Janet, Janet & Gill choosing dessert for lunch at Top View Restaurant
Camel train in street, Axum
Today was largely a day of travel as we leave Ethiopia and head for Jordan tomorrow.
It was with a mood of sadness coloured by anticipation that we boarded the Q400 plane in Axum knowing that our remarkable holiday in Ethiopia was now in its final stages. The flight from the far north near the Eritrean border down to Addis was through clear skies and the scenery below was of barren, jagged peaks and deeply eroded river valleys not unlike a lunar landscape. At this time of the year practically all but the large rivers are dry yet surprisingly there was a large blue lake visible at one stage and its presence amongst this parched and orange coloured desert vista was an unexpected juxtaposition.
On driving through the streets of Addis Ababa after three weeks absence, we were surprised to experience a very different attitude to the city we’d first encountered in early February. Strangely, Addis now seemed much more part of the modern world with cars, buses and sealed, straight roads and concrete motorways through bustling crowded suburbs and shopping precincts where the masses of people were in the main dressed in western clothes. There were of course the anticipated beggars, running the gauntlet amongst the traffic mayhem, tapping on car and bus windows requesting money for food. Sadly there were still the crippled and diseased lying helplessly on the footpaths with hands extended pleading for any form of assistance. And yet Addis Ababa now seemed a world away from the distant villages of Turmi, Lalibela and numerous others we’d visited. For those places the simplicity of life involves a creeping pace in which survival is based upon a never-ending quest for water and food and where religion provides essential support.
The skyline in Addis Ababa is dominated by new buildings being erected in every direction and there’s even evidence of the construction of the long awaited underground rail system. This progress once again reveals the stark contrasts evident in Ethiopia as despite the building development, the sites are supported by flimsy timber or bamboo scaffolding and the concrete work with extruding reinforcing steel in many instances looks to be of sub-standard quality.
This is truly a ‘developing’ nation (rather than the pejorative term ‘third-world’) where the outside influence of nations such as China, Italy and the USA is going to be an essential factor for progress because education here is yet to produce the necessary skill level to support these infrastructural developments. Above all else, education for every child is the only hope for Ethiopia and yet this seems a world away in a country where child labour is not only used unashamedly but is expected such that young boys mostly are drawn out of school (if they ever commenced) at an early age to tend to farm animals and to fetch water and fuel for cooking.
Agriculturally the nation faces the dilemma of development sponsored by external financial influences such as companies keen to utilise cheap labour for cultivating cotton and cane sugar and who place a huge demand on the severely limited fresh water supply. At the other end of the agricultural spectrum, the burgeoning goat population is destroying the limited vegetation. The number of goats and cattle owned by farmers is a key indicator of wealth and plays a key role in determining dowries for marriage; hence the desire by everyone to increase the size of their herds. However the destructive nature of goats particularly, has left its mark on much of the fragile environment. It is hard to reconcile the fact that this country is to a large extent just one vast collection of tiny subsistence farms and when drought hits, as it did in recent years, tens of thousands die!
Our holiday in Ethiopia has been quite extraordinary and many of the events and sights we’ve encountered are not adequately described by words and photographs alone. The many different tribal villages we visited with their own particular dwellings, customs and languages gave us an insight to true self-sufficiency where life is balanced on a knife edge and serious illness inevitably means death. That said, we could learn a great deal from these people about family support as the communal spirit evident in these villages is totally encompassing.
A key factor that has made this trip so memorable has been our ever present guide, Binni. He has made travel possible in areas where language and cultural differences would surely made things unbelievably difficult for us.
Binni’s knowledge of Ethiopian history and his undeniable love for his country added to the pleasure we experienced during our travels. We are all deeply indebted to him for the effort he went to in so many ways to give us every opportunity to see as much as possible in the short three week period we had. During this time his close contact with the group forged a friendship that was of such strength that tears were shed when the inevitable ‘goodbyes’ were said at Addis in the mid-afternoon.
As we stepped onto the plane and headed for Dubai we all took a deep breath and tried to reconcile the fact that so much had happened in this three week period and that we had numerous memories that will last forever and to describe them all would take forever!
For those who were unsure what to expect about Ethiopia, the outcome was an unequivocal “unbelievably extraordinary”!!
Quotes:
Ethiopia is a land:
“of friendly people, proud of their country.”
“not ravaged by drought and starving masses.”
“where the roads are used by animals, people and sometimes cars.”
“where women are the ones carrying the heavy loads on their backs or heads.”
“wherever you go you’ll see people.”
“where religion is more important than anything else.”
“of living history.”
“the world’s best marathon runners.”
“where in the middle of nowhere you’ll suddenly be surrounded by children wanting to sell you souvenirs or asking for money, pens, plastic, candy,… .”
“offering the earliest evidence of the evolution of humans.”
“where water is so precious and often carried in four yellow 20L plastic containers per donkey.”
“of extreme contrasts and surprises.”
“of rough and dusty roads.”
“of fascinating tribal groups in the south and incredible history and monolithic churches in the north.”
“where major infrastructure developments (particularly roads and electricity) are beginning, compliments of the Chinese.”
“of ubiquitous green and often broken plastic sandals.”
“where history and mythology are intertwined.”
“of well worn little blue bajajs (tuk-tuks) weaving in and out between trucks and donkeys.”
The afternoon flight had us arriving in Dubai at just after 9.00 pm and here we had to say farewell to Gill who was not continuing on to Jordan but heading home to her family in Adelaide. The night in Dubai was spent in a nearby airport hotel.
We’re not sure what to expect in Jordan but we’re all looking forward to the next part of this amazing adventure.