A few months back, Joe Whelan called me with the idea of
climbing the tallest mountain in Ethiopia. It was something he wanted to do
before our service here ended and suddenly, time was closing in. He was looking
for a group of around six volunteers to undertake this adventure with him. Without giving it too much logical
thought (i.e. am I really able to climb a mountain?), I agreed as long as it
worked into my schedule. He rounded up an amazing group of people (Zach Morris, Michael Quiroz, Daniel and Danielle Luttrull, Joe, and myself) and worked
out the logistics* for us all.
The scenery was beautiful and made you feel like you were back in time. I always laugh to myself when I get the opportunity to see places like this- looking at a wall covered with roots that are older than the country I come from is a pretty incredible feeling.
After the Bath, all six of us finally met up. Another great thing about Gonder is that it is home to one of the biggest breweries in Ethiopia and their main beer is named after the mountain we were about to climb- Ras Dashin. As a tribute, we may have enjoyed a few. We sat around talking and enjoying a beautiful afternoon. That time solidified what I already suspected, the trip was going to be a blast if for no other reason than the group of people going. Everyone was mellow, excited, and perhaps a bit nervous. Eventually, we went back to the hotel and pooled our money together because we still needed to pay for the trip. It was more 100's than I'll ever see in my life (irrelevant that they were birr 100's). There was a moment when we saw just how much money it was and jokingly toyed with the idea of skipping the trip and living like kings and queens for the next week in Gonder.
We came to our senses and told the tour guide to come over and pick up the payment. While this sounds simple, nothing ever is in Ethiopia. As we all sat around in one room, we realized we had never met the tour guide before. He came recommended, but we really knew nothing about him. And now, here we were with 30,000 birr all feeling sketchy. We devised a few ridiculous plans, including intimidation tactics, forgetting that our group would be best described as goofy and as far from intimidating as possible. Our tour guide was a nice guy who I would wholeheartedly recommend, but that moment in the hotel room was a little tense. I'm not sure I helped by asking how he was going to get all that money home, did he have a car? Yes. Did he have a gun? Laughter without an answer.
Afterwhat felt like a tense drug deal paying our tour guide, we all went to dinner and called it an early night...
There are just too many memorable moments for one blog; check back tomorrow for day 1 of the hike!
*We are only allowed to leave our site during semester
breaks, but all of our breaks were at different times. There was a small
overlap, but with my parents and Zach’s sister
visiting, it seemed as though there was no window for us to go. The trip went
from a "go" to a "no" to a "go" to "who knows?" Eventually, Joe maneuvered everything and work it
out, which was quite an impressive feat. Zach’s sister left Monday night and we
left Tuesday morning. We returned back the next Monday afternoon and I picked
up my parents late Monday night. We were cutting it pretty close (I was terrified of a flight delay that would leave me, and worse my parents, stranded) but it was the only time that worked. The trip wouldn’t have happened without Joe’s logistics work, which at
certain points, I hated him for.
We flew from Addis Ababa north to the historical town of
Gonder. We had the full day to explore and I had never been there before. Joe,
Zach, and I opted to visit the Fasiladas Bath. It belonged to Emperor Fasiladas
and it's one of the bigger historical draws in Ethiopia. During a religious
holiday called Timket, they fill the bath with holy water and thousands of
people celebrate by jumping in/getting baptized.
The holiday was only two days prior and we heard it was suppose to be
pretty amazing while filled with water.
The scenery was beautiful and made you feel like you were back in time. I always laugh to myself when I get the opportunity to see places like this- looking at a wall covered with roots that are older than the country I come from is a pretty incredible feeling.
While at the Bath, a theme that would follow through to the
end of the trip started: the bromance of Joe and Zach.
After the Bath, all six of us finally met up. Another great thing about Gonder is that it is home to one of the biggest breweries in Ethiopia and their main beer is named after the mountain we were about to climb- Ras Dashin. As a tribute, we may have enjoyed a few. We sat around talking and enjoying a beautiful afternoon. That time solidified what I already suspected, the trip was going to be a blast if for no other reason than the group of people going. Everyone was mellow, excited, and perhaps a bit nervous. Eventually, we went back to the hotel and pooled our money together because we still needed to pay for the trip. It was more 100's than I'll ever see in my life (irrelevant that they were birr 100's). There was a moment when we saw just how much money it was and jokingly toyed with the idea of skipping the trip and living like kings and queens for the next week in Gonder.
We came to our senses and told the tour guide to come over and pick up the payment. While this sounds simple, nothing ever is in Ethiopia. As we all sat around in one room, we realized we had never met the tour guide before. He came recommended, but we really knew nothing about him. And now, here we were with 30,000 birr all feeling sketchy. We devised a few ridiculous plans, including intimidation tactics, forgetting that our group would be best described as goofy and as far from intimidating as possible. Our tour guide was a nice guy who I would wholeheartedly recommend, but that moment in the hotel room was a little tense. I'm not sure I helped by asking how he was going to get all that money home, did he have a car? Yes. Did he have a gun? Laughter without an answer.
After
There are just too many memorable moments for one blog; check back tomorrow for day 1 of the hike!
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