Today was an up day. It didn't rain one drop. This is important because we don't have to fold the tent away wet. We got the last of our clothes washed. My orange fleece was filthy. We picked up our Sudanese visas at the embassy at 3pm. No questions asked, we walked out within 5 minutes! And we were all so worried about getting a 2 week transit v...

Fun with poorly translated, imported product labels in Addis Ababa: Shirt series: we always keep the intonation of appearance supremacy of quality and the self nobility are all the distinctions of a modern leader's confidence. Facial cleanser: Nurse Skin The temperate clean surface, while the clean pore in-depth dirt, oil, gives the fresh compre...

We found Dr. Dawit Abate early at his office on the campus of Addis Ababa University. After giving him some books and cultures of maitake and reishi, we set out for the biology lab. He told us he would have the maitake growing on agar media before we leave the country. He showed us some pictures of mushrooms he'd grown or collected in Ethiopia. ...

Hi from Addis Ababa! Well, it's been a really crazy couple of days - only two days ago I woke up in Cairo, had breakfast and said farewell to Giulia for a month. As you can imgaine, it was exctremely tough to leave Giulia, especially after two months living together. During that time we had really carved out a life for oursleves in Cairo, making...

I've arrived dog-tired in Addis after 30 hours in planes in airports.

Greetings from Ethiopia! The flight on Ethiopian airlines was very strange. It actually left the airport early and we arrived in Addis Ababa ahead of schedule. Coming into Addis Ababa, I could see tons of little lights on the ground like stars in the sky. It was very impressive. Getting a cab wasn't too bad. 80 birr and they dropped me off at th...

I've been stuck in Addis for about five days now. I've developed an intense torpor and vague depression. I've done this country a disservice. Lalibela and Addis Ababa, and that's it. I even turned down an opportunity for a place in an 4x4 for cheap, going to the Omo River Valley. The Omo Valley is home to some of the most colourful, and cultural...

These politicians are crazy. Can you believe that here in the seventh poorest country in te world, they have a man who ranks amongst the top two hundred richest people in the world? Not only is he that rich, but his status jumped from the top four hundredth to the top two hundredth in just one year. One year. Because he started assisting the gov...

I left Shashamane with many hugs and big ups. The thought of returning made it a happy farewell. I caught a ride to the capital with some of the Twelve Tribes elders, so the ride was smooth. I went to the post office in Addis Ababa to try and send a box of Ethiopian goodies to the U.S. They wanted almost $100 to send just under 6 kilos. I'll hav...

Upon arrival in DC, we realized that our bags had not made the trip with us. As reconciliation, the airline told us that there was a chance... not a confirmation... that ours bags might make it in time for our outbound flight to Addis Ababa. If not, they would find their way to us in a week or so. Just peachy. No bags, 1 change of underwear, and...