Birds and Rastafarians
Trip Start
Nov 15, 2006
1
182
228
Trip End
Jul 15, 2008
Shashemene,
Ethiopia
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Awasa, Ethiopia
Awasa is the second largest city in Ethiopia and appears to be an industrial center. Paul Theroux stopped here on his way to Moyale. He took sometime to go bird watching which is an excellent thing to do here because there are plenty of them in a wide range of species. There are 800 species endemic to Ethiopia. There not all here but enough to make a stop worthwhile.
From Awasa we head back towards Addis with a stop in Shashemene to see the Rastafarians. Emperor Haile Selassie gave the group 300 acres to settle here. They still have 100 acres left after the Derg took the parts they were not using using. This stop is mainly for Arvid's benefit not only because he shares some of their theological beliefs but because Paul Theroux stopped here and talked to an American named Gladstone. They say Gladstone is an American so he is probably the same person. They say he is in town and they'll send someone to get him. But he never shows up. Anyway, it was . . . ah . . . interesting.
