V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N (Tom)

In addition to wanting Daniel and Tamenech to meet their birth families, we also hoped this trip would provide an opportunity for them to learn the culture, history, and beauty of Ethiopia. Yonas did an amazing job of putting together an itinerary that allowed us to be tourists to be able to appreciate everything Ethiopia has to offer.

There's still some civil conflict going on in some parts of the country, so visits to places that many have heard of such as Lalibela and Axum are difficult. They're in northern Ethiopia, and since we spent our time either in Addis Ababa or southern Ethiopia, it would have been logistically difficult. One of these days, though...

Parks

Abiy Ahmed has been prime minister of Ethiopia since 2018. Since coming to power, he has spent significant resources too improve Addis Ababa, including developing several urban parks and improving another park on the city's outskirts.

Friendship Park

Built as a gift to Ethiopia from the Chinese, Friendship Park is on land once dominated by rows and rows of slum homes. The government built apartment buildings for the residents on the outskirts of the city and cleared out the substandard housing. Friendship Park is a beautiful oasis in the middle of a busy city with manicured lawns, flower beds, a lake with fountain, cafes, and a walking path around its perimeter.

Daniel with his birth mother and aunt. The sign behind them says "Ethiopia" in Amharic.

 

Aside: Speaking of the Chinese, they also funded the construction of the African Union complex in Addis. Recently, it was discovered that the government had installed several secret recording devices throughout the complex in order to spy on activities taking place in that building...

Unity Park

The Prime Minister has converted part of the grounds of the Prime Minister's complex into Unity Park. The sprawling complex features sculptures and designs by famous Ethiopian artists, a zoo, and an aquarium. The park also includes the country's archives that houses historical documents, the banquet hall (still in use for state dinners), the throne palace, and lots of historical artifacts. There is a museum that gives a historical overview of the rulers and governments of Ethiopia (a long, long, rich history such that there are several references to the country in the Bible). Part of the history includes the dark and brutal days when Ethiopia was ruled by the Derg, associated with the Communist Party. During this time, the basement of the building housing the throne room was converted into a prison for political dissidents, where many were tortured and killed. We spent over three hours here and could easily have been here longer.

Small cafe designed to look like a turtle.

Portraits of modern-Ethiopian leaders

Presidential Place built in the 1800s

Daniel arm-wrestling his uncle. It was a nail-biter, but Daniel won.

Tamenech and Lori got to make injera

The Throne Room

Exterior view of the building containing the Throne Room

One of the trip's highlights was eating breakfast on the hotel's terrace.

Wildlife

One of the fun things we got to do was get up close (but not too close) with wildlife. This first photo was taken at Abijata Shalla Lakes National Park. All of the wildlife we saw here were out in the wild, some more sensitive to humans than others. There were dozens of ostriches, wart hogs, and gazelles. The gazelles and wart hogs were too fast for the camera. This park also has over 400 species of birds, half of them migratory.  

These hyenas were on the other side of the fence. They may look cute, but they're pretty mean. We could hear them howing at night. 

The velvet monkeys were everywhere, jumping from tree to tree, trying to steal our food, chasing each other through the jungle.

We weren't thrilled about all of the wildlife we saw. Not sure what kind of spider this is, but we didn't go anywhere near it.

One of the trip's highlights was going to see the hippos. We only saw them in the water, but it was still pretty cool. I have a short video of two of them coming up out of the water. Warning....if you get motion sickness, you might not want to watch it.

Wild, but tame monkeys that were only too happy to jump on our backs to eat food from our hands.

And finally, not out in the wild, but it's always fun to see camels roaming alongside the road.

Aregash Lodge

We stayed in these huts for a few nights. There was not much to them, with no real "walls" except for what you see here. This meant that we could hear the outdoors very clearly. The hut that the kids were supposed to sleep in had been overtaken by spiders, so we only used that hut for showers.

The inside of the huts. As  you can see, they're very nice.

We ate breakfast on the terrace to the left. Lots of monkeys watched us from the trees.

Scenery

The scenery is breathtaking. We stayed at a hotel on Lake Hawassa, where a lot of fishing occurs.

Tuk Tuks (or also called Budgets)

These small cabs are everywhere. Daniel's uncles drive them, so we got to take a ride.

Mt. Entoto

Mt. Entoto is a mountain on the outskirts of Addis Ababa with stunning views of the city. We had been on past trips to visit a museum and a palace of one of the former emperors. Recently, a park was added with a long, hilly walk, and multiple attractions along the way.

A hazy day, but normally the view of Addis Ababa is stunning.

The start of our hilly six-mile walk.

Zip lining!

National Museum of Ethiopia

On our last day in Ethiopia, we visited the National Museum of Ethiopia, famous for holding the bones of the first walking human (Lucy). In addition, the museum holds many relics from Ethiopia's past, dating back thousands of years, as well as some amazing art from many different centuries, including some modern art.

Yonas's (our guide for the week) wife has a \salon, so Tamenech and Lori got their nails done on the last day.

Traditional Ethiopian Dinner

On our last night, we went to a restaurant that included traditional Ethiopian dancing and music. All of us got to dance and make fools of ourselves!

There are not enough adjectives to describe the amazing time we had in Ethiopia. These are memories that will last a life time and will forever be etched in my mind. I am so appreciative of all the work Yonas did to make this such a great experience, Lori for all of the organizing she did of donations and other arrangements, and Daniel and Tamenech for their flexibility with changing schedules and for giving us the opportunity to share their country with them.