Spring Break in Ethiopia

It was that rarest of spring vacations: no MTV cameras and no BBQs on the beach, as Ethiopia is landlocked. My friends Aidan and Dalia and I took ten days in Ethiopia; we flew from Cairo into Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia, and from there bussed to Bahir Dar, a regional capital next to Lake Tana, where the Blue Nile begins. We took a day trip to Awra Amba, an atheist weaving cooperative in rural north-central Ethiopia. Then we came back to Addis and flew back to Cairo. Politesse and poor lighting in music-rich bars meant that I wasn't able to come away with all the photos I wanted on this trip. But what's below is partly from Dalia's collection as well, so thanks, Dalia.

Westerners spending a few days in any part of the country would very quickly lose any expectations of a dry, arid place where drought might be common. We saw a rather green country with lots of lakes and rivers. According to Robert D. Kaplan's book on the Cold War in this region, Surrender or Starve, it took the Western media years to reverse initial incorrect reports that Ethiopians were dying by drought during the 1970s and 1980s. Kaplan writes that famines were actually created by the Derg (or "committee" which ruled the nation after Selassie), to harm targeted sections of the country's population to the point of forcibly displacing farmers at harvest time. In our travels, we saw some evidence of the civil war in the form of the occasional defunct tank, long abandoned, and never cleared from its position near a country road. Today, the Meles Zenawi government may again be trying to trigger a famine in the Ogaden region, according to CNN and other sources. The government continues to enjoy significant support from the United States, despite numerous human rights problems and various tensions in different regions of the country. A short article on recent fighting in Ogaden was printed in the Guardian.

Addis Ababa is the home of the African Union and was home to its predecessor, the Organization of African Unity, beginning in 1963. Today the city is possibly as large as 1.5 Million people, and as ever, is stable, hilly, rather pretty, and full of interesting restaurants, bars, markets and other sites. Addis is large but manageable for the layperson because it is walkable throughout and relatively quiet in the downtown areas. Travel books we read warned us of pickpockets and con men, but we fortunately encountered none of this, just very kind people (and the occasional "tourguide"). Many tourists come as Ethiopia is known as a birdwatching paradise with good national parks, and its wonderful food is very popular, as exemplified by this adjective-laden tourism article from the New York Times.

Despite the discouraging political situation in Ethiopia, we had a wonderful trip, learned a lot, ate very well, and met interesting people. The trip made a big impression on me and I hope to return some day.


Perhaps 80% of Ethiopians live in rural areas and small towns, which is strikingly rural in comparison to most African countries. Here's a glimpse of a small village we drove through not far from the Blue Nile Gorge.


I took this picture of the moon going down when the sun came up from our window at Addis Ababa's wonderful Itegue Taitu Hotel.



Dalia and I dressed to blend in with the law department building of Addis Ababa University (note the Lion of Judah).


A juice bar window made the difference between chiarascuro and just a mediocre picture of Aidan. The juice bar was on this rather typical street in Bahir Dar.



These pictures are from Awra Amba, an atheist farming and weaving cooperative in central Ethiopia between Bahir Dar and Woldiya. Note the bicycle wheel wool spinners.


While staying in Bahir Dar, we took a day to cross Lake Tana by boat and visit this church. The priest pictured here showed us illustrated scriptures on goat skin, written in Ge'ez, a language now only used by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.



The Blue Nile, 300 kilometers into its 2,750 kilometers to Cairo.