Sunday, 13 April 2003
My first night in a large bed was a good cure for my cold. Somewhere in my dreams I sensed Jørgen entering the room, saying: “Good morning! I’ll just open the shutters so you can wake up slowly while we’re making brunch for you”. What a great way to start a day.
The sound of strange birds signing blend with mule’s call and children’s shouting. I fell that the heat had risen from 16 degrees Celsius tonight to 25 degrees now. It felt like a nice warm Danish summer here in 2,400 meters altitude, but the fauna and flora is somewhat more vigorous here. It would be exciting to explore what world Jørgen revealed, when he opened the window this morning.
A great breakfast table was ready in the garden. Sophie and Jørgen had made waffles, fruit salad, homemade yogurt and splendid coffee. Around us in the trees we saw beautiful fly snappers; small birds with long white tails jumping from branch to branch like tiny monkeys. Above us eagles were circling with their high pitch caws. Not a rare sight in this country.
Later we packed our luggage and took off with Brenda, a friend of Sophie, for a hike in the surroundings of Addis Ababa. Brenda is NGO (Non Government Organization) and rises funding from Ethiopians abroad and other sponsors to developing projects in the country. Our plan was to meet two friends: Pierre-Paulo and Alberto, who works in their own Italian construction company. We found the two charming Italians together with two Swedish girls, Malin and Martina, outside the Hilton hotel. Martina works in the EU (European Union) informing about the AIDS disease and Malin is a friend on vacation.
We drove to the outskirts of Addis Ababa and upwards to 3,200 meters altitude. The drive upwards was quite interesting. At the roadside we saw poor peoples stalks and hovels. Everything seems poorer here and the road was crowded with cars, taxis, lots of people walking with mules and package. We could barely pass through in our 4-weeldrive Nissan, which had a hard time upwards in the thin air. We felt sorry for the people who had to walk the fully packed.
Half an hour later we reached the Eucalyptus forest at a peak where the asphalt ended. Very short after we stopped the car, some young men were approaching us armed with riffles. They were very polite and asked if they should guard our car. It turned out that this is a habit in town and hence the guards are trustworthy their service at 1-2 birr seems very reasonable.
The walk in the forest was exciting and needed after spending more than 10 hours in a plane. Between the slime Eucalyptus trees we found openings with a great view over the hilly countryside and over Addis Ababa. Brenda is a kind of outdoor type of girl and work actually as guide and she was very qualified. Jørgen told us that she previously enjoyed running with the US Marine once a week upwards the road from downtown Addis Ababa.
At a moment we were facing rain and decided to take a short cut crossing a small crest to reach the car faster. Brenda’s sense of locality was splendid, but our fitness felt worse than expected in this thin air. The rain and wind lowered the temperature considerable, but fortunately we got to the car without trouble, paid our guardsmen and drove downwards heading Addis again.
On our way down we passed two elder women carrying a vast bundle of dried leaves, to be sold downtown Addis as firewood. Brenda stopped the car and offered the two women a lift. Jørgen and Jesper quickly jumped out to help lifting the bundles off their back and on the car. To their surprise each of the bundles weighted some 60 kilos plus, which probably was more than the women themselves. Later when we reached Addis the women indicated where to get stop and while we were helping them with the bundles, people passing us gave us thumbs up and yelled “Bravo”. It really felt well helping just this little.
After a cup of nice Ethiopian coffee, a cookie and fresh made pineapple juice on “Le Notre”, a rather expensive café, we said goodbye to our company and went to Jørgen’s apartment in the neighborhood. Jørgen is living on the 9th floor in a bit untidy living block with three elevators that works almost properly. The apartment is approx. 40 square meters with private bath, hot water a small kitchen and a great view.
After a bit unpacking we decided to eat at the top floor Italian/Ethiopian restaurant “Kokeb” which turned out to be a very pleasant experience. As we arrived we were directed to a traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony where you sit around the fireplace, eat popcorn and enjoy the aromatic incense. Coffee is a serious and time-consuming business, but worth waiting for.
We didn’t wait this time, as we were quite hungry and on our way to our table we passed a group of local musicians who entertained the guests with native Ethiopian music and dance. Jørgen swanked with his limited Ethiopian vocabulary that barely enabled him to order some still water and a course from the menu. Some of his words must have been right as we actually received a very nice soup, salad and a pizza with a smile.
On our way out from the restaurant Jørgen got into a conversation with the musicians and gave them tips. That kicked off the show. Suddenly three beautiful girls stand right in front of us and the Ethiopian music played loudly while the girls, staring right into our eyes, started moving their bodies. They shake “it all” and drew us into the dance despite our lacking sense of rhythm. It was quite an erotic and hot dance that would have been impudent at home, but seemed very right at this place.
Later that evening thunder and lightning came over the city. Standing view a perfect view we started to photograph the flashes of lightning with our two cameras. After only ten minutes we succeeded in getting some very neat pictures. Digital imagery rocks!