Monday 17 March 2014

Hello Ethiopia

James had a chance to visit Ethiopia recently and had an amazing time. The country is beautiful and there's great history to see, from churches carved into hillsides to religious festivals. Famine? An unfortunate political maneuver from the 1980s.

Now you can see field after field filled with all sorts of grains - many more varieties than the Western world is accustomed to eating.  Ethiopia is the second largest country by population in Africa at nearly 90 million.

Plenty of ancient structures to visit. The baths of Fasilides.


In the capital, Addis Ababa, you can see Lucy, the famous skeleton. She's estimated to be 3.2 million years old. A present day Ethiopian, hauling eucalyptus branches.

There's a big festival for Epiphany every year called Timket, a chance for priests to wear their fanciest robes.


The crowd coming out for Timket. Another ancient structure, a stele at Axum.

Ethiopians are beautiful. Girl lounging at her parents' stall at a market.


Mud and sticks for rural structures, even little stores. Plenty of natural beauty, including this waterfall near Bahirdar.

How to harvest grain? Threshing.


Boy outside a temple. The Ark of the Covenant is said to be housed in this church building in Axum.

Girl at her cooking oil stall.


Traditional structures, weaved wood and layers of mud. A non-traditional structure, the amazing Bete Giorgis, a church carved into a rocky hillside.
Time to do the laundry.

Stay tuned for more posts about Ethiopia....

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