Awassa and surrounds

We were in Awassa from Sept. 8th-10th, driving in on the 8th and out on the 10th. One of the first things you notice in Awassa, compared to Addis, is a slightly more rural feel with goats, sheep and donkeys frequently seen along the road. There are also a lot of blue motor scooters on the road. These are the taxis. Blue, as it turns out, is the color for a taxi anywhere in Ethiopia. If a person wants to get into the taxi business, they paint their car, bus or motor scooter blue (it often looks like it was done with a thick bristled brush), get a license [I assume] and off they go. On the corners of a street you may see a gathering of people with sheep and goats. This is a market. I included a photo of one where Alemu and Getahun bought a couple of sheep for our trip back to Addis (more on this in another blog).

Shortly after arriving in Awassa, Getahun and I went for a boat ride on Lake Awassa. On the lake were some local fishermen gathering their nets at the end of the day from their reed boat. We also saw Fish Eagles (which look nearly identical to the Bald Eagle) dotted along the shore line. As a side note, it was interesting to see the bird life on the lake which often resembled, with a few differences, many North American species I'd seen. It wasn't like the birds were just strangely bizarre compared to what I'd seen in the US, but rather just variations on the usual water fowl I'd often seen before. It made me feel I wasn't so far from home after all. This may explain my feeling when I saw the Hippos bobbing their heads up and down as they ate the grass from the bottom of the lake. In my mind I felt like asking, "I wonder who lost their Hippos?" I am just so used to seeing them in an enclosure that seeing them in their natural environment was pretty cool and odd at the same time.

When we got back onto shore Alemu had found a young local boy who played the masenko. He played a few tunes for us as a small crowd quickly gathered which egged the boy on even more. Pretty soon everyone was laughing and clapping. It was a lot of fun.

The next day (on the 9th) I met with a biological family member of Fikir's at the orphanage in Awassa. She was a very nice lady who was very patient with my questioning and gave us a lot of valuable information I believe Elena Fikir will appreciate when she is older and increasingly curious about her history. I provided Fikir's biological family member with the photo book Charlotte had prepared and walked her through the photos explaining our commitment to our children and their future. She was quite impressed and appeared to be holding back the emotion. It was a very good meeting.

Later that day we took a trip south of Awassa to see a coffee plantation (the main cash crop/export for Ethiopia. As a side note: Ethiopia is where coffee was discovered and it is named after a western Ethiopian province named Kaffa). As we drove and drove and drove through more and more remote villages down dirt roads so embedded with rocks I thought my brains would rattle loose I asked Alemu how far this place was. He laughed and said, "We are going to sell you. You have no where to go." I gave a nervous laugh back and thought, "A person really could disappear in a place like this." First off, Alemu has a sometimes dark sense of humor which I quickly caught onto when the 11 year old boy was giving us a tour of the plateau near Lake Langano. He kept joking the boy was taking us to an ambush to capture and sell us. Alemu enjoys pulling my leg and seeing how far he can get me to believe him. We did eventually arrive at the coffee plantation which also doubles as a remote resort (when you REALLY want to get away). Just to be sure we found the right place Alemu and Getahun stopped in one of the villages and asked a young boy to come with us for directions. I had no idea what was happening at the time since they were all speaking Amharic, but found it odd that this young 12 y/o lad would just jump in the car and spend the majority of the day with us. His name is Mesfin, and you can see him in one of the photos looking up and wearing a orange shirt. I was quite surprised at how trusting people in this country are.

Other photos are from the jungle area where the resort/coffee plantation is located. On the plantation the tour guide walked us around the grounds. During the walk a hyena strolled through the brush about 30 feet from where I was walking. It was a little disconcerting, but the guide reassured us that they aren't dangerous during the day-- just at night. This is why they have a guard at the wall of the compound with dogs all night every night. Alemu took advantage of this, so while we were standing outside a cave-- where the guide told us a member of the royal/Selassie family hid during the occupation by the Italians under Mussolini but now houses Hyenas-- Alemu tapped me on the back of the leg with his walking stick. I just about jumped out of my shorts. Everyone laughed so hard I thought they would hurt themselves. Above you can see our guide crouching in front of a cave showing where a guard for the royal family was located.

On the trip back from the Coffee plantation we passed all the same towns again over the teeth rattling road. There again were the grass huts, but now many were filled and covered with smoke. It was dinner time and these huts don't have chimneys. I commented on the interesting site and Alemu said, "Let's see if someone will let us in ", so he says a few words to Getahun and we pull over. Alemu speaks to some people outside of their huts and then beckons to me. I was surprised that people were so open and willing to invite a complete stranger into their home. I walked into the hut where they were cooking. I could barely see anything. I only lasted about a half a minute before my eyes were watering so bad I could hardly see. As I came out wiping my eyes I again provided great amusement to Alemu and our hosts.

Also on the road back we saw more markets as well as carts, trucks and people carrying False Banana leaves (which are used to wrap most anything in that region-- i.e., the universal handy wrap). Every so often someone would approach the car, when we had to slow down due to traffic or livestock, with some leafy stuff wrapped in False Banana leaves. I asked Alemu what they were selling. It is called Khat (sounds like chat), which is chewed and apparently is an addicting mind altering drug. It is also believed to have originated in Ethiopia and like drugs in the US, has had a negative impact on the families of those who become dependent upon it. I thought, "With all the other problems Ethiopia faces, they have a drug problem too?!" I have no idea how big of a problem it actually is in Ethiopia, but I must admit that was the only area I saw it sold during my trip.