Africa

Yes, yes – it’s most surely been a looong hiatus here from the TL mots.  A world-wide plague will tend to do that to ya, plus…  Honestly, after more than 10 years (and 500+ posts – good grief, at avg. 1k words per post – that’s a HALF MILLION WORDS!) I’m afraid I’ve rather lost my TL Muse.  I’ve definitely not run out of adventures to share however, and most every blessed day here in my beloved Cuenca, Ecuador continues to bring ever new unique surprises.

But still…

Though I seriously doubt I’ll ever return to regular pecking here, suffice that at this, the turn of yet another 365 (grateful) days of spinning ’round the sun – I just feel compelled to stumble back in here and at least bid all my many loyal TL readers a warm “Hola!”.

That and… while we’re at it – how ’bout I cobble together a recap of my last (almost exactly 2 full years ago!) Great Travel Adventure:  more than a month romping amid the wondrous lands of Spain, Rwanda, Uganda, and Ethiopia?

It’s impossible to go into all the details at this late date of course, but suffice…  LOTS of eclectic adventures, and memories that will remain vivid forever!

RINGING IN 2020 IN MADRID

 
I’d deliberately planned my itinerary to break up the looong haul from Ecuador to East Africa with a 3 night layover in Spain.  And as I wanted to be in Ethiopia for the Timket festival in mid-January – why not ring in the New Year in the Plaza del Sol in Madrid!

And a most festive (if a good bit chilly) New Year’s Eve it was!

(Little did we all know then, but – just a couple of months later – the entire globe would be shut down with a world-wide pandemic.  Indeed, I just barely made it back into Ecuador before they slammed the door shut!)
 

But meanwhile there was the Spanish food to sample – oh my!  Both in Madrid and en route home when I stopped in Valencia for a few days – ah the tapas, the fresh grilled anchovies, the raw oysters – swooon!  In Madrid my hostal was mere STEPS away from the famous Mercado de San Miguel – a menagerie of every imaginable taste treat.  A foodie HEAVEN!

And soon it was time to hop back on a silver cigar tube and head to…

RWANDA

 
Dear Rwanda, how I wish I’d planned more time with you.

Rather, on this trip Rwanda was only a means to an end – simply the quickest way to make my way into the southwest corner of Uganda via overland, to see those legendary gorillas (the gorilla permits in Uganda are $900 cheaper than in Rwanda).

But as it turned out, I LOVED what little I saw of Rwanda in beautiful Kigali.  A most lovely city with even lovelier people. Especially dear Azabe at my Kigali hostel.  I also took a wonderful Community tour, as well as paid my respects at the Kigali Genocide Memorial.

The Community tour offered a most interesting variety of local stops including a visit to a women’s sewing cooperative, a hair salon (where I had a dark Rwandan braid added to my stark white tresses), along with a visit to one of the famous “Milk Bars” – hugely popular in Rwanda – serving icy cold mugs of milk!  And that night Azebe kindly helped me nab a motorcycle driver to find an ATM machine.  I’d not been on one since I left Vietnam more than 5 years earlier – such fun zooming through the wide, hilly streets of Kigali!

Indeed – a brief but most memorable glimpse of Kigali.  But all too soon it was time to make the overland move into Uganda to cast my own two baby-blues on those legendary (never DREAMED I’d ever personally witness in my lifetime!)…

UGANDA (AND THOSE GORILLAS)

You can only imagine my excitement – setting off amid the Ugandan jungle in earnest pursuit of a peek at those rare and elusive “Gorillas in the Mist”.

And let me tell ya… clamoring up STEEEP mountain slopes covered in knee-high (and higher!) brambles and tree roots, wading across a gazillion jungle streams, and sliding down (on my backside!) muddy slopes (up… down, and UP yet again – for hours. on. end!) um…
 

In short, tracking down those magnificent creatures surely ain’t easy!

This, even given… that I was assigned to the (allegedly) “easy” route (with primarily my fellow dodderin’s) AND we had (skilled porters/guides with super-human patience) to help us over the roughest spots (often bodily LIFTING me over obstacles!)

lol – turns out… they don’t call it Uganda’s “Bwindi IMPENENTRABLE National Park” for nothing! 😀

Still… the rewards of finally huddling silently amid the jungle to gaze in sheer rapture at these amazing animals in the wild was oh so worth it.  And indeed – this dodderin’ 70+ yr. old grandmother of six – is mighty proud to say “I DID it!!!“

As if the gorillas weren’t spell-binding enough, I also enjoyed a most interesting hunt for the Three Horned Jackson’s chameleon, along with a visit to a traditional healer (including lunch which I helped prepare!) near my (highly recommended) Gorilla Closeup Lodge.

Then a quick overland return to Rwanda and fly to…

ETHIOPIA

Hard to know where to even BEGIN with my many Ethiopian adventures (both amazing and… calamitous!)  But for this avowed foodie, let’s start with…

The FOOD!

 
First and foremost:  the incredible C.O.F.F.E.E. !!!  Seriously, absolutely nothing like it anywhere else on the Planet!  The coffee beans roasted from scratch right at your table, and served with a sprig of “rue” (t’ena adam, in Ahmaric) that adds a hint of citrus to the sublime java.

And “Juice Bars” serving all manner of delicious “spris” – smoothies presented in vividly colored layers of mango, avocado, papaya, et al.  The ultimate Ethiopian comfort food!

And of course – let’s not even get started on the ubiquitous “injera” – spongy fermented flat bread with a hint of sour vinegar served with every blessed meal (primarily to substitute for utensils which are nowhere to be found in traditional Ethiopian cuisine).  I LOVED it!  But I must say – despite sopping-up the wide variety of delish Ethiopian sauces with it…  Let’s just say that after two full weeks of non-stop injera at every meal – I was pretty much DONE with injera, and was desperately dreaming of flaky croissants or a crusty slice of ciabatta! 😉

The Danakil

Lying 410 ft. below sea level, the Danakil Depression in the Afar region of northeast Ethiopia is among the hottest places on earth (w/ highs of 122° F!).  It’s chock-full of numerous sulfur springs, volcanoes, geysers, neon-colored acidic pools and vast salt plains.  For centuries, it’s been (and continues to be) a haven for camel caravans with locals laboriously mining the salt by hand.

All that said – surprisingly – it wasn’t initially on my list of gotta-sees in Ethiopia!

Fortunately… I added it to my itinerary at the last minute and – I’m sooo glad I did.  My overnight excursion there turned out to be one of the highlights of my entire trip to East Africa!

Needless to say, my accommodations amid such a remote and inhospitable corner of the Planet weren’t exactly 5-star.  And (on sudden impulse – I can only blame it on the heat!) I opted to get my bangs cut for 10 birr (~ 20¢) in a tiny village where we stopped for lunch.  The cut (um, more like a CHOP!) was more than a bit askew, but hey – it was all just another adventure in my travels!

Lilabela

Next stop:  those famous underground churches in Lilabela (the main draw for most tourists in Ethiopia).  No doubt truly remarkable (and I made sure I dressed appropriately), but…

I must say, for me (as with many other such tourist sites in the World), I actually equally/moreso? enjoyed wandering amid the dusty chaos of the weekly central market, along with an impromptu private cooking class (making my own fluffy “injera” bread!) later in my visit to Lilabela.

Timket

The Timket festival was the initial inspiration for my entire East Africa trip.  Timket is an Orthodox Christian celebration of the Ethiopian Epiphany, marking the baptism of Jesus Christ in the Jordan River.

Pilgrims (and tourists like me!) come from far and wide to witness the annual re-enactment of the baptism in January.  The festival is a 3 day affair and all over the country large crowds gather for the festivities, spectacular processions, song, dance and prayer.

I chose the town of Gandar to witness this amazing event (where I rendezvoused briefly with a pair of fellow solo travelnlasses (from the Netherlands and Munich).  At dawn on the first day of the festival, revered priests bless the waters of the ancient Emperor Fasilides Bath in Gandar – followed swiftly by a multitude of pilgrims that joyfully jump in the water to renew their baptismal vows.

We set out for the Fasilides Bath before dawn that day – thousands of us all garbed in reverent white.  A guide from our hotel kindly led us through the throngs of pilgrims, and up a tiered wooden bleacher so as to best get a good view of the ceremony.  We stood there quietly for hours with burning candles, and indeed – all was most serene and magical until dawn broke and…

The ACCIDENT!!!

SUDDENLY… the ground (a.k.a. the raised wooden bleacher beneath my feet) gave way, and in a split second…

ALL of us plunged down to the ground in one swift SWOOOOSH!

I was standing about mid-way up the bleachers, and as we fell, people above me landed on top of me – pinning me down!  I well remember… instantly using super-human strength (for a 70-something!) to push them off of me, and shakily pick my way through the debris and chaos to safety.

By nothing short of the grace of god – I survived with but a banged up left foot and shin.  But many others weren’t so lucky.  Sadly, the final toll was more than a hundred seriously injured, and at least 10 poor folks died that day. 🙁

Note:  the photo to the right above I took myself just moments before the collapse.  Eerily, it proved a bit of a premonition as…  Turns out apparently the reason for the bleacher’s collapse wasn’t so much because of poor construction or over-crowding.  But rather – as you can see, no doubt it was the many rambunctious young lads that were clamoring/climbing on the wooden supports beneath our feet that proved the catalyst for the collapse of the structure.  Indeed, tragically – it was those youngsters that had the worst of it – crushed by the debris and the hundreds of us falling on top of them.

Also, I didn’t take the 3 before/after photos below. These I found on the internet, to give you an idea of the height of the bleacher, and how completely it fell in a heap on the ground.
 

FAIR WARNING! The following video can be quite disturbing.  Indeed, it took me more than a year before I could watch this clip of the collapse of the bleacher I was standing on, without a serious anxiety attack.

All I can say is…

1. Clearly I am one exceedingly LUCKY woman, who is…
2. Oh so GRATEFUL for my many blessings (and near-misses) across my long life, and…
3. Trust that I shan’t choose to attend/stand on any tall bleachers (wooden, steel, or otherwise) at any festivals, World Cup soccer games, etc. in the future.  Nosiree – this is one lass who’s perfectly happy to keep her Traveln Toes… firmly on the ground!

The Omo Valley

I could probably make more than a half-dozen collages with the many stunning photos I took during my wander around the Omo Valley in southern Ethiopia.  Second only to the Timket festival – visiting the wide variety of indigenous tribes that continue to live today as they have for centuries, was among the most anticipated elements of my entire month-long Africa trip.  (and thank goodness I survived the Timket debacle to see it!)

And oh my – I surely wasn’t disappointed!

Though (as an avowed DIY solo traveler) I rarely indulge in more than a short day tour in my travels, (much like my week in the Mongolian Gobi) the Omo Valley in Ethiopia is vast and seriously challenging for solo travelers.  So early in my Ethiopia trip research, I once again dropped a shout-out in the Lonely Planet online Thorntree forums (which sadly have now been shut down), and hooked-up with a most compatible companion (Claudia from Munich) for an custom tour (just the two of us) with Simon, of Go Ethiopia Tours).

And the 4 day tour could. not. have. been. more. PERFECT!

We visited a half dozen different tribal communities as we meandered around the dusty Omo Valley (the Dorze and Konso tribes, the Mursi – with their distinctive clay lip plates, the Bana, Hamer, Karo and Ari). Each was extraordinary with their unique customs, dress and ornamentation.  Thanks to our ever alert guide, we were especially lucky to witness a most amazing “bull-jumping” ceremony, with TWINS!  And at the final Hamer tribe, as we sat around a fire in a sweltering hut sipping “coffee” (made from only the coffee bean husks!), one of the Hamar lasses kindly strung loops of bitty beads through my earlobes.  Permanently tied, I proudly wore those lovely earrings for more than a YEAR after!

VALENCIA

 
Ah Valencia – a.k.a. the wondrous city that I very nearly opted to never leave!  Once again, primarily a brief stop to break up the (otherwise) 17+ hour flight back to Ecuador.  And upon my arrival back in Madrid, I jumped on a speedy train to the city renowned as the birthplace of…

Why PAELLA of course! (I mean, you just KNEW it would have to be food-inspired, yes?) 😀

The authentic (i.e. none of this seafood nonsense) paella (but rather, with chicken, rabbit, and snails) turned out to be uber-delish of course, but over just a couple of days I managed to also enjoy an eclectic assortment of the delights that Valencia has to offer.

For starters, I took – not one but two “free” (i.e. tips only) short tours through my (highly recommend) hostel (The River Hostal):  First a general walking tour, and the next day a fabulous street-art tour.  The former walking tour proved especially fortuitous, as I met a half dozen fellow travelers (from all over the globe) and after the tour we ended up sharing a huge (otherwise pricey for a solo traveler) pan of authentic paella at one of Valencia’s finest beach restaurants.  Better still, that evening we all met up again for tapas for dinner.

I also found a Valencia geocache (natch!), and loved every minute of wandering amid Valencia’s warren of cobbled streets, along with shopping for nifty European clothes that are impossible to find in my beloved Cuenca.

THE. END.

(of this near 3,000 word East Africa TOME! 🙂
 
 

 
 
 
 

P.S. I just checked and… I can’t believe the last time I pecked a post here was in October… 2020!!!

Still… I must say – though it took me more than *3 days* to churn this one out (near 50 photos cobbled into collages, along with nearly 3k mots will tend ta do that to ya!)  Nonetheless, I’ve actually enjoyed the hours spent wading through my (near 1,000!) photos, reminiscing about all these many different past travel adventures.

With any luck, stay tuned later this year as I miiiight just pop in here again to share my next major adventure (the first since “The Great Unpleasantness” smacked the entire globe for a loop!):  a month’s wander back to Europe (starting in Barcelona + a return to Italy for a meander from Venice to Sicily!)
 

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