Not too long ago it would take you four days on a mule past the end of the road to reach Lalibela. Now, it’s a 45 minute plane ride from Addis. By land, it still takes two days if you take a bus, and from the air you can see why.
Category Archives: Africa
Arrival: Addis
We landed after midnight. Our first welcome back to Africa was negotiating down an exorbitant taxi fee to our hotel, which as it turned out was not our hotel. But we didn’t find that our until morning. Travel delirious, we slept almost until noon on our first day in Addis.
Next Up: Ethiopia.
Mid-December we head off to Northern Ethiopia for three weeks, with a stop over in Istanbul! After our last vacation to Nicaragua, where we seriously honed in on our travel style, I’m incredibly excited for this adventure. I’ve wanted to visit Ethiopia for the past four years, and I can’t believe we have the opportunity to go. Two 4.5 hour flights and we’re in East Africa, that still seems impossible to me as a native USA west-coaster. We’ll be doing the classic northern loop and are beyond elated at the prospect of certain adventure, mishaps included. Continue reading
Meanwhile, Back in LA.
Nearly 30 hours after we began, we arrive home. No delays, no lost baggage, and only minimal customs fan fair. Arduous, certainly, but thankfully uneventful.
This time of return is always a hazy-euphoric event. The spell of travel has not yet lifted, as we observe what was once familiar with new eyes. Routes etched deeply feel fresh, the grind of the day to day is pleasantly far from our minds. Everything is again, beautiful and interesting as if you were seeing it for the first time, with the benefit of the knowledge that this is home. These simple pleasures, of hot showers and favorite foods, the comfort of our own bed and thorough command of our surroundings make this ephemeral time almost as blissful as travel itself. The spell of course, will be broken as daily tasks must be completed, bills paid, errands run, but for now we’ll bask in the surreal haze, recount our stories and think to the future and our next adventure. And of course, eat Mexican food.
Colliding With The Earth 