A Not So Fun Game Of Musical Chairs
Our bus left Mekele at 2:30am and wouldn’t arrive in Addis Ababa until late afternoon. As always, we were the only foreigners. Upon boarding, we looked for our assigned seats, finding them already taken by two men. We tried to explain that they were in the wrong seats, but they wouldn’t move. We explained the situation to a bus company employee, but he couldn’t (or wouldn’t) get them to move either. There were only a few empty seats left and we’d have to sit separately. Thankfully, the woman sitting next to me offered her seat so we could sit together. I slid into her seat so Marieke could take the aisle.
The person who’d booked the aisle seat soon arrived and complained to the bus employee who in turn told Marieke to sit somewhere else. We told him we’d only move to the seats we were assigned, but he still refused to make the guys in our seats get up. We stood (sat) our ground and finally, he made the other passenger find another seat. You wanna play dirty? Game on.
After getting a few hours of semi-sleep, we decided to pass the time by watching a movie. We set up Marieke’s laptop and put on Into the Wild, one of the all-time best movies about travel. The guy sitting across the aisle from us decided it was a good time to open a large water bottle full of homemade beer. Obviously, it had been fermenting in the bottle because when he did, the beer EXPLODED out, dousing himself, us and Marieke’s laptop. Luckily we had packed baby wipes and tissues to clean the laptop and ourselves up a bit, but our clothes were soaked and stank of beer for the final hours of the ride. Marieke found bits of herbs from the beer in her ear later that evening.
We finally arrived in Addis and walked 25 minutes to our guesthouse. There was a TV in the lobby playing CNN in English. The big stories at the time were the downing of a plane carrying 63 Canadians in Iran, the wildfires engulfing Australia and Harry and Meghan’s planned move to Canada. It seemed that the world in 2020 was getting out of sorts. Little did we know…
After checking in and getting out of our beer-stained clothes, we decided we needed to do some laundry. We were leaving the morning after next so we didn’t have much time. Our guesthouse wasn’t offering laundry service, but luckily, there was a laundromat just around the corner.
None of the staff there spoke English, but they got an engineer working on the neighbouring building to come and translate. They had a 3 day turn around on laundry, but said they could rush it for a 50% surcharge. We removed our underwear and socks from the pile, which we could hand wash, assuming this would reduce the price greatly. Laundromats in Ethiopia charge per item and extra for underwear. She calculated the price at 1200birr, over $50! There was no way we could justify paying that much for laundry. They asked how much we would be willing to pay. We said 500birr ($22 CAD). Amazingly, they agreed. Everything’s negotiable in Ethiopia.
Exploring Addis Ababa
The next day we took the opportunity to walk to some of the main tourist destinations in Addis Ababa. We started at the Red Terror museum which contains artifacts and information about Ethiopia during the rule of the military communist government. It’s an extremely moving and sombre place, particularly, a room filled with human bones excavated from mass graves of people murdered by the government.
Our next stop was the beautiful Holy Trinity Cathedral followed by the Ethnological Museum, located in the former palace of Emperor Haile Salassie. The museum contains information about Ethiopia’s many distinct ethnic groups. We especially enjoyed the section on storytelling and folklore. The stories are meant to teach children lessons. Some involve anthropomorphic animals and one involved a young man accidentally seeing his mother’s genitals. I forget the point of that story, but luckily, Marieke took a picture of it.
That evening, we tried to plan our journey to Lake Langano, a few hours south of Addis. We had a few days left before leaving Ethiopia and were hoping to find a place to relax. Our friend Abraham had recommended Langano. It’s the only lake in Ethiopia without Bilharzia (something Steph knows about all too well) and it’s the colour of chocolate. Unfortunately, we discovered there was no direct public transport there. Marieke emailed the campsite we intended to stay at and the owner said it was more than a 2km walk on a bad road from the mini-bus drop off. Cell phone reception was bad, so calling for a ride would not be an option.
We had read about another place called Bishoftu, a small town surrounded by five resort lined crater lakes, which was much closer to Addis. Because of its popularity with locals, Bishoftu is relatively expensive for Ethiopia, but we found a place called Salayish Lodge and Park by Lake Babogaya that offered camping for a good price. Perfect!
The Brides of Bishoftu
Getting transport to Bishoftu was relatively easy by Ethiopian standards, except once we got to the town, a matatu tout tried to charge us 400birr ($17CAD) for the 7km drive to our accommodation. It should have been 10birr each. He then claimed there were no tuk-tuks we could take… as we stood on a road packed with tuk-tuks. We laughed at such a brazen scam attempt and, after hard negotiations, got a tuk-tuk for 75birr ($3.30CAD).
At Salayish we were greeted by the manager. He showed us around the park which included a number of huts, a central restaurant and common area. There was a white, long-haired goat lying on one of the benches in the restaurant that we weren’t sure was alive or stuffed (we later found out it had passed away, but the owner couldn’t bear to let it go). There was also a bar area on a hill above the park which was closed but had a great view of the lake. At the end of the park was a grassy garden where he said we could camp and use the nearby hammock. It was cool at night and comfortable for camping, except for the chorus of dogs barking that began soon after we turned in. It was straight out of 101 Dalmatians.
After Marieke had her morning coffee, we headed off to check out some of the nearby resorts. There were two within a fifteen-minute walk and both allowed non-guest access for a fee, a fraction of the price to actually stay. One of them was a bit more expensive for day access and food, but it had wifi by the pool. We decided wifi access was worth a little extra, so we spent our pool time at one resort and ate at the other.
Late in the afternoon, while we were lounging by the pool, a bride with a small wedding party and a photographer showed up to take wedding photos. I guess this place must cater weddings, we thought. Soon there was another bride with her entourage (the grooms seemed to be an afterthought at these events, much like back home). When we got to the other resort for dinner the place was full of brides. We had to stop four times on the path to the restaurant to avoid photobombing them. When we reached the restaurant there were more being photographed with the sunset over the lake.
The next evening there seemed to be even more brides. While we sat drinking beers and gazing over the lake, there were seven brides being photographed closeby. As we looked down to the end of the lake, we could see numerous others. There were even brides floating on the lake! The sunset’s reflection on the water was joined by a storm of camera flashes. Although the scene was beautiful, as we sipped our beers we both agreed we didn’t want to do this kind of photoshoot at our wedding.
The following day, feeling very refreshed, we packed up and headed back to Addis. We stayed at a nice hostel near the airport where Steph had previously stayed.
The next day we said goodbye to Ethiopia. We got a little taste of home while waiting at the gate as we watched Newfoundlanders dig out from snowmageddon on the international news. We boarded our flight to Nairobi to meet up with Steph at Lake Naivasha.
Recommendations
ADDIS ABABA
Where to Stay
This was the only real hostel we stayed in while in Ethiopia. The staff was very helpful. The bathroom situation was not the best, but the vibe was great and we liked the area. It also had a nice bar area off to the side. The staff helped us arranged a cheap ride to the airport using the RIDE app.
BISHOFTU
Where to Stay
Salayish: Bishoftu’s Garden Oasis
No view of the water from the accommodations, but the price is right (250 birr for camping, but you need to bring your own tent now) and the management is very kind. They also have guest houses. Save your money by staying here and paying a small entrance to the more expensive resorts in Bishoftu for the day.
Where to Hang by a Pool
It did not cost much to get all day access to the pool at Liesak. This one had a good wifi connection right next to the pool and outdoor shower. There is a nice restaurant, but their prices were more expensive than Pelican so we opted to have our meals there instead.
Where to Eat
Excellent breakfast and dinner options. Affordable beer and a lower required service charge than Liesak (which charges an 18% service charge on top of 15% tax). Pretty much everywhere in Bishoftu adds a service charge and tax, unlike other area’s in the country.
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