Adventures of Tom Sako and Damien Waterford

Ethiopia

Ethiopia 's image has been portrayed as a war torn drought ridden country in constant famine, but this is past history and now talked about as one of the undiscovered gems of Africa , full of culture and history going way back. It has an area about the size of New South Wales and a population of 70 million. Most of what we saw was cultivated. After spending a few days in the capital Addis Ababa taking in the Bob Marley tribute concert and visiting the Merkato, supposedly the largest market in Africa , we took a trip to Dire Dawa and Harar in the east near the Somalian border. This is on the ancient trade route to the Indian ocean where large camel caravans come from the Somali desert.

Checking out Dire Dawa by night, Tom and I came across a lot of people in the sports club. We went in for a look and found all the people playing bingo. They welcomed us in and sat us down with a card each. The numbers were called out in Amharic, the local language, but one guy translated it for us. There were five games with the last having the largest prize. I was sitting with one number to go when my translator tells me my number has come up and I'd won. After yelling out he realizes he read the number back to front, 46 instead of 64, much to the relief of all the others on the edge of their seats. Tom, myself and the rest of the crowd laughed our guts up at this. We caught a bus to the next day to Harar. About 50 years ago a guy tried taming hyenas by feeding them at night. His son took over and now you can go and watch and feed them yourself holding a four inch stick in your mouth with a piece of meat on the end. The hyenas live in caves out of town but come in at night.

Although the dogs object and bark at them throughout the night, they steer clear of people and don't harm them.We then spend a few day's in the lakes area in part of the great rift valley. The great rift valley was formed over 30 million years ago when tectonic plates under the continent collided and withdrew creating the earth's crust to drop about 1000 metres. It goes for 6500 kms from the Dead Sea in Israel through Ethiopia , Kenya , Tanzania , Uganda , Rwanda down into Mozambique . Its like the bite out the side of a continent. Because of its low lying lands it has created a series of lakes along the drop, drawing an abundance of wildlife and animals.

From the south we went north to Bahar Dar on the edge of Lake T ana where we took a boat out to see some monasteries on the islands. Mostly Christian people live in the north. The source of the Blue Nile is here and flows into the Blue Nile falls 30 kms away which is spectacular for its 400 metre width when at full flow. Traveling north to Gondar in the Simien mountains was well worth the trip. It is called the Camelot of

Africa with its range of castles and churches. Tom and I spent half a day with a guide going through the different castles and listening to the history which made it very interesting. In one of the castles the dining room was 50 metres long and just outside and the same length were the stables where guests left their horses while dining. Gondar was once the capital from 1632 to 1886.

La Libela was the next place to visit and one I was eager to see. Its known for its rock hewn churches, 11 in all and even though its isolated its probably Ethiopia 's top attraction. The churches have been carved into solid granite rock, so their roofs are at ground level, using only hammer and chisel. The first one we saw was 34 metres long, 24 wide and 11 metres deep. There is a five metre walk way around it and the insides have been carved out as well. The sheer workmanship is awe inspiring. It is said 4000 men were used. A guide book said they were all carved in one century. Locals say they were all created in 23 years and with the help of angles. They were constructed in the 12th century when La Libela was the capital and under the direction of king La Libela who got his divine instructions from a dream. Its definitely tribute to what mankind is capable of.Aksum is at the very north and was also once the capital of a great civilization, one of the top four of the known world along with Persia . It is here, Ethiopians believe, lies the ark of the covenant (the ten commandments given to Moses). Supposedly smuggled from Jerusalem by Menelik 1, the son of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.

We saw tombs, obelisks and the queen of Sheba 's pool which locals line up now and collect water in buckets. A couple of kilometres out of town lies the ruins of the queen of Sheba 's palace. All in all Ethiopia is a happy place with warm welcoming people. They see white people as a source of money and lots put their hand out as we walk by. They look healthy and smile easily.