Round The World and other travels
A frequent flyer's collection of trip diaries
This is: African Contrasts 2015
Return to the Capital
An early rise was required in order to be ready for our airport transfer at 8am. Bruce decided to skip breakfast due to still feeling somewhat tender in the gastro-intestinal department. I seemed to feel the need to compensate by consuming enough for both of us, feasting on papaya juice, Ethiopian coffee, toast with a selection of butter, jam and peanut butter, and what turned out to be a plate of three nicely fried eggs. The latter had familiar and appetising bright yellow yolks, unlike the weirdly insipid-looking versions that we had become used to in both Kenya and Zanzibar.
We set off at 0810 with our previous day's guide also in the van, presumably for the purpose of picking up a new group at the airport. An absolutely amazing sight met our eyes throughout the process of leaving town: a trek of biblical proportions was underway in the opposite direction as a seemingly endless procession of people of all ages, donkeys, mules, goats, cattle, sheep and even chickens made their way on foot to the Saturday market in Lalibela, covering miles on difficult, steeply uphill terrain. It was truly incredible, yet sadly I have no pictures of the spectacle. The bumpiness of the ride and the need to get to the airport on time combined to make photography impossible.
Security
at Lalibela's tiny airport was surprisingly thorough and included
detailed manual searches. Our Dash-8 flight back to Addis Ababa,
travelling directly on this occasion, left more than half an hour
ahead of the scheduled time - exactly the reason given by our van
driver for wanting to press on as quickly as possible on our way to
the airport. On arrival at Addis, it was a bit of a faff trying to
reach the main terminal on foot, but we eventually managed it and
were in plenty of time to be the only passengers on the 1130 shuttle
to the Hilton. We were given another warm welcome at the front desk
and allocated the same room that we had occupied prior to the side
trip. Better still, this was ready for immediate occupation.
The hotel pool, unfortunately, was closed for maintenance and refurbishment, but we nevertheless decided to have an al fresco lunch at the pool café. With food out of the way, we noticed that all the outdoor loungers were located inside the area that was closed, and consequently decided to return to the room for some further relaxation. There was complete agreement between us that, following the considerable physical exertions of the previous day, this was going to be a day of rest. The planned sightseeing was now officially off the agenda. With revised objectives in place, we both then proceeded to fall fast asleep!
The Executive Lounge beckoned around 7pm and we joined in the Happy 'Hour' that was scheduled for 6-8pm. As a perfectly good spread had been put out, we decided simply to browse on this instead of eating dinner. Lunch, after all, had been a substantial affair and we had done very little all afternoon. We were able to witness a little moment of history by watching the live declaration of the result of the Irish referendum on equal marriage, which saw Ireland taking its place as the first country in the world to adopt this measure as the result of a popular vote. I felt a little glow of pride in Britain's closest neighbour.
Back in the room and in search of some appropriate
and celebratory light entertainment, we tried to find a TV channel
that was broadcasting the Eurovision Song Contest, but to no avail.
