One of the things we wanted to do before we come back to Canada was to do a bit of traveling to the southern areas. Sitota came from the south and we wanted to see what the area is like.
The heat is unbelievable. In Addis we benefit from the higher altitude keeping things cool. In the south you drop in elevation, hence, the intense heat hits you like a ton of bricks. The rift valley is known to have problems with malaria so we also had to take precautions for this as well.
As soon as we left the city we could smell a difference in the air. We really appreciated the absence of such thick pollution. Driving is the country side is somewhat of a game of chicken. People pass on hills, on turns and when there is most certainly not enough time to get back on your own side of the road so they end up driving others off the road in order to avoid a collision. We were very thankful for the referral of an excellent driver. His english was great and he was very responsible and attentive. He is also a believer!
I had images of what I pictured rural Ethiopia to look like and I wasn’t far off; huts and animals and many little children running around and waving at us as we drove by. Sometimes the children would run along the side of our van as long as they could. I was scared they would trip and fall under the vehicle.
I find it hard here not being able to turn on the tap and even brush my teeth with the water. It can get to me... Then I see these huts with grass roofs. They certainly have no running water let alone electricity. In many cases they have to travel for their water to streams where animals are standing in the water, likely defecating, people are bathing, laundry is being washed and amidst this, people are collecting drinking water. Life is hard here. Life is dangerous here. We were told to be careful with our malaria meds, apparently it’s like gold. The mosquito is the deadliest animal on our planet and in Sub Sahara Africa where malaria is prevalent, I am sure it’s a dark cloud for many.
The south is where most the fruit is grown in Ethiopia. Many people picture Ethiopia as barren with no green vegetation at all. There are areas like that here, for sure, but there are also beautiful areas, lush tropical areas rich with many types of fruit trees and streams. It was neat to be able to buy such fresh bananas and pineapple from the local people. We also picked up some sugar cane. The kids really enjoyed that although it is not the easiest thing to peel and eat.
The south is also rich with many types of animals. There were two types of monkeys we seen as well as warthogs, hippos, alligores (these are 3-6’ lizards), baboons, and camels. One night at our motel, I heard weird howling sounds outside. Our guide the next day said hyenas come down to the motel at night. He thought that was probably what I heard...
We stayed at a very cool spot the night before Gary’s birthday on Lake Langano. This lake is the only safe lake for swimming in Ethiopia. It took a bit to get over the brown color being safe. It reminded me of a mud puddle. The kids had fun though. It was nice for them to play and explore. We went on a bit of a hike in hopes of seeing some hippos . We met this guy. This is his house.
He was so nice to us. He told us the hippos were gone in search of food. He lives here and fishes in the dangerous water by the reeds. A hippo has eaten a man there before he told us. He walked us back for quite a while. It was sad to leave him. He seemed to enjoy the company so much and he did not expect or request anything from us, he only wanted to walk with us.
*** He caused me to think of Jesus- to think of how much he desires me to come to him and enjoy his company. It was very special for me...
There was a huge family of baboons there that were fairly good to keep to themselves except when one tried to steal Sitota’s booster seat. I had to resort to shrieking in order for it to back off. The “gogo”(cabin) was very cool and the beds were so comfortable. It was such a treat. I slept so well. Chloe wanted me to shut the window at night because the African sounds were too load for her to fall asleep! Gary and I insisted that the window stay open. We were totally mesmerized at all the new and fascinating sounds of the night. The next morning Gary went off for some time along to read on the shore and he was blessed to be able to see a hippo out in the water for his birthday! That was pretty cool!
We stopped for one night in Wondo Genet which means paradise paradise. It was so lush. There were natural hot springs that we enjoyed for the afternoon and many beautiful colorful birds there as well. We hiked up the mountain to see the source of the spring. It was so hot! 85 degrees! Locals use this water to boil potatoes in 17 minutes and corn in 22. It was actually bubbling!
We took a tour of the fish market in Awassa. That was so interesting! Especially for Gary and I coming from fishing communities in PEI. I could have stayed here for hours... watching and listening to all the activity not to mention the cool HUGE birds! We tried some of the fried fish. It was very good! I am so glad I was brave enough to taste it!
Overall we are so thankful for the trip. Awassa was a beautiful city and a great reprieve for us. Langano was such an adventure and a great way to celebrate Gary’s birthday and Wondo Genet was a tropical experience in Ethiopia.
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