scenic overlook." He was amazed that I had climbed up onto this rock that looked over the canyon since I am rather scared of heights. Getting off the rock was not pretty as I refused to stand, but instead crawled to the path below.
This building is a replica of many of the homes in this area.
On the way back to the city, we passed two vans that were loaded with goats. We couldn't figure out if they were alive because one of them kept popping its head up. As it turns out, I'm pretty sure the wind was causing that. Creepy.
We stopped in the town of Sululta, which is about 30 minutes from Addis. Here is John with the owner of a resort in Sululta who looks a whole lot like John's dad, as well as Solomon, our driver. Solomon was awesome and he is also from Nekemte.
The main room of the resort was incredible. Notice the tiny beverages on the table. I don't drink alcohol at all, but our host really wanted us to try this drink. I have no idea what it is called and I didn't want to be rude, so I took a sip and my mouth was on FIRE! He told me that it was good for the stomach and that if I drank it, I would be laughing all afternoon. Then he decided he should bring out something a little more mild for me, so he gave me a glass of "fresh" Ethiopian honey wine. I took another tiny sip of that and I can officially promise that my drinking days are over.
We had a wonderful day that was topped off with a stop at Tamoca Coffee where we loaded up on coffee beans for friends at home. The Blue Nile Gorge was amazing, as was the drive through the countryside. I am so glad we had the opportunity to visit.
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