The real reason anyone comes to visit Djibouti is to either go whale shark spotting or to travel out into the desert to Lac Abbe and Lac Assal. Some only do the day trip to Lac Assal but we were…
Escape from Ethiopia
Exhausted after the party train and getting over a bit of a cold, I was woken by chanting from outside. This time it wasn’t religious in nature, but the streets were full of people marching along and chanting. I joined…
The Party Train
We had an early rise to catch the train to Dire Dawa. The new Chinese built train station is located in the middle of nowhere if you are a tourist, but in the middle of a big Chinese industrial estate…
Lalibela and the tunnel of doom
Lalibela is the tourism poster child of Ethiopia. Its the place all visitors to Ethiopia visit and is not optional if it is your first time in the country. A short flight from Axum we arrived in Lalibela, found our…
An Axum Christmas Adventure
This is my first Christmas away from home. Many who’ve done this before, were off in Europe having a white Christmas instead of a hot and smoke filled Christmas many of my relatives are having at home right now. Instead,…
Baboons with a View
It is fair to say being kept awake all night while listening to religious proselytizing by an Orthodox Ethiopian via a megaphone is not ideal preparation for a 2 day hike in the Simien mountains. Yet here I was at…
Historical Gondar
When you think of castles, you never would associate them with Africa. Yet here in Gondar, there are indeed some amazing castles. The drive from Bahir Dar to Gondar was made more pleasant with a private vehicle transfer as part…
High Speed Chase and Hippos
We walked out of Bahir Dar Airport, looking for a taxi to the city and our hotel. The only problem was I wasn’t sure if I’d arranged a hotel pickup or not. There was no van for our hotel so…
Nobel Food Prize
Yesterday we were turned away from visiting the National Museum of Ethiopia. Today we were one of the first to see the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize awarded to the Ethiopian PM, Dr Abiy Ahmed. It is very gold and very…
Coffee Ethiopica
I had no real clear plan of what to do in Addis Ababa. My first night was on a bed made of concrete, much like typical Chinese beds. Yes, Chinese businesses have firmly set up shop throughout the city and…