Addis View Hotel Addis Ababa

... be requested at Khartoum (Sudan).

Mission completed!

Next stopover: Karthoum in Sudan. Route: Addis Ababa, Gonder, Metema/Quallabat (Border Ethiopia to Sudan), Gedaref, Khartoum. Time: 1 Week

By today, the travel up north to Europe is not entirely clear or decided: The experiences of many travelers coming from north about Egypt has been ALL so bad, that ...

... le dernier netela, le dernier gabi. On cavale de Bolé à Piazza en passant par Shoromeda comme si cette soudaine dépense effrénée et ses achats compulsifs allaient nous permettre de capturer et de conserver ce qui nous a tant émus ici. Mais au fond on sent bien que tout cela n’est qu’une illusion et que quelque chose nous échappe. C’est ce qui donne à ces derniers jours ce sentiment désabusé, on part, c’est fini, bhaka ...

... roses, violets, bleus font penser à Essaouira, Ibiza, Zanzibar, toutes ses médinas arabes aux chemins enchevêtrés où il fait bon se perdre, où on jette un coup d'oeil dans chaque porche histoire de découvrir un patio arboré, où les surprises surgissent au coin de la rue.

Le cousin des amis qui nous accompagnent nous guide à travers la ville et chasse les badauds trop envahissants. Après la ballade, nous rendons visite à la famille de nos amis.

L ...

Me voilà à l'aéroport de Godé prête à rentrer à Addis, enfin ! Je sens déjà l'odeur du Nutella... Les derniers jours ont été particulièrement épuisants. Il faut dire que toute la grâce de notre projet à Chereti tient dans notre partenariat avec l'association locale de pastoralistes. Alors, le nomade somali, comme je vous l'ai déjà dit, est quasi aussi fier que le pachtoun afghan. Toi, tu es fille, blanche, infidèle et en plus tu viens lui raconter comment faire un suivi ...

... its growing pains I'm sure, but I think it will go well. I prepared a chilli this evening, everyone seemed to like it. One girl who we've all come to know as "the princess" complained that it was too spicy. She was the only one, and her request to make it more mild was accordingly shot down. The local crowd who gathered around our camp was extremely aggressive. In Ethiopia we've gotten into the habit of setting up a perimeter ...

... and daub construction, about the size of our living room, no electricity or gase or running water. It held a double bed made of dried mud with a stuffed mattress on top plus 4 single beds adjoining the walls. There was a small wooden bench and small table. The food preparation and cooking was done outside. The family had a mule which was used to go and fetch fresh water from the river a couple of kilometres away using ...

... himself as Sessey. When we walked out to the taxi park, it looked like we are already in the city. No need to take a taxi; There was a grocery store, a parking lot, a restaurant - and a terminal. In the middle of the city! Actually Bole is a suburb of Addis Ababa, but it was weird to see the road leading to the airport. I know that airports are built in a distance from populated areas in my homeland, but not here. We left the parking lot of ...

... Expressions like these make me incredibly nervous. Inflated American sense of self-importance aside, the American president's potential for real impact in the internal governance of African nations like Ethiopia is extremely limited.  Diplomatic pressure and economic sanctions can only go so far, as evidenced forcefully in the case of Zimbabwe, for example.  Moreover, the limited success that was achieved diplomatically in Zimbabwe ...

... Leading up to our arrival in-country, we heard U.S. officials talk about Ethiopia in the context of "historical friendship" and "a key ally", and we grasped vaguely some of the political reasons behind our assignment. As we were briefed on our PEPFAR-directed goals and objectives, we began to understand the programmatic and policy issues that would shape our service. And a recently published Internet news article supposedly revealing a lack of "skilled volunteers ...

... no pun intended) discussions a refund and a bucket of cold water were forthcoming.In homage to Mrs R's graceful open drainage dive in Ghana, Mr R has been up to a bit of the same.  Whilst running for a bus in Debre Zeit he overlooked a missing flagstone and took a tumble.  This resulted in a skinned big toe on his right foot.  What this means for the uber-trekkers Prickett and Lock's aspirations for further mountain walking it is not for ...