We hooked up with a group of men made up of three Spaniards, one Italian and an American for the 5 hour joint loosening bus ride for two days of high altitude hiking on the escarpment of the Simien National Park, compared (by Ethiopian Tourism) to the Grand Canyon (to be fair, it is a bona fide UNESCO World Heritage Site). After several hours of hiking, we spent New Year’s Eve shivering at the -5C temperatures at a camp site 3900 metres above sea level singing various typical festive songs. We couldn’t wait until midnight so we picked a country with a midnight more proximate to 8 pm (Burma), made a toast and retired to our tents. The next morning Les and I discovered that midnight at home coincided with 8 am the next day – so we had really had our New Year’s toast for breakfast.
After what seemed like an eternity of peaks and valleys along what Lance (the American in the group) appropriately called the “death march”, we reached the van for the ride back, but not before stopping roadside to interact with some 50-60 endemic Gelada Baboons.
Ethiopia is quite unique within Africa, fiercely proud of the fact that they are the one nation on the continent that has never been colonized. They also have their own calendar, language and even clock system (they start their day at 6 am – which they treat as midnight – so everything is off by six hours). Luckily we caught our flight as scheduled as the airlines stick with conventional time.
Lalibela offers the most insights into the devoutly religious and spiritual behaviors, especially in the week leading up to Orthodox Christmas. Pilgrims find any way possible to reach the town in time, many villagers walking for weeks, barefoot and with only a few belongings and trading goods. The attraction is a set of 11 remarkable “rock-hewn” churches from the twelfth century, carved both inside and out of the natural landscape. While spectacular in and of themselves for the unique architecture, these structures are not simply vestiges from the past for posterity, but rather, living temples brimming with the religious faithful seeking and finding spiritual contentment.
For many of the pilgrims this may also have been the first time they have encountered “Westerners” and we may have been part of their enlightenment. Both the adults and children were innocently fascinated with modern digital photography (and not in the way experienced in some other third-world countries – knowingly demanding money for permission to photograph them). When shown their own images on camera view screens, they reacted in genuine disbelief as if they had never seen their own likeness (did they not even ever use a mirror?).
That night we met up with some of the Simien group and said our good-byes over some Tej (honey wine) and local dancing.
From Lalibela we grabbed a quick 45 minute flight to Axum (on one of the Ethiopian airlines fleet of Bombardier Q400 no less – nice to see some Canuck inroads into Africa). Axum is famous for the mysterious Stellae – large granite monoliths standing 20 metres high and weighing as much as 500 tons, strewn about the area. Conjecture as to their origin includes prayer stones or tomb covers.
Legend also has it that the original Ark of the Covenant is housed in the local Cathedral of St. Mary of Zion (conveniently located across the street from the largest Stellae field), but the proof is elusive given that access is conveniently forbidden. The story of its arrival in Ethiopia is local lore and a bit of a seamy one. King Solomon became smitten with the Queen of Sheba while she was on a visit to Jerusalem. They had an illicit affair producing a son named Menelik (the first of the Ethiopian royal lineage - Emperor Haile Selassie claimed to be the 225th monarch in the dynasty). After coming of age, Menelik returned to visit his estranged father and allegedly secretly absconded with the precious cargo.
Our new covenant rests with some savannah safari animals waiting for us in Kenya.
For more Ethiopia photos - check out flickr at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thegoobers_pics/sets/72157625820988313/