Weather

I was told that Ethiopia would be colder than I expected. Even though they told me that, it’s colder than I expected! I packed a couple of pairs of shorts and three very light short-sleeved shirts, but I have put them away and don’t think I will be wearing them.

The mornings are cool and grey. Long pants and a couple of layers on top are required. After a couple of hours the sun comes out and it gets maybe into the very low 20s, so you only need one layer on top. It’s the season of the little rains, so afternoon or evening showers are common, and you need to carry a waterproof. Last night we got caught in a downpour and got completely soaked.

The woman who cleans our apartment also does our washing, so that makes life easy. I could have done with packing a couple more sweat-shirt type clothes, but I can get the stuff I have brought laundered easily and may look to get something locally.

Actually, the weather is really pleasant and suits me nicely. It’s not too hot, which I would have hated, and the rains make everything fresh and clean, and get rid of some of the dust and smog.

Eating and Drinking

Most days the pattern is we get up about 7 am. I have a glass of juice and bit of yoghourt.

At 7:30 the driver picks us up and we get to work about 7:50, and head straight to the café on the ground floor for a donut or pastry and a “mercato”, a small espresso with whipped milk which is delicious. Food is ridiculously cheap here, a mercato is less than 20 c.

At lunch time there is a free lunch of injera and a vegetarian curry.

For dinner we sometimes cook, as we have a basic kitchen and some staples, but more often we eat out.

Last night we went to an Italian place, and had a “fasting pizza”. The Ethiopians are keen on fasting, and are currently doing a 60 day fast for Easter. All that seems to mean is that they don’t eat meat. Ethiopia is a great place for vegetarians, as every restaurant offers a meat-free fasting menu. The pizza was nice but odd, basically a pizza crust with grilled vegetables on it. Had a bottle of water and a glass of decent red wine, then for dessert a chocolate cake with café au lait. The bill came to $7!

The restaurant was new and clean, the décor rather bland international with a tiled floor, wooden tables and chairs, nice table cloths. The menu was in Amharic and English. The wait staff were very pleasant and spoke basic English, but sometimes you had to point to menu items as they did not understand our speech.

The night before we took the residents to the Ethiopian restaurant in the Ghion hotel. This is a huge room built like a local Tikul, a circular building with a thatched roof. We ate all we could eat, and each had a couple of drinks. The bill for seven came to $50!

The streets are dirty and crowded, with assorted potholes, and in many place lined with people selling stuff and beggars, but there are lots of nice clean restaurants which are well up to international standards in everything except price.

First Impressions

I was not really expecting culture shock, which is probably always a mistake. I thought that, having been to Rwanda two years ago, Addis would not be much different from Kigali.

Found out there is a reason why Rwanda is called “The Switzerland of Africa” or “Africa Light”, and why people said that having visited Rwanda I had not got a valid impression of Africa.

Addis is a big, sprawl city. I had read 3 million, but others say 5 or 6, probably no-one really knows. Its chaotic. Lots of polluting trucks and ancient blue and white taxis create a lot of atmospheric pollution, as the city is surrounded by hills.

The street names have change, but no-one uses them. Directions are like “Behind the Hilton, in front of the palace and one down from the development bank”. Try putting that into Google maps!

Everything is just a bit more crowded, dirty and chaotic than it was in Rwanda, but there are some good spots. There are lots of very nice restaurants, ones which would survive and even thrive in any major city, with prices maybe half or a quarter of what you would pay in Toronto.

People are nice and friendly, everything is slow and relaxed, problems and mis-understandings are accepted as the normal way of things. The residents are young, keen and interested.

Arrival in Addis

Its going to be difficult to keep this blog up to date and keep in touch.

Its $5 for thirty minutes Internet Access here at the Addis Hilton.

Its 75c for a text message to Canada, $2.45 a minute to call Canada.

All is well. Arrived on time, changed some money, fairly efficient passport check (they took my photo!), a bit of a wait for luggage, then out of the controlled area with no baggage check at all. Got met just as I was heading to the washroom. Twenty minute ride to our apartment. Spacious but basic – only one working shower between the two apartments for four of us. Everyone was awake to greet me.

Got given a phone and told to call when I woke up. Unfortunately I can’t find the phone numbers of any of the people I am supposed to call programmed into the phone! Once I get on the Internet I can look that up. Meanwhile I remembered the way to a coffee shop, so after a shower and shave I headed there for a coffee and croissant. Checked in with the Canadian Embassy then got a cab downtown to the Hilton. Had a coke and am now going to check my email, then will try and find the rest of the gang.

Everyone is very relaxed and friendly, there was no question of me going in to work today. Addis is a bit bigger, more crowded, and more rough and ready than Kigali, it looks a lot more African. However, lots of people (like the cab driver) speak good English.

That will have to do for now. 

Khartoum

The time in Frankfurt passed quickly. Got a bottle of duty free whisky, checked my email, ordered a toasted ham and cheese sandwich and a coffee in German. Good news: they understood and spoke back to me in German. Bad news: Worst ham and cheese toastie ever!

Shortly after take-off the stewardess asked the guy sitting beside me if he wanted to move so we could both have an empty seat next to us. Oh joy! A window seat, with the adjacent aisle seat empty! Managed to doze on and off in various almost-comfortable positions.

The clouds cleared as we left the Mediterranean and started to fly over the Egyptian desert. Started to see circles of crop irrigation, then the Nile came into view. We were somewhere like Abu Simbel, where the Nile widens out into a huge lake. Amazing! I’m not really fond of flying, but I love seeing the earth from a plane.

About an hour age we began our descent into Khartoum. First mud houses and mud roads appear, then a big and apparently thriving city with apartment buildings, mosques, and some quite fancy architecture, with concrete moulded into sinuous curves. Lot of unusual looking planes around the airport, the one next to us is labelled “Marsland” which sounds a bit like science fiction. The sun is beginning to set and we have to stay on board for refuelling.

Two hours till Addis….

Frankfurt

Got 30 mins free WiFi at the airport.
There should be a special place in hell for whoever decided that flights from Toronto to Europe should almost always be overnight.
Is there a worse way to start a trip than to try to sleep sitting upright with little leg room?
Even if by some miracle you got to sleep straight after dinner and slept till they woke you up for breakfast, there is only a maximum of about five hours in which you could possibly sleep. And in reality, if you sleep for half that time you are doing well.
Craisins for breakfast? Is that some strange German cultural thing or what?

As good as flying gets

I am at the gate at Pearson Airport. Got my bags checked in and my boarding pass issued by Lufthansa within 15 minutes of being dropped off at Terminal 1. I'd call that typical Germanic efficiency, but my daughter would call me a  racist.

The bags weighed 21 and 22 kg, against a maximum allowance of 23 kg. My little electronic luggage scales predicted that exactly. They have paid for themselves many times over!

Another half hour saw me through security with no glitches and nothing confiscated.

Now I have found a fairly comfy seat, uncovered a flap on the floor, and connected to the free airport WiFi Network.

My flight is said to be on time, and I already have my boarding pass for the Frankfurt-Addis portion.

Its about as good as flying ever gets. So far, so good.

21 hours till I arrive in Addis....